How did I not notice this before??

flogen

I'm probably in the majority here due to the fact that as a child I had RTÉ's The Den as part of many of my favourite TV shows, even when I grew up I still held a place in my heart for it (although not in the last few years, it's gone shít).
Thankfully Podge and Rodge grew up with us, but who doesn't look back affectionately on Dustin, Ted, flap-flaps, Zig and Zag etc. etc.??

Anyway, yesterday something hit me that I'd never thought of before, and if it is intentional I feel like a large part of my childhood may have been a lie, or at the very least a big ruse...
has anyone else looked at the name of one of the greatest inventions of The Den in a more "adult" light?? I'm talking of course about Dustin... Dustin The Turkey...

I've never heard it used in that context before but that doesn't mean it wasn't the intention of the creators either; think about it.
Dustin was always a bit coarse and often had rather adult humour considering the age-group it was targeted at, and it's not the first time the adult creators of kids-shows have laced little in-jokes into the programming for their own fun, is it? Sure in modern terms stuff like Shrek is build around the very concept...
And imagine if Dustin himself, a northside Dubliner, was using the term.... "I'm gonna be in me room dustin' the turkey"... they only thing they really dropped was the apostrophe!

Anyone else notice this before? Is it a coincidence or do you think it's an in-joke? Have you ever heard it used in that way, and if not, why can't we all start right now???

ircoha

I see your angle: perhaps we could use your post to create a list of descriptions for said activity, and make it multi-lingual to cater for the 29 different languages on the boards.

My proposal is An Cuir Isteach.

LadyJ

Lol,oh dear. Now you've robbed me of my childhood.

Tha Gopher

Dustin was the perfect "bring the family together" creation. The kids could enjoy the kids jokes e.g. the flap flaps, the parents could laugh at the constant references to politics/brown envelopes/ "bleedin John Brutal" (I shook hands with Bruton at the opening of the Blanch shopping centre around 1996, at least Dustin gave us an awrareness of who these people were ) and whatnot.

I havent a clue if his name was a **** joke....


Come to think about it, was the flap flaps referring to the.......well, womens flaps?


Sorry, ive had a few.......


Slightly off or on topic, what level of Den exposure did you get? Come on, every irish kid got some sorta mention on The Den. Id watch the birthdays every day hoping id show up (even if it wasnt my birthday), cant believe the oul one never sent my pic in for it!

Anyway, my goal was achieved when we were mentioned in a "hard luck to the lads from....." announcement by Ray regarding a football match he attended.

Rays a grand chap to talk to, smaller than yid think in real life (he must be, sure i was 11 and even i noticed it, im 20 now and im average height)

Jaysus, Ray feckin Darcy, wheres the pictures theyre goin right onto me bebo.....

Actually, and im sure yis will all agree, its ****ing bizarre to see a middle aged grey haird Ray Darcy on Your a Star. Ray was like your youngest uncle, the guy who was on your level. Now he nearly looks like my dad.

Of all the skangers i was in school with, i remember the skangeriest of the skangers won a prety nice bike when we were 9 or so, he was live on the phone "awhidonbelieveitbleedindeadleerayo!"

The bike got crushed by a truck 3 months later. Ida taken care of it, fcuk ya darcy!

Unpossible

The bike got crushed by a truck 3 months later.

lol

kaizersoze

Childrens tv is full of adult inuendo. There are two dog puppets on CBBC called "Scratch & Sniff".:)

iFight

kaizersoze wrote:

Childrens tv is full of adult inuendo. There are two dog puppets on CBBC called "Scratch & Sniff".:)

hehehehehehe. The creators have a sense of humour anyway.

Ruu_Old

Ah I remember Dustin and his Bertie and Mary Harney bashing alright, it is probably where kids learned their politics from. There was quite a few times where John Hume would be on the Den or they would go visit him in the North to educate kids on the issues.

iguana

Dustin's full name is Dustin Hoffman. I just thought that was the joke.

Miguel_Sanchez

Dustin' the Turkey? Never heard anyone use that until this thread.

I don't think it was but then again I could be wrong. I mean, we all know what a Zig Zag meant back in the 80's don't we? I can't believe they got away with calling puppets those names!

Also I talked to Zig and Zag on the phone once. I believe I won a book.

MrJoeSoap

Jeff_Lebowski wrote:

I mean, we all know what a Zig Zag meant back in the 80's don't we? I can't believe they got away with calling puppets those names!

What did a Zig Zag mean? A black person was it???

Wertz

Just like Dobbin the Horse or Muffin the Mule....nothing new here....the fact that you didn't notice shows that it was well hidden, or that you had a farily innocent upbringing. No harm in that.
Now if RTÉ had decided to have a chicken called Chokin, it might have jumped out at people a little more...TBH I don't know how they got away with podge and rodge when they debuted on the Den...Dustin was mild in comparison...

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

iguana wrote:

Dustin's full name is Dustin Hoffman. I just thought that was the joke.

