Channel 4 'Comedy' PhoneShop

I

iceka77

New member
Channel 4 have been running advert for their new 'comedy' PhoneShop due to premier on our screens the 7th October, you can however watch the first episode now on 4OD.

I can't believe that something with such promise has turned out so badly, I'd imagined that with it being set in a Phone Shop there is plenty of material that we could all relate to. This is possibly the worst 'comedy' I have EVER had the misfortune of sitting through, I realised within minutes the level this was set at, however I forced myself to watch it all thinking it might get better, it didn't. I got 20 minutes in to the 25 minute show, I couldn't force myself any longer to waste my time.

Anybody else took a look at this show? What are your thoughts?
 
I know I've seen this before. I know that this was one of the Channel 4 pilots ages ago, which I thought was OK but watching the trailer it does look completely awful. I swear I saw the whole series on Channel 4 but I'm probably getting confused and just maybe saw the pilot and then whilst watching the trails thought I'd seen the whole series as it's been a few years since the pilot.
 
Possibly the worst comedy ever, and this is coming from somebody who sat through at least half a series apiece of Big Top and Coming of Age.

Will tune in again next week to give it a fair chance, but I hold out absolutely no hope for this show redeeming itself.
 
Was this episode the same as the pilot, a reshoot of the pilot or entirely unrelated? I watched it as a friend advised the pilot was alright, and I then let him know my feelings on the first episode (it's cancerous trash). He says it sounRAB a lot worse than the program he watched before, so curious if it changed much.
 
I wasn't tempted by the pilot and am not tempted by the trailers for the series.

I thought the Campus pilot was much better and showed more promise.

It was definitely more my type of humour, but then I liked A Very Peculiar Practice and Green Wing.
 
It was only two nights ago that I realised the annoyingly stupid and unfunny trailer for this show, wasn't an actual advert for some new type of phone company.

That alone, as others said, put me off of watching it.
 
After being bombarded with the adverts for the series, i decided to give it a look on 40D last week.

I was shocked at how poor it was. I had no idea that it contained one joke - characters shouting in a ridiculous faux West Indian patois.

Going into it without any previous knowledge or experience of the pilot episode, i was hoping it would be a witty and bright new concept about the cut-throat environment these guys work in.

Instead, it was just a bunch of characters shouting in silly patronising ethnic voices and i thought "If this was around in the mid to late 70s, people might find it hilarious".

It had got so embarrassing and cringeworthy that i thought at any point, Jim DaviRABon would appear and do one of his trademark attempts at a Jamaican accent.

Truly dreadful stuff.
 
It was aired last year wasn't it? Or certainly a while back? They can certainly change a lot between pilotting a show and then airing the series version of that episode (recasting could severely change opinions).

But no, I can't see how this would've been bearable in pilot stage and as bad as it was in series stage. It's just that bad.
 
I have no interest in watching this what-so-ever.

The advert doesn't sell it one bit.

E4 comedies are never funny (apart from the inbetweeners)

No doubt this crap will get low ratings but still get a second series like the School of Comedy did.
 
I personally loved the pilot, and I loved the first episode, which seemed to follow on and was NOT the pilot with a couple of scenes added, which is a weird accusation given the fact it was 100 percent different. I love Emma Fryer, I love Martin Trenaman, and actually I love the entire cast as it's made up from people who have starred in, or written fantastic shows like 15 Stories High, Hometime, Pulling etc. I absolutely don't understand the idea that people think it's meant to appeal to yobs, although admittedly, the advert didn't sell it well, but thats because there's so much swearing it's hard to find something that worked out of context. I come from Hounslow, so most people round there talk in that way, and I thought it was a brilliant take off of that kind of patois. I don't think some 'get it'. Sadly. I feel sorry for the writers if they're being lumped in with things aimed at morons, like Coming Of Age, because people don't understand what it is.

For reference, other comedies I like are League of Gentlemen, 15 Stories High, Curb Yr Enthusiasm, Larry Sanders, Seinfeld, Getting On, Nathan Barley, Day Today, Brass Eye. I'd say it has much more in common with this type of thing that what it's being accused of.
 
Back
Top