Mrs Brown's Boys

[Whataday]

You have to ask what they would put in the 10pm or 10:30pm Christmas Day slot instead. It's an awkward slot that has in the past been taken up by a bit of everything, including repeats.

A Graham Norton Christmas Special perhaps?

[JK1985]

There was an Irish TV critic who commented that what does Brendan O'Carroll have on BBC management, that commands them to give him the Christmas night slot along with constant repeats? A little suggestion from this critic that Brendan has the BBC controllers by the you know what.

Just look at the constant repeats on BBC One - surely the BBC have enough other classic sitcoms to repeat than to wheel out Mrs Brown's Boys every Friday or Saturday night when they have a gap to fill?

This Halloween special just felt like any other recorded edition - they barely mentioned they were live. The 2016 live edition was a hundred times better, more energy, better pacing, and acknowledging they were doing this live, like their theatre show. This special, was not special, it was your normal, lacklustre edition, felt like a Christmas Day special really.

The big problem for me is either the BBC or Brendan do not know when to quit. Look back at a lot of BBC sitcoms, and you can see the writers and the BBC knew when to stop. Dad's Army stopped after 80 episodes and nine years on air, just at the right time. BBC and Brendan seem to have lost the feel and the pulse of the audience, as the appetite for these specials has drained away a lot.

As mentioned by Brendan in the show last night, their 2016 live special gained an overall consolidated audience of 11 million - five years later I do not sense they will ever reach the double digit million figures again. Just look at their Christmas Day 2020 and New Year's Day 2021 specials, where they never got above 6 million total audience for both shows.

Brendan O'Carroll said in an interview on the Irish talk show "The Late Late Show" with Ryan Tubridy around 7/8 years ago that he wants to "milk this cow dry" in terms of how long he would continue. Well the cow is well and truly milked dry, with not a drop of fresh milk left in it now in 2021. Time to move on with something fresh and new. I doubt the BBC will agree though.

[Brekkie]

Presumably All Round to Mrs Brown’s hasn’t been recommissioned, unless there wasn’t really a chance to film a series this year. If it has been axed perhaps that might mean more regular episodes which presumably are more lucrative.

I think that has been announced as axed earlier this year, although do wonder actually whether that could work better on Christmas Day than a regular episode.

I think the trouble with it dominating Christmas Day for the last decade is some shows which have come and gone could have warranted the slot but not been given the chance, though mainly BBC2/3 shows rather than BBC1 sitcoms. Of the current shows Not Going Out has had several Christmas Eve editions, but never a Christmas Day slot.


There are other formats which could potentially work in the slot without being a sitcom or chat based. Not a fan personally but a Drag Race UK Christmas Day special springs to mind - that would upset all the anti-woke fans who never watch the BBC anyway that they dare to put a show in which men dress up in drag on Christmas Day instead of Mrs Brown.

[Whataday]

Would you really say Mrs Brown's Boys "dominates" Christmas Day? This may very well just be an indication of my Christmas but by 10, half 10 we're all steaming/full of food and tired so we'd have anything on in the background.

[Brekkie]

Would you really say Mrs Brown's Boys "dominates" Christmas Day? This may very well just be an indication of my Christmas but by 10, half 10 we're all steaming/full of food and tired so we'd have anything on in the background.

Surely the aim for BBC1 on Christmas Day though should be for a little bit more than "everyone's steaming/full of food and tired" so stick anything on.

To be honest if they ever do scrap them I suspect they'll still quite frequently turn up late on Christmas Day anyway in a similar manner to how Vicar of Dibley regularly gets a late night Christmas Day outing.

[Ash101]

Yes, it doesn’t really dominate but I guess there seems to be some restriction in place that leaves it in the 10pm slot, somewhat limiting what comes before it. But as has been said, what else is there really? I’d say that MBB has a bigger mainstream appeal than Ghosts or Goes Wrong Show, which are 2 of the comedies that had Christmas specials last year.

According to Metro, All Round was only said to be off air for 2021, presumably due to the restrictions as Brendan lives State side for most of the year? But the latest series of that was the weakest as I seem to remember they’d axed a fair few features that made it different and just extended out the interviews bit… it would be nice to see it return, as a bit like Michael McIntyres Big Show, it was something a bit different on BBC One’s Saturday night line up.

[Whataday]

Would you really say Mrs Brown's Boys "dominates" Christmas Day? This may very well just be an indication of my Christmas but by 10, half 10 we're all steaming/full of food and tired so we'd have anything on in the background.

Surely the aim for BBC1 on Christmas Day though should be for a little bit more than "everyone's steaming/full of food and tired" so stick anything on.

Of course, but my point was over whether a 10:30 slot could be considered as dominating the Christmas Day schedule.

[Brekkie]

Probably nearly time to put the Christmas thread up but I think it's the collective combination of the usual staples which make the annual presence of all of them more of an issue, plus the fact that in recent years the comedy specials have been thin on the ground leaving MBB as the only new sitcom episode airing on the night rather than accompanying somethig else.

[Andrew]

I can’t really see the point of a live edition of MBB

Normally when a show goes live there is the added drama of watching to see if anyone messes up, or if there is a miscue, or a camera in shot etc. With MBB they deliberately mess up and leave in the outtakes even in the normal episodes, so what’s the point.

[London Lite]

I can’t really see the point of a live edition of MBB

Normally when a show goes live there is the added drama of watching to see if anyone messes up, or if there is a miscue, or a camera in shot etc. With MBB they deliberately mess up and leave in the outtakes even in the normal episodes, so what’s the point.

There was one supposed mishap in a scene with Mrs Brown and Winnie last night that seemed to me to be scripted.

[Brekkie]

The preview of it in the TV guide went into quite a bit of detail about the plot and what would be happening which kind of left you with the impression they might as well have just recorded it.

[all new Phil]

Well I mean the show is the very definition of low brow and I suspect has run so long as it serves a demographic who might otherwise feel the BBC isn’t for them.

I used to quite like it. In fact I went to see the live show once. But yeah, it’s run out of steam. I didn’t really find much of the live show particularly funny, the writing has become a lot lazier and there was less than usual of the going wrong stuff the show is famous for - which is ironic given it was live and that’s what people presumably anticipate.

But - as lame as I feel it’s become, I can’t help feel warmth towards it. They do what they do to entertain and there’s no bigger agenda to it than that.

[Markymark]

I can’t really see the point of a live edition of MBB

Normally when a show goes live there is the added drama of watching to see if anyone messes up, or if there is a miscue, or a camera in shot etc. With MBB they deliberately mess up and leave in the outtakes even in the normal episodes, so what’s the point.

There was one supposed mishap in a scene with Mrs Brown and Winnie last night that seemed to me to be scripted.

Spontaneity requires careful planning!

[JK1985]

Mrs Brown's Boys so called bloopers or mistakes are now nearly all planned. Brendan does this with the theatre show too. I went to Mrs Brown's Boys Live ten years ago, and my cousins went to see the theatre version a week after me. Well, it surprised me that the mistakes, fluffs that I saw were nearly exactly the same my cousin saw a week later. It is entirely scripted, which is very sad, that they have to do this.

[Aaron.TV]

What does Brendan O'Carroll have on BBC management, that commands them to give him the Christmas night slot along with constant repeats? A little suggestion from this critic that Brendan has the BBC controllers by the you know what.

A really silly comment.

I’m not the biggest fan of the show anymore particularly, but it was the most watched show on Christmas Day for several years running, and was extremely popular. That would surely be the reasonable answer as to why it retains a prime slot, as opposed to any conspiracy theories.