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Child Item

Glenroe was an "embarrassment"

Defiler Of The Coffin

MARY McEvoy, who played Miley’s love interest in Glenroe RTE’s long running soap, has said that the show was axed by RTE because it was an embarrassment to the station.

The actress who played the part of Biddy in the series which ran for 18 years until it was axed in 2001, said that RTE made the decision to bring the show to a close because it was an inconvenience to the station.

“It’s a show that survived by accident and was popular with people, but I believe it was an inconvenience to RTE,” she told ‘Ireland’s Own’ magazine.

The actress, whose character was killed in a road accident the year before the series ended, told the magazine that senior people in RTE did not know or understand the appeal of the show.

“At the time it was cancelled we were becoming an increasingly urban society, and I think we country people were the unwanted at that stage.

“We were an embarrassment in general, with our country image, and the urban Dublin arts press never had much time for us or even for television in general.”

Link

So is Mary right in what she is saying? Was Glenroe axed because those high-falutin' mojito-drinking cosmopolitan folk in RTE wanted to provide high-quality programming (Fair City) that more closely reflected the people of modern Ireland?

I miss Dinny

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Kerrydude1981

I remember my father giving out stink about Miley been friends with Blackie Connors

Seanchai

swimming in a sea wrote: »

it just reminds me how lucky i was that we had the UK channels in our house so where not forced into watching it.:)

:rolleyes: How unsurprising from swimming in a sea - yet another post where something Irish is shíte and something British is great. For all your hatred for this country and its culture you're taking your time leaving it, by the way.

Colmustard

Seanchai wrote: »

:rolleyes: How unsurprising from swimming in a sea - yet another post where something Irish is shíte and something British is great. For all your hatred for this country and its culture you're taking your time leaving it, by the way.

I think that is fair comment, we are very lucky to get the BBC. It is IMO the best television station in the world.

Duggys Housemate

To get a bit serious:

That link above showed me that the acting in Glenroe was pretty good and didnt have the soapy SHOUTING you normally get - and, woeful as it is for Dublin snobs - the characters are fairly sophisticated. Specially the prods. Of course, you can actually do a middle class soap in the country. In the city it is next to impossible.

The reason why rural soaps work is because all soaps are actually about villages. In Coronation street - which is the only soap I occasionally dip into - there is a street peopled with teachers, shop owners, bar workers, workers in factories, and industrialists - where people date each other, dont travel to work, and all live on the same street despite the wealth differences. That's not an urban street. Its a village street pretending to be an urban street. In reality they would not all live on that street, would travel to work, and not necessarily know each other.

Many urban dwellers don't know their neighbours, particularly in the rental sector, but have plenty of friends across the town - who themselves have plenty of friends, some in common, some not; some work, some not - which would make a limited soap impossible. The network of people you would have to track trends very large very fast.

The only option for a modern soap is to ignore work or other friends, like Friends did; or over emphasise it - like The Office. In either case you never see the other life people have. Its all office, or no office. Street, or no Street. All major romances are internal to the "group of friends", or "the street", or the Office and if not - they are not very long term, or people move into the street or join the Office. ( Thinking the American Office btw).

However villages have none of these class, or distance, or networking problems. Villages actually do work like that. So villages work as soap operas.

Also Glenroe was funny.

chinwag

It's quite amazing that so many on this thread can recall the show and its actors in such detail. It brings back memories to me as I read this thread, and pretty good ones too I must confess, having initially thought otherwise.

Stavro Mueller

To be fair, I think Glenroe had jumped the shark by the time it was canceled. That's not to say it wouldn't have benefited from a bit of a revamp if RTE had been of a mind to do it. As Soliair said earlier in this thread, the BBC made Ballykissangel around the same time and it did really well. They were able to sell it abroad - with a bit of imagination and an upping of production values, why couldn't RTE have done that? There is a market abroad for rural type dramas. The Germans go crazy for them I believe. As well as airing in Britain and here, Ballykissangel was shown in the USA and Australia according to d'Wikipedia.

lookitsme

today looking back at glenroe it probably wasn't the best in the world but back then it was a great show. I remember i was in Kilcoole the place glenroe was set a few years ago and when i seen the church it was like i was in hollywood. I was looking around for fr devereuax, tissey and all the legends. It would be a bit out of place if it was shown now but it would not be as bad as fair sh!ty. a friend of mine watches fair city her excuse is that is so bad its good and funny watching the poor attempt at acting

Glenroe 1 : 0 Fair City

Duggys Housemate

The other thing about Glenroe was it is in a village close to a big city, which allows solicitors etc. It isnt a West Of Ireland type village, the village is just the setting for a society of different classes to interact. I don't recall a GAA game, for instance. Its wasn't rural rural.

Duggys Housemate

cymbaline wrote: »

To be fair, I think Glenroe had jumped the shark by the time it was canceled. That's not to say it wouldn't have benefited from a bit of a revamp if RTE had been of a mind to do it. As Soliair said earlier in this thread, the BBC made Ballykissangel around the same time and it did really well. They were able to sell it abroad - with a bit of imagination and an upping of production values, why couldn't RTE have done that? There is a market abroad for rural type dramas. The Germans go crazy for them I believe. As well as airing in Britain and here, Ballykissangel was shown in the USA and Australia according to d'Wikipedia.

Glenroe and BallyK were set in the same place for a reason I think, Wicklow is not as "Irish" as say a village in the Dingle peninsula.

JoeA3

cymbaline wrote: »

To be fair, I think Glenroe had jumped the shark by the time it was canceled.

I think it literally jumped the shark when Biddy was driving along in her newish (at the time!) red Ford Escort and the tractor pulled out in front of her. The Escort did an A-Team van-style leap into the air and while in mid-air, it transformed into a much much older Ford Escort

Agree with much of the other posts. It was, like the Late Late Show, a national staple of the '80's and early '90's. Everyone talked about it. It was the signal that the weekend was over and back-to-school was closing in... especially when it started back in the Autumn - then the summer holidays were over!

Fair City on the other hand - unwatchable tripe.

I also remember a family holiday to Wicklow in the 1980's and the excitement of seeing Miley's farm. I can't imagine a 10 year old kid getting too worked up about seeing the Fair City set!

Solair

Bambi wrote: »

I bet you sit down with a notebook jotting all these incidents down so ya can write a strongly worded letter into mailbag for arthur to read out.

Everyone know's where Dublin streets are, they're in Dublin. If someone says Parnell street then, in the national context, that's Parnell street in the glorious capital of the nation. If the ballygobackwards bugle refer's to Parnell street, then that's Parnell street in ballygobackwards (or possibly twomilebogger up the road)

Eh, no I don't. I just compare it to BBC which is FAR FAR more regionally balanced as a national broadcaster these days.

RTE's paid for by a license fee which is 2/3 collected outside the Dublin area.

I would call the attitude lazy and somewhat condescending rather than Dublin-centric.

RTE often does't even seem get much beyond the Stillorgan Road. The "Northside" is still a mystery to them!

RTE has a network of regional studios which, other than Cork, they seem to rarely use for anything other than a bit of news reporting.

They could really do with actually making use of the resources they have and doing some proper national broadcasting.

I mean, it's not THAT difficult to produce local news for say Dublin & Leinster out of Montrose, Munster out of Cork, Connacht / Ulster out of Galway and whack those in for 10 mins per day at the end of a news bulletin.

In fact, with modern technology in recent years, that's become cheap and easy to do.

geeky

JoeA3 wrote: »

I think it literally jumped the shark when Biddy was driving along in her newish (at the time!) red Ford Escort and the tractor pulled out in front of her. The Escort did an A-Team van-style leap into the air and while in mid-air, it transformed into a much much older Ford Escort

I was reliably informed that the budget was slashed for that stunt at the last minute, hence the ridiculousness. Apparently, the guy responsible for the fiasco still blames the stuntman.

stinkle

JoeA3 wrote: »

I also remember a family holiday to Wicklow in the 1980's and the excitement of seeing Miley's farm. I can't imagine a 10 year old kid getting too worked up about seeing the Fair City set!

We got to go to Miley's farm on a school tour in the mid-90s, the excitement! Kinda weird that the entire school was so familiar with one tv show

Brendog

It may not have been an embarrassment to the rest of you, but I had to deal with elderly neighbours constantly makes references about me because I had the same name as one of the characters....

later12

geeky wrote: »

Sorry biddy, your views suit Ireland's own, but facts don't bear this out.

At its peak, the show was pretty darn popular, with 700,000 viewers. However, the last four years showed consistent decline.

Ratings
Season Season Premiere Season Finale TV Season Viewer
Rank (#) Viewers
(in '000)
Season 15 September, 1997 May, 1998 1997–1998 #2[13] 662[13]
Season 16 September, 1998 May, 1999 1998–1999 #3 638[13]
Season 17 September, 1999 May, 2000 1999–2000 #3 635[13]
Season 18 September, 2000 May, 2001 2000–2001 #2 589[13]

Would have been daft of the suits to continue IMO.

geeky wrote: »

Just because RTE should have cancelled Fair City long ago doesn't mean cancelling Glenroe when they did was the wrong decision.

I don't understand. According to the link you provided, Glenroe was the second most popular show on RTE in its final season (I presume after the Late Late Show).

