Gay Byrne, the original presenter of The Late Late Show
When The Late Late Show premiered in July 1962 it revolutionised Irish
television, becoming an important catalyst for social change in this country.
It is the longest running chat show in the world. Its format has been little
changed in its fifty year history. Its record-breaking run has become one of
the reasons to keep it alive, perhaps the reason why it hasn’t changed. The evolution
of the Irish chat show is being suffocated. Now, change is required.
Ireland’s main chat shows, The Late Late Show, The Saturday Night Show and Craig
Doyle Live, struggle when compared with their British equivalents. Up until
recently, Michael Parkinson hosted his highly successful brand of chat and
light entertainment on BBC and subsequently, ITV. Many people have compared The Late Late Show to Parkinson’s
format. However, there was always a significant difference. While Parkinson’s
programme usually maintained a light touch, The
Late Late Show continues to straddle a fine line between celebrity guests
and the controversial social issues of the day. It is this mix that The Late Late Show struggles with the
most. While its original incumbent, Gay Byrne, usually managed to deal with the
demands of such a heady mix, neither of his successors have had those
capabilities. Hosting The Late Late Show
is an almost impossible task because it requires a wit and a sense of fun on
the one hand and then it requires deep penetrative skills the next. An amusing
interview with Dylan Moran could suddenly segue into a panel discussion on
abortion. I used to think that its current malaise was entirely due to its
host, but it is not. It is the format that is to blame. It is trying to be all
things to everyone. It needs an overhaul.
In British television, there
is a clear separation between the light, celebrity-driven chat show and the
more political and social, issues-based show. Newsnight, Question Time
and other similar formats deal with the latter while Graham Norton, Jonathan
Ross, Alan Carr and others deal with the former. What do these three names have
in common? They all host highly successful chat shows on BBC, ITV and Channel
4, respectively. They are also all professional comedians, with backgrounds in
either TV comedy or stand–up. Their pedigree is rooted in the strongly honed
skills of making people laugh. The main reason for the success of this British
model is the fact that their employers have invested in a particular type of
host- the comedian. Not only are their opening monologues witty and
entertaining but they are also sharp and at ease with their guests. They know
how to banter. They are skilled at dealing with potentially awkward or
difficult guests having had to face hecklers on tour in their earlier careers. People
watch these British chat shows as much to see and enjoy the hosts as to see
their guests. The Irish equivalent of Alan Carr’s National Television Award
winning show, Chatty Man, is Craig Doyle Live. They are both
intimate, small studio shows. While Carr, a professional stand-up, is
consistently and reliably funny, easygoing and at ease with the task at hand,
Craig Doyle is in a constant battle with himself in front of the camera. He is
not just ill at ease but he is transparently contrived in the way he approaches
his subjects. He tees up his jokes about an hour before telling them and has
little natural flair. The irony is that the format of his show is crying out
for a host like Norton or Carr. At present it is suffocating and stifled. In
last Tuesday’s show, Doyle was accompanied by his panellists, Mareid Farrell
and Eric Lalor. They were desperately attempting to cast their witticisms on
the week’s topics of interest to little avail. Their remarks sounded wooden and
scripted. At one point, Lalor was even reading out his jokes from his notepad. The
comedy was forced as opposed to arising naturally from the material itself. It
is this lack of symmetry between the hosts, the guests and the material that
jars. When Doyle tries to be cutting edge and approaches topics like sex and
male grooming, he sounds stilted and it is embarrassing to watch. The material
he is being asked to handle requires a professional comedian.
There is an interesting
contrast to be drawn between Ryan Tubridy’s recent interview with Cuba Gooding
Jr and Graham Norton’s interview with the same man during the same week on BBC
One. Gooding Jr is a famously boisterous and colourful chat show guest. He requires
a confident and sharp interviewer to deal with him. Tubridy was completely in
over his head while Norton handled him deftly, helped by the format of his show
which has all the guests on at once, thereby alleviating the pressure of a
one-on-one interview. Equally embarrassing was his recent interview with Mia
Farrow. His uncomfortable line of questioning led the actress to tweet
afterwards that he was “not very gracious’.
While the viewing figures are
still high for The Late Late Show,
one wonders if its demographic is rapidly ageing. If Irish television wishes to
rescue the ailing chat show it needs to take some audacious steps in the
direction of the British model. Firstly, it needs to decide what it wants to
be. The Late Late Show is currently trying to be everything to everybody. It
needs to throw off the shackles of being “Ireland’s voice” and concentrate on a
new identity. While the Saturday Night Show has a slightly clearer sense of its
intentions, it suffers from the shortcomings of its format. The one-on-one
interview style in light entertainment has become redundant. The second
overhaul that these two shows need is a change of hosts. If RTE wants cracking
and energetic programming it needs to hire professional comedians. We are aware
of RTE’s financial woes. However, resources need to be relocated in order to
make Irish exports such as Dara O’Briain an offer they cannot refuse. This
country has such a wealth of Irish comic talent which RTE seems to be happy to
send packing off to the UK where their television networks quickly pick them
up. This attitude has been typical of RTE over the years, most notably when it
shrugged off Graham Linehan’s and Arthur Matthew’s Father Ted. Channel Four
came along and made a fortune out of it. RTE’s commissioning of shows like The Savage Eye is to be encouraged but
these opportunities need to be afforded to their chat show formats too.
The time has come for Irish
television to recognise three things- the success of the British chat show
needs to be replicated here and we need to invest in our home-grown comedy
talent rather than exporting it. Finally, and most importantly, we need to
match the material to the host. This can only happen once the television
network has a clear sense of the identity and intentions of its chat shows.
© Simon Tierney 2012
