Spicy Friday or bland affair?
LATE LATE SHOW RTÉ ONE, TONIGHT, 9.35PM
DAMNED if you do, damned if you don’t – that is the cruel fate that awaits every presenter of the Late Late Show.
The show has, of course, always been controversial. But there has been a marked change in recent years.
In the halcyon days of the Gay Byrne era, people would have to tune into his radio show on the Monday morning just to hear the reaction from the viewers of the previous Friday’s episode and the reactions were invariably negative – something which often seemed to give that host immense satisfaction.
Fast forward a few decades and now the grandchildren of those cranks who complained about the show in the 1970s are all grown up and have their own Twitter machine to spout real-time criticisms as the show unfolds.
Forget about waiting until next Monday before expressing an opinion – these days it seems like half the viewers can’t wait until the next commercial break.
Tonight sees a kinda sorta return to those old-school Late Late episodes in the sense that they have a big political interview and they have an Irish actor who has become a star in the States.
Sean Spicer is the political scoop and all eyes will be on this one – is he still loyal to Trump, or does he hate him with all the venom we might expect from any sacked employee?
It might seem hard for anyone who only knows the former press spokesman from his increasingly frazzled press conferences and the Melissa McCarthy skits on Saturday Night
Live, but there was a time when he was seen as a power player in Washington.
Those days are gone, unless he pulls a spectacular reverse ferret, and tonight should be a fascinating encounter.
I say should, but it’s hard to know what sort of interview we’re going to get – will it be as soft as Tubbers’ meeting with Hillary Clinton?
Or will it be as hostile as that time Katie Hopkins turned up for a grilling?
Liam Neeson provides the stardust of the local(ish) boy who done good in Amerikay.
The main problem with the Late Late is the same one that afflicts too many RTÉ programmes – it books too many of its own employees to plug its own shows.
But this line up is a quality one for any Friday and now the onus is on the host to make sure the Spicer item, in particular, is as rewarding as possible.
Room 101 (BBC2, tonight,
9pm) returns today and while it can be a hit and miss affair, the prospect of Charlie Brooker sharing a couch with Scarlett Moffat should be interesting. After all, I rather suspect Brooker would like to put people like her in the bin...