Glenroe was an "embarrassment"

FatherLen

as i previously said i haven't seen it but i forgot to say that i have been in the pub that apparently some of it was filmed? i was gee eyed.

mikemac1

Didn't Dinny get assaulted in his house and everyone, just everyone blamed the travelers

Poor Blackie Connors, he was an innocent man, went through a few months of hell.

Travellers raiding rural farmers, controversial storyline RTÉ!

sh1tstirrer

mikemac1 wrote: »

Get up da yard, the smell of benji off ya :pac:

Did you see Creedon's cities last week? They showed a clip of a GAA match from the 70's I swear about 50% of the spectators were Bengy lookalikes :eek:

Tombo2001

geeky wrote: »

It went from 700,000 to under 600,000, with four years of steady decline.

It may well have been a highly-rated show, but it was clearly quite expensive to make, and advertisers don't want to be linked to a show in decline.

And yes, Fair City (which actually only gets 200,000 viewers now) is muck. But its launch attracted over a million viewers, and it could pull in 840,000 back in 2001.

Just because RTE should have cancelled Fair City long ago doesn't mean cancelling Glenroe when they did was the wrong decision.

Glenroe was part of the national psyche and national conversation.....I know that sounds kind of bull****ty but its true. There were some storylines that the whole country knew about, Biddy and Miley's wedding, Miley's affair, or smaller plotlines like Biddy being done for drink driving - that was actually much talked about; or Dick Murphy's marriage annulment was another one - I could go on.

I would struggle to think of a single story line from Fair City that has entered the national conversation in the same way.

To cancel Glenroe and keep Fair City was in my view, if it was one or the other, the wrong decision.

PS I know advertising is important.....but viewers are more important, especially when we are talking about a state funded broadcaster.

Grayson

billybudd wrote: »

If by embarrassment you mean the greatest rural show on earth, then yes.

You forgot a country practice. Or flying doctors.

I think every child in my school could play the Glenroe theme on a tin whistle.

KKkitty

Bit of sour grapes about this really. For my generation Glenroe was a pioneering soap with its storylines. Miley and his infidelity with Fidelma was shocking for its time. Nowadays infidelity in soaps happens so regularly viewers don't bat an eyelid. Maybe Mary didn't clean up money wise with the washing powder ads.

Dyr

Cokeistan wrote: »

RTE are massively Dublin oriented, don't give a shít about the rest of the country....wánkers

I dunno, the foreign affairs desk gave a lot of coverage to that time when the ESB flooded Cork

RikkFlair

Ah good auld Dinny Byrne, rubbing sh1t on his eggs to pass them off as free range. I think he converted a few fields to a golf course too at one stage, with some questionable "fertilizer" being used. And I don't know about anyone else but I was always practicing his limp when I was a kid

mikemac1

The Bishop of Cork, fastest greyhound in Ireland

Or maybe the dog got injured

It was either very fast or very slow, I forget which

Annasopra

Would love to see reruns

Irish Guitarist

All I remember about Glenroe was that it was on on Sunday night. No one in my family liked it but somehow I always ended up looking at it. I think the minute Bullseye was finished my father changed over to RTE to hear the 9.00 news, despite the fact that it was only something like 8.00 or 8.30.

Bullseye and Glenroe were always signs that the weekend was over and a new depressing school week was starting. I would always eat a bowl of Smash instant mashed potato and tell my mother I would go to bed when I was finished. I would eat it as slowly as possible and then eat another bowl when I was finished. The thought of Glenroe being the last thing I saw on television before the start of a new school week was a terrifying prospect.

AnonoBoy

One actor's opinion on why a show she wasn't part of any more was cancelled.

RTE did not know or understand the appeal of the show

Maybe they didn't understand the appeal but I'm sure they knew the ratings figures (which is all they care about for the most part).

GerM

Jesus Shaves wrote: »

So it still had 600,000 viewers in its last season which still would have been one of the highest rating shows for rte which makes your point invalid
Fair city averages 400,000 and is the worst kind of tripe television has ever seen

One is a midweek soap on a number of times and the other was a weekly programme at prime time on a Sunday evening when a good chunk of the country still only had a few channels. Not comparable. They should both be axed for the record!

GerM

Cokeistan wrote: »

RTE are massively Dublin oriented, don't give a shít about the rest of the country....wánkers

Only one member of the board of RTE is born and bred in Dublin. Rest come from all over.

bluecode

Never watched Glenroe. I'm old enough the remember The Riordans and that scarred me enough to put me off rural soaps forever.

