This is Nightlive
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| This is Nightlive | |
 Johnny Hansom (centre) and his team |
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| Also known as | Nightlive |
|---|---|
| Genre | Satire |
| Created by | RTÉ in association with Stillwater Communications (Kara Hanahoe/John Ryan) |
| Starring | John Ryan |
| Country of origin | Ireland |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 6 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Cillian Fennell |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | RTÉ Two |
| Original run | 5 January 2009 – 9 February 2009 |
| External links | |
| Official website | |
This is Nightlive (also referred to as Nightlive) is an Irish television series broadcast weekly on RTÉ Two. The show was satirical in nature and sought to parody a typical newsroom fronted by the fictional anchorman Johnny Hansom. Hansom (played by John Ryan, the former publisher of the New York Dog magazine) and his team presented a Lifestyle News show on which they claim that "they are the news".[1] Ryan, who also created the show,[2] attempted to copy the success of The Colbert Report, a show with a cult following on American cable television.[3] The first episode aired on 5 January 2009 at 22:25. There are no plans for a second series - due to its poor reception by Irish viewers.
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[edit] Fictional setting
The fictitious newsroom in question is said to have been operating for four years and has claimed the accolade of best-dressed current-affairs team at the 2008 VIP Style Awards. Their leader Johnny Hansom is given his own identity. It is said that he was born Declan Foley and is an "increasingly unhinged" former DJ. Úna Óg Nic Ní Súillicáint is his beautiful new co-host who possesses an extraordinary mix of occasionally contradictory Irish language names. The entertainment correspondent is Jackie Byrne-Daly, the sports reporter is Trevor Corocran and the weatherman is Mike "Cloudy" Walsh.[4]
[edit] Anticipation of criticism
Fears were expressed in the build-up to the launch of the show that it would be the subject of much criticism. Nonetheless, RTE decided to commission a largely inexperienced team to produce the series. John Ryan, the writer and the star of the show, was probably best-known for previously having published the failed New York Dog magazine and the failed Stars on Sunday newspaper. Apparently, he expected "to be taken out the back and given a good kicking". RTÉ was reported to have been "wary" of criticism to the point that it was decided not to send out any advance tapes to the press, with Ryan reported to have been planning to reproduce the worst reviews for the pilot on a ticker tape to trail across the screen during the follow-up episode. He declined at least one pre-broadcast interview and after its commencement said he intended to "go off travelling for an unspecified time". However, for the most part the series was not savaged, but simply ignored by the critics. It also failed to generate any great public interest, and was watched by an exceptionally small numbers of viewers. The cast claimed that there were some difficulties experienced in the similarities between RTÉ presenters and themselves on a show described as "while the camera is on they all play cheesy and friendly" but in reality "the presenters clearly don't like each other and can't be bothered hiding it anymore". A show source was reported to have expressed the discomfort felt by the actors after encountering the newscasters, weather people and presenters they are parodying in the RTÉ canteen, with one such incident occurring in the corridor outside the studio directly after the professional in question was filmed for the first episode.[5] Complaints against the show were subsequently upheld by Ireland's Broadcasting Commission on the grounds of its poor taste in featuring terminally-ill children for comic effect. However, the principal objections to this comedy series related to the poor quality of the acting and scripting.
[edit] Arrival of expected criticism
John Boland of the Irish Independent, fopr example, was unamused with the "lame delivery" and the lack of a good script for which Ryan, he points out, is to blame not only for his own character but also for the woman impersonating TV3's Lorraine Keane and weatherman Martin King. However, he "chuckled a few times" at the rolling ticker tape containing such comical inserts as "Middle-aged man still won't shut up about Leonard Cohen concert, say friends" and "Katie Melua admits she may have been wrong about number of bicycles in Beijing".[6]
[edit] Viewing figures
The first programme attracted 89,000 viewers, according to RTÉ. The second programme led to a decrease in viewing figures to 76,00o, and the viewership stayed very low for the remainder of the series. Comparatively, the drama Raw which ran in the same slot the previous autumn, attracted an average of 221,000 viewers against rival broadcaster TV3's popular version of the The Apprentice and these viewing figures are a third of those that the equally criticised Lucy Kennedy show titled The Lucy Kennedy Show managed whilst running in the Nightlive slot on Tuesday nights.[7] These viewing figures were regarded as extremely poor, and the whole series was seen as a failure in terms of audience reaction.
[edit] Praise
One of the few people to praise the show was the former TV3 television presenter Lorraine Keane who was apparently parodied in it. She thought her character was "hilarious".[8] The Evening Herald also noted the show's improvement towards the end of its run, believing that a few of the jokes in the final episode were "sharper than usual", and praised the "decent" idea of having Hansom copying "a Peter Finch-in-Network and getting the sack".[9] (Of course, In Network the character played by Peter Finch does not end up getting the sack - but is actually assassinated.) The newspaper stated, in double-edged praise, that the funniest element in the entire programme was the brief, ticker-tape headlines rolling across the bottom of the screen, including the self-mocking joke by Ryan – “That loser who used to run a dog magazine”.[9]
[edit] References
- ^ "RTÉ Announces Highlights For 2009". IFTN. 2009-01-06. http://www.iftn.ie/?act1=record&only=1&aid=73&rid=4281792&tpl=archnews. Retrieved on 2009-01-06.
- ^ "AC/DC date shows Irvine's secure over his sexuality". Irish Independent. 2008-11-16. http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/news-gossip/acdc-date-shows-irvines-secure-over-his-sexuality-1541450.html. Retrieved on 2009-01-12.
- ^ "Ardal O’Hanlon to star as sitre returns to RTÉ". The Sunday Times. 2008-09-21. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/ireland/article4795322.ece. Retrieved on 2009-01-04.
- ^ "About the Show". RTÉ. Accessed 4 January 2008.
- ^ "The Diary, Ken Sweeney - Ryan expects a 'good kicking' over new spoof TV show". Sunday Tribune. 2009-01-04. http://www.tribune.ie/news/home-news/article/2009/jan/04/the-diary-ken-sweeney-ryan-expects-a-good-kicking-/. Retrieved on 2009-01-05.
- ^ "RTE comedy? You're having a laugh...". Irish Independent. 2009-01-10. http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/tv-radio/rte-comedy-youre-having-a-laugh-1597863.html. Retrieved on 2009-01-10.
- ^ "New TV comedy goes off a cliff". Evening Herald. 2009-01-15. http://www.herald.ie/entertainment/tv-radio/new-tv-comedy--goes-off-a-cliff-1602554.html. Retrieved on 2009-01-17.
- ^ "Lorraine says her spoof send-up is hilarious". Evening Herald. 2009-02-13. http://www.herald.ie/entertainment/tv-radio/lorraine-says-her-spoof-sendup-is-hilarious-1638898.html. Retrieved on 2009-02-15.
- ^ a b "A hodge podge of lousy oul’ jokes". Evening Herald. 2009-02-10. http://www.herald.ie/entertainment/tv-radio/a-hodge-podge-of-lousy-oulrsquo-jokes-1634711.html. Retrieved on 2009-02-15.
[edit] External links
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