The ghosts of sitcoms past may have been lurking around Vicar Street on Monday night, but they remained somewhat subdued as RT╔ launched its newest contribution to the genre. Indeed, there was a quiet air of confidence about the new sitcom - The Cassidys - which will be shown on Monday. Producer Darragh Byrne of Graph Films agreed it must have been an act of insanity for an independent production company to embark on a sitcom for the first time, but he was very pleased with the end result. He paid special tribute to the cast, all of whom were present, including an almost unrecognisable Ed Byrne, who cropped his long locks for the part.
The sitcom was launched along with a new comedy schedule for Network 2 for Monday nights.
Billy McGrath, RT╔'s commissioning editor of entertainment, said the night was a celebration of the addition of more home-produced comedy to the schedule, which also includes imports Friends (returning December 3rd) and Trigger Happy TV. Next Monday also sees the premiΦre of the eight-part comedy drama series, Bachelor's Walk, which deals with the fortunes of what are described as three male "over-educated, under-motivated young fogeys". Other home-produced elements of the comedy schedule include Blizzard of Odd and A Scare at Bedtime, the latter returning to our screens on Monday, October 15th. The first episode of The Cassidys will be broadcast on Network 2 at 9 p.m. on Monday, followed by Bachelor's Walk at 9.30 p.m.
Independently produced magazine programme The Soccer Show has been bought by the digital TV channel, Sky Sports 1. The show, which is produced by Shay Healy's Safina Productions, is in its fifth year on RT╔, but this is the first time it has been picked up by Sky Sports. The new season kicks off on RT╔ on Friday night with its usual mix of international, national and local soccer news as well as human-interest stories. The first show takes a look back at 100 years of football at Dalymount Park and includes footage from the 1930s which has never been broadcast. The programme also tells the story of a Derry FC supporter who never misses a match - despite being blind. He improvises by bringing his own personal commentators with him. A review of the week's soccer action and a preview of the Republic of Ireland's World Cup qualifier against Cyprus complete the line-up for the first programme.
In Britain, ITN this week fought off a challenge from rival consortium Channel 3 News for the ITV news contract, and in doing so, secured the future of its news service. It was the first time ITN had to bid against a rival for the contract in its 46-year history. "We believe that ITV's decision to select ITN as the preferred bidder reflects the quality of our news provision and the value for money of the ITN tender," said the ITN chief executive, Stewart Purvis. Richard Huntingford, chairman of Channel 3 News, said the company was "naturally disappointed" by the decision. "We believed - and still do - that our proposals would give ITV a high quality service at excellent value for money, to the benefit of viewers, advertisers and shareholders," he said.
It is understood that ITN agreed to cut its annual cost of news from £46m sterling to £36m sterling in a bid to secure the contract. Channel 3 News - a consortium of BSkyB, Chrysalis, Bloomberg, CBS and UTV - is believed to have offered to produce the news for ITV for a total cost of £32m sterling.
ITN provides bulletins for commercial broadcasters including Channel 4 and Channel 5, 250 commercial radio stations and several 24-hour news services.
Television's equivalent of the Oscars, the Emmy Awards, will now take place on October 7th in Los Angeles. The ceremony was due to take place on September 16th but was postponed in the wake of the terrorist attacks on the US. The event will be more low-key than in previous years with limited music and comedy inserts - and no political jokes. The dress code has been changed from "black tie" to "dressy business attire" and the annual Governors Ball has been renamed Unity Dinner. Security for the event has been strengthened considerably: fans will not be allowed to stand next to the red carpet, and the airspace above the Shrine Auditorium will be controlled. Veteran CBS news anchor Walter Cronkite will open the show, which is to be hosted by Ellen DeGeneres.
A special episode of US TV drama, The West Wing, is being rushed through production to address the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. The season's premiΦre of the show - which is based on a fictitious White House administration - was postponed to allow series creator Aaron Sorkin to write a new story reflecting recent events. NBC said the episode would deal less with the direct facts of what happened than with the broad issues raised by the terrorist attack. "There are not many people in television who could pull this off," said the president of NBC Entertainment, Jeff Zucker. "But Aaron Sorkin is a writer of genius, and he has written an incredibly provocative script." The new story, entitled Isaac and Ishmael, will be shown in the US on October 3rd.
The NBC network claims it's the fastest production of an episode of quality TV drama in television history.
mkearney@irish-times.com