Val Falvey TD

Johnny Giles

RTÉ 1 NOW

RABTMOUSE

I didn't laugh out loud, but I will be tuning in again- its difficult to judge the strength of something just by the first episode- perhaps it might develop into a good show... perhaps

Lemondrop kid

Well it's Val time again tonight.
A few of the clips looked like it might improve, but seriously doubt it.
Still, will wait and see (what else my gonna do on a freezing sunday night, with no money in the phoca?)
:rolleyes:

Johnny Giles

Simon Delaney is in this tonight.

Lemondrop kid

Johnny Giles wrote: »

Simon Delaney is in this tonight.

Who he?

MikeC101

Lemondrop kid wrote: »

Who he?

I know him as the guy from Bachelors Walk, some telephone ads (meteor?), and the posters for "Stones in His Pockets".

He's probably featured in other stuff, at a guess some RTE drama, plays, chat shows.

Johnny Giles

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2420679/

MikeC101

Couldn't you have found a bigger photo? :eek:

Lemondrop kid

MikeC101 wrote: »

I know him as the guy from Bachelors Walk, some telephone ads (meteor?), and the posters for "Stones in His Pockets".

He's probably featured in other stuff, at a guess some RTE drama, plays, chat shows.

A 'poster boy' for the naughties so. Hope he brings something it

Johnny Giles

Tesco phone ads

MikeC101

Johnny Giles wrote: »

Tesco phone ads

Ah yeah. Goes to show how much of an effect they had on me - I just remember him eating cake in them, and commenting that any more cream would "go through him like the Luas."

Johnny Giles

Bit better tonight.

twincamman

its very very bad,i havent even been near a laugh yet.very poor considering the good actors in it:(

Reginald P. DuM

I dunno Johnny, I didn't laugh last weerk, and I havent this week yet. Think thats it now with me and the bould Val.

Johnny Giles

Phelim Drew - Son of Ronnie - in this tonight.

Also Starring LeVar Burton

Bit better, but not good enough. Done with this show.

Johnny Giles

Johnny Giles wrote: »

Phelim Drew - Son of Ronnie - in this tonight.

Stick with narrating The Apprentice son

Johnny Giles

Best Quote goes to:

Simon Delaney -

"Give us a smile. It's the second best thing a girl can do with her lips"

Creamy Goodness

still awful.

currythis

Meh,slightly funny in parts but the whole storyline is just a bit sh!te really,Matthew's is no Graham Linehan obviously!

Johnny Giles

Yea. Suddenly it's over. No storyline at all. If this series was an essay in the Leaving Cert I'd give it a D

Johnny Giles

Auld men throwing paper balls at one another in the Dáil.

Unfunny sh!t

David McWilliams has his face on this sh!t too. Between the Panel and this he's really doing himself some damage.

Elmo

This got good write ups in the newspaper sorry just the Indo

The Irish Times said

MAYBE IT’S because our politicians have been dishing up the ingredients for comedy gold on a great big platter that my expectations for Val Falvey TD (RTÉ 1, Sunday) were so high. This year alone the comedy gift horse that is Leinster House has produced all kinds of material from the slapstick of limos shuttling between airport terminals to the real meat of satire such as Nama, ministerial expenses and state-funded bankers.
A good satirical comedy would twist the knife and it’s safe to speculate that we’re all in the mood to witness a bit of expert filleting. Then there’s the pedigree of Val Falvey’s writer Arthur Matthews (who co-writes with Paul Woodfull) who was one of the co-creators of Father Ted . The cast, too, which includes Owen Roe, Pat O’Donnell, Enda Oates and Amelia Crowley, is top notch.

So with all that going for it, it seems nearly wilful that they created such an unfunny, irrelevant show. The premise is that Falvey is a reluctant politician from the midlands who inherits the seat from his deceased father. Pat Daly (Roe) is his adviser and fixer. The constituency office is a manky caravan which we’re clearly supposed to find instantly hilarious (and of course the caravan episode was one of the funniest in the Father Ted series), but lightning doesn’t strike twice. Then there are the other characters – mostly slightly mad-looking people, straight out of the dog-eared directory of shouty culchie stereotypes, and without a funny line between them.

Well put.

Even the worst comedies have me smile a little!

Greenman

Rubbish, how did this ever get off the ground?

Lemondrop kid

Johnny Giles wrote: »

Auld men throwing paper balls at one another in the Dáil.

Unfunny sh!t

David McWilliams has his face on this sh!t too. Between the Panel and this he's really doing himself some damage.

Ah well, complete nonsense. It's not only the direction, script is dreadful. Big no no.

In a blinding flash of insight I understand why McWilliams is doing this stuff - he's hopin to host some rte chat show! Has to be it! (note: I don't regard the panel as a show)

Lemondrop kid

Elmo wrote: »

This got good write ups in the newspaper

What???
What newpapers - the Midlands Chronicle? (the one in val falvey)

blackbetty69

this show isnt even funny like, and the writer of father ted is suposed to be over this show?! i think someone from the panel kidnapped him and took over, and is polluting our televisions with this sh*t comedy

Lemondrop kid

Elmo wrote: »

This got good write ups in the newspaper sorry just the Indo

Em do you have the INp article for pasting/ posting?
I cannot believe any even lowly hack could give this the thumbs up

Reginald P. DuM

It's pretty evident Graham Linehan and Dermot Morgan were the creative forces behind the humour in Ted. This is lame, Mathews living off the back of Ted without producing anything remotely funny since.

smcgiff

Greenman wrote: »

Rubbish, how did this ever get off the ground?

*pilot episode just finishes in RTE HQ*

RTE Mandarin #1 - 'Jaysus, that's shíte'
RTE Mandarin #2 - 'Remember what happened when we passed on Fr Ted'
RTE Mandarin #1 - 'Sign that shíte up!'

Elmo

Lemondrop kid wrote: »

Em do you have the INp article for pasting/ posting?
I cannot believe any even lowly hack could give this the thumbs up

seems to be a friend

http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/tv-radio/playing-the-eejit-in-the-name-of-comedy-1957999.html

The new RTE comedy series Val Falvey TD is co-written by a close personal friend of mine, Arthur Mathews. So I should declare my ethical position in matters of this nature.

It goes something like this: If the show is very good, it would be morally wrong for me not to point this out, because then the writer in question would be the victim of a grave injustice, denied due recognition in a national newspaper for no good reason apart from his relationship with me.

And if the show is terrible, I will simply pretend that it doesn't exist.

As you may already have gathered, Val Falvey falls into the former category, and is entitled to all the recognition it will be getting, now and into the future, perhaps for TV eternity.

For all we know, they will still be showing Falvey every night on RTE2 in 15 years time, like they show Mathews' Father Ted. And it can be compared to Ted, not just for the involvement of Mathews and Ardal O'Hanlon, but in the sense that in many ways it is a celebration of eejitry -- every character in this series has unique characteristics, but they are all united by one thing -- they are all eejits.

And Mathews, along with co-writer Paul Woodfull, is chronicling the lives of these eejits so faithfully, it is now perhaps time that our national universities took notice, and printed up an honorary doctorate for services to eejitry and for a lifetime of achievement in this field.

There are also huge contributions from Ardal O'Hanlon as Val Falvey himself and Owen Roe as his handler -- never for a moment does the mask slip, to reveal anything but the most overwhelming levels of total and irreversible gombeenism, or, to give it its true name, eejitry.

It isn't enough to be an eejit.

Elmo

smcgiff wrote: »

*pilot episode just finishes in RTE HQ*

RTE Mandarin #1 - 'Jaysus, that's shíte'
RTE Mandarin #2 - 'Remember what happened when we passed on Fr Ted'
RTE Mandarin #1 - 'Sign that shíte up!'

RTE Mandarin #2 must have forgotten that RTÉ never got the opportunity to produce Fr. Ted.

Wouldn't mind but the BAI (Broadcasting Authority of Ireland) gave money towards it as well!

Lemondrop kid

Elmo wrote: »

seems to be a friend

Jesus, that is shocking - f**king scandlous. Do you know the name of the writer.
Good God I'm in shock - honest

smcgiff

Elmo wrote: »

RTE Mandarin #2 must have forgotten that RTÉ never got the opportunity to produce Fr. Ted.

Hah! - Thought I heard RTE fumbled it.

MikeC101

Val Falvey falls into the former category, and is entitled to all the recognition it will be getting, now and into the future, perhaps for TV eternity.

The writer can't be serious, can he? Recognition for TV eternity?

For all we know, they will still be showing Falvey every night on RTE2 in 15 years time, like they show Mathews' Father Ted.

Well yes, I could see them doing this, but that would be because they've been bankrupt for the previous ten years, after the Montrose Riots of 2014, when license payers finally snapped, after the building of the second Tubridy statue, and stormed the RTE HQ and lynched the top brass.

And it can be compared to Ted, not just for the involvement of Mathews and Ardal O'Hanlon, but in the sense that in many ways it is a celebration of eejitry

It certainly is that. A celebration of the eejitry the writers think the public possess, to try and present such bland crap as comedy.

