L
Libero
Guest
Ahhh Hyacinth Buck - et.
As for Red Dwarf… I agree with you
- Status
As for Red Dwarf… I agree with you
U
Unexpected_Dawn
Guest
Cool, more replies! 
It is an old thread, yeah, but worthy of reviving, I think! I’ve seen all the episodes too, including the Christmas one (where all the priests get lost in Ireland’s largest ladies’ lingerie department!).
I believe the show airs on BBC America on Saturdays at 2:30 in the afternoon. I don’t have that channel, but looked it up on the Web site. You might find it on your PBS station too.
For the Britcom fans… Father Ted is pretty unique (not that most Britcoms aren’t, of course!
). One thing that appealed to me is that all the cast and creators are Irish, if I’m not mistaken. I can’t think of any other very Irish shows I’ve seen.
Hehehe, the portable Mass! And no, there were definitely no leashes involved, although they did in fact rope Father Jack into his wheelchair—and how can you blame them, really?
I’m glad I’m not the only one who loves this show!
It is an old thread, yeah, but worthy of reviving, I think! I’ve seen all the episodes too, including the Christmas one (where all the priests get lost in Ireland’s largest ladies’ lingerie department!). I believe the show airs on BBC America on Saturdays at 2:30 in the afternoon. I don’t have that channel, but looked it up on the Web site. You might find it on your PBS station too.
For the Britcom fans… Father Ted is pretty unique (not that most Britcoms aren’t, of course!
). One thing that appealed to me is that all the cast and creators are Irish, if I’m not mistaken. I can’t think of any other very Irish shows I’ve seen.Hehehe, the portable Mass!
And no, there were definitely no leashes involved, although they did in fact rope Father Jack into his wheelchair—and how can you blame them, really?I’m glad I’m not the only one who loves this show!
L
Libero
Guest
You could always try watching Fair City - “Ireland’s favourite drama series” 
I would recommend otherwise though, I am sure that Ireland have got something better than that…
I would recommend otherwise though, I am sure that Ireland have got something better than that…
J
JustaServant
Guest
Just for the heck of it I did a search to see if anyone has ever heard of this show. Pleasantly surprised there are. I have the complete series on DVD (26 episodes), I love it. Catholics should be able to laugh at ourselves.
Mrs Doyle: Won’t you have some cake, Father? It’s got cocaine in it. Oh no, hang on, it’s not cocaine, is it. What do I mean now? - the little things… Raisins!
I laughed till I cried.
Mrs Doyle: Won’t you have some cake, Father? It’s got cocaine in it. Oh no, hang on, it’s not cocaine, is it. What do I mean now? - the little things… Raisins!
I laughed till I cried.
P
Phemie
Guest
I’ve seen the show a few times and it’s my type of off the wall humour. I’ve seen how priests can be with each other and I think this is a good parody.
For many who’ve posted to this thread over the years, “Bless Me, Father” would probably be a better choice of show.
For many who’ve posted to this thread over the years, “Bless Me, Father” would probably be a better choice of show.
J
JustaServant
Guest
Over the past several years I have been introduced to the wonderful world of British comedy. Since American comedy has gone down the tubes, its a refreshing change. Just got Jeeves and Wooster in the mail the other day.
I’m unfamiliar with “Bless Me, Father”, can I preview it on Youtube?
P
Phemie
Guest
No, I can’t find it on Youtube, but you can read about it here and check IMDB (imdb.com) for more info on the actors. It was a sweet show. Always loved the interaction between Fr. Duddleswell & Mrs. Pring the housekeeper and that between Fr. Duddleswell & the Mother Superior (whose mission in life was to get her congregation’s founder canonized).
P
Phemie
Guest
L
Larowyn
Guest
There are enough non-Catholic productions that make fun of Catholics. We don’t need Catholics making fun of Catholics.
L
LilyM
Guest
Oh I love Father Ted - yes, it is parody and satire, in the same way Monty Python’s is - and like Monty Python they lampoon EVERYONE so I find it difficult to take offence.Hehe, I was hoping I might find a Father Ted post somewhere around here!
I just love the show, I can’t get tired of it! Of the dozen or so Catholics I know who have seen it, it’s about evenly split between love and disgust. And in fact, I read somewhere that when the show first aired, there were exactly 2 complaints–one was that it was too anti-Catholic, and one that it was too pro-Catholic.
