Val Falvey TD

flanzer

What tripe! With Arthur Matthews teaming up with Dougal again, I was expecting a lot of laughs and was so disappointed.

RTE can sing for the licence fee and I WILL be able to handle the shame

paddyland

I thought it was horrendous. Not a laugh once. Plenty of cringe moments where I actually felt sorry for the cast.

I smiled once. That was when McDonnell turned and gave that look at the woman with the rash on her face. And I had seen that on all the trailers.

This is easily in the top ten all time stinkers RTE ever foisted on us in 48 years of TV. I would pull it immediately, as it does nothing for anyone involved in it, particularly the cast. If it is pulled quickly and quietly, people might forget it ever existed. That would be best.

MrMatisse

Its total CRAP

netwhizkid

Fr. Dougal is irrecoverably damaged after that god awful piece of sheer rubbish. I'd say Ted turned in his grave and to think I fell for the "from the writers of Fr. Ted" bit thinking it would be good. Probably the worst thing on RTÉ since Brendan Grace's interview the last night with Tubridy.

The Prophet

deckydunbar wrote: »

Not as bad as most Irish comedy lately

Which recent decades?





I think the upcoming "The Savage Eye" series has some modicum of potential (though it's a sketch format rather than a sitcom). Its pilot effort was the best of a bad lot from RTE's earlier season of comedy try-outs. (Though that sounds like damning it with faint praise.)

Wyndman

That was woeful. Zero laughs, the few jokes there were were totally botched. The editing/directing was amateur.

You can take proven (nigh legendary) writers and proven actors but the second RTE lay their anti-talent mitts on something it falls into a unwatchable mess.

This proves its the unqualified, backslapping clowns in RTE that are the problem, they have never made real television and they drag down the few people in Ireland that ever have. It looks like it was feedbacked to mediocrity.

I mean what the hell... it was lukewarm, aimless filler. RTE should be shut down before they kill off the few scraps of talent left.

deckydunbar

In all seriousness who commissions comedy in RTE? What are their qualifications comedy-wise?

The Prophet

paddyland wrote: »

This is easily in the top ten all time stinkers RTE ever foisted on us in 48 years of TV. I would pull it immediately, as it does nothing for anyone involved in it, particularly the cast.

Ah yes, critical hyperbole for comedic effect. Send some scripts to RTE (actually, best not).

Het-Field

I can see where they are coming from.

However, i didnt laugh. I will give it another go next sunday and I shall reserve judgement until then.

Wyndman

deckydunbar wrote: »

In all seriousness who commissions comedy in RTE? What are their qualifications comedy-wise?

This is Nightlive, The Byrne Ultimnatum, The Lucy Kennedy Show.

The RTE hack in charge of entertainment only ever worked in Prime Time / current affairs previously. No one in there is remotely qualified to made decisions about comedy or broadcasting full stop as they have never worked in a real television station.

Wyndman

deckydunbar wrote: »

In all seriousness who commissions comedy in RTE? What are their qualifications comedy-wise?

Or to put it another way...
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1829744/

deckydunbar

Wyndman wrote: »

Or to put it another way...
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1829744/

Bloody hell. He's worked with more sh1t than Dyno Rod.

Feeky Magee

netwhizkid wrote: »

Fr. Dougal is irrecoverably damaged after that god awful piece of sheer rubbish. I'd say Ted turned in his grave and to think I fell for the "from the writers of Fr. Ted" bit thinking it would be good. Probably the worst thing on RTÉ since Brendan Grace's interview the last night with Tubridy.

Steady on.

ianrush

Woeful. Also consider that Arthur and Ardal are coming off the back of Wide Open Spaces and that's a helluva stink. I love Fr Ted as much as anyone, but i have to say that Ardal just can't act beyond doing the Fr Dougal schtick. Also does anyone else think that Owen Roe does the same performance in everything!? Seen him in quite a few plays and tv stuff now, and he just never does anything different.

The Prophet

Feeky Magee wrote: »

Steady on.

"Careful now"

104494431

CliffHuxtabel wrote: »

Ardal O'Hanlon is crap in this

FYP :cool:

A Disgrace

There's a reason Matthews isn't writing with Graham Linehan anymore folks..

As one of my close friends said tonight 'it's easy to see who was the Art Garfunkel of that particular relationship..

omahaid

The Prophet wrote: »

"Careful now"

Down with this sort of thing

Time Magazine

You're all a bit too cynical. I laughed at "Ah feck Bowdenstown, Linda Martin actually beat the British."

mikom

ianrush wrote: »

Also does anyone else think that Owen Roe does the same performance in everything!?

"I will TCB, as they say in the States. I will "take care of business."

Twas poor to be honest.

The Prophet

Time Magazine wrote: »

You're all a bit too cynical.

Oh.

That's that, then.

We've been well and truly rumbled!

Apparently.

Frankie Lee

Why can't RTE produce something like this

Mr.Nice Guy

I only saw the final few moments and I wasn't too impressed. Sorry Val but you haven't got my vote.

I don't know which was worse, RTE insistaning on last minute changes so as to not offend FF or the show itself :rolleyes:

blackbetty69

was a real disappointment i must say.. wasnt very funny at all.. still not as bad as the panel tho

JonathanAnon

hellboy99 wrote: »

I don't know which was worse, RTE insistaning on last minute changes so as to not offend FF or the show itself :rolleyes:

Why did they say something derogatory about Ryan Tubridy?

JonathanAnon

Was working last nite so I watched this on the player now. Have to say I thought from the start that this program would have a very hard time trying to keep away from every old cliché about it's subject matter. And you know what... they managed to fall back on every cliché to save themselves from actually having to write something original.

Pretty much all of what they did has been covered by Pat Shortt's politician character in Killinaskully. The dodgy deals, dealing with the public's petty requests, family legacy, spin doctoring, rivalry with other local politician. ... *yawn*.

And as usual, cast includes half of Fair City and half of the voiceover artists that you normally hear advertising health insurance on the radio. A very poor effort indeed. I can honestly say I could have written better myself.

What with The Byrne Ultimatum, The Panel etc etc you can at least say that RTE are consistent in their comedy offerings.

Venom

RTE's usual rubbish again tho to be honest I wasn't expecting much from them in the first place. Ardal O'Hanlon really seems to be a one trick pony and after Fr Ted the tricks been done. I honestly believe if RTE had of made FR Ted it would of been exactly like this show

I fully agree with posters saying this show was written via committee as you can see they wanted to play it uber safe and not offend FF. Maybe RTE think this will get them a hike in the TV Licence lol.

Meeja Ireland

i

JonathanAnon wrote: »

And as usual, cast includes half of Fair City and half of the voiceover artists that you normally hear advertising health insurance on the radio.

That's a fair point, and it leads to a point that I've seldom seen tackled: that Ireland's national self-image as a land rich in talent is just delusional.

The reason we see the same actors everywhere is that there are so few actors in the country who are even minimally competent. If you can learn lines, more or less, and turn up mostly sober, you have a good chance of getting the job.

The same is true of writing. Shows aren't cast badly and stupidly written because good actors and writers are being ignored. It's because they are not there, or they are not interested in the medium.

In this case, RTE have put together a team with a high pedigree in comedy. This is not a bad procedure.

It's possible that the first drafts and early rehearsals were belly-laugh dynamite, which the dead hand of management crushed into mediocrity. It's also possible that a shallow talent pool didn't miraculously throw up a genius, but instead a project worth supporting got nurtured a few steps along the journey from ok to quite good.

In any case, it had no fewer laughs than the first episode of Porridge, and several more than any series of My Family. I wouldn't write it off yet.

mattman

zzzzzzzzzzzz


watched half of it...

rubbish...

same writer as farther ted? did he have a stroke or something!!

m.

