Bridget and Eamon (Irish comedy, surprisingly great)

[Small Man Big Horse]

I say surprisingly as I've done a quick search and I don't think it's ever been mentioned on CaB before, despite three seasons having aired so far. It's from Bernard O'Shea and Jennifer Maguire, with the characters having originated in some sketch show, the name of which I'm too lazy to look up. I saw O'Shea do stand up back in 2006 for an episode of Paramount's The World Stands Up and thought he was superb, and I vowed to keep an eye out for him only for him to seemingly disappear. Or move back to Ireland, anyhow, but I'm really pleased to see him still going strong. The show's set in the eighties in Ireland and is about an argumentative couple who don't seem to like each other, and whilst that might not sound like a comedy gold mine their various antics - mass condom selling in the first episode, joining a "No to Divorce" campaign in the second - has made me laugh a great deal, whilst the supporting cast are top notch too. It's daft, idiotic, occasionally twisted and very very smart comedy, if that makes any sense. Or at least the first two episodes were, I've not seen the rest yet. But I like getting overexcited by comedy.

So why have you Irish types been keeping this to yourself? Fucking mean if you ask me.

[Malcy]

I caught a bit of it when i Lived in Ireland. Just looked like usual RTE shite to me.

[Small Man Big Horse]

I can see why it might look like that but it's worth sticking with as it's pleasingly playful and unpredictable stuff which I've found oddly endearing. Quite a few episodes are up on Dailymotion and other streaming sites so it's easy to find too.

[neveragain]

The GOLD trailer looks abysmal but I'm glad to hear it's not quite.

[Glebe]

I never used to watch in on RTE, but I've been watching it on GOLD. It's is pretty funny actually, and as a child of '80s Ireland I find a lot of the references particularly amusing... The Late Late Show, the Trocaire box, the condom controversy and all that. And people from the country having 'sucky sweets' in the glove box.

[paruses]

Yes - I liked this. Have not seen that many episodes. It's very specific to Ireland in the 80s and some of the references are lost on me (being not Irish in the 80s) but at the same time it translates well enough to growing up in the provinces in the UK for me to appreciate.

There's a great bottle episode (or half episode) where they go to a christening an it's set in the car.

The Eamon character reminds me alarmingly of my boss at work which is somewhat off putting.

[Small Man Big Horse]

I really enjoyed the rest of the first series but I've just watched the first episode of the second and everything feels a bit off. Eamon's a bit too much of a cunt even by his standards, whilst Bridget's treatment of her dying friend was really out of character, as was the nonsense at the end with Bernard and the fiver. I'm hoping it's just a one off misjudged episode, but it's the first time I've not enjoyed one.