I’m not really sure how it could be considered exactly pro-Catholic, but I can say that it gives me a bit of extra appreciation for Catholicism and for real priests!
All in all, I view it at face-value—an absurd comedy with absurd characters. The priests are no more absurd than any of the other characters, or than the incredible situations they find themselves in. I find them just lovable and endearing enough not to be annoying, or offensive stereotypes. Especially Father Dougal!
“Speed 3” is my personal favorite episode.
OK, enough fan gushing!
My two favourites (from memory, sadly it’s not been shown on TV here for a while) are the one where Fr Ted enters a talent quest and the episode making fun of the movie ‘Speed’ (must be the Speed 3 of which you speak)
G
Gottle_of_Geer
Guest
Dear friend
VERY hilarious!I’ve seen every episode.
God Bless you and much love and peace to you
Teresa
I** think it’s wonderful - I envy your having seen all the episodes **
I think it also very useful for morale**:** **laughing at fictional clergy for fictional idiocies is a good way of letting off steam - so the comedy can act as a safety-valve. Laughter is much healthier than anger. **
**Have you a favourite episode ? **
J
JustaServant
Guest
Speed and Hell are my two favorites, and the episode where Father Jack dies (temporarily). Of course there is the one in which the three Bishops visit. And by the end, one was dead, one was maimed, and one left Holy Orders to be a hippie.
I think people misunderstand this show. Its about an island off the coast of Ireland that serves as a kind of penal colony for wayward priests. Everyone from the outside world was perfectly normal, it was Craggy Island that was the Twilight Zone. Not meant to be anti-Catholic, just weird.
“Nuns! Nuns! Reverse! Reverse!”
A
aimee
Guest
I think I’ll take a look…Fr Ted sounds funny…
L
Lion_of_Narnia
Guest
Borrowed it from the library
I’m NOT thin skinned
It sacreligious at best, bordering on blasphemy
It was created by “recovering catholics”–so you can guess from the get-go it’s a nasty attack under the all-covering excuse of “mocking humor”
Try Bless Me Father instead
I’m NOT thin skinned
It sacreligious at best, bordering on blasphemy
It was created by “recovering catholics”–so you can guess from the get-go it’s a nasty attack under the all-covering excuse of “mocking humor”
Try Bless Me Father instead
H
hawkeye
Guest
It’s sleight of hand mockery by an excuse for an Irish comedian, who has gone to meet his maker.
Yes there are funny clips in it, but the underlying reason for making such a show seems to me is, to make fun of the Catholic Church.
Dermot Morgan…R.I.P
Yes there are funny clips in it, but the underlying reason for making such a show seems to me is, to make fun of the Catholic Church.
Dermot Morgan…R.I.P
E
Et_Cetera
Guest
I love when this show is on BBC America. It’s not supposed to be offensive; you have to lighten up when you watch it.
G
Gottle_of_Geer
Guest
Speed and Hell are my two favorites, and the episode where Father Jack dies (temporarily). Of course there is the one in which the three Bishops visit. And by the end, one was dead, one was maimed, and one left Holy Orders to be a hippie.
I think people misunderstand this show. Its about an island off the coast of Ireland that serves as a kind of penal colony for wayward priests. Everyone from the outside world was perfectly normal, it was Craggy Island that was the Twilight Zone. Not meant to be anti-Catholic, just weird.
“Nuns! Nuns! Reverse! Reverse!”
**The episode in which Father Jack dies includes my favourite scene: the one in which Father Ted is clouted by the female lawyer **
**The shots of events in the Vatican are hilarious, because no one is ever shown doing any work whatever. **
L
LilyM
Guest
See that last one is a Vatican in-joke. Someone once asked His Holiness Blessed John XXIII how many people worked at the Vatican and he said ‘oh, about half …’**The episode in which Father Jack dies includes my favourite scene: the one in which Father Ted is clouted by the female lawyer
**The shots of events in the Vatican are hilarious, because no one is ever shown doing any work whatever. **
Funny how coming from the Pontiff himself it’s a wonderfully refreshing bit of satirical humour, whereas many would see precisely the same type of joke in Father Ted as blasphemous or sacrilegous.
