Following the success of Comedy Showcase 2007, Channel 4 announces a second season that is set to celebrate some of the UK's best established and up-and-coming comedic talent. Comedy Showcase 2007's one-off shows led to the commission of full series of Plus One, The Kevin Bishop Show and Free Agents, each of which boasted a host of comedy talent both on and off screen.

Andrew Newman, Head of Comedy and Entertainment at Channel 4, said:
"I am very excited to announce another series of six new Comedy Showcase films. From the first series in 2007 we commissioned three full series, so it is great to be able to invest another raft of exciting new ideas from some of Britain's top comedy producers. This year's line-up features a fantastic range of both fresh talent and established stars and will take us into the varied but hopefully hilarious worlds of sports commentary, university campuses, mobile phone shops, stage hypnotism, energy drink sales and political prisoners in Guantanamo Bay. A key part of Channel 4's public service remit is to innovate and work with new talent and the Comedy Showcase season will be putting new and innovative ideas and scripts into the heart of the Channel 4 schedule while featuring new talent both on and off screen."

Pete v Life

From the makers of the award-winning Peep Show and Star Stores comes Pete v Life, a narrative comedy staring Rafe Spall, who plays a twenty-something Pete, a struggling sports writer. The unusual twist in this promising show is that his life is commented on by two sports commentators, mimicking that of a football match or snooker tournament, and acting like the chorus in a Greek play. Pete v Life is produced by Phil Clarke and directed by Simon Delaney. Writers are Bert Tyler Moore and George Jeffries (who co-wrote Star Stories with Lee Hupfield). Prod Co: Objective

Guantanamo Phil

Phil Mill (Steve Edge: The Cup, Star Stories, Peep Show), a 30-year-old Woolworths assistant manager from Stoke, was enjoying a bird-watching holiday near the Afghan border in Pakistan when he was arrested by US Marines on suspicion of being a terrorist. He has now returned home after a six-year-long campaign headed by his devoted girlfriend Carly (Rebekah Staton: Pulling). Life in Britain is not what he remembers. Written, directed and produced by award-winning Mark Bussell and Justin Sbresni (The Worst Week of My Life, The Robinsons, Barbara). Prod Co: Busby Productions and Hat Trick Productions

The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret

American Todd Margaret (David Cross) bluffs his way into an apparently great job opportunity, heading up the sales team in his employer's London office. All he has to do is sell several thousand energy drinks before his boss (Will Arnett) visits him in a week. Simple. Apart from the fact that he knows nothing about British culture and nothing about sales. This is further complicated when he lies continuously to cover his ignorance and spectacularly fails to impress Alice (Sharon Horgan), the first beautiful girl he meets. Dave (Russell Tovey), his British co-worker, soon takes full advantage of Todd's situation and chaos ensues. Written by David Cross with Shaun Pye. Featuring Spike Jonze, and directed by Anthony and Joe Russo (Arrested Development, You Me and Dupree).

Campus

Campus, an original sitcom set in a fictitious red-brick university, explores the lives and souls of a handful of people that work there - some as academics, some simply involved in the general running of the place. With a semi-improvised feel, it features an ensemble cast, and is made by the award-winning creative team behind Green Wing and Smack the Pony. Victoria Pile and Caroline Leddy are working on it.

PhoneShop

PhoneShop centres on the everyday lives of the employees of a mobile phone shop, the like of which you can find in every high street and shopping mall across the country. In the pilot episode, Christopher, the 'new man', is charged with replacing super salesman 'Little' Gary Patel (who has been arrested (again) for attacking the lads from Top Shop). Christopher, a graduate, needs to quickly adapt to this new world where street smart is the order of the day and degrees count for nothing. Will he survive the dreaded one-day trial? And if he does will he fit in with the rest of the team?

PhoneShop features a relatively unknown cast; Andrew Brooke (Pulling), Javone Prince, Emma Fryer (Ideal) Tom Bennett and Martin Trenaman (The Inbetweeners), and is written, produced and directed by Phil Bowker (Sharon Horgan's Pulling, Sean Lock's 15 Storeys High). The script also features additional material generated by the cast during the development process. Ricky Gervais is a massive fan and is script editing the show.

The Amazing Dermot
The story follows magician Dermot Flint as he attempts to get his career back on track after an unfortunate incident involving two brothers and some French kissing under hypnosis. In the space of one week his wife leaves him, his TV show is cancelled, and he moves into rehab. However his attempts to get his life back on track are ruined by his ego, a body double and a deaf nurse. To be filmed this summer. Exec Producer is Ash Atalla.