''Saturday Live'' is a televised
talk show
A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Sh ...
hosted by various guest presenters and broadcast live on Saturday nights. The show was broadcast during the autumn-spring season (October - April) and was created to fill the vacant Saturday night slot after the departure of ''
The Late Late Show'' from Saturday to Friday nights. It was first broadcast on
RTÉ One
RTÉ One ( ga, RTÉ a hAon) is an Irish free-to-air flagship television channel owned and operated by Raidió TeilifÃs Éireann (RTÉ). It is the most-popular and most-watched television channel in the country and was launched as ''TelefÃs ...
on Saturday 25 October 1986. ''Saturday Live'' featured guest interviews and live music from guest music groups and featured a mix of serious discussion and light chat aimed at a younger audience than its main rival, ''
The Late Late Show''. The original programme ended on 11 April 1988.
''Saturday Live'' had a series of guest presenters, including the leader of
Fine Gael
Fine Gael (, ; English: "Family (or Tribe) of the Irish") is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil à ...
Alan Dukes,
Rhonda Paisley
Rhonda Paisley (born 1960) is an author and former politician from Northern Ireland. She is the second daughter of the late Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader and Northern Ireland's former First Minister Ian Paisley and lives with her mother ...
(daughter of the Rev.
Ian Paisley), soccer pundit
Eamon Dunphy
Eamon Martin Dunphy (born 3 August 1945) is an Irish media personality, journalist, broadcaster, author, sports pundit and former professional footballer. He grew up playing football for several youth teams including Stella Maris. Since retirin ...
, industrialist
Tiede Herrema
In October 1975, Dutch businessman Tiede Herrema (21 April 1921 – 24 April 2020) was kidnapped by the Provisional IRA in Castletroy, near Limerick. This triggered a large police investigation and a two week siege, after which Herrema was relea ...
and current affairs broadcaster
Pat Kenny
Patrick Kenny (born 29 January 1948) is an Irish broadcaster, who currently hosts the daily radio show ''The Pat Kenny Show'' on Newstalk and the current affairs show ''Pat Kenny Tonight'' on Virgin Media One.
Prior to this, Kenny had a 41-yea ...
, whose own first attempt at a chat show, ''
The Pat Kenny Show'' had failed. Kenny proved such a success in the ''Saturday Live'' show that he was subsequently given his own chat show under the name ''
Kenny Live
''Kenny Live'' is a televised talk show presented by Pat Kenny on Raidió TeilifÃs Éireann (RTÉ).''Kenny Live''
IMDB. ...
''.
Following Kenny's take over of ''The Late Late Show'' in 1999 and the ending of ''Kenny Live'' the ''Saturday Live'' formula was revived to fill the vacant Saturday night slot yet again. The second coming of the show proved unpopular and was ended after only one series.
Online on
RTE Player in 2022 for 60 Years of television.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saturday Live (Irish Tv Series)
1986 Irish television series debuts
1999 Irish television series endings
1980s Irish television series
1990s Irish television series
Irish television talk shows
RTÉ original programming