Dermot Morgan - Fearless Funnyman (Friday Dec 27th 9.50pm RTE1)

Skid X

A selection of the comedian's family, friends, colleagues and admirers, including Pat Shortt, Oliver Callan and Pauline McLynn, look back on his life, which was cut tragically short in 1998 at the age of just 45. As well as starring in the successful run of Father Ted, Dermot Morgan was a writer and satirist whose savage wit belied a caring nature. The programme reflects on his place in the annals of comic greats

Should be worth a look, hopefully they have some good archive of his Scrap Saturday and Live Mike shows. Hard to believe he was only 45 when he died, he was a huge talent.

Mr Pseudonym

Amazed to see that RTE has scheduled this at the same time as a comedy review of the year on RTE 2, called Totes Amazeballs. Apart from the fact that some may want to watch both, it offers no alternatives to those not interested in comedy.

statesaver

My TV viewing sorted for tonight. Thanks for the reminder.

Howard Juneau

Mr Pseudonym wrote: »

Amazed to see that RTE has scheduled this at the same time as a comedy review of the year on RTE 2, called Totes Amazeballs. Apart from the fact that some may want to watch both, it offers no alternatives to those not interested in comedy.

"Dear Mailbag"

Welsh Megaman

Looking forward to the Dermot documentary, but as for 'Totes Amazeballs' the title alone has put me off!

Like making a programme looking back at the year 2000 and calling it 'Waaaasssuuuuuppppp'!

Skid X

Mr Pseudonym wrote: »

Amazed to see that RTE has scheduled this at the same time as a comedy review of the year on RTE 2, called Totes Amazeballs. Apart from the fact that some may want to watch both, it offers no alternatives to those not interested in comedy.

Welsh Megaman wrote: »

Looking forward to the Dermot documentary, but as for 'Totes Amazeballs' the title alone has put me off!

Like making a programme looking back at the year 2000 and calling it 'Waaaasssuuuuuppppp'!

And bizarrely, it is one of two Eoghan McDermott programmes this week which do a 'humorous' review of the year. And there is a Radio 1 version of the second one. I miss Clive James

RTE2 Tonight 10pm Totes Amazeballs 2013
Eoghan McDermott presents a light-hearted countdown of 20 spectacular moments from 2013, from the worlds of television, the internet, twitter, music, sport and entertainment. The show features a host of comedians, including Mario Rosenstock, Jennifer Maguire, Bressie, Angela Scanlon, Bernard O'Shea and PJ Gallagher, who review the stories that made the public giggle, gossip and gasp

RTE2 New Year's Eve 11.10pm Next years News We ring in the New Year with Next Year's News is a new comedy panel show with a twist. Host Eoghan MacDermott and team captains, PJ Gallagher and Neil Delamere will take a look at the biggest stories of this year, and offer their comedy predictions of what is going to happen next.

If only Dermot Morgan was still around, I'm sure he could satirise this crazy duplication

Lisha

Am looking forward to this
And it's followed by an episode of the royle family I hope it's one of the better ones.
I foresee laughs, bottles of Heineken and crisps in my immediate future !

Welsh Megaman

AAAAAARRRRGGGGGGHHHHH!

TWINK!!!!

Lisha

Welsh Megaman wrote: »

AAAAAARRRRGGGGGGHHHHH!

TWINK!!!!

With a great big smelly onion in her pocket is say !

Lapin

Twink :mad:

Harry Angstrom

Fiona Looney :rolleyes:

Lapin

In fairness Father Trendy wasn't really that funny at all.


Shíte in fact.

Welsh Megaman

Rubberbandit x 1

Lapin

Why does Twink have to shout all the time?

Welsh Megaman

Abie Philbin Bowman :mad:

Harry Angstrom

When did Abie Philbin Bowman become an expert on everything?

baldbear

Harry Angstrom wrote: »

When did Abie Philbin Bowman become an expert on everything?

Hes got pull in RTE?

Atlantic Dawn

Twink, Adele King, now Adele Condron-King, what's next The Artist Formally Known As Twink.

statesaver

****ing hate that Mr Eastwood song

Atlantic Dawn

baldbear wrote: »

Hes got pull in RTE?

RoboAmish

The talking heads are like a Late Late Show guestlist. Must have pulled them in from the canteen.

Atlantic Dawn

Looking forward to the ROG documentary.

Lapin

Scrap Saturday was Morgan's best work in my opinion.


What is ROG so pissed off about ?

Welsh Megaman

Wonder how Tubs would have handled Dermot on the LLS, if he were still alive.

statesaver

Lapin wrote: »

Scrap Saturday was Morgan's best work in my opinion.


What is ROG so pissed off about ?

The rugby version of Roy Keane

Lapin

Getting rapidly bored with this.

Shay Healey is about the only contributor so far who I have found worth listening to.

Atlantic Dawn

Question about double barrelled names...Do you legally get one based on a mix of your parents surnames that will show on official documentation or is it just a made up name for the telly/your Facebook profile?

cats.life

he sounded just like Haughy (excuse my spelling),better sometimes.

RayM

If you close your eyes and just listen to Oliver Callan impersonating Charlie Haughey, you'd almost swear it was actually Oliver Callan impersonating Charlie Haughey.

Atlantic Dawn

He was on TV for the Robinson era, thought he was off RTÉ long before that.

Lisha

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Question about double barrelled names...Do you legally get one based on a mix of your parents surnames that will show on official documentation or is it just a made up name for the telly/your Facebook profile?

