Back in 2007, NBC was all set to launch an American version of The IT Crowd, the classic British nerd sitcom, starring Joel McHale — who went on to star in Community. They shot a pilot, which is a more or less exact remake of the British version. See a splitscreen comparsion above.

The American IT Crowd already had a full-season pickup from the network, which should have meant we'd all have complete DVD sets about now. But at the last moment, the network chairman pulled the plug. The Splitsider argues convincingly that McHale's amazing mastery of snark delivery is actually wrong for the dorky character of Roy, who shouldn't be another Jeff Winger. And the show is, if anything, too close to the British version.

See for yourself: