The Den on RTE TWO

Denzil2222 · 13-09-2010 12:31am #1

The den rte two's long running childrens show (more of a tv station in recent years) is coming to an end in the next couple of weeks, who here remembers all the good times on the den ? Remember zig and zag? Dustin doing the flap flaps? Socky's blue bucket? Don conroy drawing owls? Ray darcy fighting with ted the panda?

starbelgrade · 13-09-2010 12:35am

Don Conroy is a creepy looking fella.

admiralofthefleet · 13-09-2010 12:37am

i remember dempseys den, those were the days

pablomakaveli · 13-09-2010 12:41am

The Den looked to have gone ****e in the last few years anyway. Still it's a shame i grew up with the Den when Ray Darcy presented it. It was a great show then.

Corsendonk · 13-09-2010 12:42am

Emma Ledden before something funny happened her face.

Victor McDade · 13-09-2010 12:43am

End of an era. Grew up watching it

Chaotic_Forces · 13-09-2010 12:44am

I hated it, never liked it at all.

But it is a bit depressing that it's ending.

mikom · 13-09-2010 12:45am

Denzil2222 wrote: »

Socky's blue waffle

:eek:

Corkfeen · 13-09-2010 12:45am

It all went downhill after dustin was reduced to making guest appearances. That turkey had some sense of humour.......

You'd really know that i've matured since...

miyanda · 13-09-2010 12:46am

good times

Sanjuro · 13-09-2010 12:47am

I got to be on Dempsey's Den waaaaay back in the day when they'd ring one viewer to talk to them on their birthday. It blew my mind.

orourkeda · 13-09-2010 12:48am

Corsendonk wrote: »

Emma Ledden before something funny happened her face.

I'd have romped her rectum alright

BluesBerry · 13-09-2010 12:51am

The Den is crap nowadays Ian Dempsey/ Ray Darcy/ and your man Damien is who I remember

socky used to and still does annoy the crap outta me

"My bluuuuuuuuuue bucket" shut the fcuk up socky *cringes*

Anyone remember Podge and rodge used to be on it not that often though , maybe came on with different names but RTE reused the puppets

strokemyclover · 13-09-2010 12:52am

Does anyone remember Dustin getting banned for a week or so because he implied Mary Robinson took it up the Áras? I don't think Ray could stop laughing after hearing the words and they had to cut to a commercial!

Ah nostalgia!

storm2811 · 13-09-2010 12:52am

THE END IS NEAR!!

Can't believe that, even though it has gotten seriously shite these days.

Geansai Rua · 13-09-2010 12:52am

Sanjuro wrote: »

I got to be on Dempsey's Den waaaaay back in the day when they'd ring one viewer to talk to them on their birthday. It blew my mind.

I had my photo on it for my 5th birthday...
Man was I proud!!

Ted, good old ted..
and Ray was a legend on it..(even if he is from kildare):rolleyes:

SoupyNorman · 13-09-2010 12:54am

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUswB6beeLY

Some of my best childhood memories.

ballsymchugh · 13-09-2010 1:00am

the podge and zag show theme tune was the best!

miyanda · 13-09-2010 1:04am

Denzil2222 wrote: »

The den rte two's long running childrens show (more of a tv station in recent years) is coming to an end in the next couple of weeks, who here remembers all the good times on the den ? Remember zig and zag? Dustin doing the flap flaps? Socky's blue bucket? Don conroy drawing owls? Ray darcy fighting with ted the panda?

Will they be having a reunion with past presenters etc...??

I always liked 'pat's chat' when he was on reading his poems..

fonecrusher1 · 13-09-2010 1:10am

The Den died when Ray Darcy left it 11 years ago.

When he was the presenter it was a show for everyone, not just kids.

Its been gone a long time in my view.

Craguls · 13-09-2010 1:12am

The Christmas specials used to make my childhood viewing.

OPENROAD · 13-09-2010 1:14am

How did Dustin get away with some of the stuff he came out with :eek::D

THall04 · 13-09-2010 1:15am

starbelgrade wrote: »

Don Conroy is a creepy looking fella.

