The Old Days on RTE

yuridwyer

briany wrote: »

And make us miss Dr. Phil and Nationwide? Not a chance!

But seriously, though, what the hell is the story with late night TV programming on RTE????

Firstly, the demographic of people who are watching TV at 3AM and for some reason choose RTE must be incredibly small. It can't be drunk people after a heavy night out who find the perfect end to the evening is watching a repeat of Casualty. I don't think that's ever happened. Elderly folks down the country with only a rusty aerial to pick up TV, well they're all probably asleep. It cannot be anyone with access to the Internet or satellite TV. It's not even stuff that shift workers might have missed in the evening like Fair City.

Back in the old days, they actually used to show something a bit interesting at least sometimes on the graveyard slot. If anyone remembers The End with Sean Moncrieff, they used to show Taxi, The Critic, 3rd Rock from the Sun and Night Stand with Dick Dietrick.

Loved The End, Barry Murphy on Friday's. Sean Moncrieff on Saturday's. Or the other way around. Couldn't remember Dick Dietrick's name until I read that post, cheers!

Declan A Walsh

Remember Good Grief Moncrief and Don't Feed The Gondolas?

Hangdogroad

Declan A Walsh wrote: »

Remember Good Grief Moncrief and Don't Feed The Gondolas?

Yes. Good Grief....only lasted one series during the summer of 96. Gondolas lasted good bit longer circa 97-01.

briany

yuridwyer wrote: »

Loved The End, Barry Murphy on Friday's. Sean Moncrieff on Saturday's. Or the other way around. Couldn't remember Dick Dietrick's name until I read that post, cheers!

Night Stand with Dick Dietrick was a brilliant comedy show. For those who haven't seen it, it was a parody of tabloid talk shows such as Jerry Springer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-zwCJi7CBA

briany

Does anyone remember Joe Rooney hosting a kids show called Jump Around which ran as a Summer fill-in show for The Den? I don't think this was something they did before (having a Summer replacement), and I'm not sure they ever did again, but it's been a long time since I watched kids' TV, so I wouldn't actually know.

yuridwyer

Anyone remember ENG? Think it was Canadian, from about 94, maybe about a news corporation?

Yyhhuuu

Hangdogroad wrote: »

Anyone remember a programme about learning Irish from the early 80s called Anois Is Aris? It had a lot of what could be termed comedy sketches, Frank Kelly was in most of these.

Anyway one in particular sticks in my memory. It was a guy hanging in chains in a cell and a torturer (kelly I think) would show him pictures of various politicians and celebrities and ask "anseo?" to which yer man gave the right answers except for the end where he gave the wrong answer for JR from Dallas and the torturer fella starts flogging him with a whip and yer man roaring his head off. My mother was mortified at this and turned it off.

We had a book from the Anois is Aris series. Can't believe I remember this. I was only a child. I just remember seeing that book in on the fireplace of the dining room where my grandmother slept....

Just googled it and saw the paperback is going for $890 on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Anois-is-Aris/dp/B0013QQ392

What a bargain.

I must have a look for our old copy and I' ll settle for $500. Any takers?

icdg

Don’t Feed the Gondolas was a Have I Got News for You-esque quiz show that ran on RTE Two (or N2 in those days) and was the original centrepiece of “Monday Night Comedy”, a hallmark of the N2 era. Moncrieff anchored, while for most of the run Dara O’Briain and Brendan O’Connor were captains. One of those quiz shows in which the questions and answers were less important than the jokes. The guy who played Eoin McLove in Fr Ted did a vox pop segment as I recall. Nowadays effectively seen as a precursor to the longer running The Panel which took over its slot.

Good Grief Moncrieff was one of many Kenny Live summer stand ins. I only remember the theme song, in which it was claimed Moncrieff could climb the highest mountains, swim the seven seas and such like. Probably the earliest RTÉ show to have a house band, in that regard.

Aglomerado

I used to be a regular contributor to the End (readers' letters) and still love Sean on Newstalk. Remember Septic, the alien puppet sidekick?