As for Fair City, I think that must be popular only outside Dublin because there isn't one Dub I know who thinks it even remotely resembles life in Dublin.

Plus for those of you complaining that RTE is Dublin oriented. Well that's like complaining TG4 is Galway oriented. It is. If you don't like form your own station.

geeky

Tombo2001 wrote: »

Glenroe was part of the national psyche and national conversation.....I know that sounds kind of bull****ty but its true. There were some storylines that the whole country knew about, Biddy and Miley's wedding, Miley's affair, or smaller plotlines like Biddy being done for drink driving - that was actually much talked about; or Dick Murphy's marriage annulment was another one - I could go on.

I would struggle to think of a single story line from Fair City that has entered the national conversation in the same way.

To cancel Glenroe and keep Fair City was in my view, if it was one or the other, the wrong decision.

PS I know advertising is important.....but viewers are more important, especially when we are talking about a state funded broadcaster.

Absolutely, Glenroe was important culturally but it was going downhill.

If they were deciding on which show to put on more often and which to cancel, they opted for the one with less problematic shooting (most of the scenes in FC, I understand, are indoors) and the one that seemed to be holding up well with viewers.

And you're right, advertisers shouldn't enter a public broadcaster's thinking, but they do with RTE. That's the legacy of the half-assed semi-state approach adopted to the station at the outset.

Boombastic

KKkitty wrote: »

.......... Maybe Mary didn't clean up money wise with the washing powder ads.............

She still couldn't come back...Biddy was hit by a tractor

Duggys Housemate

Bambi wrote: »

I bet you sit down with a notebook jotting all these incidents down so ya can write a strongly worded letter into mailbag for arthur to read out.

Everyone know's where Dublin streets are, they're in Dublin. If someone says Parnell street then, in the national context, that's Parnell street in the glorious capital of the nation. If the ballygobackwards bugle refer's to Parnell street, then that's Parnell street in ballygobackwards (or possibly twomilebogger up the road)

bluecode wrote: »

Never watched Glenroe. I'm old enough the remember The Riordans and that scarred me enough to put me off rural soaps forever.

As for Fair City, I think that must be popular only outside Dublin because there isn't one Dub I know who thinks it even remotely resembles life in Dublin.

Plus for those of you complaining that RTE is Dublin oriented. Well that's like complaining TG4 is Galway oriented. It is. If you don't like form your own station.

I don't think you guys get the idea of a national station. It's a simple enough concept though.


Anyway, Glenroe had humour. And fairly good acting - particularly the male leads. Hence it's popularity.

Colmustard

It was never going to be as good as The Riordans.

KKkitty

Boombastic wrote: »

KKkitty wrote: »

.......... Maybe Mary didn't clean up money wise with the washing powder ads.............

She still couldn't come back...Biddy was hit by a tractor

I know that but maybe she didn't really want to leave Glenroe but Biddy was axed anyway. I think Mary McEvoy needs to look at RTE programming now to know what embarrassment really is. Fair City and its wooden acting is awful.

Kerrydude1981

mikemac1 wrote: »

The Bishop of Cork, fastest greyhound in Ireland

Or maybe the dog got injured

It was either very fast or very slow, I forget which

The Bishop is in this clip

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3cwdKPWDrQ

Jesus Shaves

Boombastic wrote: »

She still couldn't come back...Biddy was hit by a tractor

Have you never watched eastenders

Kerrydude1981

Jesus Shaves wrote: »

Have you never watched eastenders

Or Dallas

Boombastic

Jesus Shaves wrote: »

Have you never watched eastenders

No. I actively avoid it.

Colmustard

I actually never seen this, not once. I don't watch soaps Depressedenders, Horrornation street and Fairly Sh!tty, have been on for 250 years now and I never seen any of them once. I am actually proud of that.

Larianne

Penny Dreadful wrote: »

Ah yes the old Sunday night ritual of Where in the World, Glenroe, news, weather and bed because it was suddenly a school night. :eek:

Was Where in The World not on after the news?

The actor who played Blackie Connors was in Fair City last time I watched it. Took me a while to figure it out without the hat and leather jacket on.

Fuinseog

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar wrote: »

was it Irelands own that had that little comic strip inside it?

I dont remember anything at all about it really.. except it reminded me of tintin a bit?

did Irlands own have an irish tintin?

Irelands Own sells quite well. it does not do poncey, perhaps one reason why it has survived.

KKkitty

Larianne wrote: »

Penny Dreadful wrote: »

Ah yes the old Sunday night ritual of Where in the World, Glenroe, news, weather and bed because it was suddenly a school night. :eek:

Was Where in The World not on after the news?

