Bye Bye Big Bite

Elmo

Ok so it prob won't cause uproar like Marty and Mary being axed but .......

At last David McWilliams gets on Prime Time TV

http://www.rte.ie/about/pressreleases/2006/0427/bigbite.html

RuggieBear

about bloody time they got rid of that amateur rubbish

Robbo

Seeing that fop-haired epithet-coining ****egeist-seizing turd get a primetime soapbox on which to ruminate upon "astutely observed" urban archtypes makes me glad I don't pay a licence fee.

My old man does though, please don't arrest me for stealing entertainment. I'm too beautiful for the 'Joy. They'll rape the flip out of me in prison.

Aquos76

Best news I heard all day.

lostexpectation

I have to say I bought into the whole hating the floppy haired permanent pundit hating thing, but I think the guy is alright for an econmists, fairly laid back and realistic...

did big bite do as well in the ratings as it ever could have?

DublinWriter

Robbo wrote:

Seeing that fop-haired epithet-coining ****egeist-seizing turd get a primetime soapbox on which to ruminate upon "astutely observed" urban archtypes makes me glad I don't pay a licence fee.

Fop-haired he may be, but he's one of the best broadcasters to come out of Montrose since Zig and Zag.

Witty, urbane, insightful...I wonder if he takes two bottles into the shower?

shabbyroad

realistic ? you mustn't have read his misinformed nonsense about Gael Scoileanna then...

segadreamcast

DublinWriter wrote:

I wonder if he takes two bottles into the shower?

Yes, he does. I can also tell you where he puts them .

Meh, I dunno - the Big Bite suffered from dire production values...but it was a decent enough daytime filler.

DublinWriter

NoelRock wrote:

Meh, I dunno - the Big Bite suffered from dire production values...but it was a decent enough daytime filler.

I didn't think so, there's only so many ways you can present half-a-dozen talking heads with no audience present.

Not only a daytime filler, but morning filler too.

Bixmoo

I'd rather watch the big bite than ****in murder she wrote or diagnosis murder, or whatever **** they normally put on during the day

mike65

Most RTE shows have sod all staying power, does it never occure to them to tweak and improve rather than just chop?

Mike.

lostexpectation

shabbyroad wrote:

realistic ? you mustn't have read his misinformed nonsense about Gael Scoileanna then...

he said they were trendy... yes and its true

simu

That show was dire when they did stuff on topics like "The Dublin dating scene" and so on. For more serious topics, it was watchable at times but... meh.

redspider

mike65 wrote:

Most RTE shows have sod all staying power, does it never occure to them to tweak and improve rather than just chop?

Well, RTE are pretty poor when it comes to professional decisions. I rarely got to see the Big Bite, Big Bite late (the highlights) but there were a couple of basic problems I thought.

Tweaking as you say Mike was the least that should have been tried.

First, a daytime slot for a serious discussion programme just doesnt work. The Big Bite was tackling issues, and the best slot for that is a once-off weekly programme sometime between 9-11 or else on the weekend. 4 programmes a week was also a bit much to maintain quality, and the panel's etc tended to be too wide, too many people. McWilliams has a certain style which can work on certain topics. But at times he tries to take the discussion too far intellectually and down to too fine of a point. This loses many people on the panel who havent a clue what he is on about. He has opinions on topics as well and needs to decide if he is an expert panelist or the host.

I didnt read his 'Pope's Children' book, no doubt a social dissection that tells us the reason why house properties are so high is due to our insecurities over unemployment emanating from the 1980's, or maybe not.

I do follow his work, Agenda, Newstalk radio show, Tribune columns, his website, but I didnt follow the Big Bite so wont miss it. I look forward to his next installment.

redspider

lostexpectation

redspider wrote:

First, a daytime slot for a serious discussion programme just doesnt work. The Big Bite was tackling issues, and the best slot for that is a once-off weekly programme sometime between 9-11 or else on the weekend. 4 programmes a week was also a bit much to maintain quality, and the panel's etc tended to be too wide, too many people. McWilliams has a certain style which can work on certain topics. But at times he tries to take the discussion too far intellectually and down to too fine of a point. This loses many people on the panel who havent a clue what he is on about. He has opinions on topics as well and needs to decide if he is an expert panelist or the host.

redspider

when was the show actually recorded as oppposed to shown?