Don Conroy.......stunt double for Mark Hamill in "The Big Red One".
He also suffered a few (real) slaps from Lee Marvin .....but the scene was dropped from the final cut of the film and Don missed out on Hollywood stardom...FACT!

mconigol · 13-09-2010 1:42am

I genuinely feel sorry for todays kids and what they've missed out on :-( ....simpler times before the pc brigade decided to wreck it for everyone

Rockery Woman · 13-09-2010 1:46am

strokemyclover wrote: »

Does anyone remember Dustin getting banned for a week or so because he implied Mary Robinson took it up the Áras? I don't think Ray could stop laughing after hearing the words and they had to cut to a commercial!

Ah nostalgia!

Didn't he also get suspended for calling Bosco a Bollix

Rockery Woman · 13-09-2010 1:48am

miyanda wrote: »

Will they be having a reunion with past presenters etc...??

I always liked 'pat's chat' when he was on reading his poems..

come down Spindle, come down.....

Fortycoats too :rolleyes:

Rockery Woman · 13-09-2010 1:51am

Geansai Rua wrote: »

I had my photo on it for my 5th birthday...
Man was I proud!!

Ted, good old ted..
and Ray was a legend on it..(even if he is from kildare):rolleyes:

and poor Ray would be knackered from beating up Ted, then some wag would throw him in again - brilliant - simple - hilarious!!!:D:D:D

fonecrusher1 · 13-09-2010 2:06am

Rockery Woman wrote: »

and poor Ray would be knackered from beating up Ted, then some wag would throw him in again - brilliant - simple - hilarious!!!:D:D:D

T'was class alright.

Especially compared to the stale forced 'wacky' nature of the BBC equivalent. Think it was called childrens bbc with Andy crane (who was rubbish) It was sh!te compared to the den. The den was so good you nearly would have been happy without the cartoons.:D

I actually remember Darcy's first day as presenter, he was a nervous little pup just fresh from the Jo Maxi studio.:pac: Everyone thought he was crap for the first few weeks but he ended up being much better than Dempsey at the job.

I don't think there was a better childrens program on tv at the time. Anywhere.

ballsymchugh · 13-09-2010 2:30am

Rockery Woman wrote: »

Didn't he also get suspended for calling Bosco a Bollix

and, when asked to do an impersonation of a pig, he said 'get outta that car missus!'

13-09-2010 3:14am

Anyone else remember Snotser?

AHH YIH, TOP MAN!

Havermeyer · 13-09-2010 3:18am

admiralofthefleet wrote: »

i remember dempseys den, those were the days

I wouldn't be as big a fan of Ray D'Arcy these days, but he didn't do a bad job of it either.

brendansmith · 13-09-2010 3:23am

Out-lasted the sh1t out of 'the DJ Kat show' anyway.

That maybe due to the Irish publics inferior intellect to out British counterparts. Maybe not though, just putting it out there.

13-09-2010 3:32am

brendansmith wrote: »

That maybe due to the Irish publics inferior intellect to out British counterparts.

Or it could be due to our enhanced appreciation of "good craic", which the Den was back in the day. Craic so good, it got exported.

c montgomery · 13-09-2010 3:39am

brendansmith wrote: »

Out-lasted the sh1t out of 'the DJ Kat show' anyway.

That maybe due to the British publics inferior intellect to ours. Maybe not though, just putting it out there.

Fixed that for ya:p

Saila · 13-09-2010 3:39am

Ray had such a laugh all the time, he was genuinely and rightly so in stiches with Dustins routines and sharp humour, a class act, and had me in stiches as a kid and even teenager after school wind downs after getting in

Thanks for all the hours and hours of fun through my childhood

brendansmith · 13-09-2010 3:52am

Saila wrote: »

Ray had such a laugh all the time, he was genuinely and rightly so in stiches with Dustins routines and sharp humour, a class act, and had me in stiches as a kid and even teenager after school wind downs after getting in

I had a different method of winding down after school as a teenager. It still involved the flappt-flap-flaps though.

ironictoaster · 13-09-2010 3:58am

How has no one posted this yet, so so funny. Just the innocence of it all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0S1VmlHb0Y

Degag · 13-09-2010 3:58am

Why hasn't anyone posted this yet??? LOL!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0S1VmlHb0Y

Degag · 13-09-2010 4:00am

ironictoaster wrote: »

How has no one posted this yet, so so funny. Just the innocence of it all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0S1VmlHb0Y

Lol, great minds and all that!