Aglomerado

Yyhhuuu wrote: »

We had a book from the Anois is Aris series. Can't believe I remember this. I was only a child. I just remember seeing that book in on the fireplace of the dining room where my grandmother slept....

Just googled it and saw the paperback is going for $890 on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Anois-is-Aris/dp/B0013QQ392

What a bargain.

I must have a look for our old copy and I' ll settle for $500. Any takers?

Wow I bet there's a copy down in my parent's house better get on it! It might have willies drawn on it though!

briany

Looking at old clips from RTE, it seems like there was a time when Pat O'Mahoney was everywhere on TV as the hip funky presenter, and then just disappeared off our screens, away back to radio.

DeepBlue

briany wrote: »

Looking at old clips from RTE, it seems like there was a time when Pat O'Mahoney was everywhere on TV as the hip funky presenter, and then just disappeared off our screens, away back to radio.

Wasn't it Pat O'Mahoney that did the bizarre interview with Gay Byrne and Deirdre Purcell on the Late Late when Gay released his autobiography? Basically he quizzed Deirdre on whether she had fallen in love with Gay.

Koloman

That was Andy O'Mahony who interviewed Gay.

briany

Here's Pat on the last episode of The End, being interviewed by another face you don't see on TV anymore, Kara Hanahoe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaMM3PFEwgY

It BeeMee

Deleted User wrote: »

So, REALLY interested to see who remembers this.

When RTE2 first came on the scene, this was one of it's first soaps it showed- I think it was actually the first programme on most evenings (around 6.30pm ) for about a year - Ryan's Hope

Any takers?

I remember one storyline played out over about a week or two, where Richard Thomas, who played John Boy in the Waltons, kidnapped some nurse or doctor he was infatuated with

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFpTGluLb5w

Trying to think of the name of that for yonks!

I remember the kidnap went on for ages, but she was only missing for a few hours or maybe overnight ? It was quite undramatic in the end.

I would have thought it was on One, though. Simply because the (only, b&w) tv in our house would have been on for the news, and maybe left on for whatever came next.

Joe_ Public

DeepBlue wrote: »

Wasn't it Pat O'Mahoney that did the bizarre interview with Gay Byrne and Deirdre Purcell on the Late Late when Gay released his autobiography? Basically he quizzed Deirdre on whether she had fallen in love with Gay.

It was Andy O'Mahony as pointed out above. I'm sure i recall him asking Gay if he'd ever cheated on his wife and people being shocked that he asked it. O'Mahony was one of the best broadcasters rte ever had imo, though i dont recall too much tv work.

Hangdogroad

Anyone remember Saturday Live, chat show that would have a different host every week? Ran from about 86 to 88. One of the hosts was Ian Paisleys daughter and there was a load of speculation about whether she would have big Ian on as main guest which of course she did. It eventually became Kenny Live with Pat as permanent host.

bobbyss

Joe_ Public wrote:

It was Andy O'Mahony as pointed out above. I'm sure i recall him asking Gay if he'd ever cheated on his wife and people being shocked that he asked it. O'Mahony was one of the best broadcasters rte ever had imo, though i dont recall too much tv work.

He was as cool as a mountain stream. (Just like the Consulate ad) I always thought he had that BBC factor about him. Smooth. Professional. Erudite. I don't even know if he is still alive. He was underused in RTE unless it was his choice.
I also enjoyed Paddy Gallagher's book programme. Strange Rte not having a dedicated book/arts programne on tv.

fran38

Deleted User wrote: »

So, REALLY interested to see who remembers this.

When RTE2 first came on the scene, this was one of it's first soaps it showed- I think it was actually the first programme on most evenings (around 6.30pm ) for about a year - Ryan's Hope

Any takers?

I remember one storyline played out over about a week or two, where Richard Thomas, who played John Boy in the Waltons, kidnapped some nurse or doctor he was infatuated with

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFpTGluLb5w

That's Kate Mulgrew (Star Trek Voyager, Orange Is The New Black) in the opening credits.

blade1

Bunny Carr with Norman Medcalfe on the organ on Quick Silver.

Cross Country Quizz.

