Toy Show must go on, says Tubs
THE pandemic has curtailed many outlets for entertainment but it will not stop the Late Late Toy Show from taking place.
Presenter Ryan Tubridy confirmed that plans for the annual audience-favourite are ‘well and truly on the road’ – and he has even has his first costume fitting for the show!
Speaking at the launch of RTÉ autumn season, the presenter said the aim of this year’s festive show will be to distract children from the ongoing hardships caused by Covid-19 – and, as a result, it will be ‘the most important Toy Show ever done’.
‘There was a sense about the place that the Toy Show was under threat and every time I mentioned it, people would say, “this is great news!”’ he said.
‘I think without question, it will be the most important Toy Show we’ve ever done, for obvious reasons,’ added Tubridy.
‘The kids have been so good, they’ve had the weirdest year of their lives and I think it’s absolutely up to us to make the sun shine for them again and we are determined.’
He added that children will still be in the show, and while details are still to be confirmed, the theatricality of the programme will not necessarily be scaled down, but will be ‘Covid-aware’
‘It will be different. We’ll still do a big number… but it will just be Covid-aware.
Look at the world and how everyone has recalibrated. We’re watching and saying, “What can we do?”. How can you make the most bonkers show Covid-friendly?’
As audience members will not be allowed to attend broadcasts of the Late Late Show for the foreseeable future, Tubridy added that host the Toy Show in particular without an audience is ‘very daunting because you feed off that’.
The regular Late Late Show will return on September 4, and it too will be without an
‘The team pulled together’
audience, as it was when the pandemic first hit. The show will include a ‘careful blend’ of interviews via video and guests in studio.
‘My preference would be to have as many live in-studio, Covid-aware guests coming in. We did a lot of it last season,’ Tubridy said, adding that the pandemic ‘ambushed’ the show’s previous season and made it a struggle to continue broadcasting every Friday night.
‘There was one stage we were wondering, ‘how long do we go on this season?’ The team pulled together and they said, ‘do you want to do this’, and I said … “I want to stay here until the last dog barks”.’