It's Late

I was being a little snarky about The Late Late Show trending on Twitter last Friday, and was rightly admonished as it had been discussing the awful state of affairs with the Priory Hall development. The ghost estates scarring Ireland may be the most visible remains of the Celtic Tiger bubble, but Priory Hall was completed and inhabited, at least for a short time until the fast-buck short cuts taken in construction were discovered and rendered the place unfit for living.

But still, The Late Late Show...

I was first made aware of TLLS (I'm entering this on a mobile, it's going to be an acronym from now on) when Channel 4 broadcast it during the eighties. Well, broadcast bits of it. Little did I know that it's regular slot on RTÉ - I believe before the days of Network Two - was more or less the whole of Friday. There was Uncle Gaybo introducing mostly entertainment guests, if I remember it was the cream carpeted set period. (On the walls as well as the floor.)

It wasn't until I moved to Ireland that I found out exactly what TLLS was. It's a strange beast, a chimera of shows - even though it is described as being produced by "RTÉ Entertainment" in the opening credits. It was the last time I saw them, I haven't watched an edition in years. Not that I have ever seen one from end to end, I don't have the stamina.

Nevertheless, from an assemblage of what I've seen, TLLS is about three or four shows squeezed into one. Run of the mill chat show, with celebrity guests - or what passes for them. The music show, where, yes, Boyzone were once introduced to the world. The cringingly awful gameshow elements - an incentive to keep people watching until nearly midnight on the off chance they could win. The interviews with people in the news. The serious topical discussion. In fact it could be several episodes of Oprah through the ages, stitched together like Frankenstein's monster of light entertainment. TLLS is effectively a night off for continuity, why produce and introduce distinct shows, when you can have them all awkwardly merged together by one host.

TLLS began in the earliest days of RTÉ, when nobody really knew what television could or should be about. Since then Ireland may have thrown off the yoke of the Catholic Church (officially maybe) but the persistence of TLLS shows those forces of conservatism still hold. Which is ironic given how TLLS would push progressive ideas when Gay Byrne hosted.

The only show from the UK that I can think of in comparison is That's Life, with it's sudden lurches in tone from a dog saying "sausages" to a consumer interest exposé of dodgy salesmen to a root vegetable that looks like a cock and balls.

And then there's the Late Late Toy Show. The one time of the year that the programme has a single focus, and it self-sabotages with cheese and cliché. The speculation about the host's Christmas jumper, precocious stage school kids doing song and dance numbers, toys summoning the spirit of Tomorrow's World and refusing to work... Meanwhile at home, families crack open a box of USA biscuits and the kids get to stay up as a special treat. I reckon it's the toys that keep the rest afloat - cancel that and there'd be outcry and questions in the Oireachtas. (I spelled that right first time!)

Perhaps TLLS's longevity is in fact due to some secret deal with Ireland's pubs - RTÉ promise to keep churning it out, giving people an excuse to get out of the house. Only since the advent of other TV channels have the publicans seen their takings fall.