TV Review: RTE International Soccer - Brazil v Italy

Can anyone explain to me why oh why Irish broadcaster RTÉ wasted money on showing the international soccer friendly Italy vs Brazil from the Emirates Stadium in London last night? I get the idea that Italy are one of Ireland's opponents in the qualifiers for World Cup 2008, but friendlies usually are quite meaningless - just ask Martin O'Neill. This friendly however was a complete money spinner.

Did anyone in Ireland actually watch the game? I wonder what the viewership for this was. Probably not a patch on Fair City, and rightly so. Who doesn't love da' City? I only know of one person who watched this game, and all they could say was how the Irish analysts claimed that "on this evidence Italy wouldn't be too much of a challenge for Ireland". Well I hate to admit it, but Keith Andrews and Kevin Doyle are no Ronaldinho and Robinho.

RTÉ would have been much better off if they had have shown Ireland U-21s against Germany. The future of the Irish soccer team. Instead, we all flicked over to watch Boys and Girls Alone on Channel 4. Now there's an interesting show.

New TV: Raw and Langerland.TV

A little aside from usual programming! Hopefully it might inspire some small discussion in the comments section (probably just B and myself!)

Did anyone catch the two new RTÉ Two shows last night? Raw starring The Rock, Stone Cold, oh no wait, it's not the wrestling program, it's a rip-off of Channel 5's The Kitchen. Raw is "raw" new drama from RTÉ - gettit? Based around the steamy lives of restaurant workers. See steamy? I am puntastic today! It stars me lad from Bachelor's Walk and me one from Pure Mule. It' a show so good, it doesn't even have an iMDB page yet. Unfortunately I didn't get the chance to watch it; I was cooking up something else (oh yeah!), but what did my four avid readers think?

If you missed it (like me), you can still catch the episode here:
http://www.rte.ie/tv/raw

On the other hand, I did catch sight of the awful Langerland.TV I will admit I was mildly amused at previous net phenomenon (at least in Ireland), 'What Have The Brits Ever Done For Us?' But last night's IRA-themed nonsense seemed like just cheap joke after cheap joke, and it didn't bring out a smile, never mind a chortle or guffaw. RTÉ and new programming rarely go together. The best ever TV show we had here was a Channel 4 production. That should tell you something. Luckily, sometimes they get it right. Now is not one of those times.

I was a fan of Pure Mule and Bachelor's Walk, which will probably mean I'll click that link above and check out episode one of Raw over the weekend; but somehow I doubt I'll ever watch the clichéd Langerland ever again.

This was three years ago, when Langerland was actually half-decent: