Gerry Ryan Documentary RTE1 9:30PM 26/4h

blinding

Gerry Ended up Bloated like Rte, that he worked for.

Rte = Bloaters Incorporated ! !

batman75

Whether you like him or not I think he was the last broadcaster that RTE have had that was a character. He was his own man rightly or wrongly. Tubridy, D'Arcy, O'Callaghan and Duffy are all bland non descript broadcasters. None do an awful job but none do a good job either.

Brock Turnpike

batman75 wrote: »

Whether you like him or not I think he was the last broadcaster that RTE have had that was a character. He was his own man rightly or wrongly. Tubridy, D'Arcy, O'Callaghan and Duffy are all bland non descript broadcasters. None do an awful job but none do a good job either.

You're bring very generous to them all with that statement. VERY generous.

batman75

Brock Turnpike wrote: »

You're bring very generous to them all with that statement. VERY generous.

The quarantine has brought out the kindness in me. I'm not normally this kind :D

Mysterypunter

Usual RTÉ rubbish, I remember he was on operation transformation and laughing at the fact that he was preaching to people about a healthy lifestyle, thought it was hypocritical at the time, and then the chap died. Rewriting history and papering over his faults, the chap was only an overpaid RTÉ dude, should be put on a pedestal, but the way some people talk, you would think he was a hero. Wasn't in my book, but he was entertaining and a lively personality, but it's the RTÉ ****e that always overshadows this type of programme, it is like a mind control cult, very unhealthy, a bit like Gerry.

LoughNeagh2017

I didn't know who he was until this thread, maybe an example of a north-south divide with media.

salonfire

LoughNeagh2017 wrote: »

I didn't know who he was until this thread, maybe an example of a north-south divide with media.

Thank God for that divide. I couldn't hack listening to the Northern news every day.

Tork

No. Not to mention the accent. Gawd. Leave them where they are.

blinding

LoughNeagh2017 wrote: »

I didn't know who he was until this thread, maybe an example of a north-south divide with media.

You didn’t miss anything.

He was just another Bloater that worked for Bloated Rte that died from Bloating himself with Drugs and Drink.

Southern Scum.

lukin

I only got around to watching this last night.The dark side of Ryan' personal life was glossed over (as I expected). The program seemed to hint that the stress of his money problems was what made him start taking cocaine. Surely the coke was the cause of his money problems; it is a fairly expensive habit I'd imagine.
It was interesting to hear from Lavinia Kerwick on it; people who weren't around at the time this broke in 1993 wouldn't be able to grasp how big a story it was. Gerry Ryan deserves praise for the way he handled it and I believe his concern for this girl was genuine and he wasn't just doing it for a ratings boost.
Looking back now, a lot of the content of his talk shows was more juvenile than controversial (sex toys, bodily functions etc.). If a radio talk show host went on with that stuff now he or she would be ridiculed rather than criticised.
Maybe that is because almost very taboo has been broken now in broadcasting.

Tork

How big a coke user was he though? Going by the tone of what some people post here, you'd think he was singlehandedly keeping Ireland's cocaine trade going. My guess is that a large proportion of his money went on eating and drinking. Didn't he say at one point that his canteen was the restaurant in the Four Seasons Hotel? Someone mentioned how much he'd spend on a bottle of wine when eating out. I can't remember how much it was now but it was well into 3 figures.

rightmove

watched it finally. Listening to "the kids meant everything to him.. he would leave a meeting if one of them rang him"....so he is paid a fortune to p4ss off the second he gets a personal call. Any dave fanning banging on about the fact he was terrific for not doing any prep....

I like GR in his time but he turned into one serious arse.

Speaking of which how is bandaid ..blanaid blandiaidhl. doing ... the one thats suing rte..you know

batman75

rightmove wrote: »

Speaking of which how is bandaid ..blanaid blandiaidhl. doing ... the one thats suing rte..you know

Whoever is responsible for her getting into RTE has a lot of questions to answer. It's fine for them to say their legal team will handle it but I don't pay my TV license to be handed to presenters who take Mickey Mouse litigation against the station.

shaveAbullock

Tork wrote: »

How big a coke user was he though? Going by the tone of what some people post here, you'd think he was singlehandedly keeping Ireland's cocaine trade going.

For me it was more about how he used to vilify drug users and dealers on his show. If he didn't frequently bring up this topic to talk about how awful drug users were I'd have no issue.

qwerty13

shaveAbullock wrote: »

For me it was more about how he used to vilify drug users and dealers on his show. If he didn't frequently bring up this topic to talk about how awful drug users were I'd have no issue.

Same. The only difference between him and the guys who shoplift etc to fund their habit was that he had enough (just about, apparently) money that he funded his own habit. But yet he somehow viewed himself as a breed apart from the ‘ordinary’ drug user.

blinding

qwerty13 wrote: »

Same. The only difference between him and the guys who shoplift etc to fund their habit was that he had enough (just about, apparently) money that he funded his own habit. But yet he somehow viewed himself as a breed apart from the ‘ordinary’ drug user.