While increasing availability of foreign channels may have encouraged viewers to switch to British television programming (i.e. nominal viewership might have fallen across RTE programming), the fact remains that Glenroe was second in the rankings.

I don't see why it ought to have been very much more expensive to make than any other drama. All indoor scenes were shot in the same studio as Fair City. Kay McCoy's bar was actually right next to Biddy and Miley's kitchen.

I think it is very difficult to justify the axing of Glenroe based on any objective information out there. There's no evidence it was cancelled because of what Mary McEvoy suggests, but whatever the reason I think it's said that a show which played such a prominent role in shaping popular social discourse came to such a questionable end.

NegativeCreep

Anyone else think that Glenroe is the most overrated piece of crap ever? Just me?
It's like fair city set in the country. Absolute rubbish and I wouldnt watch it if it was free.

Dont get how anyone can watch a soap without wanting to kill themselves after tbh.

Dangerous Man

Cokeistan wrote: »

RTE are massively Dublin oriented, don't give a shít about the rest of the country....wánkers

Madness. RTE is essentially a provincial TV station writ large; it has massive funding, which is squanders, and is riddled with small-town, little Irelander mentality that I find embarrassing. I can't watch it. I'm a Dub and it says absolutely nothing about the life that I lived in Dublin - bares no relation whatsoever. Actually, Irish media in general is of a pretty low standard. The Irish Times has let its standards slip so badly that I really do despair.

Maybe RTE could scrap its current setup in favour of a city / rural arrangement whereby there is a metropolitan station for Dublin that focuses on culture and current affairs of importance to the capital and then another channel for the rest of the country that can focus on the things that people outside of Dublin like / are concerned with.

ArnoldJRimmer

A couple of years back, spotted Fidelma in the Market bar in Dublin. She was still looking fine

later12

Dangerous Man wrote: »

Madness. RTE is essentially a provincial TV station writ large; it has massive funding, which is squanders, and is riddled with small-town, little Irelander mentality that I find embarrassing. I can't watch it. I'm a Dub and it says absolutely nothing about the life that I lived in Dublin - bares no relation whatsoever. Actually, Irish media in general is of a pretty low standard. The Irish Times has let its standards slip so badly that I really do despair.

I mainly agree with you. But in fairness, when was the last time the Irish Times said anything prescient about the reality of Irish life?

This is the newspaper that brought us Geraldine Kennedy, John Waters and Fintan O'Toole - sometimes, in one fell swoop, the bastards.

Zoria

Defiler Of The Coffin wrote: »

I miss Dinny

Me too

ArnoldJRimmer wrote: »

A couple of years back, spotted Fidelma in the Market bar in Dublin. She was still looking fine

I hope you called her a hussie :mad:

Colmustard

Originally Posted by Dangerous Man
Madness. RTE is essentially a provincial TV station writ large; it has massive funding, which is squanders, and is riddled with small-town, little Irelander mentality that I find embarrassing. I can't watch it. I'm a Dub and it says absolutely nothing about the life that I lived in Dublin - bares no relation whatsoever. Actually, Irish media in general is of a pretty low standard. The Irish Times has let its standards slip so badly that I really do despair.

Like there is always the Indo or the Star.:rolleyes:

I think RTE do sport, news and current affairs it can do good drama but the rarely do them. Their last effort of Love and hate I thought was excellent.

meoklmrk91

Glenroe was special in that it was part of the national psyche and conversation. My dad who worked a lot when I was younger told me that on Sunday nights after Glenroe he would walk me up and down our hall way, holding my hands and teaching me how to walk until one day I took my first steps. I can't think of any programme that has been so beloved and remembered so fondly before or since. If any of us watched it now we would probably think it was the biggest load of shoite.

Was actually really surprised to see that it only ended in 2001, I thought it was much earlier than that, mid to late nineties.

Solair

Dangerous Man wrote: »

Madness. RTE is essentially a provincial TV station writ large; it has massive funding, which is squanders, and is riddled with small-town, little Irelander mentality that I find embarrassing. I can't watch it. I'm a Dub and it says absolutely nothing about the life that I lived in Dublin - bares no relation whatsoever. Actually, Irish media in general is of a pretty low standard. The Irish Times has let its standards slip so badly that I really do despair.

Maybe RTE could scrap its current setup in favour of a city / rural arrangement whereby there is a metropolitan station for Dublin that focuses on culture and current affairs of importance to the capital and then another channel for the rest of the country that can focus on the things that people outside of Dublin like / are concerned with.

That doesn't really make sense either though.

Ireland's not "Dublin" then "Down the Country"

There are other large urban areas there too and the greater-Dublin area contains quite a large swathe of rural areas too i.e. North County Dublin + the whole Dublin Mountain / Wicklow area which included Glenroe.

