TV3 - 10 years old this month (September)

lt_cmdr_worf

Back in 1998 when this channel got the green light, I remember the following shows were on it:

Eastenders
World's Most Amazing Videos
Buffy
Sunset Beach
The Jerry Springer Show
Seinfeld
Seachange
California Dreams
USA High
Quantum Leap
NewsRadio
Ellen
Roseanne

I think the first film ever shown on that channel was.....yep, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

What are your memories of this channel?

zuutroy

Looks like its run by media students as much now as it did then.

mike65

I have no memories as I have never watched it bar ther odd game of football/rugby (appallingly presented of course).

TV3 is the definition of a non channel, a relay for ITV and US product that can be seen on at least 2 other numbers on the EPG

Mike

whiskeyman

Damn right Mike.

So much of the schedule in the papers just has 'as ITV'!

Wasn't TV3 also responsible for 'The Box' with k-k-k-k-k-Keith Duffy?

*shudder*

humanji

Ah come on, you're missing out on the genius that is Ireland Am. It took me a while, but I finally figured it all out. It's a spoof morning show, in the same style as The Day Today or Brass Eye. It makes so much more sense when you realise that.


Also, they mentioned Boards this morning on their internet section. Granted, they made out that it was a site for finding things to do in various towns, but at least it was a mention!

Morgans

I liked the original sports tonight with Trev and Alan, with the original graphics. They had a phone in element when Keith Barr was one of the panelists giving their opinion on upcoming GAA. One phone in caller said "and Keith Barr is nothing but a knacker" Cooney apologized went onto the next caller who aired his opinion before hanging up with "and yeah, Keith Barr was a knacker"

I knew it was going to be crap from the moment they played "three's the magic number" signature tune with voices asking for a size 3 shoes amongst various other rubbish illustrating how the number 3 can seemingly be used in sentences :rolleyes:. If i remember correctly, they had gremlins in the system as it launched and there was a blank screen for a minute or two.

The news gets a lot of value out of its stock clips, one with kids smoking, one where some hand at a bar pouring drink from a pint into a glass and one where a bank teller is handling euros for the first time. All are still being used on their news.

TV3 god love em

Not The Real Scarecrow

10 years ,Jesus the time flies.Really makes you realise that the old "time flys when you're having fun" is a bag of s.h.i.t.e.
The channel is just awful, slightly better than rte1 tho.Their own made shows are just so bad they're hilarious.Show like Ireland Am,Expose and some of their pathetic excuses for documentaries just make me realise that their is no god and if there is he hates us all.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

According to a note I found in my pocket, I paid a big black guy from Haiti to romove all memories of "TV3" from my head. I'm pretty sure it's a reference to the TV channel.

Julez

Yer man that reads the news, brian something for rte was in out school years ago (when I was in school) and he said tv3 news isn't taken seriously, the rte news crew watch the likes of sky news, bbc news etc to make sure they are competing, but don't bother go near tv3. Gotta love the birthday shout outs on tv3 weather though!

Shryke

It has a lot of crap on it but it did have Buffy and later on Angel. I didn't have Sky so I was glad I could catch it. I'm pretty sure it had better programming when it started up. It couldn't have been as poor as it is now.

monkeyfudge

The Merlin Mini Series was one of their big launch programmes too. Don't think I've watched anything else on TV3 really since then.

Although the BBC have their own Merlin series starting soon too.

herbieflowers

isn't basically an Irish ITV equivalent?

Holsten

I remember it being launched.. thats about it.

As others have said it's really a non-channel.. it's on tv.. and thats about it.

Repeats of old (bad) American shows is not good, not good at all.

Mayo Exile

Should lose it's license, because even after 10 years you still can't get it via a TV aerial in many parts of the West of Ireland. I know its available via the Sky Dish, but you shouldn't need a dish to get it!

razorblunt

I think Best of the Best 2 was on the first Saturday night.

They had South park as well think it was the only show I watched regularly on it.

EKRIUQ

Boards.ie was featured on Ireland Am this morning, I could see Cagney squirm in his seat I wonder if he ever did a search on his name here:P

ejmaztec

Namesco wrote: »

Boards.ie was featured on Ireland Am this morning, I could see Cagney squirm in his seat I wonder if he ever did a search on his name here:P

He probably thinks we've all got dart-boards with his face on, but we haven't, not until Christmas Day at least.

