''Craig Doyle '' was an Irish weekly topical comedy-style chat show which aired from November 2011 as ''The Social'' until 2012, then continued until 2013, and was shown on

RTÉ Two (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Republic of Ireland, Irish Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, television, RT� ...

. Portrayed as live programme, some episodes were recorded in advance and broadcast at a later date.

Format as ''The Social''

The show was presented by

Craig Doyle Craig Doyle (born 17 December 1970) is an Irish television and radio presenter. To British viewers he is recognisable as working for the BBC and ITV and more recently TNT Sports; Irish viewers also know him as the host of RTÉ One chat show ...

with guests discussing latest topical news interspersed with news on the latest events on social media such as

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and

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. It was Doyle's second attempt at a chat show with RTÉ, following 2010's ill-fated Saturday night effort '' Tonight with Craig Doyle''. "No topic is out of bounds" was the billing before the first episode was broadcast. Doyle and three showbiz guests discussed topics such as soccer-victory-night sex and phone apps that alert men to women's menstrual cycles allowing the male, where applicable, to "steer clear" of the woman or find out "whether she's feeling randy". The new series failed to attract an audience for RTÉ Two, with both critics and audiences unimpressed. "''

The Afternoon Show ''The Afternoon Show'' is Raidió Teilifís Éireann's former live flagship daytime show. It ran from 2004 until May 2010. The programme was dropped by RTÉ as part of its new season of television in 2010, to be replaced by two afternoon progr ...

'' seemed dangerously cutting-edge by comparison", said ''The Irish Times''.

Format as ''Craig Doyle''

''Craig Doyle Live'' took a different approach to the initial format called ''The Social''. The setting moved from his "home" to a more modern looking set. The show aired twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Rather than 3 panellists there were 2. A short introduction from Craig Doyle followed by banter with the 2 panel guest. After which a guest was brought on to be interviewed by Craig and his panel. This format was similar to that of ''The Panel'' which Craig Doyle also hosted. "Minus The Social's forlorn set, this is the same mixture as before -- unfunny smart-aleck quips from the host and a couple of D-list panellists, and then fawning interviews with celebs whose inordinate lust for the limelight should preclude them from ever having the opportunity to bask in it. " - The Irish Independent

Transmission history

The first episode aired on Tuesday 15 November 2011 as ''The Social''. RTÉ promised it was to return in 2012. The show was relaunched as ''Craig Doyle Live'' on 28 February 2012. It bounced about the schedule during

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, being broadcast after key matches and featuring guests such as

Salvatore Schillaci Salvatore Schillaci (; 1 December 1964 – 18 September 2024), commonly known as Totò Schillaci, was an Italian professional association football, footballer who played as a striker (association football), striker. During his club career, he p ...

. In November 2012 it was announced the programme would not be returning. Speaking in June 2013 Doyle confirmed that "I won't be appearing on RTE 2 again" after signing a four-year deal with

BT Sport TNT Sports (formerly BT Sport) is a group of pay television sports channels in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Now owned by Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe, Warner Bros. Discovery and BT Group, they first launched as B ...

Criticism

Labour TD Aodhán Ó Ríordáin has criticised the show as being "painful" and "crass laddish nonsense".

References

{{reflist, 40em

External links

''The Social''
at

RTÉ Television RTÉ Television is a department of Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), Ireland's public service broadcaster. Its first channel was Telefís Éireann, which began broadcasting on 31 December 1961. Since the 1960s, RTÉ Television has added chan ...

2011 Irish television series debuts Irish television talk shows RTÉ original programming