H
hawkeye
Guest
Fr Ted is supposedly based on Fr Brian D’Arcy, Dermot Morgan used to call him Fr Trendy, in that he was a progressive, a liberal, women Priests thinker, smile at the camera sort of person etc;
One Priest allegedly called him (Fr Brian) a disgrace …he has been critized for putting a column in a Sunday newspaper with scantly clad women etc; (Fatima ? ) and is still doing 30 something plus years later, Fr Brian D’Arcy…Sunday World.
He has been criticized for his views on women Priests, he writes books, I never read one of them and don’t intent too, why ?
Because he live 3 miles N,W of me and I’ve heard it first-hand, I don’t need to support someones views by purchasing a book.
As for Fr Ted I’m no prude, I’ve watched a few episodes, but I can’t help thinking there was an underlying reason for making such a sitcom.
Morgan claimed to be a lapsed Catholic, probably bordering on atheism.
I did enjoy a few episodes, but then they were predictable, so I’m not surprised Dermot was going to make his last of them, I suppose he run out of material.
In the end jokes and all, it was the Catholic Church that buried him, after Requiem Mass in Dublin.
etc;One Priest allegedly called him (Fr Brian) a disgrace …he has been critized for putting a column in a Sunday newspaper with scantly clad women etc; (Fatima ? ) and is still doing 30 something plus years later, Fr Brian D’Arcy…Sunday World.
He has been criticized for his views on women Priests, he writes books, I never read one of them and don’t intent too, why ?
Because he live 3 miles N,W of me and I’ve heard it first-hand, I don’t need to support someones views by purchasing a book.
As for Fr Ted I’m no prude, I’ve watched a few episodes, but I can’t help thinking there was an underlying reason for making such a sitcom.
Source
Morgan claimed to be a lapsed Catholic, probably bordering on atheism.
I did enjoy a few episodes, but then they were predictable, so I’m not surprised Dermot was going to make his last of them, I suppose he run out of material.
In the end jokes and all, it was the Catholic Church that buried him, after Requiem Mass in Dublin.
N
NPC
Guest
On a point of information - “Father Ted” was only produced by Channel 4 - a British channel. The writers, Graham Linehan and Arthur Matthews, are both Irish writers who were writing initially for an Irish audience. Channel 4, I believe, agreed to produce the show after Ireland’s national broadcaster, RTE refused because they did not see its potential! Although the last episode was made in 1998 shortly before Dermot Morgan died, both Channel 4 and RTE have not stopped showing repeats - a decade later!
As others have said, I think we have to take it with a pinch of salt. I think there are very few people in Ireland who are not fans of Father Ted. Ireland is often regarded (however wrongly in my opinion) as the most Catholic country in the world and there were very few (if any) Irish viewers who took the show so seriously as to class it as anti-Catholic or an attack on our priests. As JustaServant put it, Craggy Island is a sort of ‘Twilight Zone’ where nothing is as it seems - it is not part of the real world…
As a slight aside, hawkeye, I think you may be right about the link between Fr d’Arcy and Fr Ted… I have seen several interviews with Fr Brian d’Arcy, who is a Passionist Priest, and I have been most unimpressed- apart from his liberal views, it always seems that he is unhappy as a priest & he seems bitter about the strict lifestyle the Passionists had when he joined them. He’s certainly not a voice we need to hear in Ireland, especially in the current climate with few vocations in Ireland - we need the voice of orthodoxy!! Sorry for taking this a few miles off topic…
As others have said, I think we have to take it with a pinch of salt. I think there are very few people in Ireland who are not fans of Father Ted. Ireland is often regarded (however wrongly in my opinion) as the most Catholic country in the world and there were very few (if any) Irish viewers who took the show so seriously as to class it as anti-Catholic or an attack on our priests. As JustaServant put it, Craggy Island is a sort of ‘Twilight Zone’ where nothing is as it seems - it is not part of the real world…
As a slight aside, hawkeye, I think you may be right about the link between Fr d’Arcy and Fr Ted… I have seen several interviews with Fr Brian d’Arcy, who is a Passionist Priest, and I have been most unimpressed- apart from his liberal views, it always seems that he is unhappy as a priest & he seems bitter about the strict lifestyle the Passionists had when he joined them. He’s certainly not a voice we need to hear in Ireland, especially in the current climate with few vocations in Ireland - we need the voice of orthodoxy!! Sorry for taking this a few miles off topic…
- Status