A Waster getting Wasted on Public Money. The Rte Way !

qwerty13

blinding wrote: »

A Waster getting Wasted on Public Money. The Rte Way !

Well, I guess he and others in RTE could have wasted their bloated salaries on many things: drugs, drink, fancy dining, cars, property. It’s the hypocrisy that gets me.

Well, that and I’m never quite comfortable with the idea that shoving a load of stuff up your nose earns money for nasty people who drag others into their circle, and ruin their lives through violence and intimidation. But if drugs were decriminalised, that would stop that. That’s a whole different discussion though.

But the point remains: he believed his own bullsh*t way too much, and had his own vice that he felt perfectly ok to pontificate about ‘lesser people than him’ (my take on it) doing exactly the same thing.

shaveAbullock

If you replace heroin with coke in this skit it could very well be a piss take on people like Gerry

https://youtu.be/4xhdPmu2dEA?t=19

batman75

I think one lesson RTE need to learn from the GR documentary is that the station needs to stop eulogising past or deceased employees. It's nauseating.

qwerty13

shaveAbullock wrote: »

If you replace heroin with coke in this skit it could very well be a piss take on people like Gerry

https://youtu.be/4xhdPmu2dEA?t=19

BRILLIANT

blinding

shaveAbullock wrote: »

If you replace heroin with coke in this skit it could very well be a piss take on people like Gerry

https://youtu.be/4xhdPmu2dEA?t=19

Sums up the “ Priests “ of Rte alright. Brilliant !

Atlantic Dawn

Repeated again tonight at 9.30 on RTE1, Valentine's Day viewing from RTE.

jobless

Wow forgotten how much I disliked him

walshb

Never rated him

Smutty vulgar pompous!

rightmove

Lottie is preggers so the brand needs a push

Cole

Say what you want about Gerry Ryan...and some of you have...but he was good at what he did on radio. I was never really a fan, but I went through the stations in the car this morning and ended up on his old 2fm slot with Jennifer Zamparelli...holy Jaysus, some people are really stealing a living on the airways.

Hyperbollix

There were many reasons to dislike Gerry Ryan. His obsession with salacious nonsense, his pompous persona, his love of cocaine and living like a lord on his RTE salary etc etc etc. But I'd give him one thing. He was a natural in his field. He was curious about the people he interviewed and knew exactly how to play them like a fiddle to get a compelling piece of radio or television. He knew the value of a well placed pause to let the viewer/listener really engage with the conversation.

I'd class him in the Gay Byrne, Terry Wogan, Graham Norton category...... well capable of leaving these shores and doing very well in much bigger markets. He had that natural charisma and star draw.
You can't say that about many of the hacks taking up space in RTE these days.

Muahahaha

Yeah would agree with the above, I wasnt a fan of him but there can be no doubting the talent he had as the listnership figures dont lie. He did have a talent for radio that is devoid of most of the 'talent' that is on the airwaves nowadays. I wasnt a fan but hundreds of thousands of people were, theres very few radio presenters left that you can say that about.

I would also split his career/personality in half between pre Celtic Tiger and during the Celtic Tiger. During the Tiger he did become a right knob, he was going around dressing up in pin striped suits and pink shirts like a London banker and then there was that speech on air of him complaining about having to take a paycut from his 650k salary while all around him were losing their jobs, houses and lives really. In his early career he knew the pulse of the nation but when the Tiger came around he became completely out of touch.

Sultan of Bling

Muahahaha wrote:

I would also split his career/personality in half between pre Celtic Tiger and during the Celtic Tiger. During the Tiger he did become a right knob, he was going around dressing up in pin striped suits and pink shirts like a London banker and then there was that speech on air of him complaining about having to take a paycut from his 650k salary while all around him were losing their jobs, houses and lives really. In his early career he knew the pulse of the nation but when the Tiger came around he became completely out of touch.

Couldnt agree more with the above.

Unfortunately, he was no different to a large chunk of the adult population during that particular era.

Hyperbollix

Muahahaha wrote: »

Yeah would agree with the above, I wasnt a fan of him but there can be no doubting the talent he had as the listnership figures dont lie. He did have a talent for radio that is devoid of most of the 'talent' that is on the airwaves nowadays. I wasnt a fan but hundreds of thousands of people were, theres very few radio presenters left that you can say that about.

I would also split his career/personality in half between pre Celtic Tiger and during the Celtic Tiger. During the Tiger he did become a right knob, he was going around dressing up in pin striped suits and pink shirts like a London banker and then there was that speech on air of him complaining about having to take a paycut from his 650k salary while all around him were losing their jobs, houses and lives really. In his early career he knew the pulse of the nation but when the Tiger came around he became completely out of touch.

Yeah, there was definitely an element of the adulation and money going to his head in the 2000s. I suppose when you're on one if not THE biggest radio show in the country, worshipped by fans, getting paid absolutely crazy money and you have a fondness for the high life, it takes a very steady head not to fall into the deep end.