The actor who played Blackie Connors was in Fair City last time I watched it. Took me a while to figure it out without the hat and leather jacket on.

Where in the world was on before Glenroe iirc and the news was on after Glenroe.

Duggy747

Kerrydude1981 wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3cwdKPWDrQ

The immortal quote at 10:15 :pac:

Kerrydude1981

Glenroe was the starting point for the actors that play Louis and that dude the Damien works with in Fair City,Blackie Connors has showed up in Fair City and of course Mario Rosenstock also started in Glenroe playing the part of an alcoholic doctor

Larianne

Kerrydude1981 wrote: »

Glenroe was the starting point for the actors that play Louis and that dude the Damien works with in Fair City,Blackie Connors has showed up in Fair City and of course Mario Rosenstock also started in Glenroe playing the part of an alcoholic doctor

Ah yes, he hit someone with a shovel! Worked with that actor actually.

Fuinseog

according to Reeling in the years the first gay couple were on fairy city, though Ros na Run had a gay couple earlier than this.

Glenroe was a much loved product of its time. I do not know a single dubliner who watches Fairly ****tty unless they want to mock it. Glenroe used real actors.

Boombastic

Was Dick Moran tapping Terry Colleen?

Fr. Brennan he was a star before he ever became a bishop;)

Kerrydude1981

Boombastic wrote: »

Was Dick Moran tapping Terry Colleen?

Fr. Brennan he was a star before he ever became a bishop;)

Dick Moran would give Tiger Woods a run for his money and Dick didnt play Golf

bluecode

Duggys Housemate wrote: »

I don't think you guys get the idea of a national station. It's a simple enough concept though.

RTE used to try to cater to a national audience. It was almost unwatchable. In any case every province should have it's own local channel linked to RTE. If you can have two channels in Northern Ireland, you can have one each for the other provinces. Every town in the US has several local channels linked to the majors. Same in Britain. Not sure why it can't happen here.

Cienciano

davet82 wrote: »

my favourite was blacky connors, he was constantly telling Father Devereux (with his enormous ears) 'i swear father, it wasnt me',

i was hooked on who was pooping in mileys river story :rolleyes:

what was the story with it being on once a week anyways for a half hour

yes the depression brought on by the theme music knowing the weekend had ended got to me too, Where In the World had a similar effect with Thersea Lowe :pac:

Please tell me that was a real glenroe storyline and you didn't make it up!

Boombastic

Kerrydude1981 wrote: »

Dick Moran would give Tiger Woods a run for his money and Dick didnt play Golf

He was Mr. Smooth:pac:

Fuinseog

Boombastic wrote: »

Was Dick Moran tapping Terry Colleen?

Fr. Brennan he was a star before he ever became a bishop;)

Emmet Bergin alias Dick Moran had his tyres slashed and got dirty looks in his local supermarket following his affair. some folks cannot separate acting from real life.

Boombastic

Fuinseog wrote: »

Emmet Bergin alias Dick Moran had his tyres slashed and got dirty looks in his local supermarket following his affair. some folks cannot separate acting from real life.

:eek: Thats mad, poor guy.:(

Boombastic

From Wiki: Plot

When Miley, a devout Roman Catholic, believed his daughter, who had been critically ill with meningitis, was saved by prayer and divine intervention while Biddy, who rarely went to Mass credited their doctor with her recovery.

The parish priest, Father Tim Devereaux, was upset that nobody was listening to his pastoral advice and retired to embark on a round-the-world cruise with Shirley Manning, a widow of Protestant and Jewish ancestry.

One episode focused on how much money should be spent on a girl's First Communion dress.


Another storyline involved Miley and Biddy trying to evict a family of travellers who parked their trailer on the edge of the farm. The episodes depicted the attitudes of some Irish people who believed that travellers were "stupid, dirty and dishonest". When two pet rabbits disappear the community suspects the travelers must have eaten them in a stew. Another storyline involved an extramarital affair between a traveller and an upper-middle-class local woman.




I miss Glenroe

Kerrydude1981

I remember my father giving out stink about Miley been friends with Blackie Connors

Seanchai

swimming in a sea wrote: »

it just reminds me how lucky i was that we had the UK channels in our house so where not forced into watching it.:)

:rolleyes: How unsurprising from swimming in a sea - yet another post where something Irish is shíte and something British is great. For all your hatred for this country and its culture you're taking your time leaving it, by the way.

Colmustard

Seanchai wrote: »

:rolleyes: How unsurprising from swimming in a sea - yet another post where something Irish is shíte and something British is great. For all your hatred for this country and its culture you're taking your time leaving it, by the way.