And Mathews, along with co-writer Paul Woodfull, is chronicling the lives of these eejits so faithfully, it is now perhaps time that our national universities took notice, and printed up an honorary doctorate for services to eejitry and for a lifetime of achievement in this field.

ffs....at this point I ask, is the article actually being satirical? If not...

There are also huge contributions from Ardal O'Hanlon as Val Falvey himself and Owen Roe as his handler -- never for a moment does the mask slip, to reveal anything but the most overwhelming levels of total and irreversible gombeenism, or, to give it its true name, eejitry.

Funny that, almost as if O'Hanlon was some sort of secret eejit?

Edit: After reading it a second time, the article is a joke, right? Especially with the "services to eejitry and for a lifetime of achievement in this field." ?

Elmo

Lemondrop kid wrote: »

Jesus, that is shocking - f**king scandlous. Do you know the name of the writer.
Good God I'm in shock - honest

Declan Lynch, wouldn't mind but often he doesn't review he just passes remark on shows and then deviates into some sarcastic Indo nonsense!

dr.bollocko

Mind-numbingly pointless. Ardal was better off in the dumb looking super hero outfit.

Lemondrop kid

Oh Declan Lynch. Nuff said.

Elmo

MikeC101 wrote: »

ffs....at this point I ask, is the article actually being satirical? If not...

On continuing to read I am also going to go with sarcasim the headline was

Playing the eejit in the name of comedy

And he goes on to praise McSavage in a sarcastic tone also. Problem with sarcasm is that it doesn't come across in print, perhaps Mathews based the Sarcastic Priest in Father Ted on Declan Lynch.

Johnny Giles

What was the idea behind the scene where Val's daughter walked off after seeing Owen Roe cleaning Ardal's coat.

Were they trying to suggest they were gay or something? If so it failed badly. Childish writing. I'd rather watch a repeat of Killinaskully.

Aidric

The Tribune also stated the show was 'very good'. What's going on here?

http://www.tribune.ie/arts/other/article/2009/nov/29/television-critic-patrick-freyne-no-sex-for-ladett/

Johnny Giles

Aidric wrote: »

The Tribune also stated the show was 'very good'. What's going on here?

http://www.tribune.ie/arts/other/article/2009/nov/29/television-critic-patrick-freyne-no-sex-for-ladett/

Harvey Hunter don't like the show.

peanuthead

JP Liz wrote: »

will it be a hit or miss?

I know I'm in late with this but ... miss

Our man in Havana

It is dire. Awful awful stuff.

cursai

what is the name of vals girlfriend, the one with the botox eyes. its seems everything shes in is muck. remember the cassidys or that skit news show

JonathanAnon

And Mathews, along with co-writer Paul Woodfull, is chronicling the lives of these eejits so faithfully, it is now perhaps time that our national universities took notice, and printed up an honorary doctorate for services to eejitry and for a lifetime of achievement in this field.

And if they do set up such a doctorate for eegitry, this particular journalist will be at the top of the queue. He prefaced the article by stating that he knew the writer and that this would not colour his objectivity, and then showed no objectivity at all. It was like he was trying to overcompensate for his own realization that he didnt have the balls to pan what was a very poorly written bit of "comedy", cos it was written by his friend.

and features plenty of laugh-out-loud bits (one constituent reveals to Val that she swam in a toxic waste-infected lake because there was "a nice Jacuzzi effect")

The Tribune (thanks for posting the link btw), as well !!!! This example of the "humour" was again just another joke that didnt work. The whole story about the pollution is very cliché, but more so than that it was very badly written and not funny at all. The "milieu" as the journalist describes it, is a paint by numbers sort of thing. They follow every cliché of politicians..... and still manage to make it unfunny. I mean, if they parted from the stereotypes and tried to write something groundbreaking you would understand, but how can they paint all the numbers with the wrong colours??

Johnny Giles

cursai wrote: »

what is the name of vals girlfriend, the one with the botox eyes. its seems everything shes in is muck. remember the cassidys or that skit news show

She was in fair city. She killed her OAP millionaire husband.

Johnny Giles

Notice Val's son has appeared in two episodes for a few seconds. Says nothing but wears t-shirts saying "I hate my family" etc.

How much is he getting paid for doing nothing.

cursai

amelia crowley. thats her name. she jinxed

JonathanAnon

cursai wrote: »

what is the name of vals girlfriend, the one with the botox eyes. its seems everything shes in is muck. remember the cassidys or that skit news show

Christine played by Amelia Crowley. She does a lot of voiceover as well. And
she was in Fair City as well, so she must be good.. :-)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJCVQFJbvL4