Memories of the The Den

DEFTLEFTHAND

It followed Bosco. What a show, it was ahead of it's time in many respects Ian, Ray, Damien and the ginger Leitrim guy.

A staple of many folk's childhood. The turkey Dustin the builder, Socky the sock monster ,Zuppy the dog, Snotser the inner city drug dealer.

A period when RTE encouraged innovation, it was a wonderful time to be a child.

Menas

Best line on that show was when Zuppy was making a nuisance of himself, Zig (or was it Zag) asked Ian could they let Zuppy out to play on the Stillorgan dual carriageway.

efb

Did The Den follow Bosco? Dempsey's Den did but was Bosco still around when it became The Den?

(Sorry for being a pedant but big Iano fan)

Yes - it was. Always be Dempsey's Den to me! Feck off Ray D'arcy back to Jo Maxi!

DEFTLEFTHAND

efb wrote: »

Did The Den follow Bosco? Dempsey's Den did but was Bosco still around when it became The Den?

(Sorry for being a pedant but big Iano fan)

My early memories of tv were coming home from junior primary school years and catching Bosco at 2pm, the Den would follow at 3pm, with the boys.

ygolometsipe

The Good
Podge and Rodge
Ray fighting some panda teddy
Dustin making adult jokes some I even got as a kid.
The Xmass specials

The Bad
zig and zag going to England (ffs, even aliens leaving ireland to improve their "prospects")
Ian leaving
Ray leaving

The Ugly
I grew up

DEFTLEFTHAND

I used to love when the turkey would rip into culchie callers in an arrogant jackeen tone. It was genius, they had a lot of free reign back then. These days sadly you probably couldn't get away with it on children's tv.

Samsgirl

Loved Dustin's campagin to be President. And how he ripped into Mary Robinson when she was in The Den for having smelly feet!!

Mint Aero

Great show. You wouldn't see them antics on childrens tv today. Burping, farting, dustin bullying pat kenny, ray being physically abused by a panda. Socky being a little "special" and dustin taking full advantage of him for his own personal gain. Presenters laughing at stupid kids when they made a fool of themselves on their quizzes. The malevolence of podge. Dustin mocking rays ma and most guests. Snotser, as mentioned already a little slow from years of heroin use in Dublins early 90's inner city. Great show.

It's all f*cking peppa pig and barney sh*t these days with love and feelings and crap. Hence why we had an epidemic of emos, goths and weird stuff post mid 2000's as them kids didn't quite grow up with Dustin as an influence.

RichardCeann

The Halloween and Christmas specials were brilliant. Postman Patrick/Podge was always up to no good. They are on YouTube if you want to show your own kids or young relatives.

Poor Uncle Tom

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

I used to love when the turkey would rip into culchie callers in an arrogant jackeen tone. It was genius, they had a lot of free reign back then. These days sadly you probably couldn't get away with it on children's tv.

The turkey was waaaay overrated, I never got the charm of the insulting puppet, it was just crass lad ism with a Dub accent, apparently it took sending him to the Eurovision before RTE actually got this message too.

RichardCeann

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

I used to love when the turkey would rip into culchie callers in an arrogant jackeen tone. It was genius, they had a lot of free reign back then. These days sadly you probably couldn't get away with it on children's tv.

Haha. The stick he used to throw at Gay Byrne was unreal too.

efb

Poor Uncle Tom wrote: »

The turkey was waaaay overrated, I never got the charm of the insulting puppet, it was just crass lad ism with a Dub accent, apparently it took sending him to the Eurovision before RTE actually got this message too.

Agreed- Dustin was a one trick pony flogged to death by RTE

Pajo was the original drugs kingpin on Sat mornings in his washing machine

Poor Uncle Tom

efb wrote: »

Pajo was the original drugs kingpin on Sat mornings in his washing machine

Still is, legend has it that Pajenberg is cooking the green in a washing machine hidden in plain view in an unofficial halting site on the Ennis bypass.......

efb

Poor Uncle Tom wrote: »

Still is, legend has it that Pajenberg is cooking the green in a washing machine hidden in plain view in an unofficial halting site on the Ennis bypass.......

With Bosco! Tà bítch!

Wang King

The best bits for me was when Simon Young used to do Garda Patrol with Dustin.... It would start off so well, and then Simon would totally corpse over something Dustin said, and that was it, Dustin drove it home and poor Simon was convulsing in tears thru the rest of the segment.
He's had a hard life since those happy days, and I hope he's back on track a little

efb

Maybe it was me growing up but I thought they let that show really go to seed - the Cavan fella was awful!

Poor Uncle Tom

efb wrote: »

With Bosco! Tà bítch!

Knock knock any more, come with me through the magic door........

f**kin meth heads the lot of them......

efb

Poor Uncle Tom wrote: »

Knock knock any more, come with me through the magic door........

f**kin meth heads the lot of them......

Pimping out Marion and Grainne

Ray fighting Ted, with Ray in tears of laughter because someone kept throwing Ted back at him. Great stuff.

ygolometsipe

I found this

The Den - Christmas Crisis 2 (1996)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TO1YfW1xaHM

Watching it now, I'm in stitches, its really very funny.

The sound it a bit off at the start but it goes away after a minute.

Poor Uncle Tom

efb wrote: »

Pimping out Marion and Grainne

It was bound to happen, so many people stuffed under the presenters desks can only lead to one thing, the ruination of the nation......

ARTE, broadcasting into you living room 'the seedy' since the 1980, it was 40 coats legacy if you ask me, and that Godmother has a lot to answer for too.

The signs were there from the start......

efb

Poor Uncle Tom wrote: »

It was bound to happen, so many people stuffed under the presenters desks can only lead to one thing, the ruination of the nation......

ARTE, broadcasting into you living room 'the seedy' since the 1980, it was 40 coats legacy if you ask me, and that Godmother has a lot to answer for too.

The signs were there from the start......

Slightly bonkers was definitely off her tits on something

efb

Fetchit and Grabit weren't great drug mules for Pajo bless em- still had their uses

Football Friend

I remember seeing this live. Good man Kevin from Galway ðŸ˜႒

http://youtu.be/4fHD8QQXo_s

Poor Uncle Tom

efb wrote: »

Slightly bonkers was definitely off her tits on something

:D

guinea pig for the green....

ToddyDoody

Quiz night in a hall of 1000 or so 12 year olds. Q. "Who presented The Den after Ray Darcy?"

May as well have asked what's the third secret of Fatima.

I was a particular fan of the Friday night dance music show Damien presented when he moved on from the den. (just one of those strange things)

somefeen

I remember the Den well. Good times
2Phat was another one and Podge and Rodge; A scare at bedtime was pure brilliance. They went all to **** when they did that fecking talk show

duffman13

For nothing more than the Xmas specials the Den really has fond memories for me. Really got my imagination going around Xmas, nothing like it on TV now!

Drexel

loved the den. The christmas specials were brilliant.

For some weird reason though until I was about 6 I would watch Live at 3 instead

_Kaiser_

I was a child of Sky growing up.. We'd moved to Holland for a few years in the mid 80s (recession eh?) and they were very big over there at the time so I grew up watching all the cool cartoons on Fun Factory, DJ Kat etc - most of which never made it to UK/Irish terrestrial TV. Also had BBC over there and ITV as well I think.

Then when we came home we had Cablelink in Dublin so thankfully was never stuck with just RTE 1 and 2.. Almost never watched The Den as a result, although the 90s Batman cartoon was great.

Samaris

"Let's go see the BOX FACTORY!"

How many times did we all go through the magic door to see that blasted factory? It may have been the same clip constantly for all I remember.

pajor

Many fond of memories of the Den. Especially den2 at the tail end of the 90s, I can just about remember Ian Dempsey been on just after Bosco. Then after the Den was Echo Island.

The Halloween and Christmas specials were great. I remember the vampires constant efforts to kidnap and eat Zuppy. I always wanted to win the competitions they had for Halloween and Christmas. Those PS1s and big hi-fi systems looked the dogs' bollocks in 1998.

I'd agree that RTE flogged Dustin for way too long. But back then he was the funniest thing I had ever seen. I know many people's dislike for Ray D'Arcy on the radio (have never really listened to him) but was great on the Den imo.

"Sure when you're from the Emerald Isle you've fortaaayyy shades of graaaeeen.." :pac:

iDave

What more could a kid want after school. A lad having the craic with puppets interupted occasionally by a younger version of James Bond and an Irish speaking Fear Sneachta

Cianmcliam

I can just about remember the alien spaceship landing in Dempsey's Den for Zig and Zag's first appearance. I remember though that Dustin arrived after Ray had been going on about how Dustin Hoffman was going to be a guest on the show for what seemed like weeks. Dustin the Turkey's second name was Hoffman too, mad the things that lurk in the memory bank!

Vex Willems

_Kaiser_ wrote: »

I was a child of Sky growing up.. We'd moved to Holland for a few years in the mid 80s (recession eh?) and they were very big over there at the time so I grew up watching all the cool cartoons on Fun Factory, DJ Kat etc - most of which never made it to UK/Irish terrestrial TV. Also had BBC over there and ITV as well I think.

