‘The IT Crowd’ (TV)

The creators of “The IT Crowd” deserve special recognition for the way they essentially bent space and time to make this 2006 show happen. Taken on its premise, “Crowd” — a workplace comedy about a trio of underappreciated tech support professionals (Chris O’Dowd, Richard Ayoade and Katherine Parkinson) slumming it in the basement of a large corporation — is straight out of today.

The ubiquitous IT guy is the 21st century equivalent of the washer/dryer repairman, and “Crowd” farms the bulk of its material from a well of geek humor and cynical observations about corporate culture. And yet, all of this happens in the bounds of a format straight out of the 1980s — shot in video, before a boisterous live studio audience, and chock full of shamelessly broad humor and sight gags. Even weirder, the dated look and feel proves to be an asset.

Contents of this first-season DVD: Six episodes, plus deleted scenes, two behind-the-scenes features, nerd-friendly subtitles and a DVD menu system that, if you grew up playing computer games in the 1980s, will entertain you as much as the show does.

‘Admission’ (Books)

Over the past few months, high school seniors have been learning whether they’ve been accepted or rejected by the colleges to which they’d applied. There’s plenty of drama in their lives.

But how about the lives of the people who judged their applications?

In her latest novel, “Admission,” Jean Hanff Korelitz tells the story of Portia Nathan, a 38-year-old admissions office at Princeton University. She’s one of the people charged with luring talented, high-achieving students to apply to her school, and then helping to decide which carefully constructed applications win an acceptance and which are sent to the shredder.

Here, we listen to high school counselors lobbying for their applicants. We enter the college admissions office and watch Nathan evaluate applications. We sit in on the admissions committee as it votes. And we see Nathan try to sell her colleagues on a brilliant but unaccomplished boy she met at an experimental school in New Hampshire.

“Admission” is a good read. And if you have any interest in the merry-go-round of big-time college admissions, it’s even better.

‘Fork in the Road’ (Music)

Give Neil Young credit for following his muse.

Throughout his storied career, Young has never been one to shy away from the idiosyncratic project, whether his fans want to come along or not.

On his latest, the hastily written and recorded “Fork in the Road,” Young takes on the hot topics of the day. He sings about electric cars, green energy, bailouts and even his own career.

“I’m a big rock star,” Young drolly sings over a thumping blues beat on the title track, the best song on the record. “My sales have tanked, but I still got you. Thanks!”

It’s a very funny song. How could it not be when Young starts it off by talking about his pot belly?

Funny, yes. But just because it’s funny doesn’t mean it can stand alongside Young’s best work, or that it will stand the test of time. That’s the problem with topical records like “Fork in the Road.”

And then there’s songs like “Fuel Line” with lyrics extolling the virtues of electric cars that come off as borderline silly: “The awesome power of electricity, stored for you in a giant battery.”

“Fork in the Road” takes on the issues of the day much like 2006’s “Living With War” did, but only in a kinder, gentler way.