KC JONES

mattman wrote: »

zzzzzzzzzzzz


watched half of it...

rubbish...

same writer as farther ted? did he have a stroke or something!!

m.

I watched as I had seen it classed as on a par with father Ted i.e the new 'father ted'.Whoever wrote that is delusional

My God it was pathetic, cringeworthy crap with out a laugh or a chartacter

Shane10

mattman wrote: »

zzzzzzzzzzzz


watched half of it...

rubbish...

same writer as farther ted? did he have a stroke or something!!

m.

no it just seems anything put on rte is sh1te. this local TD thing has been done to death. :mad:

meep

Watched this with a none too critical eye hoping for a modicum of entertainment but it really was an appalling half hour of television.

Everything about it seemed one dimensional. I didn't think much of the script but what got me in particular was the execution. The shot selection, editing and performances were so stilted as to be unbelievable. There was no coherent flow whatsoever. Production standards were rock bottom, exemplified by the obviously accidental camera shake left in about 1/3 way through as characters exit the caravan as well as the awful shakey tilt up to the photo at the end.

And this is something that seems to be common across many comedy productions. Production techniques that work (a relative term) in SoapLand are transferred across to projects like this where they are wholly inappropriate.

Making a programme like this function smoothly and with a degree of professionalism would go a long way towards allowing the viewer focus on the script - instead you are constantly jolted back to reality with a poor performance here, a bad edit there, tacky location, poor set dressing, poor camera angle etc. When those gaffs come along at a faster rate than the jokes, what hope has it?

And why should I give it another chance? I'm not going to watch this again in the vain hope that it gets better. Producers should be aiming for the best possible in the first episode - this is the chance to set the standard and encourage the viewer back for more.

There's just a comedy by numbers feel to this and a lot of other local output that leaves a bad taste.

No I couldn't do better but that's not the point. The point is why produce anything at all if the results are this medicore. Someone should have known better.

Not funny. Not even entertaining.

Peter

Shane10

think people were expecting to much seen as ardal was in the cast. pity cause i really like him as an actor.

UrbanFox

Utter rubbish. The Nuremberg trials were funnier.

Remember the basic equation of modern Irish comedy ;

RTE + COMEDY = ZERO.:(

youcancallmeal

I could of sworn the ads for this during the week were saying "From the creator of Father Ted", immediately I thought Graham Linehan and got very excited. Then much to my disapointment I realised the ad was saying "From the co-creator" and then I knew it wasn't Graham Linehan

Anyway I didn't like the show, it was aimless and not particularly funny.

focusfan

deckydunbar wrote: »

Not as bad as most Irish comedy lately. But not as good as 95% of UK sitcoms lately. RTE. WE NEED A DECENT SITCOM. CONTEMPORARY. Think Peep Show. Think Pulling. Think Inbetweeners. Think The Smoking Room. Think.

Irish humour/wit cannot not be captured and transferred to this medium The aforementioned shows would never work here

btw i have not watched this show and have no intention of. I really never liked Ardal O'Hanlon and no way would i ever watch him, even Fr Ted i found it hard going .

The Prophet

focusfan wrote: »

Irish humour/wit cannot be captured and transferred to this medium

Nonsense.

Irish humour is not a million miles away from other anglosphere nations. To suggest we've something utterly unique and stygian-to-the-camera-lens in our comedy is a mere exercise in delusory shamrock-toned navel-gazing.

johnfunk

focusfan wrote: »

Irish humour/wit cannot not be captured and transferred to this medium.

But wasn't Father Ted Irish humour?

Wertz

I was on the fence about this in the run up to air, was pretty sure it'd be like RTÉ's comedy of year's past, ie not that funny, but with the past pedigree of the writer and O'Hanlon I was prepared to give it a fair chance...in the finish up I forgot it was on.
Called round to someone's house last night and they said they turned it over 10 minutes in...I wasn't surprised but I was disappointed...this country needs a good comedy, it's not like we can't produce good comedians or are lacking in humour or subject matter, so where is it going wrong?
I was going to watch it online but knowing RTÉ it'll be repeated twice before next sunday...wouldn't be fair of me to slate it without seeing it, but having read this thread the assumptions I'd tried to avoid making seem to have come true.