I think that Mary Murphy if she marries Mary Murphy Buckley . In that case she or her kids can use both or either name

However if Mary Murphy marries and calls herself Mary Murphy-Buckley then she and her kids legal name is murphy-Buckley.

So better not to use hyphen IMHO

A lot if people use both names on FB just to be recognisable to more people. In real life they may only use one name

The length of this post illustrates my boredom at the mo

Welsh Megaman

Are Linehan and Matthews on speaking terms again?

Welsh Megaman

Ah, the Chinese...a great bunch of lads

Lisha

Oh my lovely horse

Fantastic episode

Lapin

Welsh Megaman wrote: »

Are Linehan and Matthews on speaking terms again?

I didn't know they fell out.

What happened?

Lapin

Some set of gnashers on the young fella.

Harry Angstrom

Ben could do with a haircut.

Welsh Megaman

Lapin wrote: »

I didn't know they fell out.

What happened?

Disagreements during the making of 'Big Train'.

Linehan broke away to make 'The IT Crowd'.

baldbear

And all the lousy corrupt politicians who live into old age and poor Dermot gone before his time. He was my comedic hero.

Sam Kade

Mr Pseudonym wrote: »

Amazed to see that RTE has scheduled this at the same time as a comedy review of the year on RTE 2, called Totes Amazeballs. Apart from the fact that some may want to watch both, it offers no alternatives to those not interested in comedy.

Totes amazeballs now that is compulsive viewing :rolleyes:

Boom__Boom

Sam Kade wrote: »

Totes amazeballs now that is compulsive viewing :rolleyes:

Switched to RTE2 to watch Father Ted at 11 (like I'm sure a lot of others did) and it seems like every @sshole under 40 employed by RTE appeared as a talking head appeared in TotesAmazeball in the few minutes.

Sam Kade

Boom__Boom wrote: »

Switched to RTE2 to watch Father Ted at 11 (like I'm sure a lot of others did) and it seems like every @sshole under 40 employed by RTE appeared as a talking head appeared in TotesAmazeball in the few minutes.

I didn't know half of them for the few minutes I endured it. All they were doing was repeating what was in the clip over and over :mad:

Sheela

Re Matthews and Lenihan falling out - G.L. gave out on Twitter earlier in the year about an article in the Irish Independent that said they weren't on speaking terms. A.M. replied agreeing that it was rubbish.

Lapin

Sam Kade wrote: »

I didn't know half of them for the few minutes I endured it. All they were doing was repeating what was in the clip over and over :mad:

Thats not bad going.

I didn't know any of them.

Mr Pseudonym

That was difficult to watch. We should have had more of Dermot Morgan, and less of the personal responses - which, like many, I found most annoying. Many of the interviewees had no connection with Morgan, which would be fine, but for the fact that few contributed anything insightful or interesting: Arthur Matthews said that Morgan’s impression of Hitler was so good that it’s almost as if he watched recordings in preparation!! Is it really that extraordinary that he would observe one whom he is to mimic? Mathews then dropped the gem that, during the shooting of Father Ted, they’d sit around Morgan, and “he’d be telling stories…some of them unrepeatable.”

Several made unsubstantiated assertions about how he shook-up the establishment, etc: of course, to our ears, none of the comedy of yesteryear seams risque. But, looking at the audience reactions, it didn’t appear as if it was controversial even then.

I wasn’t comfortable with the central theme - “Fearless Comedian”. To be fearless, he has to have risked something. But, he appeared not to have. RTE, a fairly conservative broadcaster, gave him multiple platforms, didn’t interfere with his comedy, and were forthcoming with offers of shows. I laughed when Fiona Looney defended Morgan’s underwhelming first solo show - “He didn’t know how to make TV - how could he? There’s no degree course in it.” It seems to me that Father Ted, without which this documentary wouldn’t have been made, was the safest thing he did.

Being only a young’un, I saw a completely different Dermot Morgan from the one I knew, and I just wish they’d have let that stuff speak for itself, rather than trying to invent significance when it may not exist.

This critique wouldn't be complete without a mention of APB. What a guy! Why isn't there more of him on our TV's? You'd think that, if your father were the not-so-modest John Bowman, you'd inevitably be pompous and supercilious. Not Abie! He stares banality in the face, and then blinks repeatedly. Where a few words will do, he gives a thesis. So clever is this man, that, when he first saw FT, he "didn't quite get it". In truth, he carried the documentary, and I shudder to think what it would have been like if left to people who actually know what they're talking about.

Radio5

Agree 100% with the last posting.

We could have done with less of the usual talking heads and seen and heard more of the actual comedy.

Would have liked to have heard from Owen Roe, Fran Dempsey (if he is still around) and Gerry Stembridge and not from the likes of Callan and PJ Gallagher, the latter 2 are about as funny as a bad sinus infection.

They had only a small clip of Mike Murphy, lifted from another show , which was disappointing. The Live Mike was really a great variety show for its time and like it or not , Twink was integral part of that so I had no problem with her being there.

Scrap Saturday was compulsive listening on a Saturday morning in the early 90's. There has been nothing like it since. My dad was a huge fan of Hall's Pictorial weekly and he always says that Scrap was the only thing that came close to having the same impact.

Was I the only one who noticed the inclusion of a most vile individual in the footage of the real life "showbiz" priests ? You'd have to wonder how that got through. But then again this is RTE so maybe not.

jmcc

Welsh Megaman wrote: »

Wonder how Tubs would have handled Dermot on the LLS, if he were still alive.

For a few seconds I was wondering if Tubridy was actually a zombie - it would explain his dead delivery and the concentration on suffering and death.

Pity that Dermot Morgan died so young.

Regards...jmcc