Gareth Cheeseman was a fictional salesman played by
Steve Coogan
Stephen John Coogan (; born 14 October 1965) is an English actor, comedian, producer and screenwriter. He is most known for creating original characters such as Alan Partridge, a socially inept and politically incorrect media personality, whic ...
in the episode "Dearth of a Salesman" of Coogan's series ''
Coogan's Run
''Coogan's Run'' is a 1995 UK TV series featuring Steve Coogan as a series of odd characters living in the fictional town of Ottle. It was written by various people including Coogan, Patrick Marber, David Tyler, Graham Linehan, Arthur Mathew ...
''.
The character is probably best remembered for his blue
Ford Probe
The Ford Probe is a hatchback#liftback, liftback coupé produced by Ford Motor Company, Ford, introduced in 1988 and produced until 1997. The Probe was the result of Ford's collaboration with its longtime Japanese partner Mazda, and both generati ...
company car
A company car is a vehicle which companies or organisations lease or own and which employees use for their personal and business travel. Take-home vehicle is a vehicle which can be taken home by company employees. Depending on the company, company ...
, which ends up being crushed at the end of the programme, and his
Hugo Boss
Hugo Boss AG, often styled as BOSS, is a luxury fashion house headquartered in Metzingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The company sells clothing, accessories, footwear, and fragrances. Hugo Boss is one of the largest German clothing compani ...
suit, which he cannot help but keep mentioning.
Cheeseman was a self-centred, egocentric and materialistic Computer Hardware (Fictitious Lancelot 2000 DRAM
sound card
A sound card (also known as an audio card) is an internal expansion card that provides input and output of audio signals to and from a computer under the control of computer programs. The term ''sound card'' is also applied to external au ...
) sales executive with virtually no redeeming features, and is generally regarded as the best (and most cringeworthy) of the ''Coogan's Run'' characters. He is perhaps best remembered for looking into his bathroom mirror at a Travel Inn motel and saying "You're a tiger! Grrrrrr!!!!!" and urging a client to sign a new sales contract, even though just seconds before the client had been informed of his son's suicide.
Of the characters portrayed by Coogan in the series, Cheeseman was the most similar to
Alan Partridge
Alan Gordon Partridge is a comedy character portrayed by the English actor Steve Coogan. A parody of British television personalities, Partridge is a tactless and inept broadcaster with an inflated sense of celebrity. Since his debut in 1991, h ...
. As well as looking more like Partridge than most of Coogan's characters, he had a similar self-obsession and arrogance coupled with failings in his daily work. As most of the Dearth of a Salesman episode is set in a hotel, it is similar in many ways to
I'm Alan Partridge
''I'm Alan Partridge'' is a British sitcom written by Steve Coogan, Peter Baynham and Armando Iannucci. Coogan stars as Alan Partridge, a tactless and inept radio DJ and television presenter who has been left by his wife and dropped from the ...
, where Partridge was forced to live in a low-budget hotel for six months. Other similarities include an episode in I'm Alan Partridge where Alan is on the verge of signing a lucrative contract when the other party dies just before signing. Alan uses the dead mans hand to sign the contract in any case.
References
External links
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Fictional salespeople
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