Ricky Gervais's PhoneShop: mock the geek
A new Channel 4 programme about a mobile phone store, script-edited by Ricky Gervais, has already been picked up for a full season after last night's premiere
Ricky Gervais's latest office isn't a paper company in Slough... it's much more nightmarish. PhoneShop, a new comedy with scripts edited by Gervais, takes place in the shiny-suited world of a mobile phone shop.
The programme premiered last night on Channel 4 as part of its experimental comedy strand, and the Independent reports the channel is such a fan of the show that it's already been commissioned for a six-part series in 2010.
PhoneShop is a comedy Glengarry Glen Ross set on the high street, with Tom Bennett off of Pulling playing a new salesperson who has to figure out how to flog the latest kit to the punters.
PhoneShop joins The IT Crowd and The Big Bang Theory in a current crop of shows giving us geek-themed giggles. The show's creator, Phil Bowker, told the Independent that a mobile phone shop was a natural setting for the comedy because we can all relate to what happens there.
"We've all been in these shops and you feel mugged when you come out with a phone you didn't want," said Bowker. "But they earn £9,000 a year and the rest is commission -- they need to stitch you up."
You can catch up with the hapless handset hawkers on Channel 4's online service, 4oD, and chat about the show at our sister site, TV.com.