Father Figure - Jason Byrne sitcom [RTÉ2 / BBC1]

Basq

So.. am guessing due to the success of "Mrs Browns Boys", the Beeb has decided Irish fronted comedy / sitcoms is the next big thing!

Am just listening to Jarlath Regan's podcast interview with Jason Byrne - his new sitcom "Father Figure" is starting shortly.

I find Byrne more miss than hit to be honest.. and from the clips I've seen, this looks like more the stereotypical trash we've seen from the O Carroll camp.

Odds are the Brits will lap it up though.

Airing next Monday on RTÉ2 and next Wednesday on BBC1.

Lovely Bloke

Saw the ad, it looks absolutely shíte.

wp_rathead

i'm not a big fan of Jason Byrne at the best of times, but that looks arguably even worse than Mrs. Brown Boys...

AnonoBoy

wprathead wrote: »

i'm not a big fan of Jason Byrne at the best of times, but that looks arguably even worse than Mrs. Brown Boys...

Chances are though the jokes will at least have been written for the show rather than robbed from the 1970s.

AlmightyCushion

From the clips, it looks awful and Byrne is rubbish in them. Did anyone else think the woman Byrne is fighting with in the first episode was Hayley from Coronation Street instead of Pauline McLynn.

Call Me Jimmy

Not only does it look like you would have to be braindead to appreciate it but god damn those laugh tracks... damn them to hell.

JP Liz V1

Oh god this is bad

Wile E. Coyote

JP Liz V1 wrote: »

Oh god this is bad

It's worse than bad. It's absolute sh*te. Had to turn it off.

grey_so_what

Dear, oh dear..........I'm off to the News......even bad news is good news here........:(

ShagNastii

The only place this belongs is sunday afternoon for the grannies.

A million years away from the Monday nights of the Dara's panel, Bachelors Walk and even Father Ted in it's prime.

Dargull

This is painful viewing. Absolutely terrible stuff altogether.

Layinghen

The trailer for this show is cringe inducing. Presume they picked the best bits for the trailer, then show is definitely something to avoid.

Deathwish4

I never thought I would find a programme worse than PJ Gallaghers meet your neighbours shyte, well I was wrong..

This is beyond awful. Who sanctions this rubbish.

grey_so_what

http://www.independent.ie/business/media/160-tv-licence-fee-is-too-low-says-rte-as-it-seeks-more-public-funds-29583345.html

Read and weep..............:(

Lady Chatterton

Sweet Baby Jaysus :eek: This is so bad it makes Mrs. Brown's Boys look like quality television.

turbostan

Worst I've seen in a long time, painful!!

duridian

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

Saw the ad, it looks absolutely shíte.

Sat through the program. Feel like my eyes were molested.

lubie76

FFS, between this and Mario rosenstock new show- sweet lord I want to break the telly box!

duridian

Hope Andy Quirke can redeem things a bit at 10'oc

ShagNastii

Not too shabby thus far.

Gibbonw2

It was always going to be terrible. Hes a 1 trick pony, sorry, ass. And his trick is, apparently from comedy fraud. His stupid attempted impersonations and constant laughter at his own jokes are ridiculously annoying. How he thought this utter rubbish would be received well, or even ok, is a reflection on his delusion. Its unoriginal, cheesy, un funny and that background laughter . How in gods name could the BBC commision this. (rte buying it is no shock) i amn't a fan of brendan o carroll but mrs browns has a growing warmth to it and it doesnt try to be anything but vulgar and simple viewing. Quite surprised. Damo and Ivor isnt as bad as i expected.

LynnGrace

lubie76 wrote: »

FFS, between this and Mario rosenstock new show- sweet lord I want to break the telly box!

Same as that. Sat through about ten minutes of each programme, didn't even raise a smile. Rubbish!

DenMan

The biggest crock of rubbish I have ever seen! Seriously people stay away from it! Awful stuff!!! :eek:

Gibbonw2

Its a pity about Mario. Very funny, intelligent and likeable man and very funny on radio. But a lot of the tv sketches dont work. Especially the long ones (i mean, that shatter sketch was terrible!) i think hes worth a watch though but not as good as i anticipated. The punchline of the Pat Kenny joke was a highlight, and although a bit long, i thought he nailed Francis Brennan (something francis would, no doubt, not complain of!) and joan burton always raises a smile!

patk72

Who went beyond 5 minutes of Byrnes show?...my guess is beyond the people who are involved in that ****e 0

gdawg87

Expected better from J Byrne... Very disappointed

Loughc

gdawg87 wrote: »

Expected better from J Byrne

There's your mistake!

earlytobed

Up there with The Cassidys as the worst ever

Dargull

Jason Byrne on the Ray D'arcy show now. Ray of course loved the show.

gazzer

It was like something you would see on the CBBC.

Jason Byrne is an attrocious comedian. His entire act consists of him doing stupid oul wan voices.

Even though Damo and Ivor was not great it was a million times better than Father Figure.

Robert2012

This was so awful it could well become unmissable TV...Up there with "Leave it to Mrs O'Brien" and "Upwardly Mobile" in the pantheon of atrocious Irish comedy.