OpenYourEyes · 13-09-2010 4:15am

They had a special show after The Den reached ten years called "The Den is ten" where they had all the past presenters together, all the puppets, and some regular guests like Stephen Gately and The Saw Doctors, and it showed loads of clips of Dempseys Den and The Den up until that point. I taped it when it was on and Id say i watched that tape hundreds of times!

Surprised they never did it after 20 years, or at least after 15years for the Ray and Damien years where the show was basically the same format.

Also, really wish they'd release a dvd of all the christmas specials!!

brendansmith · 13-09-2010 4:28am

OpenYourEyes wrote: »

They had a special show after The Den reached ten years called "The Den is ten" where they had all the past presenters together, all the puppets, and some regular guests like Stephen Gately and The Saw Doctors, and it showed loads of clips of Dempseys Den and The Den up until that point. I taped it when it was on and Id say i watched that tape hundreds of times! Surprised they never did it after 20 years, or at least after 15years for the Ray and Damien years where the show was basically the same format.

Also, really wish they'd release a dvd of all the christmas specials!!

Hopefully this post will be an eyeopener to the creators

johnmcdnl · 13-09-2010 4:43am

I started watching Den2 as it was called I think back around 95 I'd say because that's when I started primary school... used be mad to get home to watch it

but anytime I've been watching it lately it's been useless - looking back our youth was great compared to what the wee ones watch today..

13-09-2010 4:48am

OpenYourEyes wrote: »

Also, really wish they'd release a dvd of all the christmas specials!!

I wrote to them at RTÉ in May last year. Thusly:

Hello there!

Since RTÉ brought out a compilation DVD of Zig and Zag on the Den in late 2008, I wonder if you plan to release a compilation of the Christmas specials sometime.

I believe "Best Bitz from Back Den" sold well and I'm convinced that a DVD of the entire Christmas special episodes would also be popular, particularly among students. I have spoken to a few people about it and they, like me, would certainly love to see such a release.

Hoping to hear from you soon,

Yours truly,
[me].

In response I got this:

Hi [me],

Thanks for the mail,

There are no plans currently to release full episodes of the Zig and Zag Christmas Specials on DVD however I have included your suggestion in this week's Audience Log and have forwarded it on to RTÉ's Merchandising department for information.

Kind Regards,

and so on.

I say we fill their email boxes with requests for those Christmas specials. Surely now would be the time to do it, right? They've finished with all the Autumn scheduling...

Or is that just me being naïve?

allanb49 · 13-09-2010 9:14am

I think i remember a time when podge turned around and said fúck on air and Ray had to quickly mask it and move it to a break, Podge never returned on the Den after that...

13-09-2010 9:22am

Anyone remember when Zig and Zag were pretending to be swimming? They had these.. fake waves in the studio and the sound effects were always out of sync.

It was superb comedic timing and the show has gone to sh1t since d'Arcy's Arse left it.

Ush1 · 13-09-2010 9:26am

Craguls wrote: »

The Christmas specials used to make my childhood viewing.

Same here. Some of my best childhood memories was getting up at like 6 in the morning to watch it the whole day.

sassa · 13-09-2010 9:33am

Craguls wrote: »

The Christmas specials used to make my childhood viewing.

+1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCv4iyPqZKQ&feature=related

Luxie · 13-09-2010 9:35am

Ush1 wrote: »

Same here. Some of my best childhood memories was getting up at like 6 in the morning to watch it the whole day.

Loved the one in 95 when Zig and Zag returned from Channel 4 to be asked by Dustin 'who are youse supporting in Euro '96, go back to England youse traitors' (or words to that effect anyway)

kfallon · 13-09-2010 9:45am

Dustin doing the horse racing commentary was the best, found a clip of one on YouTube a while ago, absolute classic!

Dunjohn · 13-09-2010 10:04am

I've just noticed that Zig and Zag only ever use one hand - SO THAT'S HOW THEY DID IT!!

I remember Dempsey's Den and the early D'arcy years, required viewing back then.

kfallon · 13-09-2010 10:14am

And the ould Irish song they'd sing on St Patrick's Day:

"Well with a shillelagh in me ear,
And some shamrock up me nose,
I'll be off to Connemara in the morning!"

They don't make kids tv shows like they used!

The Poultry Party

The Den on RTE TWO

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