Channel hopping

What to do now on a Saturday night?

WHAT to do now that The X-Factor is over? I suppose the only thing you can do; read a good book. There isn’t much to watch on a Saturday night these days, as many people will find this weekend when they finally return to the land of the non X-Factor watchers.
As X-Factor years go, I enjoyed it but really only until Jedward went out. They were the best thing going for the show and despite the fact I was pleased Joe won because he had the best voice, I was more than disappointed by the rest of the acts. There was no real performer. Alexandra Burke was by far the best winner of the competition so far and one can only hope that next year there is a performer of her calibre. As for the song – can I just say, pass me a bucket.
As you may have noticed my column has been on a little break but fear not, I have been keeping up with my television watching. Firstly, let me go back, a good few weeks at this stage and say that I thought Ryan Tubridy did an okay job on the Late Late Toy Show. It was better than the cardboard cut-out performance given by Kenny in previous years but I felt Tubridy was a little but too manic and far too sarcastic. What I didn’t like at all was the lack of the Christmas jumper. Who is going to pay money for a pink jumper? In the ad preceding the show, he promised us something with a little pizzazz; I wanted something that lit up or at least glowed a bit. Alas, we had to settle for a kind of purple-pink number, which frankly didn’t really put me in the Christmas cheer. Although, again, I did enjoy Jedward and I wish them every success as the new Ant and Dec.
The Savage Eye has been running for a few weeks now and I must admit I was surprised by how watchable it is. When I was in college, David McSavage spent his afternoon narrating the journeys of people through Temple Bar. He then went on to scandalising the nation on The Late Late Show. So it was with some trepidation that I tuned in to watch the show.
The episode I caught dealt with Irish attitudes to sex but it was a little bland and out of date. Now, maybe he was making some satirical commentary on the fact that many programmes today seem to be behind the times and rooted firmly in the late 80s and eary 90s when it comes to the sexual antics of the average Irish person, or maybe, just maybe I completely missed the point but I didn’t find it particularly funny. I did find his impression of Mary Robinson funny and the subsequent episodes have raised more than a smile on my behalf but I feel that, as a programme, it will outstay its welcome rather quickly.
However, like Katherine Lynch, it is probably going to be around a lot longer thanks to the programming commissioners at RTÉ who gave the go-ahead for the programme based on the pilot which ran in the Project Ha Ha series earlier in the year. It should also be mentioned that this series hosts a wealth of Irish talent such as Declan Rooney, Pat McDonnell, Eleanor Tiernan, Gerard McSorley, Liam Hourican, John Colleary and Dermot McMurrow. It can be watched on RTÉ Two, Mondays at 10.30pm.
Another show which caught my eye a couple of weeks ago was Val Falvey TD. This show features the well-known Ardal O’Hanlon as a new TD who has inherited a seat in the Midlands from his father. However, it seems Val is not really cut out for a life of politics as he can just about handle the daily grind of meeting constituents and Dáil matters. However, he takes to the perks like a duck to water.
Ardal O’Hanlon, as we all know, is the son of a well-known politician and as such, one would imagine it would give him the opportunity to bring something to the character. Alas, he has not risen to the challenge and I am sorry to say that his work as Fr Dougal Maguire of Fr Ted fame will remain his finest for now. It has always saddened me that Ardal never went on to live up to the potential seen in his performance as Dougal. In fact, his subsequent work, such as his stint as a husband with superpowers, led me to question his abilities as an actor and if perhaps that was a lot more of Ardal in Dougal than we would have liked. But I feel that I may have been too harsh there. I am not saying that Val Falvey TD is terrible. It has a few laughs and may be something of a grower and one thing is for sure, it is definitely better than Killinaskully and perhaps given time, I will appreciate what the makers are trying to do.
It is very rare that I mention something from the TV3 stable. In fact, I could probably count on one hand the number of homemade productions I have commented on from that particular station. However, it must said that one programme did impress me. Well, eventually!
Fran, is a made-for-TV3 pseudo-documentary of the life and times of Fran Costello, the assistant manager of St Peter’s United, a Leinster Senior League team. He is, to put it mildly, a bit of an eejit but he has a heart of gold and a passion for his club and football. He gets little respect from the team but he keeps going despite all the ups and downs he suffers.
The programme follows the team as they try to reach the First Division, something which Fran is convinced they will do. The acting leaves a lot to be desired in this programme and I sometimes think perhaps the ordinary featured are indeed ordinary people out doing their shopping. Anyway, despite a rocky first episode, this programme blossomed into quite an entertaining piece of telly. Fran is incredibly likeable and by the end, you really are rooting for the lad. It was well worth a look and no doubt will be repeated many times to come.