Then when we came home we had Cablelink in Dublin so thankfully was never stuck with just RTE 1 and 2.. Almost never watched The Den as a result, although the 90s Batman cartoon was great.

You missed out, big time!

I wouldn't have watch it for the cartoons, it was the bits in between the cartoons I enjoyed, in fact the cartoons got in the way.

What I really liked about it was that it didn't feel like a kids show, I remember seeing it after the puppets had left and there was a female presenter, it felt like they had really dumbed it down and I remember thinking thank god it wasn't like that when I was a kid!

Wang King

jonny666 wrote: »

loved the den. The christmas specials were brilliant.

For some weird reason though until I was about 6 I would watch Live at 3 instead

You probably were having milf fantasies about Thelma Mansfield

Annasopra

Samsgirl wrote: »

Loved Dustin's campagin to be President. And how he ripped into Mary Robinson when she was in The Den for having smelly feet!!

Didnt she call him Justin?

Irish Guitarist

I have memories of waiting for them all to shut up and show a cartoon.

Teyla Emmagan

Dustin was brilliant back then. He was just a breath of fresh air, there was nothing else like him at the time. Didn't he run for president as well one year? I loved zippy and podge. It was way better actually after zig and zag left. It was just chaotic bedlam for a few hours in the afternoon, it was brilliant.

Have just watched that Kevin from galway clip again, you would need the patience of a saint for that gig.

Degag

Ted and Ray fighting was great.

Anyone remember the toy grand prix's they did? Loved them.

ygolometsipe

Dónal wrote: »

Ray fighting Ted, with Ray in tears of laughter because someone kept throwing Ted back at him. Great stuff.

I wish I could like this twice, I was trying to remember the teddys name
.... ted

KomradeBishop

I remember the parody-song Christmas album that Dustin did once, that was brilliant (this one taking the piss out of music used in Trainspotting):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPeN61GrPy0

bur

Ray Darcy being likeable.

Turtyturd

_Kaiser_ wrote: »

I was a child of Sky growing up.. We'd moved to Holland for a few years in the mid 80s (recession eh?) and they were very big over there at the time so I grew up watching all the cool cartoons on Fun Factory, DJ Kat etc - most of which never made it to UK/Irish terrestrial TV. Also had BBC over there and ITV as well I think.

Then when we came home we had Cablelink in Dublin so thankfully was never stuck with just RTE 1 and 2.. Almost never watched The Den as a result, although the 90s Batman cartoon was great.

We had all that here, No need to go to Holland. DJ Kat was the first place to show the X-Men before Live and kicking got it on a Saturday morning.

As for The Den, the Christmas specials are the ones that really stand out, especially the one in New York. Also remember being pissed off every year when it had to finish early for 'The Budgie'.

Used to love when Dustin would show up on D'arcy's radio show and just take the piss out of him and his family. You could tell how uneasy D'arcy was across the airwaves.

NachoBusiness

Some good moments in this from 3m 47s onwards:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVQUkAaKpjU

Kwiecien

Did Dustin get suspended for a few weeks for calling Bosco a boll0#s or is that just an urban myth?

Loved Dempseys Den, Dustin, Zig and Zag. Got the Christmas no1 single on tape and played it to death. Podge and Rodge were brilliant too.

There's a dead man up the chimney
they call him Old St.Nick
we shot him up the @rse
and we poked him with a stick

Genius!

KKkitty

Ray used to be shattered after his fights with Ted. Remember when no one believed Podge was evil only Zig I think.

gabria

I am old enough to remember the Den from 1988 onwards but I always regret that I missed a lot of the fun by being a super goody two shoes always doing his homework or studying after school . The only day I would significantly watch it was Friday where I could postpone the homework. Ah yes, the memories of watching Littlest Hobo and the Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles with the usual chaos in the studio in between and then occasionally Zag's music (jazz? soul?) finale.

PizzamanIRL

Geri fecking Maye... Mmmmm

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo

Always got a good laugh out of Dustin doing the flap flaps. If I remember right he hated doing them but had to do them sometimes as a sort of punishment for something. Was it also that he accidentally used to do them if he got overly excited about something and would then get embarrassed. Or have I totally messed the memory of the flap flaps up?

When they tried to get Ray to kiss a girl and he'd get defensive was always highly amusing. I thought Ray was great on it. The Ted fights would go on for such a mental length of time.

Loved Zig and Zag as well.

It was a dam good show to watch as a kid.

_Whimsical_

It's well worth taking a moment to appreciate the genius of the Irish youth that watched The Den in it's day. This is perhaps it's most hilarious moment?

I remember sending countless drawings in and they never showed mine. It was a source of some pain.