''Extra! Extra! Read All About It!'' is an Irish television

sitcom A sitcom, a Portmanteau, portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troup ...

that aired on

RTÉ 1 (RTÉ) (; Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, while ...

for one season of eight episodes in 1993. The show was written by Frank Sheerin, and the stand-up comedian, Morgan Jones, was a cast member. The show was notable for its negative reception. Writing in the ''

Connacht Sentinel The ''Connacht Tribune'' (''An Curadh Connachtach'') is a newspaper circulating chiefly in County Galway, Ireland. The main regional newspaper for the county, the Tribune Group prints two titles every week - the ''Connacht Tribune'' on Thursday ...

'', journalist Declan Tierney gave the programme a negative review: "to say that this is a pathetic attempt at comedy is being kind to "Extra! Extra! Read All About It!" and stated "the only indication that it ''is'' a comedy comes from the

canned laughter A laugh track (or laughter track) is a separate soundtrack for a recorded comedy show containing the sound of audience laughter. In some productions, the laughter is a live audience response instead; in the United States, where it is most common ...

, which is over-done and often goes on for so long that it is impossible to hear the start of the next sentence". Writer

Colm Tóibín Colm Tóibín (, approximately ; born 30 May 1955) is an Irish novelist, short story writer, essayist, journalist, critic, playwright and poet. His first novel, '' The South'', was published in 1990. '' The Blackwater Lightship'' was shortlis ...

stated ''Extra! Extra!'' was "probably the worst programme RTÉ has ever shown". Brendan Glacken of ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'' was equally scathing: "Speaking of ''Extra! Extra!'', as I am afraid we still must, even seasoned RTÉ observers seem unable to answer the question why a series so pathetically weak should have been allowed to reach the screen at all". ''Extra! Extra!'' was later included in an ''

Irish Independent The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper and online publication which is owned by Independent News & Media (INM), a subsidiary of Mediahuis. The newspaper version often includes glossy magazines. Traditionally a broadsheet n ...

'' list of the worst Irish TV programmes. The name of the show comes from the phrase "Extra! Extra! Read all about it!" formerly used by street news vendors to sell

newspaper extra A newspaper extra, extra edition, or special edition is a special issue of a newspaper issued outside the normal publishing schedule to report on important or sensational news which arrived too late for the regular edition, such as the outbreak o ...

References

External links

* {{RTÉ Comedies 1993 Irish television series debuts 1993 Irish television series endings Irish television sitcoms RTÉ original programming