That's what I thought, because when he first came out, he looked just like the Hoffman puppet on Spitting image.

As regards adult-innuendo in children's tv...

Captain Pugwash (Alleged Assie slang for a blowjob) Seaman Staines, Master Bates, Roger the cabin boy (original names if you believe the urban myth)

The magic roundabout characters are supposed to be based on effects of drugs...

As regrards 'being robbed of our childhood'... Sounds like a polite piece of conformist thinking to me. Beats happy smiley unctuous BBC style cleanliness any day.

Miguel_Sanchez

MrJoeSoap wrote:

What did a Zig Zag mean? A black person was it???

Nah. Sure there was no black people in Ireland in the 80's. No gays either.

Miguel_Sanchez

Podge was absolutely class on the Den.

"Ooooohhh reeeeallllly?"

When he first started talking to Zig it freaked loads of kids out.

My personal favourite was when they opened the burger joint and Podge came back disguised as the Health Inspector - "I'm going to close this gin joint down!"

My uncle used to have all the old Podge links taped - then somebody wiped the tape on him. Booooo!

MrJoeSoap

Jeff_Lebowski wrote:

Nah. Sure there was no black people in Ireland in the 80's. No gays either.

Um, okay? So what was a Zig Zag?

I know a Gollywog was supposedly a racist term, but I'd never heard of a Zig Zag?

Ciaran500

A zigzag is a joint apparently. Not sure if thats what he's reffereing to though.

Tha Gopher

Zigzags are rolling papers. Never thought about it but yeah, good point

Sure look at Scooby Doo. Scooby and Shaggy with the constant munchies for scooby snacks. Shaggys physical appearance (unwashed, unshaven, same clothes). The line from the theme song "Scooby Doobie Doo, where are you" Driving around the place in a psychadelically coloured van looking for ghosts, with talking dogs as companions. Pure stoned cartoonism.

_blank_

A zigzag isn't a joint.

There are rolling papers called Zig Zags.

http://www.zigzagpapers.com/home.asp

Miguel_Sanchez

I was only messing. The names Zig and Zag have no double meanings that I know of.

Just wanted to see what people would think of.

Speaking of which - there's an awful shortage of Zig and Zag clips from The Den on YouTube. Anyone know where I can get some for the auld nostalgia?

OFDM

Makes you wonder what hidden innuendo is in the names Podge and Rodge...

seinstein

I've never heard that saying before:'dustin' the turkey'
But thinking about it I assume its something to do with, you know...

Maybe the creators of 'The Den' are a dirty bunch but i'm sure its got to be one big coincidence..right!:o

[Jackass]

Sure, on russian tv they've a childrens programme hosted by a cat called "Smelly Minge".

flogen

Wertz wrote:

Just like Dobbin the Horse or Muffin the Mule....nothing new here....the fact that you didn't notice shows that it was well hidden, or that you had a farily innocent upbringing. No harm in that.
Now if RTÉ had decided to have a chicken called Chokin, it might have jumped out at people a little more...TBH I don't know how they got away with podge and rodge when they debuted on the Den...Dustin was mild in comparison...

I don't think it was that I didn't notice it out of innocence but more that I shouldn't have been aware of the slang term at the age I was first introduced to Dustin, and so I just accepted the phrase as his name and never bothered looking at it objectively until now!

Ikky Poo2 wrote:

Captain Pugwash (Alleged Assie slang for a blowjob) Seaman Staines, Master Bates, Roger the cabin boy (original names if you believe the urban myth)

The magic roundabout characters are supposed to be based on effects of drugs...

As regrards 'being robbed of our childhood'... Sounds like a polite piece of conformist thinking to me. Beats happy smiley unctuous BBC style cleanliness any day.

As far as I know they were all made up... wiki has more
Although the Wikipedia might just be a bunch of conformists who can't take a joke or exaggeration tbh.

Nick wrote:

Sure, on russian tv they've a childrens programme hosted by a cat called "Smelly Minge".

That's a different story though, the word Minge probably means nothing in Russian and may have been used completely innocently; look up the story of the drink Irish Mist and it's German launch as another example of this.

Pigman II

Jeff_Lebowski wrote:

Dustin' the Turkey? Never heard anyone use that until this thread.

Same here.

Next the OP is gonna tell us that 'Gordon the Gopher' is a euphemism for shoving small furry animals up your ass.

flogen

Pigman II wrote:

Same here.

Next the OP is gonna tell us that 'Gordon the Gopher' is a euphemism for shoving small furry animals up your ass.

I don't know how to Gordon something...

It seems as though Dusting the Turkey isn't used in that way very much... I hope this thread will go some way to changing that

Pigman II

flogen wrote:

I don't know how to Gordon something...

It's the D4 'to protect'./'to hide'

eg I was at porty in the Rock the other night. I brought 6 Heino along and was gordon them from Fiachra by hiding them behind the sofar.

zilog_jones

flogen wrote:

As far as I know they were all made up... wiki has more
Although the Wikipedia might just be a bunch of conformists who can't take a joke or exaggeration tbh.

