So farewell then, Uncle Gaybo.

[Glebe]

Former The Late Late Show presenter and Irish national institution Gay Byrne has passed away aged 85... he loomed large in Irish life for people of my parents and my generation, so there's a bit of a melancholy feeling about his passing for me.

During a brief stint in the UK in the early days of his career he became the first person to interview The Beatles on TV (alongside Doddy!) Apparently Paul McCartney came up to him during soundcheck and asked him if he'd like to be their agent!

He tackled a lot of controversial social and political issues on The Late Late (which got a brief UK screening on Channel 4 in the '90s) and was generally a pretty great interviewer (can't find a source, but I believe John Cleese called him the best interviewer he'd ever encountered or something along those lines). He could also frankly come across as a little smug at times (Mario Rosenstock's blistering impression of him is fantastic), but then nobody's perfect. He also had a long-running radio career, the theme tune to his radio show is very nostalgic for me (the same piece of music was used for Chris O' Dowd sitcom Moone Boy).

My first introduction to er, alleged alien abductee Whitley Strieber and his book Communion came courtesy of Strieber's appearance on The Late Late to promote the book... they rather sneakily faded the picture of the alien's face on the cover up on the screen during the interview, resulting in one of the big scary moments of my youth. Sadly, it appears that nobody has ever uploaded this to YouTube or that. Meanwhile, Kenny Everett being challenged by Sinead O' Connor over his support for the Conservatives - given Everett's sexuality and fact that the Tories had introduced anti-gay Byrne legislation - has sadly been taken down from YouTube... all I can offer is a picture of Kenny looking at Sinead and a couple of pix of Ken with annoying watermarks:







Of course he has a lot of comedy folks on during his Late Late tenure, here's just a few:

Peter Sellers (clip #1).

Peter Sellers (clip #2).

Peter Sellers talks about his heart attack.

Manuel meets Gaybo!

Spike Milligan.

Billy Connolly.

Dermot Morgan (a tribute selection).

I can't find his interview with Steve Coogan, which is just as well as it was a bit excruciating tbh (Gay asking him to do an impression of him being a lowlight, as I recall). In any case, farewell Uncle Gaybo.

[NoOffenceLynn]

Some good memories there Glebe, had no idea about the Kenny Everett thing. Gay was a fantastic interviewer. I too have fond memories of his shows particualy The Toy Show.
My dad was actually on it back in the day, he was an artist displaying his work.This was back in the 80s and me and my brother were allowed to stay up and watch it, we didn't have a video recorder but my friends family did and recorded the episode for us, we had the tape all of a week, until someone me accidentally recorded an episode of Neighbours over it.

Also remember the Channel 4 repeats a good few years later, my dad got another check for the appearance and brought us out for pizza.

So, so long Gay and thanks for the pizza.

[Glebe]

Some good memories there Glebe, had no idea about the Kenny Everett thing. Gay was a fantastic interviewer. I too have fond memories of his shows particualy The Toy Show.
My dad was actually on it back in the day, he was an artist displaying his work.This was back in the 80s and me and my brother were allowed to stay up and watch it, we didn't have a video recorder but my friends family did and recorded the episode for us, we had the tape all of a week, until someone me accidentally recorded an episode of Neighbours over it.

Also remember the Channel 4 repeats a good few years later, my dad got another check for the appearance and brought us out for pizza.

So, so long Gay and thanks for the pizza.

Nice story, NOL! Yes, the Toy Show was really exciting as a kid... hope you enjoyed that pizza, btw... there's one for everybody in the audience! ;)

Popped up to the shops this morn, tributes all over the papers and whatever radio show was on talking about him (and playing his aforementioned radio theme!).

[Egyptian Feast]

My first introduction to er, alleged alien abductee Whitley Strieber and his book Communion came courtesy of Strieber's appearance on The Late Late to promote the book... they rather sneakily faded the picture of the alien's face on the cover up on the screen during the interview, resulting in one of the big scary moments of my youth. Sadly, it appears that nobody has ever uploaded this to YouTube or that.

Oh God yes! I stayed up late to watch that and was freaked out as you were by the reveal. My sister drew a picture of the alien with a bow-tie, which lessened the impact somewhat.

I have fond memories of the toy show like almost everyone of my generation. I've seen clips of recent years and it's not the same without Gaybo.

[darby o chill]

Good post Glebe. I see a lot of flak online about the Annie Murphy interview but I think the good outweighs the bad. The Pee Flynn debacle was great and I remember Oliver Reed and Richard Harris being good viewing. In my little music bubble I vividly remember Gaybo introducing the 1985 All Ireland Breakdance Champions and later the excruciating Rap against Rape. Also the youth subculture piece. Of course the condom on banana episode and lesbian nuns.

[EOLAN]

One of the few decent Irish comedy shows; a Radio One - Scrap Saturday had to get a special impersonator in for Gaybo. Dermot Morgan being the main star of the show pre-Fr Ted fame.

The Late Late Show has pretty much become unwatchable since he left. Pat Kenny is fairly decent on serious issues but lighter ones had him very stiff and awkward. Still far superior to Mr Tubridy these days. Loved (in a car-crash hate watch way) Pat Kenny's interview with a very bemused Jerry Seinfeld - whom Kenny kept calling Sein-FIELD throughout the interview; and stopped the flow of any of Jerry's 'bits' throughout the interview.

Anyway; Gaybo is probably my second favorite Late Late Show host after Craig Ferguson.

[darby o chill]

Pat Kenny's interview with a very bemused Jerry Seinfeld - whom Kenny kept calling Sein-FIELD throughout the interview; and stopped the flow of any of Jerry's 'bits' throughout the interview.

Yes! I made a daft video of that years ago with a throwaway youtube account.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8FOkE2nLqo