Last Friday night most of Ireland settled in with their favourite treats to indulge in one of our most cherished Christmas traditions; watching “The Late Late Toy Show”.
For those of you not in the know, “The Late Late Show” is the longest-running television show on Irish television. It is a talk show that has run on RTE every Friday night since 1962. (This also makes it the second longest-running talk show in the world). It is still considered essential viewing today.
“The Late Late Toy Show “is a special episode that airs on the last Friday of November. It was the brainchild of an influential researcher in RTE named Pan Collins who proposed a segment highlighting the popular toys of that year. Although it was initially rejected, Pan persisted and the segment aired in 1975. It has been a tradition every year since (including the years we were in Lockdown).
So “The Late Late Toy Show”, or ‘The Toy Show’ as it is known locally has transformed from a half-hour segment to a two-hour variety show that invites children from around Ireland to take part as toy testers or to perform music or dances. And the key element here is that it is a live show. So if you think gathering 100 plus excitable children to perform live on national television is guaranteed chaos, well you’re mistaken. It is also live-streamed internationally.
Viewers can donate to a fund set up by ‘the Toy Show’ which is then distributed to hundreds of Irish charities that work with children. The toys are also donated by Irish businesses and are donated to children’s charities after the show ends. Some of the children will talk about the challenges they face and you will cry. You might think you won’t, but you will.
Over the last decade or so, the show has become known for its celebrity guests. Often the children are surprised when their favourite singer or athlete turns up on the show to present them with meaningful gifts. My favourite clip is Dermot Kennedy surprising a teenaged singer named Michael during his performance.
So, now we are all caught up, let’s talk about this year’s show. This year’s theme was “The Wizard of Oz” so the studio was dressed like the wonderful world of Oz. The Irish-made toys were displayed in the Emerald City part of the stage which was a nice touch. There were several musical performances from “The Wizard of Oz”. The children tested all types of toys from soft toys to scooters. (You should know ‘the Toy Show’ is famous for the toys not working on the live show). Prizes are given to the audience with the iconic line “And there’s one for everyone in the audience”. The prizes alone make tickets to ‘the Toy Show’ some of most coveted tickets in town.
I have been looking forward to posting about ‘the Toy Show’ for the longest time. For a lot of people ‘the Toy Show’ is the start of Christmas and its a tradition not to be missed. Other people would rather not know about it. In any case, it is likely to dominate conversations for the following week. So, if you are interested in having a look, check out the RTE Player where the show is freely available. Or just have a look at some of the shorter clips on YouTube to see what the fuss is all about it. And let me know if you watched it. And if you did, did you enjoy it? Was it baffling?
“The Late Late Toy Show Through the Years”, Tamireland.ie
“First Airing of The Late Late Show and Its Hosts”, IrelandXO.com
She Kept Christmas 