Cork

TV3's Agenda was interesting - the big bite was Agena Lite.

He deserves better. Something like a nightly TV or radio show.

Telefís

The Big Bite first and foremost made for a refreshing change from the drivel that RTÉ have doled out to afternoon viewers over the past two decades. For the first time, daytime audiences were acknowledged by the national broadcaster as having more than a single functioning brain between them - a welcome change in Irish broadcasting policy.

I agree that McWilliams is an excellent broadcaster, even if somewhat irritating the very odd time. He is insightful, observant and witty as DublinWriter says - and all-importantly is also articulate, an increasing rarity in Ireland today. He was also perfectly suited to the Big Bite format as he can change his hand to pretty much anything and anyone. He's sympathetic and considerate when necessary, or confrontational and persistent where that's needed too. Very few others have that breadth of knowledge and flexibility, with Miriam O'Callaghan being almost the only one coming close in RTÉ, other than Kenny of course.

As regards the format - agreed there were a number of flaws. From the outset they had far too many contributors on certain items, but this was addressed following criticism and scaled back in series two. Also the time devoted to items was often not nearly sufficient - especially broad-ranging discussions where it was entirely possible to use all 45/50 minutes of the programme to explore that single item, instead of insisting on the two-item format as they did. Especially when four or five contributors are brought in - why not use the full time available? This is a big problem with Irish television, especially with Prime Time and Q&A. They just insist on moving on, moving on, instead of letting things unfold. Who cares if another item is not going to get addressed if it means some good television is going to be generated from a single item?

It's obvious when booking guests what debates are going to be lively and engaging, and what items are going to be dead. A full-scale debate can be predicated as easily as clockwork, and time ought to be arranged accordingly. Forget a second item on such programmes - just let the single item take over. If there was one thing that The Big Bite could have done differently from prime time television it was this, yet it failed miserably.

And agreed the production values weren't great either. Appalling set design, the cheapest of the cheap 1990s UK daytime couch seating, garish silver tables with chips in the paintwork, the glowing white cyc curtain around the studio showing its creases half the time, hideous chunky stand microphones from the 1980s, and stodgy vision mixing - all RTÉ/Tyrone favourites :rolleyes: (the show incidentally directed by a member of the McColgan family, so no surprises there).

Overall I think it’s a shame The Big Bite has been let go without given a chance to develop further. It was a milestone in the development of daytime television in Ireland, and debate generally on Irish television. As a certain person in politics said to me recently, it was a show where matters were explored that RTÉ are too afraid to touch in prime time

McWilliams is on the up, and deservedly so I think. Aside from major incentives from elsewhere, I can see him taking over Kenny's radio programme if/when he retires in three or so year’s time. The only thing against him is that he does come with a bit of baggage - he does have a certain economic and social agenda, or at least has expressed it in the past, which doesn't make him the neutral slate that is generally preferable for news and current affairs programming. His opinion pieces in the Indo and contributions to the Late Late don’t really help in this respect either.

_Kaiser_

RuggieBear wrote:

about bloody time they got rid of that amateur rubbish

They're closing down RTE?

Elmo

realistic ? you mustn't have read his misinformed nonsense about Gael Scoileanna then...

I didn't actually read that but saying that Gael Scoileanna are trendy sounds like something a snide (sp?) jornalist would write.

But then more importantly he agree's with Nuclear power, mmmmmm???????

But that doesn't stop me from reading some of the good stuff he writes about.

I don't think the show suited him. I personnelly disagree with giving any money toward daytime television. Prime Time needs more money and more of shake up.

As for twiking programmes sometimes its better to axe them, e.g. how many times have they twiked Winning Streak and the other national lottery shows. Time they axed them.

Maybe they will give Ian O'Doherty his own daytime TV show. Ahhhhhhhhhhh :eek:
God No!