The Sound of Young America has an interview with Graham Linehan (creator of two of my all-time favorite comedies: IT Crowd
The questions, as you might expect, pretty much stay focused on his work in TV (i.e. there’s no childhood memories or ‘how I met my wife’ stories). I had never heard an interview with him, so this was fun for me. He comes across as a light-hearted, nice man.
One of the more interesting tidbits was the fact that IT Crowd seemed to take form in his head after the title was suggested by his wife. He then goes on to mention that the show really was built around the character of Moss. Everything began to fall in place once Richard Ayoade was cast in that part.
The show, in a way, was built around him. I cast him before anyone else. In conjunction with the title, he was another thing that made me think “Oh, this is coming together”.
(~26:20 in the interview)
(For some odd reason, the clip they play immediately following that statement is one that features Roy, not Moss.)
I guess the producers (who include Linehan) of the American version of the show also feel he’s pivotal to its success. Instead of finding some LA doppelganger to fill the spot, he was transported across the ocean for their version. (What’s the deal with that anyway? When does “mid-season” start?)