Fun break: What geeky TV series matches your IT pro personality?

Hello Devolutions Nation! As we all know, life as an IT pro is often hectic and stressful. And so, we thought it would be nice to take a little break and have some fun together!

Below, we highlight seven TV series — some classic, some current — that many geeks around the world enjoy. Your task is to pick the one that most closely matches your personality as an IT pro.

Series: Doctor Who

Synopsis: Doctor Who, which first aired in 1963 and is now in its 15th series, follows the adventures of the time traveling “The Doctor” (played by various leads over the years) and various companions as they face alien threats, and rescue civilizations across different planets.

Dr. Who matches your IT pro personality if, like The Doctor, you balance a love of adventure and problem solving, with a very strong moral compass and a desire to help people in need (yes, including end users who tell you that they’ve reset their device when you KNOW they haven’t!). In addition, similar to The Doctor you have a quirky sense of humor, and in some ways treat challenges and problems like puzzles and games. The only thing you really fear is getting stuck with people who have limited imagination.

Series: Stranger Things

Synopsis: In the 1980s, when a young boy vanishes, a small town uncovers a mystery involving secret experiments, terrifying supernatural forces, a very strange little girl.

Stranger Things matches your IT pro personality if you are convinced that there is A LOT going on “behind the scenes” that most people don’t realize. However, rather than terrifying you, this motivates you to dig deeper, often asking questions that the Powers That Be don’t want to hear or think about (like “how are we supposed to protect all of our privileged accounts from getting hacked when we don’t know what or where they are?”). When you decide to deal with a problem or challenge, there is virtually nothing that can stop you from getting the answers you seek.

Series: Star Trek

Synopsis: While each installment in the Star Trek franchise is different, in essence they are rooted in a mission (let’s all say it together!) to explore strange new worlds, seek out new life and new civilizations, and boldly go where no one has gone before. However, there is an important detail: all of this is supposed to align with the Prime Directive, which prohibits Starfleet officers from interfering with the natural development of alien civilizations.

Star Trek matches your IT pro personality you grasp the importance of embracing new technologies in a constantly-evolving environment, yet at the same time appreciate that collaboration is the key to success. And while you are open minded and adventurous, you have your own set of prime directives — a.k.a. core principles — that you will NOT violate. These could be related to standards like openness and transparency, which by the way is a core principle at Devolutions (a good example is our recent revelation of how Bing delisted http://devolutions.net, and how we got it back — check it out here). Oh, and one more important thing: The reason that you’re zooming across the universe instead of sitting behind a desk at Starfleet HQ is because you dislike routine. Predictability bores you, and you want every day to be different.

Series: Sherlock

Synopsis: This entertaining and at times riveting edition portrays Conan Doyle's iconic British sleuth as a “consulting detective” who solves complex and often dangerous mysteries in modern-day London. Sherlock is brilliantly intelligent and supremely logical, but not that interested in the social aspect of work or life. His closest companion, the trusty and loyal Dr. Watson, understands and accepts this.

Sherlock matches your IT pro personality if you strongly prefer to work alone (perhaps with a co-pilot at times) rather in larger groups. This allows you to work quickly and rapidly adapt to changing information. The good thing about this aspect of your personality is that you can regularly solve highly complex problems. But sometimes, the bad thing is that some others may find you a little (or maybe a lot!) intimidating, simply because you are just thinking, working, and achieving things on a higher level. You believe that respect is rooted in competence, not rank or job title.

Series: The Big Bang Theory

Synopsis: The Big Bang Theory centers on two geeky and introverted physicists — Sheldon and Leonard — as they interact with their friends Howard and Raj, and aspiring actress Penny who moves in next door. Despite many references to physics and science, the show is comedy and features some hilarious lines, situations, and gags that many IT pros can certainly relate to (like when Sheldon says with total seriousness: “I’m not crazy, my mother had me tested.”)

The Bing Bang Theory matches your IT pro personality if, like Sheldon and Leonard, you are extremely curious. You don’t just want to solve problems: you need to understand all of the details, often to the amazement — and at times, frustration — of your colleagues who are simply not as interested in understanding the “why” of things. You also embrace a core truth: It’s OK to be different. Everyone shouldn’t have to think and act the same way. The cast of the Big Bang Theory are very diverse. Even Sheldon and Leonard, despite both being extremely geeky, have their major differences: Sheldon embraces routines, while Leonard is more open to trying different things.

Series: Chuck

Synopsis: Chuck is not as well-known as some other geeky series like Star Trek or Sherlock, but it is one of my personal favorites and I have re-watched it many times! It is about an IT pro who inadvertently downloads critical government secrets into his brain, which results in the CIA and the NSA assigning an agent to protect him.

Chuck matches your IT pro personality if you honestly — and not arrogantly — believe that your brain is like a massive database of information that contains things that you may not even know is in there (yet!). However, like Chuck you also grasp that some information is secret and sensitive, and protecting it from “the bad guys” is absolutely essential. Who knows what could happen if it falls into the wrong hands?

Series: The IT Crowd

Synopsis: This is a highly-acclaimed British comedy that follows the misadventures of IT pros Roy and Moss, who along with their scamming supervisor Jen (who is clueless about IT) work at a large corporation led by an eccentric, overbearing billionaire.

The IT Crowd matches your IT pro personality if you sometimes feel like you are working on another planet! Every day seems to trigger a new crisis — and it’s up to your team to keep things from going off the rails. Naturally, your many bosses rarely (if ever) thank you for your heroic work, because they don’t understand what you do and probably never will. But fear not! Your friends here at Devolutions applaud your efforts. We know that you are IT superheroes who keep chaos at bay each day.

What series is the most like you?

And so, we return to the question that kicked things off: what series most closely matches your IT pro personality?

Are you more of an independent thinker and serious, single-minded problem solver like Sherlock? Or are you more of an adventurer like Doctor Who, or perhaps a collaborative yet highly principled specialist who would feel right at home on the U.S.S. Enterprise? Let us know by commenting below.

And one last thing: Please remember that we are asking you to share the geeky series that “closely matches” your IT pro personality. Chances are that you feel an alignment with multiple shows. Besides, you’re completely unique — how could a mere TV series capture all that you are?

Just pick the one that you feel closest reflects your preferred work philosophy, approach and style. Please also share comments to help the community get to know you better. Have fun!