Semi OT: I see a lot of people mentioning that we need the likes of an Irish Peep Show or similar....there's something we lack in this country though...where are the comedy based radio shows and such? It would seem a much better way or trialing new ideas, new producers or new talent, rather than the huge cost of putting turkeys on the telly.

FearDark

Nobodys mentioned that Ardal O Hanlon is a completely unfunny man yet? So there Ive said it. Un-funny man.

Feeky Magee

FearDark wrote: »

Nobodys mentioned that Ardal O Hanlon is a completely unfunny man yet? So there Ive said it. Un-funny man.

Blasphemy! :eek:

johnfunk

Wertz wrote: »

Semi OT: I see a lot of people mentioning that we need the likes of an Irish Peep Show or similar....there's something we lack in this country though...where are the comedy based radio shows and such? It would seem a much better way or trialing new ideas, new producers or new talent, rather than the huge cost of putting turkeys on the telly.

But Dustin is funny!

HankScorpio

A very poor effort to start with. As posters have already alluded to:

1. The dithering, dimwit local TD has been seen before in Killinascully. That TD character even has a small part because it's a very one dimensional character. Don't know how they are going to squeeze a whole series out of the same schtick.
2. I feel sorry sorry for Arthur Matthews because if this is the best he can do, then its a sad state of affairs. It really makes you think how many of the genius moments of Father Ted did he actually contribute to, or was he simply riding on the coat-tails of the great Mr Linehan.
3. If Val inherited his seat from his apparently successful father, why are his constituency offices a run down caravan(very similar to the one when Ted & Dougal go on holidays where they met Father Furlong).
4. O'Hanlon has always been a sh*te actor. He got away with it in Father Ted because of Linehan's writing and most importantly the brilliant Dermot Morgan. He just can't escape or improve on that character which results in very painful veiwing. Maybe in another actor's hands this might of had a chance but under O'Hanlon it is surely doomed.

The whole thing looked cheap,dull but most notably predictable. A real of sense of been there, done that , seen it all before.

maryxyz

As there is so little good comedy on RTE I was really looking forward to this in the belief it would measure up to the Father Ted series - what a total disappointment ! ! ! !

Maryxyz

Dubh Geannain

I can't believe I was actually looking forward to this. Somebody above mentioned clichés. That's all I could think of. Poo

d.a.r.r.a.g.h

I have to say it was awful. There was no part I could find, that anyone would laugh at.

Euro_Kraut

He fell of his bicycle!! Brilliant!

Very poor effort. Amateurish and very clichéd. Even down to the daughter going 'oh my gawd my parents are soo embarrassing'

TarfHead

I had hoped that this could be good, then when I saw 'Sunday 19:30', I realised that it wasn't to be ..

Wyndman

Meeja Ireland wrote: »

i

That's a fair point, and it leads to a point that I've seldom seen tackled: that Ireland's national self-image as a land rich in talent is just delusional.

Actaully I've heard that a lot. Normally from producers, RTE hacks and other media administration types as an excuse for the poor product they're signing off on.

Ireland has proportionally more or less the same amount of talent as other nations but the reason it doesn't show up on camera is the uselessness of the self-appointed few (normally with marketing, accounting or PR backgrounds) who control the resources.

And to those who are spouting ingorance that Matthews was being carried by Linehan. As a team they worked on some of the greatest comedies of the last two decades, Alan Patridge, The Fast Show, Brasseye, The Day Today... Matthews on his own wrote the second series of Big Train, which is an amazing achivement for just one writer.

He has created, and originally played on stage, Father Ted. He is a downright legend and one of the funniest men alive. RTE, and the ballsless play-it-safe Irish media in general, are to blame here.