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Forgotten Irish sitcoms.

Hangdogroad

I'll get the ball rolling with Molloy from 1989. RTE sitcom that lasted one series. Starred the future Bishop Brennnan Jim Norton as the title character. No one of my own age I've mentioned it to remembers it and there are no clips online. I think he was a retiree. Most of it revolved around his local pub. One of his sons was an uptight yuppie and the other was a punk. The only bit I remember finding funny was when the yuppie son passed out in the pub and a drunk lad tries to do CPR on him to which yuppie shouts "get off me you smelly sex maniac"

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the purple tin

Soupy Norman.
A Polish soap opera overdubbed by Mario Rosenstock.
Gas craic it was.

Hangdogroad

A prime example of a forgotten sitcom is the Fatheads which aired in either 1992 or 93. It Starred Joe Rooney and Paul Tylak as two guys with massive Teddy Boy type quiffs sharing a flat. Vaguely like a toned down Bottom. It was shown in I think an early morning slot on Network 2, maybe on a saturday. Theres absolutely nothing about it online.

Edit: I got the title wrong, it was called the Flatheads. No wonder I couldn't find anything about it. It seems it might have been part of another show rather than a programme in it's own right.

COVID

MrMusician18 wrote: »

Val Falvey TD.
Not as old as some mentioned, but equally deserving to be forgotten.

Created and co-written by Arthur Matthews...who co-wrote Fr. Ted.

Then again, Paul McCartney wrote 'Penny Lane' and 'Say Say Say'.

Gregor Samsa

COVID wrote: »

Created and co-written by Arthur Matthews...who co-wrote Fr. Ted.

Then again, Paul McCartney wrote 'Penny Lane' and 'Say Say Say'.

I think "We All Stand Together" (The Frog Chorus) is an even more apt metaphor there.

mloc123

El Tarangu wrote: »

When the actor playing the little chubby fellow died, he was given a full paramilitary funeral - it turns out he was a member of the Real IRA.

At first I thought you meant this was story line in the series :eek:

Hangdogroad

mloc123 wrote: »

At first I thought you meant this was story line in the series :eek:

If I remember right he bad a row with bouncers at a nightclub, maybe refused entry. He came back with a baseball bat and in the altercation he died of a heart attack, was found to have cocaine in his system.

[Deleted User]

the purple tin wrote: »

Soupy Norman.
A Polish soap opera overdubbed by Mario Rosenstock.
Gas craic it was.

It was hilarious

El Tarangu

mloc123 wrote: »

At first I thought you meant this was story line in the series :eek:

That would have been a lot more fun.

"S2 E3: The Keoghs join the Moriartys for a dinner party full of comic misunderstandings; will Willy have time to kneecap a drugdealer, and still get there in time for dessert? "

Church on Tuesday

In terms of pure sitcom there's Paths to Freedom and then nothing else.

Edit; Hardy Bucks too but that was more YouTube and RTÉ then took the edge of it anyways.

RWCNT

I used to enjoy Give My Head Peace.

Also discovered that Paths to Freedom is up on YouTube in its entirety. It's aged really well and still cracks me up.

COVID

El Tarangu wrote: »

That would have been a lot more fun.

"S2 E3: The Keoghs join the Moriartys for a dinner party full of comic misunderstandings; will Willy have time to kneecap a drugdealer, and still get there in time for dessert? "

Moriarty: 'Oh, so you're back for dessert Mr.Keogh''.

Keogh: 'Yep, just making sure someone got their just deserts first!'

Dr Bob

El Tarangu wrote: »

There was a sitcom 10 years' ago about a load of people living in a houseshare in Rathmines or something called 'The Roaring Twenties' - apparently it wasn't very good. Anyway, there was some online discussion (on Boards, maybe?) that was generally slating it; one of the producers jumped in and got involved in loads of name-calling with the other posters - very unedifying.

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055212180
it got a bit messy

the purple tin

Dr Bob wrote: »

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055212180
it got a bit messy

The mention The English Class in that thread a lot. Now that really stunk.

Does anyone know what happened to Mr Stubbs? Did he do any more shows?

Church on Tuesday

COVID wrote: »

Moriarty: 'Oh, so you're back for dessert Mr.Keogh''.

Keogh: 'Yep, just making sure someone got their just deserts first!'

* Canned laughter

Dr Bob

the purple tin wrote: »

The mention The English Class in that thread a lot. Now that really stunk.

Does anyone know what happened to Mr Stubbs? Did he do any more shows?

I'm not sure but one thing I've learned is that if you're involved with something like a TV show , engaging with viewers directly is a really bad idea.

Del.Monte

Beechwoodspark wrote: »

“mattie”

Just when you think it can’t get much worse than killinascully, along comes a sitcom featuring pat short as a country detective in the big city

Strangely I liked both of them and have them on my DVD stack to watch again some day. I suspect that it's due to my time spent living in the bog - Leitrim - as I recognise many of the characters.

Gregor Samsa

the purple tin wrote: »

The mention The English Class in that thread a lot. Now that really stunk.

