The Late Late Show (season 48)

Ryan Tubridy was announced as the new host of The Late Late Show on 11 May 2009,[3][4][5] weeks before Pat Kenny's reign came to an end.[6][7] Tubridy spoke before his first episode of his plans for his tenure as host of The Late Late Show.[8] He declared that the owl was "not dead".[8] He spoke of his delight at securing an Irish sponsor, Quinn Group,[9][10] which he described as "a nice honest Cavan business", saying he would not be "really happy" if his sponsor was "a big British conglomerate".[11] He also confirmed that there would be a houseband which would feature some of the same members as the Camembert Quartet from Tubridy Tonight.[8] A new version of the theme tune was arranged by Brian Byrne.[12] Terry Prone later commented in the Evening Herald that "the updated signature tune sounded as if someone who had heard the original once was trying to remember it through a hangover".[13] The set, which features a desk of walnut, leather chairs and a backdrop with a pink/purple theme, was designed by Darragh Treacy.[14] The opening of ticket applications was announced on 28 August 2009.[15] Bookmakers began to offer bets for the identity of Tubridy's first guest, with actor Denzel Washington being reported as one of the favourites.[16] Irish Independent television critic John Boland offered Tubridy some tips on being a good chat show host; these included a ban on C-list celebrities, a sense of humour and plenty of surprises.[17]

Ryan Tubridy's first episode included several high-profile guests, including Cherie Blair, Joan Collins, Sharon Corr and David Gray.[20] The 204-member studio audience included Tubridy's mother.[14] The orchestra was notably cut off at the end before it had a chance to play.[21] The decision by RTÉ to feature music from David Gray was greeted with surprise by Sunday Tribune columnist Ken Sweeney, who noted that RTÉ 2fm had opted out of playlisting his song "Fugitive" despite an attempt by the station to target a middle-aged audience.[22] Gray is popular with that age group in Ireland and his 1998 album, White Ladder, broke Irish sales records.[22]

Ryan Tubridy interviews Taoiseach Brian Cowen, his first ever guest as host of The Late Late Show, on 4 September 2009.

Tubridy's first ever guest as host of The Late Late Show was Taoiseach Brian Cowen which Cowen described as "a great privilege" when live on air.[14][23] Tubridy praised the Taoiseach for being "very frank and forthcoming", something he thought was "refreshing and I think we'd like to see more of it as a people".[19] The Sunday Independent's front page later claimed Cowen was "unhappy" with the interview.[24] Jody Corcoran, writing in that newspaper, said the Taoiseach was upset over his "mugging" and Corcoran himself was upset over the manner in which Tubridy had blamed the Sunday Independent for bringing up the subject of the Taoiseach "drinking too much".[25] However, Corcoran, a personal friend of Cowen for 25 years, claimed he was alone with the Taoiseach when he spoke to him about his "upset" and that Cowen had been "mugged in a two-faced, Creeping Jesus sort of way by a host who was, as I see it, too cowardly to stand up like a man and ask the hard question on his own".[25][26] Tubridy quickly apologised to the Taoiseach on air after asking him about his alcoholic habits,[21] and later responded to the Independent's suggestions of a "mugging" by issuing a denial to the newspaper.[27] He also asked Cowen if he "envied" the timing of his predecessor Bertie Ahern who departed the scene shortly before the economic collapse.[18]

The interview with Brian McFadden also attracted comment. McFadden claimed he had not directly spoken to his former wife Kerry Katona for four years, was hoping to gain custody of his children—after a string of widely publicised incidents involving Katona, cocaine and tea—[29] and that he had refused €100,000 which he was offered by a newspaper to tell his story as "they will take a couple of things I said and turn it in to a headline and it will go around the world".[28] The interview was widely circulated by the United Kingdom's tabloid media, with Now magazine quoting McFadden's claim that he had not spoken to Katona for four years,[30] and the Daily Mirror repeating McFadden's claim that Katona could not afford yet another court case.[29] Keith Duffy of Boyzone later called McFadden "naïve" to have done the interview and said Tubridy was correct to have asked him why there was such a distance between him and his daughters.[31] Anna Carey wrote a heavily critical piece on the interview in the Irish Independent the following Saturday, calling McFadden a "selfish grown-up brat" who thought he was "an innocent victim" to Katona's "mad villain" despite Katona suffering from bipolar disorder and having "a pretty appalling childhood herself".[32] Katona herself was said to be "infuriated" by McFadden's comments on the show.[28]

Over 1.6 million people watched Tubridy's first episode, a figure which peaked during the Cowen interview.[33][34][35] Pat Kenny was not one of these, having decided to eat pizza instead.[36] Tubridy described it as "easily" the largest audience of his career—Pat Kenny attracted similar figures for his debut in 1999.[24][37] These figures made this the most watched episode – apart from the annual Toy Show – since Gay Byrne retired as presenter in 1999.[37]

Jermaine Jackson

Ryan Tubridy's second episode featured an interview with Jermaine Jackson who flew into Dublin especially to appear on the show.[39] Jackson told how his recently deceased brother Michael loved Ireland, particularly County Cork where he lived for a time in 2006.[38] He spoke of Jackson's children and their love of movies and animation.[38] He also said Michael's tribute concert would be moved from Vienna to Wembley Stadium in London and that he hoped U2 would play at the show.[38]

The episode, which also featured guests Kelly Osbourne, the Kilkenny All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship winning team, Moving Hearts and Michael Murphy, attracted 1.5 million viewers.[40] The appearance of John Hurt and his brother Anslem drew the largest audience of the night.[40]

