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Daragh Keany: ‘RTÉ did not look further than the canteen to find their guests’

The latest Netflix documentary or Disney+ episode would have to wait… because for the first time in years I found myself actually sitting down to a live edition of the longest running chat show on the planet

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RTÉ had a chance to (almost) wipe the slate clean on Friday night, but they let themselves and new host Paddy Kielty down with a series of cock ups… the biggest being that they seemed to not look much further than the canteen, yet again, to find their guests.

The national broadcaster had us. We were in. For 95 minutes on Friday night nothing else mattered. The latest Netflix documentary or Disney+ episode would have to wait… because for the first time in years I found myself actually sitting down to a live edition of the longest running chat show on the planet. And I wasn’t the only one.

The wine was poured, the kids were in bed and the feet were up for what was the new dawn at Montrose.

He won’t admit it, nor will he want the moniker, but in truth Kielty is the poster boy of the new RTÉ. A heavy burden, for sure, on the absolute newest member of Team Bakhurst.

Weirdly, I was rooting for him to do well; almost willing him to nail it. I was almost urging the audience to laugh more because in truth, this was a long time coming, and after the dramatic summer of Oireachtas Committees, pay scandals and €5k flip flops, even the most cynical of the anti-RTÉ brigade deep down wished Kielty well.

As the new opening credits rolled there was an instant pang of fresh change. The audio of Gaybo introducing him was a nice touch.

And his opening monologue had the right amount of humour and humility that raised a few laughs and no doubt a few eyebrows of the current RTÉ board.

The first problem of the night was the camera shot for that first five minutes which was way too close and way too low down, meaning Kielty was looking down at us at home.

There was clearly no booze bought using the barter account either as the audience was as hard to please as Sinn Féin’s Imelda Munster during the Tubridy Oireachtas Committee hearing.

And then there were the guests. They did Kielty no favours by thrusting him into his first ever Late Late Show interview opposite three giddy podcasters.

It was an awkward chat that didn’t flow. The best bit was Kielty’s off-the-cuff quip about having to fly himself back and forth for his new job.

At one point the interview was over, but the only one who knew that was the host.

Then came another shift change for the LLS… drum roll please… Hector, Tommy and Laurita did not exit as Mary McAleese entered.

It’s a tried-and-tested formula in the UK and the US and it actually worked well on Friday. And that was in part due to the host’s ability to move between hard and soft topics with ease.

Some of his best bits during the show were completely ad-libbed. And that is one of the skills he will use to make this chapter of the Late Late Show a relative success.

As he got more comfortable in the chair, he warmed up properly and we got glimpses of how brilliant he can be.

The segment in the audience could have been a complete car crash as Sharon’s sister Elaine (at home) faffed through a question that could have seen the audience member head to Paris next weekend. But it wasn’t at all. Kielty was getting into his groove.

I’m not one of the many, many 2 Johnnies fanboys but that segment was great fun and allowed the host’s comedic side to come out, even if the whole piece was just self-promotion for the broadcaster.

For context, when Ryan Tubridy kicked off his tenure they rolled out the then Taoiseach Brian Cowan, Cherie Blair, Saoirse Ronan, one of the Corrs and Hollywood royalty Joan Collins.

Luckily they saved the best guest for last as James McClean was brought out.

And they quite rightly sent The 2 Johnnies the long way to Tipperary so it was just the two Northern Irishmen chatting for our entertainment.

There was no soft landing for the footballer either. Question two got right into the hot topic of the poppy, and if the Derryman wanted a breather after that he would have been disappointed because we were soon watching him describing his autistic daughter’s struggles and the plight of the Irish manager Stephen Kenny.

McClean is notoriously monosyllabic in interviews but he opened up to Kielty. At one point Patrick had his hand on the winger’s leg in a show of support and empathy for the interviewee.

 the team behind the cameras can get their acts together and get him good guests, improve the camera angles, sort the lights out (Erin McClean was in darkness), give the audience a drink to loosen them up, and primarily allow the host to be himself I might actually find myself drawn back to the show once again.

To Whom it Concerns… A lot done. More to do.