Father Ted

I can only say that the TV will never be the same without Father Ted. I know it ended so long ago, but I have only just encountered this site. It had humour that only Dermot Morgan (Father Ted), RIP, could only have imagined. I remember seeing his work on the Late Late Show in Ireland as a kid growing up there. But not realising then what I know now is that he was a thoroughbred genius. Sadly to say we will never see the likes of him again. The comedy is class and it is only a shame that somebody someday will make a "remake" of it and it will be not a scratch on the original. Oh well. But there is still a lot more to come from the Emerald Isle, check out D'Unbelievables, they were in Father Ted, one of them wore the "I SHOT JR" T-Shirt and the other was the cinema owner and in another episode the Eurovision song contest compere.

'Father Ted' came out during a period when I seldom watched TV, so it was purely by accident that I happened to catch an episode whilst at my parent's place. At first I thought it was going to be a fairly typical middle-of-the-road British sitcom, but it soon became evident that this veneer of normalcy was a Trojan horse, allowing in the show's pointed satire of The Catholic Church, and its wonderful, off-the-wall surrealism, mostly supplied by the young Father Dougal, some of whose utterances had me almost literally in tears.

Take this dialog, when the islanders are convinced that some kind of monster is prowling 'the moors', taking sheep.

"They say it's as big as four cats, and it's got a retractable leg so as it can leap up at you better and you know what Ted, it lights up at night, and it's got four ears. Two of them are for listening and the other two are kind of back-up ears, and it's claws are as big as cups and for some reason it's got a tremendous fear of stamps and Mrs. Doyle was tellin' me that it's got magnets on it's tail so as if you're made out of metal it can attach itself to you, and instead of a mouth it's got four arses. "

Needless to say, after that, as a fan of the British surrealist tradition, I was hooked, and soon learned to love the other characters and the show as a whole.

Perhaps what makes it so great is that it managed to combine satire and surrealism with other more conventional comic styles which appealed to my parent's generation (my mother is 71 and loved the show).

If there was a finer sitcom to come out of the UK in the 90's, I don't know what it is. But then, I probably wouldn't.

Never has there been a comedy series like this and never will there be one like this again. I've never been an avid fan of Father Ted (don't know why) but as a person who doesn't watch that much television anymore this certainly gives me an excuse to turn the tv on and be entertained. Has done for years. Extremely unique and funny i would gladly sit down and watch a Father Ted marathon and watch every episode back to back. What is rare for a tv programme/movie is that i actually havn't met a single person who dislikes Father Ted! My favourite episode is the one where the whistle gets stolen. Fantastic. Shame there will be no more series but thank ourselves lucky they made three fantastic series. An all time great.

I have to say that I was surprised at my amazement of enjoying this Irish comedy. Sadly, the actor played Father Ted died in 1998. But he left us with lots of laughter and unforgettable scenes. It used to be shown on WLIW and they began putting warnings before the show. Then, it may have gotten a little too offensive for a New York Catholic audience. But despite everything, it is a classic comedic series. You'll laugh more than be offended. Maybe a few people in the television audience might answer their true callings of priesthood and sisterhood. We need more religious people. Maybe in a way, Father Ted shows a fun side of priest life without the stuffiness associated with it. Priests can and do have fun. They're even hysterical to watch over and over again. You can't forget the wonderful Mrs. Doyle as the bit crazed housekeeper to the priests. Don't miss the Lent episode and Father Stone episode. They are just too funny to miss up this show's offer.

This is one of the best things to come out of Ireland since U2. Dermot Morgan plays Fr. Ted Crilly, a priest on Craggy Island which is supposedly off the west coast of Ireland somewhere. However, Ardal O'Hanlon who plays Fr. Dougal Mc Guire and Frank Kelly who plays Fr. Jack Hackett, steal all the shows as far as I'm concerned.

Graham Norton appears frequently throughout the series as Fr. Noel Furlong. He is very funny and my favourite episode of the series is Hell. This is where we meet Fr. Furlong for the first time. Ted goes on holidays to a caravan and he is already there with some youngsters from a youth club.

Some great one liners that will remain in the Irish psyche for a long time to come. "Drink, girls, arse, feck", the immortal words of Fr. Jack for example. You are missing out if you haven't seen this series. Rent it out today or buy it. It is definitely worth buying the series on tape. Feckin brilliant.