Ricky Gervais lends his pen to PHONESHOP
Jeffrey Van Camp Friday, November 13, 2009 
Ricky Gervais is working his ass off lately. The Invention of Lying just ended its theatrical run, and he's got another film, Cemetery Junction, coming next year. Now he's entering the mobile phone market with PhoneShop. Gervais is editing the script for the series, which will air in the U.K. on Channel 4. Phil Bowker created, produced, and wrote it. Bowker, who gave Gervais his first job on TV a decade ago, has produced several TV shows, but this will be his first run at writing and directing.
Little is known about PhoneShop, but it will take place at a cell phone store in a mall. The story (I'm guessing first episode) revolves around Christopher (Tom Bennett) who has to sell a cell phone by closing time to get a job at the store.
It's hard not to think of Gervais' The Office, which was about the daily office hijinks at a mid-level regional paper supplier. It's good to see him lending a hand to a new series, which should give its premiere numbers a boost. Gervais has a unique way of incorporating strong moral messages into his work, without expensing the comedy. As someone who was in the cell phone industry for three years, I can say that there is plenty of comedy to mine there. It's a ridiculous industry. I hope this hits U.S. shores on HBO or DVD.