Yeah, it was all made up - this was brought to attention on a couple of those top 100 pointless nostalgia shows on TV in the last few years. They mentioned that lawsuit too.

chamlis

"Seaman Staines" ffs

Actually, I think "Roger the cabin boy" is hillarious

Big Knox

On the same note but on a much more obvious level if you remember the kids show rainbow check this out. Its only 3 mins long.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z03-_aWILTQ&mode=related&search=

Sapposidly the writers got fired after the episode was made. No idea if thats true or not though...

Still its pretty hilarious.

Zapp Brannigan

No that was a Christmas Party joke, that was never shown.

If its the clip I presume it is...

Sparky

I always liked the way Dustin slagged the sh1te out of westlife.
When the euro ads were on he would slag the "the change is in your pocket"

Call me mad, but I had his first album.
Dustin and Bob Geldof singing together...a classic.

Brian Capture

Dustin is a scumbag - the type of ignorant, narrow-minded, insular Dub you go miles out of your way to avoid.

BlitzKrieg

Brian Capture wrote:

Dustin is a scumbag - the type of ignorant, narrow-minded, insular Dub you go miles out of your way to avoid.

but as long as he is stuck in the tv he's funny to watch.

Tha Gopher

Sparky-s wrote:

Call me mad, but I had his first album.
Dustin and Bob Geldof singing together...a classic.

lol, aye they re did Rat Trap.

"Dustin take a walk take a walk take a waallkkk"

"Geldof take a wash take a wash take a wassshhh!"


Does anyone remember the time they went to Moscow?

Or when Socky first arrived, none of the rest of them liked him and talked about him behind his back, at the end of one show it showed him tearfully packing up and leaving and then the lads were sorry for what theyd done, and he came back (presumably an anti bullying thing going on)


I remember once when i was about 8 they had a national school class of kids my age on from the area of Leitrim my granded had been born in but left in his teens/early 20s. I remember snapping thinking "if my grandad hadnt moved from Leitrim, ida been born there and ida went to that school and been on the Den!"


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Den_(television) good article here. Zig once said "ah for fcuk sake" to a child

Flukey

America is of course more strict, even in adult viewing. However, there are a lot of adult jokes and subtle ones that would go over a kid's head. Obviously the Simpsons comes to mind, with a lot of stuff that only adults would pick up, even it is not innuendo. Just political stuff or digs at certain people or society in general.

Programmes like Sesame Street had a lot of subtle humour too. They did a lot of stereotypical characters, like Kermit when he was doing his news reporter. Little things like catching him offguard when the camera came on to him, that you would sometimes see in reality.

Some of the reports themselves were full of things that a lot of the smaller kids would not have picked up on. There was one where he was interviewing Christopher Columbus before leaving on his trip when he discovered America. Obviously in reality he would not have known that was going to happen, so that whole concept in itself was funny. In the interview Kermit was asking him questions about how he was going to discover America and Christopher was saying things like how he was going to sail his ships across the sea and discover America. Near the end of that sketch, he asks Kermit what time it was. Kermit looks at his watch and answers "It's about 1492"

A lot of their music sketches were parodies on real music. They had one with 4 insects as a band called The Beetles. The were singing a song called "Letter B". Sesame Street was full of that kind of stuff, simple lines of dialogue in the middle of a sketch, stereotypes, subtle references to things etc. Stuff a 5 or 6 year old would never pick up on, but as you got older you would. Some classic stuff.

Dun laoire

Remember Rainbow


I think Zig Zag could be a slang for a fag??? I'm thinking that's what your man meant when he said there was no gays in the 80's. Could be wrong though.

whiskeyman

On the point of so many kids shows having areas aimed at adults - Saturday morning shows have to be the worst.
One of the funniest had to be on BBCs 'Dick and Dom in da Bungalow'.
I think Doms surname is Wood, and he had a t-shirt with 'Morning Wood' on it once... got a rake of complaints!

Terry

the jail in the simpsons is called "Morning wood penitentiary".

Flukey

There is one where Homer has lost Maggie, so he calls a hot line for missing children. The song being played while he is on hold is "Baby Come Back." There was another one when Homer was ringing the prison and they put him on hold. I can't think what the tune was now.

Zapho

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJE4OdhRjsM
Back when Ray was a young fella.

Wasn't there a thread about a couple of "mishaps" on the den, like some saying the f word accidently? The bad f word father , you know the one I mean!

Sofaspud

Flukey wrote:

There is one where Homer has lost Maggie, so he calls a hot line for missing children. The song being played while he is on hold is "Baby Come Back." There was another one when Homer was ringing the prison and they put him on hold. I can't think what the tune was now.

Or when he called the bad father's helpline wossname, and "cats in the cradle" was playing.

_blank_

Zapho wrote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJE4OdhRjsM
Back when Ray was a young fella.

AAAGH!

Right at the end of that is an "A-Moan Grumpy" piece that cuts off just as it's getting started. Ten times better than Aprés Match imo.