If RTE were to do actual regional TV, it would actually need to run something like RTE East (Dublin), RTE South (Cork), RTE West (Galway). People in the middle would just slot into whichever one was closest.

iguana

geeky wrote: »

Sorry biddy, your views suit Ireland's own, but facts don't bear this out.

At its peak, the show was pretty darn popular, with 700,000 viewers. However, the last four years showed consistent decline.

Ratings
Season Season Premiere Season Finale TV Season Viewer
Rank (#) Viewers
(in '000)
Season 15 September, 1997 May, 1998 1997–1998 #2[13] 662[13]
Season 16 September, 1998 May, 1999 1998–1999 #3 638[13]
Season 17 September, 1999 May, 2000 1999–2000 #3 635[13]
Season 18 September, 2000 May, 2001 2000–2001 #2 589[13]

Would have been daft of the suits to continue IMO.

I'll hear many criticisms of the powers that be in RTE, but Glenroe just wasn't buttering the parsnips like it used to.

That was consistent with all of the main Irish and UK channels at the time. As the satellite and, later digital, channels started appearing and becoming more widespread, audience shares dropped rapidly for each individual channel. It's why UK shows like Coronation St and Eastenders had their biggest ratings of 20-30 million viewers in the '80s, whereas today viewership of 9-10 million is considered quite the coup.

Duggys Housemate

Dangerous Man wrote: »

Madness. RTE is essentially a provincial TV station writ large; it has massive funding, which is squanders, and is riddled with small-town, little Irelander mentality that I find embarrassing. I can't watch it. I'm a Dub and it says absolutely nothing about the life that I lived in Dublin - bares no relation whatsoever.

In general what is this sophisticated Dublin life not shown by RTE?

Maybe RTE could scrap its current setup in favour of a city / rural arrangement whereby there is a metropolitan station for Dublin that focuses on culture and current affairs of importance to the capital and then another channel for the rest of the country that can focus on the things that people outside of Dublin like / are concerned with.

Why would there be any real difference? People in the city like GAA, and soccer, and outside. People inside like Rugby, and outside. TG4 already exists for the Gaelgoirs - some of whom are in Dublin.

Dubliners aren't very well educated, comparatively, but they would presumably watch at least some cultural stuff on RTE, no need for a dumbed down Channel for Dubs, that would be against the public service charter.

iguana

Fuinseog wrote: »

according to Reeling in the years the first gay couple were on fairy city, though Ros na Run had a gay couple earlier than this.

No they didn't. Fair City's first gay couple appeared in 1996, a few years before TG4 (or TnaG) was even on the air. RnR had the first gay kiss, however, as Eoin and Liam on FC were always getting interrupted whenever their lips came within half an inch of each other.

Duggys Housemate

Iguana knows his soaps.

iguana

cymbaline wrote: »

There is a market abroad for rural type dramas. The Germans go crazy for them I believe.

They even have their own one, 'Unsere Farm in Irland' about a widowed German doctor who meets and falls in love with rural Cork sheep farmer, Erin O'Toole. He moves himself and his three daughters over here to live with her.

Shot in Ireland with German actors.
http://www.zdf-enterprises.de/en/international-catalogue/zdfedrama/tv-movies/love-romance/series-our-farm-in-ireland

jill_valentine

iguana wrote: »

They even have their own one, 'Unsere Farm in Irland' about a widowed German doctor who meets and falls in love with rural Cork sheep farmer, Erin O'Toole. He moves himself and his three daughters over here to live with her.

Shot in Ireland with German actors.
http://www.zdf-enterprises.de/en/international-catalogue/zdfedrama/tv-movies/love-romance/series-our-farm-in-ireland

!

That's mad.

RnR had the first gay kiss, however, as Eoin and Liam on FC were always getting interrupted whenever their lips came within half an inch of each other.

Yeah funny that.

Have to pity all those same sex tv couples. For some reason people always have to tell them something or suddenly get something from that room whenever they're about to get anywhere. Must make life very frustrating.

Fuinseog

iguana wrote: »

No they didn't. Fair City's first gay couple appeared in 1996, a few years before TG4 (or TnaG) was even on the air. RnR had the first gay kiss, however, as Eoin and Liam on FC were always getting interrupted whenever their lips came within half an inch of each other.

Ros na Run was on RTE before TnaG. according to wikipedia

"Ros na Rún was originally transmitted on RTÉ One and later transferred to the Irish-language station, TG4 when it opened in October 1996. Ros na Rún first aired on the night of November 3, 1996"

unfortunately it does not say when exactly it started on RTE.