JBoyle4eva

razorblunt wrote: »

I think Best of the Best 2 was on the first Saturday night.

They had South park as well think it was the only show I watched regularly on it.

Well, now that takes me back. Can remember one christmas holidays (I think it may have been 2001, when I was 13) that my older brother and I watched it while my parents where visiting someone else:rolleyes:

Other than that, have never been too found of TV3. It's only usefulness now is relaying ITV shows that aren't on the Irish Sky EPG, hence recordable on Sky+

AlmightyCushion

10 years too many if you ask me.

Wheels

Unfortunately as an ad based station in Ireland, it's never going to be amazing. RTÉ are able to cap their rates for advertising and keeping the price down industry wide, meaning TV3 will never really stand a chance at making enough money to make decent home grown shows.

Sponsorship is its biggest saviour at the moment (Ireland AM, The Apprentice, Xpose etc. are all paid for by sponsors) but again because RTÉ can get sponsors they're limited in who wants to play ball. It will be interesting though over the next year or so to see what Ben Frow will do. They're slowly trying to up their game and are making some decent steps. While it might turn out to be crap, their own drama scripted drama series is a huge step.

Utopia Parkway

Only good thing to come out of TV3 has been Colette Fitzpatrick and her heaving bosom.

Even that doesn't make up for inflicting Mark Cagney on the nation every morning.

csk

I remember it had Buffy on when it started which I suppose was something but after that I'm struggling to think of a single thing I've watched on it. They should pull the plug cos it's really just ITV with a different name now... complete and utter toss.

malcolmplex

i used to watch the sweeney it was on about midnight.handy for brushing up on my cockney slang

Zaph

I'm pretty sure I've never watched any more than about half a dozen shows on it in that 10 years. Complete waste of time, imo.

Pride Fighter

I remember when Grainne Seoige was relatively attractive on TV3. Those were the days to be a 15 year old :pac::pac:

Skyuser

I remember that luther from kilnaskully was in some irish programme during tv3's early days.

Xavi6

I could've watched Claire Byrne all day long tbh

gordon_gekko

Pride Fighter wrote: »

I remember when Grainne Seoige was relatively attractive on TV3. Those were the days to be a 15 year old :pac::pac:

your not suggesting that grainne is no longer attractive

gordon_gekko

Xavi6 wrote: »

I could've watched Claire Byrne all day long tbh

i cant bear to listen to her on the radio let alone watch her on the telly

djsupreme

Jesus...ur all quick to be tv programmers!

I have to be honest....there's very little I would watch on tv3, but credit where credit's due. They are producing an awful lot more home programming than RTE 2. Ireland AM, Midday, News, Xpose, Tonight with VB. I have no personal interest in watching the likes of Ireland AM or Xpose, but I know lots of people who do.

And at least TV3 had the balls to do a live breakfast show - **** and all as you may think it is. RTE are incapable of putting anything on at breakfast time except old cartoons. I also think the Vincent Browne show is pretty good.

I don't work for TV3, but I think you should cut them a little slack. They don't get licence fee money like RTE so you can't expect the same level of drama or documentary. They are a commercial company trying to make money.

TvWatcher

more home programming than RTE2? If RTE2 shows THE DEN from 10 to 7 pm each day, the majority of which is made up of home-produced kids shows, and RTE Sport at weekends (SGame Live, S Game, Premier Soccer, C League etc etc etc) + stuff like Raw, Podge n Rodge, NewsOn2, The Cafe, TTV etc etc etc then I can't see how TV3 have more home-production than RTE2. They have a fraction.

Not that it matters really but facts is facts.

KnifeWRENCH

TV3's not that bad. OK they show a lot of crap, but so do most other stations.
Hopefully the Irish version of The Apprentice will be good.

Also, I can remember South Park being on TV3 and my mother very reluctantly allowing me to watch it (I was like 9 or 10)
Also, it was TV3 that showed Arrested Development. They stuck it on at ridiculous, varying timeslots but still they showed it. So I have one thing to thank them for.