Hall's Pictorial Weekly

Super Stars

The Burke Enigma

Radharc

Hangdogroad

Quicksilver with Bunny Carr. Pretty rare home recording from a time when few people in Ireland would have had videos.

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

odyssey06

yuridwyer wrote: »

Anyone remember ENG? Think it was Canadian, from about 94, maybe about a news corporation?

Vague memories of that. RTE used to take a lot of canadian content inc dramas, kids, young adult and docs.

Hanley at large

with David Hanley.

Relaxed not too lighthearted TV chat show. Later in the night.

Hangdogroad

Deleted User wrote: »

Hanley at large

with David Hanley.

Relaxed not too lighthearted TV chat show. Later in the night.

You mean Hanleys People?

Koloman

Koloman wrote: »

That was Andy O'Mahony who interviewed Gay.

And a cringe interview from start to finish even for its time

Deleted User

Deleted User wrote: »

Hanley at large

with David Hanley.

Relaxed not too lighthearted TV chat show. Later in the night.

Davis was the guy “at large” :P

AMTE_21

All those American shows, Mary Tyler Moore, the spin-off Rhoda, The odd couple, loved the theme tune.

AMTE_21

AMTE_21 wrote: »

All those American shows, Mary Tyler Moore, the spin-off Rhoda, The odd couple, loved the theme tune.

Yes indeed-MTMS featured prominently in 70s RTÉ TV

Galwayguy35

The prizes on Murphys Micro Quiz M weren't too bad considering most families barely had the price of a pint at the end of the week back in the 80s.

The Ford Sierra would be very handy for getting around the place.:p

The Muppet Show.

The Weekend STAPLE for kids, in the days before Nintendo and earlier handhelds. RTE was so reliant on this outside Cartoons like Scooby Doo.

Especially when the Irish Weather was usually bad: This particular Saturday had been rainy all day and I was on holiday with my parents in that Guesthouse in that seaside town.

Why, the waitress hollered up the stairs to the rooms that The Muppet Show was about to begin!!!!

briany

How Do You Do? with Mary Fitzgerald. Great arts and crafts programme where we learned that just about anything could be made out of a used toilet roll. I remember trying to make one of the projects which was a magic trick involving a cereal box with a hidden side compartment, that you could place the object to be conjured into.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdo1ssDLE_Q

Hangdogroad

Wheres Grandad etc. Public information films about drowned toddlers, rabid dogs, kids getting electrocuted.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLob46ubPO_5r7BmO4fUdVd985Scx21TtA

Declan A Walsh

Sesame Street used to be a very popular show for children on RTE and they learnt to spell things the American way!

iamwhoiam

Mr Ed the talking horse .

A horse is a horse a horse of course

Mad_maxx

briany wrote: »

How Do You Do? with Mary Fitzgerald. Great arts and crafts programme where we learned that just about anything could be made out of a used toilet roll. I remember trying to make one of the projects which was a magic trick involving a cereal box with a hidden side compartment, that you could place the object to be conjured into.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdo1ssDLE_Q

good looking lady was Mary

Mad_maxx

briany wrote: »

Looking at old clips from RTE, it seems like there was a time when Pat O'Mahoney was everywhere on TV as the hip funky presenter, and then just disappeared off our screens, away back to radio.

pity he didnt vanish altogether ?

epic tosser

blade1

briany wrote: »

How Do You Do? with Mary Fitzgerald. Great arts and crafts programme where we learned that just about anything could be made out of a used toilet roll. I remember trying to make one of the projects which was a magic trick involving a cereal box with a hidden side compartment, that you could place the object to be conjured into.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdo1ssDLE_Q

Not just toilet rolls and cereal boxes.
Pipe cleaners and egg cartons too.
I think the only thing I ever made though was a spider from a section of egg carton and pipe cleaners.

RTE also ran Different Strokes on a Sunday Evening lasted long enough
and the sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati late at night for a short while.

fluke

In even recent years, until around mid 00s I think, RTE's early evening schedule was better when it had US imported shows on. Now those shows seem relegated to 10pm onwards times on RTE2. I'd take most of those shows in place of the lite-reality dross filling up slots.

