The Panel

GuanYin · 15-09-2003 9:50pm #1

New Dara O Briain chat show on network two was on tonight.

Well knock me down, it was pretty good!! D-list Irish celebs not withstanding they have a good chemistry and it keeps things light.

Its only one show, but judging on tonight, its the closest Irish TV has ever had to Have I got News For You.

They handled the hostile guest (Brian Kennedy) pretty well (he came across as a humourless twat) and even touched on seriousness briefly (like a tenth of a second) with Pat Rabbitte.

I'll watch again. I'll probably be dissappointed though, "RTE produced" and "comedy" are two terms that just don't work together.

crowbar · 15-09-2003 10:30pm

i thought it looked all right. flicked to it about 10 minutes in and ended up watching till the end. i would have said pat rabbitte was the hostile guest

i think they need to get more confident and stop reading from their script so often!

and dara needs a less reflective watch ...

Mossy Monk · 15-09-2003 10:59pm

it was ok. i'll watch again next week and see if it gets better

joey D · 16-09-2003 7:49am

Not bad. Colin Murphy needs to work on something other than the comedy grimace. And I don't think Brian Kennedy was the hostile guest as he had to put up with the usual guffaws around gay innuendo.

Will someone please shoot Fiona Looney?

Dara is good apart from his inability to finish a sentence properly.

Cabaal · 16-09-2003 12:43pm

I gota say I liked it alot and I'll be watching next week.

Reminded me alot of Don't Feed The Gondolas but maybe thats just because Dara O Briain was in it

If RTE keep it going the way it was lastnight atleast thats one show I'll be watching on RTE.

Capt'n Midnight · 16-09-2003 12:59pm

Must say I thought Dara was so-so on DFTG's - but then saw him on that late night stand up show on the Beeb - he was smokin'

And as for D list - recognised more of them than I did on "farm"
(it's not a celebrity farm if there no celebrities.)

GuanYin · 16-09-2003 2:50pm

To be fair I think Celeb Farm was somewhere down in the Z list.
Its a bad sign when I actually know one of the contestants, me having no life and all....

mike65 · 16-09-2003 3:39pm

Originally posted by crowbar
and dara needs a less reflective watch ...

He He!

It was a bit lame. too many "Ahhh, we're only slaggin" type moments. Have I Got News For You works cos it can be genuienly cutting when they hit upon the right guest/topic...Also the seating arrangment was...cramped! That said hopefully RTE will give it a chance and that the show takes its chance.

Mike.

scojones · 16-09-2003 3:42pm

i liked it

anthonymcg · 17-09-2003 11:20am

Originally posted by mike65
Also the seating arrangment was...cramped!

Mike.

Completely. It was like they were sitting on top of each other. Make the bloody desk bigger for next week.

joey D · 17-09-2003 4:30pm

Originally posted by anthonymcg
Completely. It was like they were sitting on top of each other. Make the bloody desk bigger for next week.

or make the guests smaller.

Elmo · 17-09-2003 9:05pm

Yeah it was good. Better then Kenny or Dunphy (He's already establishment he'll have to stop being so bad, cause you he is)

They could always get rid of the desk.:D

IgnatiusJRiley · 18-09-2003 11:29am

It was ok. A rip-off of a show by the same name in Oz... even the cramped desk looks the same!

blondie83 · 19-09-2003 10:04am

I was actually in the audience for it with a few of my friends. Don't remember much because I was sort of drunk, but they ran out of people to fill the place with, so they sent us down to the reserved seats at the front! It was funny though, cos every time they went for a break the make-up girl ran on and started powdering the woman to the right of Dara (not Fiona Looney the other one, who didn't actually say anything for the whole show). The rest of them didn't get any make-up, so they just kinda sat there laughing at her! Your one from off the rails didn't cop on when she was meant to leave either, so the production assistant had to run on and bring her off while the cameras were on Colin Murphy! It was a pretty good show, a little too much forced laughter, but still funny:D

Elmo · 19-09-2003 11:09am

It was ok. A rip-off of a show by the same name in Oz... even the cramped desk looks the same!

Yes they did tell us when they did the pilot in December.

Pigman II · 21-09-2003 11:11am

Originally posted by sykeirl

They handled the hostile guest (Brian Kennedy) pretty well (he came across as a humourless twat) and even touched on seriousness briefly (like a tenth of a second) with Pat Rabbitte.

I don't like the guy as a musician but in defence of Kennedy I'd reckon he just hadn't been informed by anyone as to the tone this show was trying to achieve.

I'm sure if they had explained to him before that the show was just a general pisstake of all involved then he probably would have played along. It's easy to get a bit defensive when you have a bunch of 3rd rate comedians ripping the piss out of you for no apparent (in his mind anyway) reason.

But yeah, there's no denying that he came across as a complete knob ... so not all was lost.

Eden · 21-09-2003 3:25pm

I enjoyed it, and I was bloody shocked because I did.
I've always had a soft spot for Dara since I saw him do stand up a few years ago. I think he held the whole thing together admirably well.
Although I thought Brain Kennedy was going to punch someone there for a while.

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