I think that is fair comment, we are very lucky to get the BBC. It is IMO the best television station in the world.

Duggys Housemate

To get a bit serious:

That link above showed me that the acting in Glenroe was pretty good and didnt have the soapy SHOUTING you normally get - and, woeful as it is for Dublin snobs - the characters are fairly sophisticated. Specially the prods. Of course, you can actually do a middle class soap in the country. In the city it is next to impossible.

The reason why rural soaps work is because all soaps are actually about villages. In Coronation street - which is the only soap I occasionally dip into - there is a street peopled with teachers, shop owners, bar workers, workers in factories, and industrialists - where people date each other, dont travel to work, and all live on the same street despite the wealth differences. That's not an urban street. Its a village street pretending to be an urban street. In reality they would not all live on that street, would travel to work, and not necessarily know each other.

Many urban dwellers don't know their neighbours, particularly in the rental sector, but have plenty of friends across the town - who themselves have plenty of friends, some in common, some not; some work, some not - which would make a limited soap impossible. The network of people you would have to track trends very large very fast.

The only option for a modern soap is to ignore work or other friends, like Friends did; or over emphasise it - like The Office. In either case you never see the other life people have. Its all office, or no office. Street, or no Street. All major romances are internal to the "group of friends", or "the street", or the Office and if not - they are not very long term, or people move into the street or join the Office. ( Thinking the American Office btw).

However villages have none of these class, or distance, or networking problems. Villages actually do work like that. So villages work as soap operas.

Also Glenroe was funny.

chinwag

It's quite amazing that so many on this thread can recall the show and its actors in such detail. It brings back memories to me as I read this thread, and pretty good ones too I must confess, having initially thought otherwise.

Stavro Mueller

To be fair, I think Glenroe had jumped the shark by the time it was canceled. That's not to say it wouldn't have benefited from a bit of a revamp if RTE had been of a mind to do it. As Soliair said earlier in this thread, the BBC made Ballykissangel around the same time and it did really well. They were able to sell it abroad - with a bit of imagination and an upping of production values, why couldn't RTE have done that? There is a market abroad for rural type dramas. The Germans go crazy for them I believe. As well as airing in Britain and here, Ballykissangel was shown in the USA and Australia according to d'Wikipedia.

lookitsme

today looking back at glenroe it probably wasn't the best in the world but back then it was a great show. I remember i was in Kilcoole the place glenroe was set a few years ago and when i seen the church it was like i was in hollywood. I was looking around for fr devereuax, tissey and all the legends. It would be a bit out of place if it was shown now but it would not be as bad as fair sh!ty. a friend of mine watches fair city her excuse is that is so bad its good and funny watching the poor attempt at acting

Glenroe 1 : 0 Fair City

Duggys Housemate

The other thing about Glenroe was it is in a village close to a big city, which allows solicitors etc. It isnt a West Of Ireland type village, the village is just the setting for a society of different classes to interact. I don't recall a GAA game, for instance. Its wasn't rural rural.

Duggys Housemate

cymbaline wrote: »

To be fair, I think Glenroe had jumped the shark by the time it was canceled. That's not to say it wouldn't have benefited from a bit of a revamp if RTE had been of a mind to do it. As Soliair said earlier in this thread, the BBC made Ballykissangel around the same time and it did really well. They were able to sell it abroad - with a bit of imagination and an upping of production values, why couldn't RTE have done that? There is a market abroad for rural type dramas. The Germans go crazy for them I believe. As well as airing in Britain and here, Ballykissangel was shown in the USA and Australia according to d'Wikipedia.

Glenroe and BallyK were set in the same place for a reason I think, Wicklow is not as "Irish" as say a village in the Dingle peninsula.

JoeA3

cymbaline wrote: »

To be fair, I think Glenroe had jumped the shark by the time it was canceled.

I think it literally jumped the shark when Biddy was driving along in her newish (at the time!) red Ford Escort and the tractor pulled out in front of her. The Escort did an A-Team van-style leap into the air and while in mid-air, it transformed into a much much older Ford Escort

Agree with much of the other posts. It was, like the Late Late Show, a national staple of the '80's and early '90's. Everyone talked about it. It was the signal that the weekend was over and back-to-school was closing in... especially when it started back in the Autumn - then the summer holidays were over!

Fair City on the other hand - unwatchable tripe.

I also remember a family holiday to Wicklow in the 1980's and the excitement of seeing Miley's farm. I can't imagine a 10 year old kid getting too worked up about seeing the Fair City set!