Ricky Gervais helps reveal pain of cell phone salesmen
Ever wander into one of those Verizon or AT&T stores, attempt to have a conversation with one of the smartly dressed salespeople, and whisper to yourself, "What kind of emotionally awkward humans end up working in a place like this?"
Well, I have good news for you.
Ricky Gervais, who made David Brent perhaps the most painfully sympathetic character in modern television in the original BBC version of "The Office," has been asking himself the very same question. "Phone Shop" a new British sitcom, enjoys Gervais as its script editor (he reportedly took one look at the idea and volunteered his involvement). The pilot airs Friday evening on Channel 4.
"Phone Shop" will explore the life of salespeople in a soul-sucking mall cell phone shop.
(Credit: Channel 4)Unlike "The Office," which gained existential pleasure from the old-world business of paper manufacture, "Phone Shop" is set in a mall cell phone store.
The pilot episode follows the troubles experienced by trainee salesman Christopher, who has to sell a cell phone by 6 p.m. as part of his one-day trial.
Clearly this series will reside in the emotional halfway house that has just two difficult residents--comedy and tragedy. And one wonders just what impression will be left by the arduous task of pushing yet more portable technology on a populace that bristles with sensory overload.
I am deeply concerned that the cell phone business will not come out so beautifully in "Phone Shop."
You see, The Independent quoted Angela Jain, head of the E4 Channel, which has bought the series. And beneath her words I sense a little cackling: "Everyone's got a mobile phone and has had some encounter in a phone shop. It's also about those difficult dead-end jobs that everyone has at least once in their lives."
So the Droid and the iPhone are being pushed by people in dead-end jobs? What has become of our brave new, smartphoned world?
Chris Matyszczyk is an award-winning creative director who advises major corporations on content creation and marketing. He brings an irreverent, sarcastic, and sometimes ironic voice to the tech world. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. 
I think this show sounds like a great concept, even though I'm not really into British comedy.
Then again, McDonald's probably offers a much higher chance of upward mobility vs. a sales kiosk.
Both require no skills and no ambition.
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maybe true, but to anyone objecting to the subject matter I simply ask you: have you seen most people working at these kiosks in the mall? so many shady JC dropouts in one place can be overwhelming. especially if you're a halfway attractive girl (they're probably more interested in getting your number than they are in signing you up for a plan on a new line. then again transferring your number to them or signing up for a new line is pretty much the only chance they'd ever have to get any pretty girl's number!)
Brit comedy is super! So stimulating and ORIGINAL!
When Brit comedies are copied by US media, they tend to suffer...lose their edge, replaced with pretty actors rather than people that can act!
As with most "sales people", they are over-motivated & morally dubious with a god-complex bubbling under the surface.
Mobile Phone sales is perfect for the next "The Office" series as it epitomizes the falseness that many performance based sales/office environments cultivate.
- by Donniebrasco November 16, 2009 7:14 AM PST
- The difference is that the McDs employee wears his crummy McD's uniform. Meanwhile, the guy at the phone store typically tries to dress "sharp", which seems to mean bad shirt/tie combos and ill fitting pants. Don't forget the hair gel and the cologne. Maybe a chin-strap beard. Smoooth.
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(21 Comments)The cell phone store employee is today's "used car salesman".