I inadvertently watched the pilot episode of the French Netflix hit Call My Agent! three times in one 72-hour period. The first viewing was with my dad—he’d been eagerly recommending it for a few weeks at that point, and while visiting home I relented to watching “just the first 10 or 15 minutes” (which turned into the entire episode). The second was the following afternoon when I decided to start from the beginning once more before continuing on with the rest of season one. And the third time was after my husband watched half of an episode over my shoulder and decided he actually did want to watch this show with me, and “could we please start from the beginning again?” And now, having watched the pilot for a fourth time ahead of writing this article, I can say with utmost confidence that Call My Agent! is one of funniest shows I’ve seen in a long time.
I Absolutely Devoured This French Netflix Show and Now I’m Begging for a Season 5 Update
Perfect for fans of ‘The Office’ or ‘Loot’
Titled Dix pour cent in French (for the typical ten percent agents take from their clients’ earnings), this workplace comedy follows four top French talent agents and their assistants as they attempt to balance wrangling some of the biggest names in French film, television and theater with their inevitably crumbling personal lives. Agents Gabriel, Arlette, Mathias and Andréa go above and beyond for their clients—while assistants Camille, Noémie and Hervé do the same for the agents—in truly hilarious fashion, stretching the truth in any way they can to ensure productions run on time and egos are smoothed. Delivering an extra fun kick is the fact that all the talent you see in each episode are real French stars playing exaggerated versions of themselves. And while Americans may not know many of the names in season one, they’ll certainly recognize Juliette Binoche, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Monica Bellucci, Jean Dujardin and Isabelle Huppert. Even Sigourney Weaver gets a storyline come season four (did you know she is fluent in French?).
The chemistry of the ASK talent agency crew is evident right off the bat, even before newcomer and audience stand-in Camille’s tour of the office. The relationships feel real and nuanced, which is necessary to make the various absurdities of the plot work. I was immediately sold on the sincerity of the characters, and by the time the big plot twist at the end of the pilot is revealed, I already knew I’d have to pace myself to not run through all four seasons too quickly.
Call My Agent! premiered in fall 2015 and the fourth, and presumably final, season aired in fall 2020. And while plans for a fifth season or a feature-length film have been floated by various cast members and writers of the show, it doesn’t appear that anything concrete is in the works for now. That said, there have been numerous international spin-off versions including British, Indian, Korean, Italian, Turkish, Indonesian, Polish and Czech adaptations that can hopefully scratch that itch for me. If not, I’ll still be content to watch the beloved original French crew multiple times over.
Watch all four seasons of Call My Agent! now on Netflix.