Does anyone know what happened to Mr Stubbs? Did he do any more shows?

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2219927/

Feisar

Pure Mule anyone?

Hangdogroad

Feisar wrote: »

Pure Mule anyone?

Wasnt a comedy.

Hangdogroad

Hangdogroad wrote: »

I'll get the ball rolling with Molloy from 1989. RTE sitcom that lasted one series. Starred the future Bishop Brennnan Jim Norton as the title character. No one of my own age I've mentioned it to remembers it and there are no clips online. I think he was a retiree. Most of it revolved around his local pub. One of his sons was an uptight yuppie and the other was a punk. The only bit I remember finding funny was when the yuppie son passed out in the pub and a drunk lad tries to do CPR on him to which yuppie shouts "get off me you smelly sex maniac"

Incidentally does anyone else here other than me remember this?

Zeek12

Didn't Paths to Freedom and Bachelor's Walk both hit our screens in the same year (or very close to same year) ?
Technically, Bachelor's walk probably not a sitcom I suppose, but it was very funny all the same.

It felt like a new beginning for comedy on RTE, which up to that point was pretty awful. :pac:

Zeek12

Hangdogroad wrote: »

Incidentally does anyone else here other than me remember this?

I don't but I really should. I was a kid living in two-channel land in 1989!

Loved Jim Norton/Bishop Brennan in Fr. Ted. He's my favourite character in it.

donspeekinglesh

mailforkev wrote: »

There was one a few years back that I actually thought wasn’t bad. Can’t remember the name, it was a family surname. Everyone, kids and parents, were played by actors roughly the same age.

Edit: found it on Google there, looks like it was called The Walshes and Graham Linehan was involved.

I enjoyed that. It helped that it was filmed around the corner from where I grew up.

Seamai

global23214124 wrote: »

Bachelors Walk? Maybe not forgotten but it went years and years without being available on the RTE player and you could only see random episodes on YouTube.

I never watched it first time round but have been watching the re run. It's entertaining but I wouldn't call it a comedy.

Hangdogroad

TG4 did C-U Burn which of you dont mind subtitles is really funny. There was just one series made but it's often been repeated.

They also showed a Mr Bean type silent comedy called Fear An Phoist which was just awful.

Sultan of Bling

Hangdogroad wrote:

Incidentally does anyone else here other than me remember this?

If im thinking of the same programme, im sure the kid who starred in this went to the same school as me.

Glen Carroll was his name.

whomitconcerns

Sultan of Bling wrote: »

If im thinking of the same programme, im sure the kid who starred in this went to the same school as me.

Glen Carroll was his name.

Remember it vaguely... Not good

https://stillslibrary.rte.ie/indexplus/image/2332/053.html

George White

Hangdogroad wrote: »

The Fitz was basically BBC trying to copy the success of Fr Ted. Lasted just one series in 2000. The "joke" was the family in it lived in a house that was half in the Republic and half in Northern Ireland and they all had red wigs for some reason. Was shockingly bad.

Had an overqualified cast.
I managed to get the series on bootleg DVD over the lockdown, and god it is strange.
The gay son in it is obsessed with blacking up as famed singers - a running joke they drop after two eps - he does Bassey and Ella Fitzgerald. There's non-diagetic musical numbers, at one point Jon Kenny performs There Once Was a Man from the Pyjama Game.
The youngest daughter hs no character, and then basically turns into Lisa Simpson towards the end.
A lot of it seeped into Mrs. Brown. Bronagh Gallagher's character had a different job every ep, like Dermot Brown. But the difference is Gallagher is a funny-bones performer. And even in bad material, she still managed to make the most of it.

It did the opposite to what Linehan and Matthews wanted, which is the theme song is this very Oirish Sharon Shannon-performed trad thing, while with Ted, they wanted something that wasn't trad, and very sitcom.

George White

Hangdogroad wrote: »

Leave It To Mrs O Brien. Anna Manahan was wasted in this rubbish.

Weirdly shown on several iTV regions in the 80s. I was stunned when a friend from Plymouth told me how Television southwest aired the thing.

Hangdogroad

George White wrote: »

Had an overqualified cast.
I managed to get the series on bootleg DVD over the lockdown, and god it is strange.
The gay son in it is obsessed with blacking up as famed singers - a running joke they drop after two eps - he does Bassey and Ella Fitzgerald. There's non-diagetic musical numbers, at one point Jon Kenny performs There Once Was a Man from the Pyjama Game.
The youngest daughter hs no character, and then basically turns into Lisa Simpson towards the end.
A lot of it seeped into Mrs. Brown. Bronagh Gallagher's character had a different job every ep, like Dermot Brown. But the difference is Gallagher is a funny-bones performer. And even in bad material, she still managed to make the most of it.

It did the opposite to what Linehan and Matthews wanted, which is the theme song is this very Oirish Sharon Shannon-performed trad thing, while with Ted, they wanted something that wasn't trad, and very sitcom.

Yes, it was weird to see stalwarts like Eamon Morrrissey in it.. I seem to remember Jon Kenny singing a song about Tom And Nora (of the schoolbooks).