The fourth episode of the season included an interview with Tony Sutherland, father of boxing Olympian Darren, who had died suddenly at his London home the previous week. Tony Sutherland appeared on the show to confirm his belief that his son was not depressed at the time of his death and said he heard of Darren's demise when his wife was informed as they were communicating via telephone.[41] He held his son's medal throughout the interview.[41] Darren's mother Lynda also spoke of how her son had been cut beneath his eye.[41]

The fifth episode of the season, which aired on 2 October 2009, featured an interview with Leonie Fennell and Tony Donnelly, the mother and stepfather of Shane Clancy, a 22-year-old student involved in a murder-suicide in Bray, County Wicklow on 16 August 2009. Fennell revealed her son had swallowed a one-month supply of anti-depressants, had attempted suicide and been given another month's supply before he carried out the act.[42] The College of Psychiatrists in Ireland declined a request to take part in the discussion.[43] Father Fergus O'Donoghue, an associate of the Creane family whose son was murdered, later criticised the interview, saying they had been "exploited" and questioning why anti-depressants were used as an excuse.[43]

Other guests to feature on that episode included British television personalities Ant & Dec, boxer Bernard Dunne and American television personality Ricki Lake.[44][45][46]

Gordon Ramsay

An interview with British chef Gordon Ramsay led to comment in the Irish media when Ramsay engaged in personal criticism of Tubridy over his appearance. Ramsay compared Tubridy's ears to Dumbo, saying: "Look at those things, you must take off coming down the stairs. I'm surprised you can get through the door".[47] The chef also spoke of his desire to bring Tubridy to one of his restaurants, commenting "You look like you haven't eaten in years. You're too thin. You're like a little windy piece of asparagus".[47] The Evening Herald said Tubridy had been "ridiculed and humiliated [...] in front of a squirming television audience".[47] A spokesperson for Tubridy said he understood the comments as a joke.[47] Whilst appearing on The Ray D'Arcy Show on Today FM to promote The Late Late Toy Show some weeks later, Tubridy responded to the incident: "I thought he was a bit, em, British for my liking. I won’t be buying the books [Ramsay was promoting]. In fact, I didn't take the free one".[48]

Comedian Peter Kay made his debut on The Late Late Show, performing "Is This the Way to Amarillo" and "I Useta Lover" and lifting Tubridy off the ground and shaking him about in the air.[49] That episode also featured singer Peter Andre who performed "Unconditional", a song dedicated to his stepson Harvey, and Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh who talked about her twisted bowel.[49]

A pre-recorded edition of The Late Late Show was broadcast on 27 December 2009, including Louis Walsh as a guest.[50]

Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams was interviewed by Ryan Tubridy on 12 February 2010 when he appeared on The Late Late Show to discuss his family history of child abuse. Adams and Tubridy also exchanged comments on the Irish Republican Army (IRA), with Tubridy's grandfather becoming involved in proceedings.[51]

Tubridy: Did you ever lose a night's sleep because of the activities of the IRA?

Adams: I think that's a glib way to put it if I may say so.
Tubridy: Some people are watching tonight saying "that man has blood on his hands", do you have blood on your hands?
Adams: No, I don't, and you might as well say that your grandfather had blood on his hands.
Tubridy: I was wondering were you going to bring that up, if you want to go glib Gerry, let's go glib.

Adams (later): I wasn't being glib when I was talking about your grandfather, because you're obviously proud of your grandfather he was a member of the IRA, he opposed the treaty.

Boxer Bernard Dunne announced his retirement from the sport while appearing in a brief cameo in this episode.[52]

This aired live on The Late Late Show in early March 2010, with the intention of selecting Ireland's entry for Eurovision Song Contest 2010 in Oslo. The jury consisted of Linda Martin, Mark Crossingham, Julian Benson, Larry Gogan and Diarmuid Furlong.[53]

The five selected songs were "Baby, Nothing's Wrong", "Does Heaven Need Much More?", "Fashion Queen", "It's for You" and "River of Silence".[54][55][56][57]

It was reported in the media in April 2010 that Cheryl Cole would be subjected to a pre-recorded interview due to scheduling difficulties. Pre-recorded interviews on The Late Late Show were considered a novelty at this time, though Miley Cyrus had availed of one the previous December.[58]

The edition of 30 April 2010 of The Late Late Show was broadcast on the night of the death of broadcaster Gerry Ryan.[60] Presenter Ryan Tubridy was joined by a selection of guests including the show's former hosts Gay Byrne and Pat Kenny, as well as other RTÉ broadcasters such as Joe Duffy, Dave Fanning, Brenda Donohue and David Blake Knox.[59][60] Tubridy said on the show that the "country has lost a great broadcaster and I have lost a great friend".[60]

The tribute led to The Late Late Show's highest audience ratings of 2010.[59]

Grease actress Stockard Channing, a guest on that night's edition of The Late Late Show, spoke of feeling like she had interrupted "a stranger's funeral" as audience members were still in tears when she arrived. Channing alleged that no death in her native United States would receive such an emotional reaction.[61]

Tubridy's interview with Stephen Gately's husband Andrew Cowles on 14 May 2010 episode nearly reduced Cowles to tears. Cowles was on the show to promote The Tree of Seasons, his husband's book published posthumously.[62] Tubridy responded to criticism by later remarking that Cowles had given "a very solid, brave interview and I know for a fact that he's happy with the way it went".[63]

• ^a Kenny's predecessors were Gay Byrne and, briefly, Frank Hall.
• ^b 62% audience share, Ryan Tubridy's first episode as host. 1.6 million viewers, the highest audience for a regular season episode since 1999.[24]
• ^c 55% audience share, 1.5 million viewers.[40]
• ^d The Late Late Toy Show, the highest audience for an edition of The Late Late Toy Show for 15 years, an almost 75% audience share.[105]

• Official website