Present Tense:During the week, it was reported that RTÉ has taken a look at Cecelia Ahern's US TV comedy drama and decided to pass on it, writes Shane Hegarty. Samantha Who?, it decided, is not "outstanding".
At this point, one could take RTÉ by the elbow and ask it discreetly: has it seen itself lately? There is plenty on RTÉ that is not outstanding. Celebrities Go Wild, People in Need, The Late Late Show: not outstanding. The English Class: whatever the opposite of outstanding is.
The reason this particular decision was reported was not because RTÉ had turned down one of the bigger hits of the US autumn schedule, but because it was created by Ahern - who gets a writing credit for the opening episode and also as series executive producer. And the underlying suggestion is that, because she's Irish, because she's famous, and because she's Cecelia Ahern, then RTÉ should give extra consideration to shelling out for it.
Can 14 million US viewers be wrong, asked the report. Let's resist the obvious answer to that and instead look to RTÉ's homegrown programming, which has improved enough in recent years that the broadcaster can afford to be pickier about its imports. Looking at its schedules, there's not an awful lot that's bought in from the US and plonked at peak time.
While Grey's Anatomy, The Sopranos and the multitude of CSIs have been recent examples, by and large imports are confined to the second channel. Besides, although Samantha Who? has done well in its early weeks on US television, and six extra episodes have been commissioned by ABC, it has benefited from following straight after the massively successful Dancing with the Stars.
While reviews have been largely positive, its appeal will be tested when it is soon moved to a new time slot. Ithe unforgiving battlefield that is US television, it may yet become another corpse to be thrown on the pile.
Regardless of its initial success, RTÉ's people watched it, noted Ahern's involvement, shrugged their shoulders and moved on. The broadcaster may have learned from a previous experience with green-tinged US television. Gabriel Byrne's short-lived sitcom, Madigan Men, was picked up by RTÉ just as ABC axed it mid-series. Since then, it has picked up the also short-lived drama The Black Donnellys, but put it on deep in RTÉ 2's late-night schedules. Meanwhile, HBO's well-received Irish-American crime series Brotherhood (nicknamed "The O'Pranos") can be found on Channel 6.
It's interesting how curious we still are about how others view us, but also the validation we get - and give - when others do well elsewhere.
Becoming a minor celebrity in the States or Britain is the sure-fire route to becoming a big celebrity here. Actors whose careers have seen them rise no higher than journeyman still find themselves hailed as "Hollywood stars". Accidentally wander through the background scene of a Bond movie and you'll find yourself described as a Bond girl for the rest of your life.
So, the expectation might have been that RTÉ would buy Samantha Who? because of who wrote it rather than how good the writing was. But Cecelia Ahern is now one of the increasing number of Irish people who have succeeded in the global arts and entertainment business and whose nationality is not a consideration in that success. RTÉ's rejection, then, can be seen as one of two things (or maybe a mix of both). Either it's a bad decision, or a display of confidence in its own judgment. The issue ties in with a recent debate over another - less bestselling, but more lauded - writer. When Anne Enright won the Man Booker Prize, the less than effusive praise The Gathering received from an appraisal in this newspaper prompted letters to the Editor and comments on my blog. Several suggested that such criticism was a manifestation of typical Irish begrudgery, and was hardly appropriate on a day when one of our own had taken the most prestigious prize in English-language literature; a day, it was argued, when we should celebrate, not denigrate.
But it's worth asking if we've gone beyond the stage at which we feel we must automatically be grateful when any one of us survives and thrives in the big bad world. That we should hoist shoulder high anyone who wins one for Ireland. That might be a commendable reaction, but could also betray a continuing need for a clap on the back from the big boys, an attitude that increasingly looks a little like a psychological hang-up we've carried with us from our adolescence.
So, it shouldn't be seen as begrudgery or shortsightedness for RTÉ to turn down the chance of offering a victory lap for one of our more recent success stories. In the long run, it may possibly turn out to be a bad commercial decision, but it doesn't mean it didn't have the right to ask Cecelia Who?