Sure, we're all cosmopolitan now with our fancy foreign holiday shows and gritty crime dramas, but every now and again we can't help harking back to some of Irish TV's golden days, where farming and family friendly quiz shows were top of the agenda. Though it might be hard to believe that a glorified game of Charades and a sing-song made for long-running TV shows, it happened and we loved it. Here are 13 things we miss from Irish TV screens.
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Where in the World
Only on Irish television could a glorified Junior Cert Geography exam become a prime time television show. But who cared, when the glamorous Teresa Lowe was at the helm. In the head to head round, each correct answer was worth a £5. In today’s terms, that’s probably worth a house deposit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmmnQUw3lIw
Glenroe
The ultimate signal that the weekend was over and it was time to get to bed. Of course mam and dad would try to shield your eyes when Miley went for an extra-marital roll in the hay with Fidelma – a tryst that shocked a nation. Glenroe time was also time to tell your mother you actually didn’t have done your homework done and risk a reddening from the wooden spoon.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIzh-GfDvPw
Play The Game
We used to have Twink on primetime TV too. Judging by last week’s escapades, we still haven’t learned from that. With Ronan Collins at the helm, teams hosted by the aforementioned Panto Queen and Derek Davis played charades on national TV. Somehow, this ran for almost 10 years.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urfYViamhw8
Don’t Feed The Gondolas
Ireland’s early experimentation with panel comedy shows came with Sean Moncrieff in the hot seat and Dara O’Briain, Des Bishop, Kevin McAleer and Brendan O’Connor amongst its panelists. No one will ever forget the prank calls from Ahascragh, or Who’s in the House?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMR2MbM6L3g
Paisean Faisean
One of the more recent shows on our list, Paisean Faisean was a TG4 creation that first hit our screens in 2005. There was a deep joy to be gleaned from watching affable presenter Aoife Ní Thuairisg help three clueless fellas shop for a possible date’s new outfit, all the while trying to remember the Irish for kitten heel. Go hálainn.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4IBOTt1uPE
The Den
Irish children of the 80s and 90s will forever have a special place in their hearts for aliens Zig and Zag from the planet Zog… even though they eventually defected to Channel 4 and left us broken-hearted. The Den left us with an abiding love of Ian Dempsey and Ray D’Arcy too, particularly if you were ever lucky enough to feature on the Birthday Roll.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSm_0YYZiUA
The School Around the Corner
From the mouths of babes. Gerry Ryan took the helm from 1990 to 1994 in a revised version of a show that originally went to air back in the 1950s. Children in school uniforms had the chats while their mothers did a rosary and prayed they wouldn’t mortify the parish. A tenner says you have the theme tune in your head right now.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BmFkbpBYvQ
Blackboard Jungle
If School Around the Corner was the show that you wished your primary school could appear on, the secondary school dream was to get on Blackboard Jungle. Ray D’Arcy asked the questions, and students from around the country went head to head to win… a mini bus.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jamBUA6lx30
The Lyrics Board
Two pianos, one host and fierce competition to see which team could sing badly, both faster and louder. It’s like your average Irish house party with professional equipment and amateur talent. And we absolutely loved it. The format has since been sold worldwide.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29ykaKPjpAs
The Morbegs
Molly and Rossa were legends, gently teaching Irish children some words in our native tongue. Of course the show is really most memorable for introducing us all to Tommy Tiernan.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RSz52ravlI
Echo Island
All the cool teenagers watched Echo Island, where Dara Ó Briain, Derek Mooney and Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh hung out on a desert island with Rocco the cockatoo and interviewed guests in “The Shack”. So cool.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cfTO9ogRmk
On Home Ground
In the early noughties Irish TV viewers met Amy Huberman for the first time. Here, she was Diane Collins, daughter of Sean McGinely’s Fergal Collins, the coach of a local GAA team with fierce rivalries and steamy behind-the-scenes drama. The Gaelic fans lapped it up and there’s a sense we really didn’t spend half long enough in the fictional town of Kildoran.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMKiKAchg9Q
Bosco
What could we possibly say about Bosco that hasn’t been said over the years? The flame-haired puppet had songs about tidying up and a magic door that only ever seemed to lead to Dublin Zoo. Good times.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcz1DZckf6k
