I have heard it expressed by many a geek that an ideal job would be owning and running a small, cozy book shop. Personally, I can think of no vocation more heavenly and restful than that, even if it is but a pipe dream for the likes of us. But for one Bernard Black, it is his calling, his reality, and his privilege.

And he hates it.

Well, it’s more accurate to say that he hates everyone who comes in to interrupt his slovenly life of books, wine, and filth. A malcontent who cares not one whit for social niceties, Bernard should be all rights be a loner. And he would be, except for his sisterly best friend Fran and his manchild employee Manny.

Fans of The IT Crowd should make it their next destination to seek out Black Books, as this Graham Linehan series came out a few years prior in the early 2000s. And it’s uncanny how much of the DNA is shared between the two shows, including:

• A workplace comedy about two guys and a girl
• A sarcastic Irishman
• Unexpectedly surreal adventures
• A cluttered workspace
• Main characters being maimed and harmed all over the place

Black Books mostly takes place in the titular London bookshop, where its grumpy owner guzzles down wine as his primary fuel source and brazenly insults everyone who comes into his sphere of displeasure. Bernard is best understood as a bitter child who wants to hold on to his tiny domain by using tantrums and withering scorn. In the first two episodes, he reluctantly hires Manny, a hippie-looking former accountant to be his employee and roommate. Manny is as cheerful and optimistic as Bernard is sour, so there’s an Odd Couple pairing that drives much of the humor.

Fran occupies the space between them, taking on both of their qualities while holding her own as a smart lady who is nevertheless hamstrung by her bad judgment and tendency to drink a little too much. In fact, drinking wine is so core to the show and characters that it’s hard to imagine a scene where they’re not chugging it.

As with The IT Crowd, Linehand takes this rather mundane setting and uses it as a launchpad for the unexpected. Going through this 18-episode series for the first time, I guarantee you that you won’t be able to predict where any of these stories are going and how they’d resolve. All you can figure is that you’re in for a lot of weirdness and best make peace with that.

The three-season show certainly packed in enough goofy tales. There’s a “cleaner” who tries to battle Bernard’s obscenely filthy lifestyle, an overwhelming visitation by Manny’s parents (Moo-ma and Moo-pa), a security door that causes more trouble than it helps, a mysteriously shrinking flat, a heatwave that sends Manny into the danger zone, a rival bookstore managed by Simon Pegg, pushy Eastern Europeans, a gambling fixation, a mobster who needs to be taught to read, and a thousand-page children’s book.

Throughout all of these ridiculous situations, the core trio acquit themselves as comedy legends. I’d still put The IT Crowd as the funnier of the two shows in terms of outright quips, but Black Books still makes me genuinely laugh out loud fairly often. This usually happens when Bernard channels his inner Garfield the Cat and unleashes a torrent of ire to customer and friend alike. Man oh man, this show is brutal toward the customers.

With the off-key theme song, a trio of drunks, and a dingy setting, Black Books should be a rather depressing enterprise. Instead, it’s filled with giddy performances, childlike glee (Manny in his worm outfit!), and broad caricatures. The end result is a much more upbeat series than one would expect.