Ryan Tubridy says he’s happy for Tommy Tiernan’s chat show success but insists his show shouldn’t be compared to the Late Late Show.
The RTE host is heading into his 15th year at the helm of the Friday night show. Tubs said it’s “all peace and love” between the pair – despite their chat shows often being pitted against each other in ratings and viewer reactions.
But the seasoned host claims there are too many differences between both programmes to ever compare them like for like. Asked if he would ever adapt the popular “spontaneous” element of The Tommy Tiernan Show, which sees the comic interview guests without any knowledge of who they are before hand, Tubridy, 49, said: “Well I’ll tell you what, nothing is more spontaneous than a live show, which Tommy’s of course isn’t.
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“And that’s the difference between us. Tommys is tremendous. But ours is a different class of spontaneity. It’s very, very alive. I’d like to be a bit more myself maybe. I mean, the guy you meet around a table like this, it’s kind of different to the guy you see on TV on Fridays.
“But he does have the advantage of editing it down in a way I don’t. So it is not comparing like with like. What he does is brilliant in that style and we do our best hell for leather in fully live. So they are two different shows.”
The Dubliner, who also hosts a morning show daily on RTE Radio 1, added: “Tommy’s success is RTE’s success, is my success, it is a family success.”
Ryan said he’d even love to be a guest on the Saturday night series if he got the invite. He continued: “Of course I would if I was invited, but no I haven’t been invited. Because could you imagine what people would say if I went on Tommy’s show? RTE eating each other up, but it would be great.
“But I did do his radio show when he did his version of it but not the TV thing. I went to see him at the Comedy Festival. It was gas. We had a beer afterwards. It was good fun. It’s all peace and love, I’m afraid.”
Ryan was speaking at the RTE new season launch at Dublin’s RDS yesterday which confirmed he would be staying at the helm of the Late Late Show as it celebrates its 61st season.
Tommy’s chat show was also confirmed for a return this winter, as well as a brand new show with the comic travelling around the West of Ireland titled Tommy Tiernan’s Epic West.
Meanwhile, former RTE Radio 1 host Sean O’Rourke will make a return to the broadcaster with a new political documentary. Two Tribes will follow the diverging paths taken by Fianna Fail and Fine Gael in the post-civil war landscape.
The show will mark his first return to RTE in two years since retiring from his radio role on the Today show in May 2020, and stepping away from other planned projects later on due to being involved in the controversy surrounding “Golfgate”.Other announcements included brand new series North Sea Connection, Sisters, The Dry, Clean Sweep, and the return of dramas Kin and Smother, and entertainment shows Dancing with the Stars and Ireland’s Fittest Family.
RTE director general Dee Forbes said: “Today, RTE’s new season launch is a celebration of Irish culture, Irish stories and Irish creativity, while reflecting our vital role in creating a shared space for important discussion and debate, for supporting Irish talent, for celebration, for telling national stories and marking national moments. With 40 hours of original Irish drama, this is RTE’s biggest drama slate to date and brings exciting new talent to our screens.”
In Kin, The Kinsella clan are back for a second series of the internationally acclaimed drama starring Claire Dunne, Aidan Gillen and Charlie Cox, with production currently underway in Dublin.
New comedy drama The Dry is set in Dublin, written by Nancy Harris and starring Roisin Gallagher, Moe Dunford, and Oscar-nominee Ciaran Hinds. North Sea Connection is a contemporary thriller set within an isolated and traditional rural Irish fishing community in Connemara, starring Lydia McGuinness, Sinead Cusack, Kerr Logan and Alida Morberg.
New thriller Clean Sweep sees Charlene McKenna star in the lead role as a housewife married to a Garda detective who kills her former partner-in-crime when he threatens to expose her dark past.
Smother with Dervla Kirwan is back for a third series, while new series Sisters is a dark comedy drama about two women who discover they are half-sisters and embark on a road trip across Ireland. Fair City will also remain four nights a week.
Factual RTE’s factual series and documentaries this season aim to tell “unique Irish stories documenting how we as a nation now live, have lived in the past, and will live into the future, celebrating our culture and heritage and chronicling our ever changing society across all platforms”.
The War at Home captures the experiences and emotions of Ukrainians travelling to Ireland and the Irish response to the crisis.
A DIY SOS Ukraine Special features Baz Ashmawy and his team of volunteers as they work against the clock to provide temporary housing for families fleeing the war-torn country.
Stardust examines the Stardust disaster in the context of fresh evidence being presented to the inquest. Arthur Gourounlian and Brian Dowling document their surrogacy journey in Brian and Arthur’s Very Modern Family.
Saipan – Rebel Without a Ball asks how far the Irish team could have gone had Roy Keane stayed, while hurling stalwart Davy Fitz puts another group of teenagers through the mill for the greater good in Davy’s Toughest Team.
Our natural history and landscapes are explored as underwater cameraman Ken O’Sullivan delves into the North Atlantic. Build Your Own is a new series following the trials and tribulations of homeowners from across Ireland, while Maggie Smith is back with more Cheap Irish Homes.
Room to Improve returns, and Dermot Bannon travels to Spain and Scotland for more Dermot Bannon’s Incredible Homes. Elsewhere, new series Takeaway Titans, will see Carl Mullan and James Kavanagh on the hunt for Ireland’s greatest chipper.
Dancing with the Stars series six will see a new line-up of brave soldiers take to the dancefloor in early 2023, and as Nicky Byrne heads on tour with Westlife, RTE will be announcing a brand new co-presenter.
Ireland’s Fittest Family returns with a new coach in the form of current Dancing with the Stars champ Nina Carberry. Other competitive streaks are sure to present themselves with Ultimate Hell Week: The Professionals putting a new line-up of well-known recruits through their paces, and there are still plenty of singletons looking for love in the ever-popular First Dates Ireland.
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