PhoneShop, E4 | reviews, news & interviews
PhoneShop, E4
PhoneShop, E4
Is it worth signing a six-week contract with this sitcom sales team?
![](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/mast_image_landscape/public/mastimages/Phoneshop.jpg?itok=k_Cd5RWm)
For a workplace sitcom, an endorsement from Ricky Gervais must be a double-edged sword. On the one hand Gervais’s seal of approval seems to have helped persuade E4 to commission an entire series of PhoneShop even before its pilot aired as part of Channel 4’s experimental Comedy Showcase season last November – Gervais having been so excited by the early draft sent to him by his old friend Phil Bowker that he became the nascent sitcom’s script editor. On the other hand, Gervais’s involvement inevitably raises expectations that PhoneShop will at least approach, however distantly, the dizzy heights of The Office.
For a workplace sitcom, an endorsement from Ricky Gervais must be a double-edged sword. On the one hand Gervais’s seal of approval seems to have helped persuade E4 to commission an entire series of PhoneShop even before its pilot aired as part of Channel 4’s experimental Comedy Showcase season last November – Gervais having been so excited by the early draft sent to him by his old friend Phil Bowker that he became the nascent sitcom’s script editor. On the other hand, Gervais’s involvement inevitably raises expectations that PhoneShop will at least approach, however distantly, the dizzy heights of The Office.
Add comment
Subscribe to theartsdesk.com
Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.
To take a subscription now simply click here.
And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?
more TV
![Mid-life crisis: Natalie Portman as Maddie Schwartz](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/Natalie%20MAIN.jpg?itok=IbhoIU1e)
![Jenna Coleman as DC Ember Manning, Ralph Ineson as DI Morgan](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/Jenna%20%26%20Ineson%20MAIN.jpg?itok=Mcp2Hfg5)
![Murder most confusing: Ayse (Yasemin Kay Allen), Mehmet (Ethan Kai) and Inspector Ikmen (Haluk Bilginer)](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/Turkish%20MAIN.jpg?itok=dRq8IqHf)
![A haunted man: Robert Glenister as Tony Conroy](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/Glenister%20MAIN%20copy.jpg?itok=6fZjDdHU)
![Celine Dion: 'My voice was the conductor of my life'](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/Celine%20MAIN_0.jpeg?itok=UhWoPg4u)
![Lucie Shorthouse as DC Siobhan Clarke, with Richard Rankin in BBC One's 'Rebus'](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/Lucie%20MAIN.jpg?itok=l-pDnfcg)
![Jake Gyllenhaal as Rusty Sabich, Renate Reinsve as Carolyn Polhemus](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/Gyllenhaal%20MAIN.jpg?itok=vCiRaH_i)
![Benedict Cumberbatch as Vincent, with Eric the giant blue puppet monster](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/Cumbo%20MAIN.jpg?itok=4fzfPvK6)
![Wheels up: Matthew Modine as Greg Townsend in 'Hard Miles'](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/Hard%20Miles%20MAIN.jpg?itok=8Z3eG1Bk)
![Crimewatch, Japanese style: Ansel Elgort as Jake Adelstein (centre)](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/T%20Vice%20MAIN.jpg?itok=4zLEkGi5)
![Endless summer - (l to r) Carl Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, Brian Wilson, Dennis Wilson](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/Beach%20Boys%20MAIN%3F.jpg?itok=g-9BbN2O)
![A man for all seasons: Eddie Marsan as John Adams in Apple TV+'s 'Franklin'](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/Marsan%20in%20window%20MAIN%20SUPER.jpg?itok=guLi1-5u)
Comments
...
...
now nearly two years later i
...
...
...
...
I'm an American and I'm