The more that I think about it, those shows were on 2, when it was known aa Network 2, and in that guise and branding, it was a better channel than it is now.

briany

fluke wrote: »

In even recent years, until around mid 00s I think, RTE's early evening schedule was better when it had US imported shows on. Now those shows seem relegated to 10pm onwards times on RTE2. I'd take most of those shows in place of the lite-reality dross filling up slots.

The more that I think about it, those shows were on 2, when it was known aa Network 2, and in that guise and branding, it was a better channel than it is now.

I don't think it's fair to compare the RTE of then with the RTE of now as the media landscape has drastically changed. Many of us who would reminisce about how good RTE used to be are probably those who got into streaming services years ago, leaving RTE totally behind.

Joe_ Public

From the pretty hazy memories of my college years, one that sticks out is renting a tv from Global rentals in Ranelagh and everybody gathering around for episodes of Alf. We were obsessed with that show for some reason. Midnight Caller seemed popular too, though that might have been bit later.

Hangdogroad

Remember Cop Rock on Network 2? Hated it.

fluke

briany wrote: »

I don't think it's fair to compare the RTE of then with the RTE of now as the media landscape has drastically changed.

Fair or not, comparison is what this thread is all about.

Besides this is boards, criticism is total fair game.

cml387

Currently reading an excellent book "Armchair Nation" by sociologist and writer Joe Moran about television and culture in the UK from the earliest days of television.Highly recommend by the way.

The introduction describes how what is remembered is not always how it happened. His case study is the first dropping of the F bomb on British TV, widely attributed to playwright and critic Kenneth Tynan, on a program called BBC3 in 1965.

However he points out that our own Brendan Behan liberally used the word in an interview on Panorama in the 1950's, although possibly the fact that he was "under the weather" and his Dublin accent served to reduce the impact. Later on in the fifties a live UTV interview with a man painting railings elicited the response that it was "Effin Boring" This went out at teatime in the UTV region, to no reaction whatsoever.

I wonder when the word was first used on RTE?

Hangdogroad

cml387 wrote: »

Currently reading an excellent book "Armchair Nation" by sociologist and writer Joe Moran about television and culture in the UK from the earliest days of television.Highly recommend by the way.

The introduction describes how what is remembered is not always how it happened. His case study is the first dropping of the F bomb on British TV, widely attributed to playwright and critic Kenneth Tynan, on a program called BBC3 in 1965.

However he points out that our own Brendan Behan liberally used the word in an interview on Panorama in the 1950's, although possibly the fact that he was "under the weather" and his Dublin accent served to reduce the impact. Later on in the fifties a live UTV interview with a man painting railings elicited the response that it was "Effin Boring" This went out at teatime in the UTV region, to no reaction whatsoever.

I wonder when the word was first used on RTE?

I've often wondered that myself. I remember seeing an archive clip of Brush Shiels being interviewed on an RTE music show from circa 69/70 where the guy interviewing him casually used the word crap. Cant find it online.

Hangdogroad

Folio, arts show that had one of those slightly scary, attention grabbing theme tunes. I cant find the full version, theres a brief snippet of it at the beginning of this clip.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3xr98N6b8A

cml387

Hangdogroad wrote: »

Folio, arts show that had one of those slightly scary, attention grabbing theme tunes. I cant find the full version, theres a brief snippet of it at the beginning of this clip.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3xr98N6b8A

The Steve Miller Band song : Babes In The Wood from the album Book Of Dreams.

An album which also supplied another RTE theme, for Frontline, which is the song "Swingtime"

Trom agus Éadrom 1975 - 1985

Hangdogroad

cml387 wrote: »

The Steve Miller Band song : Babes In The Wood from the album Book Of Dreams.

An album which also supplied another RTE theme, for Frontline, which is the song "Swingtime"

Nice one, didnt know that. Bit used for Folio theme kicks in around 38 second mark.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2FbPz5dGp4

Deleted User

Deleted User wrote: »

RTE also ran Different Strokes on a Sunday Evening lasted long enough
and the sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati late at night for a short while.

SOAP was another show around the same time as WKRP

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soap_(TV_series)