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| Fifty-Fifty | |
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| Episode information | |
| Episode No. |
3 |
| Series |
1 |
| Original airdate |
Febuary 10, 2006 |
| Roy's Shirt | |
| Cast and crew information | |
| Writer(s) |
Graham Linehan |
| Director(s) |
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| Producer(s) |
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| Main cast | |
| Guest stars |
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| Chronology | |
| Previous episode | |
| Next episode | |
Fifty-Fifty (also known as 50:50 or 50/50) is the third episode of the first series of the British sitcom, The IT Crowd.
Brief overview[]
Jen has a new admirer in the handsome company security guard, Daniel, but her lies result in a very public humiliation. Meanwhile, after getting dumped on a date, believing that women are only attracted to bad boys, Roy creates a mean and nasty profile on a dating website to see if this is true, and surprisingly, gets a response.
Synopsis[]
The episode begins with Roy Trenneman (Chris O'Dowd) returning receptionist Patricia home after an unsuccessful date with her. Patricia has been acting strangely all night and when Roy finally asks her why he discovers that there is a large brown smudge on his forehead. Patricia's immediate reaction is that it is feces and, although Roy tries to convince her that it is chocolate from his dessert, she remains unconvinced and leaves abruptly.
The following day, Roy returns to work in the IT Department of Reynholm Industries to discover that Patricia has told everyone about the bad date and the news has even reached his mother. Roy's colleagues, Jen Barber (Katherine Parkinson) and Maurice Moss (Richard Ayoade) laugh and jeer at him. Roy, still angry about the previous night's date, states that women like men who treat them badly, rather than those who don't. Jen argues that this is a total myth. To put this to test, Roy and Moss write two ads for themselves on an online dating site making themselves out to be a horrible, aggressive man, in order to win a £20 bet with Jen, who bets they won't get any responses. Roy's advert is about "an idiot who doesn't care about anyone but himself," however Moss goes a little more extreme, his ad consisting entirely of the sentence, "I'm going to murder you, you bloody woman!" In the end, they decide to go with Roy's ad.
Meanwhile, Jen flirts with the handsome company security guard Daniel Carey (Oliver Chris) and impresses him with a vast knowledge of classical music. After he leaves, she reveals to Moss and Roy that she didn't really know the answers to his questions, but because she had a fifty-fifty chance of getting it right, and she simply guessed. Daniel, impressed by her knowledge, asks her to be home between 8pm and 9pm that night, promising that it will be, "very exciting".
After being patient through the pre-broadband-speed internet, Moss and Roy get a response to their ad from a woman named Rebecca, who Roy arranges a date with, to even further improve his point.
Later that evening, Jen sits by the phone at home, not knowing what Daniel is planning. As the phone rings, she picks it up, only to be confronted with Chris Tarrant from Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. It is revealed that Daniel is a contestant, and needs Jen's help on a question. After asking her out on a date, via Chris Tarrant, Daniel proceeds to ask her the question, and as he has already used his 50:50 lifeline, there are only two possible answers. Jen is horrified to learn that it is a question on classical music and has no idea, and guesses wrongly, costing Daniel £31,000.
The day after, the whole building hears about Jen's performance on the show, whilst Roy gets ready to go on his date, deciding to dress like a "bad boy". Jen still has to go on a date with Daniel, and after Moss recommends a restaurant called "Messigio's", she decides to take him there in the hope of rescuing their relationship. Moss also recommends this place to Roy to take his date, who also agrees to take his date there.
However, it turns out that the posh-sounding "Messigio's" is actually the hectic family restaurant, "Messy Joe's". Jen and Daniel sit in awkward silence, as a clown comes over to their table to tries and cheer them up. Jen tries to make conversation, but Daniel just stares at his food in silent rage. Meanwhile, in the same restaurant, Roy, dressed as a "bad boy", complete with leather jacket, toothpick, and sunglasses, tries to convince his date that he's a "lonely loner", but she sees right through his facade.
After the clown recognises Jen and Daniel both from Who Wants to Be A Millionaire?, he precedes to mock them, it's the last straw for Daniel who rises from his chair and beats the clown with his own shoe. Roy, seeing the commotion, and accidentally once again smearing chocolate from his dessert on his forehead, goes over to try and dispel the situation. After Daniel accidentally hits Jen with the clown shoe he was using to beat up the clown, Roy jumps to her defence, earning himself a punch in the face.
Roy, with a nosebleed, stands outside the restaurant with Jen. They notice that Daniel and Rebecca are leaving together, with her trailing behind him as he shouts for her to hurry up. In a seemingly tender moment, Roy calls Jen a taxi and gives her back her £20, as he feels the bet never proved anything. As she gets in, she begins to say romantic goodbye, as Roy obliviously slams the door in her face.
Trivia[]
- The title of this episode is likely a reference to the fact that every question Daniel asks Jen, there will be a 50/50 chance that she will be correct (In a majority of these, she is correct barring the time wherein she acted as Daniel's 'Phone A Friend' lifeline on 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'.
External Links[]
- List of The IT Crowd episodes on Wikipedia
- Watch Fifty-Fifty online at 4OD.
- Fifty-Fifty at the Internet Movie Database.
| v - e - dSeries One of The IT Crowd |
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| Yesterday's Jam ♦ Calamity Jen ♦ Fifty-Fifty ♦ The Red Door ♦ The Haunting of Bill Crouse ♦ Aunt Irma Visits |