MoominPapa

Used to have a couple of decent programs. Agenda was pretty good to have on while reading the Sundays and that late night music show, The Sound Room(?) could be great at times. But the station didn't have the balls to carry them on and its been pure sh1te since except for VB tonight which is all right but hardly great.
The Apprentice could be a laugh riot though

Arthur Daley

malcolmplex wrote: »

i used to watch the sweeney it was on about midnight.handy for brushing up on my cockney slang

Not forgetting Minder too in the early days.:o:pac:;)

KnifeWRENCH

Anyone else remember Music^3? It ran for a few months late at night and people could text in requests for videos.
It was there where I first heard the Pixies - they had "Here Comes Your Man" and "Debaser".
So I have TV3 to thank for introducing me to the Pixies!

lt_cmdr_worf

square_igloo wrote: »

Anyone else remember Music^3? It ran for a few months late at night and people could text in requests for videos.
It was there where I first heard the Pixies - they had "Here Comes Your Man" and "Debaser".
So I have TV3 to thank for introducing me to the Pixies!

It was on around '03 after the late night programmes and before the informercials...I heard Nirvana "Smells Like Teen Spirit" on there one night. I also remember "Pop on 3", another music show which was on during the early years.

"Popcorn", a DVD/movie show, was on not so long ago.
Also remember the following shows on it: Any Day Now, Seven Days, The Guardian, Hack, Roswell, Dark Skies, Haunted; they also had Family Guy and Futurama on late nights.

KrazeeEyezKilla

square_igloo wrote: »

Anyone else remember Music^3? It ran for a few months late at night and people could text in requests for videos.
It was there where I first heard the Pixies - they had "Here Comes Your Man" and "Debaser".
So I have TV3 to thank for introducing me to the Pixies!

I was about to say the same thing. I don't there has been a better reward for watching TV at 2 in the morning.

When TV3 started they used to have infomercials on after that magic number bit. I had problems sleeping during late 1998 so I was just watching that crap all night. There was always an ad for a CD called Superhits of the 80's which featured all the hits that everybody had either forgotten or never heard of.

ladyA

I have to agree that a lot of the programming is God awful however I do think TV3 should be cut some slack. As a media student it's a good potential employer given that RTE is largely a closed door if you don't know anyone in there.
They are def making an effort with more home produced programming and all though the production values are often no better than that of students like myself at least they are giving it a go. We in part pay for RTE and I can't say I am hugely happy with their programming either.

Sherifu

Whatever bad things they may have done, they gave us back Alan Cantwell. A minor miracle, who knew his career could survive talkabout...

tintin67

I agree that TV3 should be given some credit for at least trying to increase their home production, even if it is all through necessity done on a shoestring. I saw their new midday show and wasn't hugely impressed. Perhaps they could do something to rival UTV's 'Loose Women' afternoon gobfest. The Irish version could be called 'Uptight Men' and be presented by, say, (picking some names totally out of thin air) Alan Cantwell, Mark Cagney and Joe O'Shea.

iseegirls

Sherifu wrote: »

Whatever bad things they may have done, they gave us back Alan Cantwell. A minor miracle, who knew his career could survive talkabout...

Do u mean Alan Hughes?

iseegirls

Just a bit of a flashback to when it started for ya:

Sun 20th Sep - 5.30 This is TV3, 6:00 News @ 6, 7.00 Messrs Tylak And Rooney, 7:30 Just Shoot Me, 8:00 20/20, 9:00 Film: Merlin 11:00 News Tonight 11:30 Sports Tonight

Weekdays: 12:00 Speakeasy 12:30 Family Affairs, 1:00 Ricki Lake, 2:00 Breakers, 2:30 Sunset Beach, 3:30 Judge Judy, 4:00 Gimme 3 (Ren And Stimpy & Conan The Adventurer) 5:00 Can't Cook Won't Cook, 5:30 Family Affairs, 6:00 News @ 6, 7:00 Breakers && 11pm News Tonight, 11:30 Sports Tonight, 12:00 Minder