*pops over to the Damo and Ivor thread to copy and paste this

celtic tiger 2011

I wonder what the brits will make of it. I reckon if they liked Mrs Brown Boys they will love this. Its on BBC 1 tomorrow for anyone who has missed it.

JonathanAnon

gdawg87 wrote: »

Expected better from J Byrne... Very disappointed

I expected better from your expectations..

Eeden

Changed channel after about five minutes... then changed back, because I knew I'd be giving out about it, so thought I'd better actually watch a whole episode. But I couldn't stick it out until the end. I just couldn't. How did this pass every stage of production to make it on to TV?!

fryup

the BBC have just out done RTE in true awfulness, how the hell did this get the green light??

AnonoBoy

fryup wrote: »

the BBC have just out done RTE in true awfulness, how the hell did this get the green light??

Because of Mrs Browns Boys I'd say.

Skid X

fryup wrote: »

the BBC have just out done RTE in true awfulness, how the hell did this get the green light??

No mystery there.

He has been a regular on Radio 2 and Radio 4, where he has made a number of series and appeared on many other shows. Radio 4 is a well established breeding ground for BBC TV comedies.

Then this show was developed for radio (clearly with one eye on a potential TV crossover). No doubt, The success of Mrs Brown's Boys helped his chances of getting the TV show commissioned.

“Julia McKenzie, a BBC radio comedy producer, came to see my stand-up in Edinburgh,” he explains, “then we got talking and she said, ‘Your life is chaos, you wouldn’t even be writing a sitcom, you could just describe your life.’” The result, Father Figure, ran for a full series on Radio 2 before BBC1 came calling.

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2013-09-18/why-do-so-many-comics-only-find-their-voice-on-the-radio

I'm not saying the show is any good (I haven't seen it), but he has been working at getting it on TV for years.

who the fug

All I can say is Brendan Grace must be fuming , Mrs Browns Boys and now this

Kept waiting for Jimmy Cricket to pop up

celtic tiger 2011

But the question is will the Brits take to it, like they took to Mrs Brown?.

Skid X

celtic tiger 2011 wrote: »

But the question is will the Brits take to it, like they took to Mrs Brown?.

Jason Byrne’s new sitcom made only a modest start in the ratings last night.

Father Figure was seen by an average of 1.4million viewers – almost a million down on the average for that 10.35pm BBC one slot.

and the critics were not kind either ...

Metro said: ‘Father Figure managed to commit every sitcom cliché crime in the book: dopey bloke, interfering mother, long-suffering wife, victim neighbours, bonkers relatives. All of it wrapped up in an unsavoury mess of vomit and poo ‘jokes’.

The Daily Telegraph said in its one-star review: ’What we need is for these implausible situations to be delivered with wit, brilliant timing and a superbly funny script. Father Figure failed on every count.’

And at the weekend Scotland on Sunday damned it with the faintest of praise,saying: I suppose it’s a bit better than Ben Elton’s megaflop The Wright Way.’

http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2013/09/19/18688/weak_start_for_father_figure

Neeson

Vomit and poo jokes?

What does that remind me of?

Oh yeah Mrs Brown.
Must be the way Brendan tells them.

JONJO THE MISER

I have never seen such ****e in my life, hated Byrne anyway with his idiotic show anonymous, but this takes it to a whole other level.

COYW

celtic tiger 2011 wrote: »

I wonder what the brits will make of it. I reckon if they liked Mrs Brown Boys they will love this. Its on BBC 1 tomorrow for anyone who has missed it.

I don't know anyone over there who likes that. They don't get it and can't stand it. One person apologized to me before telling me he didn't like it, as he thought I might be offended by his remarks. We had a great laugh about how terrible it was over a pint after that.

Granted they were all southerners, so the northerners might be the ones who have made it such a hit. Missed Jason's show, ... lucky me, by the sounds of it.

Basq

Just switched over and see the brilliant Michael Smiley in it...

.. depressing!

celtic tiger 2011

Did anybody seen tonight's episode?.

Eeden

Just couldn't do it....

JONJO THE MISER

celtic tiger 2011 wrote: »

Did anybody seen tonight's episode?.

I was going to but there was a fly in the room so i just watched him instead.

duridian

celtic tiger 2011 wrote: »

Did anybody seen tonight's episode?.

Saw a bit of it. The bit I saw seemed to consist of the whole idiot family driving to a bottle bank and then sitting till doomsday in a people carrier that wouldn't start.
Mrs. Doyle had sandwiches for them all stuffed in a money belt round her waist.
After that scene I went back to flicking through the other channels in case I missed any new insurance ads.

chucksandstorm

I still feel dirty after watching 2 minutes of this muck

celtic tiger 2011

chucksandstorm wrote: »

I still feel dirty after watching 2 minutes of this muck

Do you ever think we exaggerate how how good , good comedies are and how how bad, bad comedies are. As Joe Duffy sad you are never as bad as the critics say you are or never as good as they say you are.

Burkatron

celtic tiger 2011 wrote: »

Do you ever think we exaggerate how how good , good comedies are and how how bad, bad comedies are. As Joe Duffy sad you are never as bad as the critics say you are or never as good as they say you are.

Have you watched it?