E4’s 2014 series plants rigged technology in everyday locations and lets the public press the red button on themselves. A photo booth refuses to print unless the sitter admits to crimes against fashion, a chocolate fountain demands a blood sample, and a career-counselling robot cheerily suggests prostitution. The victims’ humiliation is total, the robots’ commentary deadpan, and the laugh track optional.
Michael Gambon provides the sardonic voice of the omnipresent TezCorp corporate head, while a rotating comedy bench, including Rob Delaney, Tom Allen and Matthew Holness, gives snark to the individual machines. Each half-hour episode strings together four or five stunts, stitched with mock-adverts for the fictional conglomerate and glitchy graphics that sell the gag.
Twelve episodes aired across two short runs before the conceit ran out of juice; ratings slid from 338,000 for the opener to barely half that by the finale. The format never travelled, the machines were retired, and the footage now lives on YouTube as a time capsule of mid-decade Channel 4 mischief.
Production Details
E4 / 2 Seasons / 12 Episodes / 2014
Created by: Ben Spiteri, Paul Routledge, Lee Kern, Charlie O'Connor, (additional material), George Sawyer