Mon: 7:30 Birds Of A Feather, 8:00 Eastenders, 8:30 Something So Right, 9:00 Film
Tue: 7:30 Eastenders 8:00 ? 8:30 Just Shoot Me 9:00 Mad About You 9:30 The Naked Truth, 10:00 Early Edition.
Wed: 7:30 Birds Of A Feather, 8:00 FILM!, 10:00 Seinfeld (double bill)
Thurs: 7:30 Eastenders 8:00 Buffy The Vampire Slayer 9:00 CI5: The New Professionals 10:00 ?
Fri: 7:30 Birds Of A Feather 8:00 Pensacola - Wings Of Gold, 9:00 ? 10:00 Good Guys, Bad Guys

Sat: 7:40 Animal Crackers - Adventures of Pete And Pete - Transformers Gen 2, 9:00 Pop On 3, 11:00 Sister Said, 11:30 Student Bodies, 12:00 FILM!, 2:00 FILM! 4:30 Earth Report 5:00 ?, 6:00 News @ 6, 6:30 The Pepsi Chart Show, 7:00 Film, 9:00 Film, 11:00 Film

Sun: 7:40 Gimme 3 (Avenger Penguins., Rocko's Modern Life, Loggerheads, Conan & The Young Warriors, ?) 10:30 The Pepsi Chart Show, 11:00 The Love Boat, 12:00 London's Burning, 1:00 Eastenders, 2:45 FILM!, 5:00 Timecop, 6:00 News @ 6.30 6.30 Hudson Street, 7:00 ?, 8:00 20/20, 9:00 FILM!, 11:00 The Week In Review


I've forgotten a few.

And don't even ask how i can remember them all

elshambo

It used to be cheap and occasionally cheerful
Now its just cheap!

djsupreme

TvWatcher wrote: »

more home programming than RTE2? If RTE2 shows THE DEN from 10 to 7 pm each day, the majority of which is made up of home-produced kids shows, and RTE Sport at weekends (SGame Live, S Game, Premier Soccer, C League etc etc etc) + stuff like Raw, Podge n Rodge, NewsOn2, The Cafe, TTV etc etc etc then I can't see how TV3 have more home-production than RTE2. They have a fraction.

Not that it matters really but facts is facts.

Yes. Facts are fact. We are not talking the number of short shows - we're talking broadcast hours. Three hours at breakfast, an hour at lunch, an hour at teatime, and evening programmes.

You mention the Den from 10 til 7 each day. Aside from the cafe and one or two other half hours, do you really think that a two minute link between a presenter and puppet every half hour constitutes HOURS of home produced programming? I should point out that by 7pm, TV3 would have FIVE broadcasting hours of home produced programming.

missingtime

10 years. 10 ****ING YEARS!

I..I..I..mean...10 ****ING YEARS

I'm speechless.

TP4Cornholio

10 years and they still haven't managed to get a signal in the western fringes of Ireland, or anywhere there are mountains.

A watered down version of ITV, but t's not all bad, as there are a few good programmes there, like TV AM and the girls from Xpose. They're definitely worth watching!

Elmo

This just in:-

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055381954

Elmo

Wheels wrote: »

Unfortunately as an ad based station in Ireland, it's never going to be amazing. RTÉ are able to cap their rates for advertising and keeping the price down industry wide, meaning TV3 will never really stand a chance at making enough money to make decent home grown shows.

Sponsorship is its biggest saviour at the moment (Ireland AM, The Apprentice, Xpose etc. are all paid for by sponsors) but again because RTÉ can get sponsors they're limited in who wants to play ball. It will be interesting though over the next year or so to see what Ben Frow will do. They're slowly trying to up their game and are making some decent steps. While it might turn out to be crap, their own drama scripted drama series is a huge step.

€60,000,000 each year, TV3 have pleanty of money for one TV station. TV3 can get plenty of sponsorship. There aren't a little company, they are only a little company because the choose to be small because it makes them millions they have had it easy and they have caused RTE to have it easy. They can show more ads then RTE. They have 13% of the audience.

Their scripted drama is a two part co-funded by the licence fee through the sound and vision fund of the BCI. A very very small step.

tintin67

'Help I Smell Of Fish'. One hour documentary broadcast in prime time by TV3 last week. A new low in Irish broadcasting? Discuss and debate. Dev must be turning in his grave. And no, I don't mean Dev from Corrie for all you TV3 viewers out there.

Elmo

tintin67

The your/you're grammatical error on the TV3 intro irked me for years. Like they'd care.