''Soupy Norman'' is an eight-part Irish-Polish television programme broadcast by

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...

. It aired weekly on Thursday nights at 23:05 on the

RTÉ Two (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 ...

channel, in ten-minute segments. The series ran from May to December 2007. The show is a comedic re-dubbing of the Polish soap opera '' Pierwsza miłość'' (''First Love''), which has been running on

Polsat Polsat is a Polish free-to-air television channel that was launched on 5 December 1992 by Zygmunt Solorz-Żak. , it is the most watched television channel in Poland with a market share of 11.30% Polsat belongs to Grupa Polsat Plus ( WSECPS, whi ...

television since 2004. The series is written and edited by Barry Murphy and Mark Doherty, with additional voices provided by

Tara Flynn Tara Flynn is an Irish actress and writer. Career Flynn has written three satirical books: ''You're Grand: The Irishwoman's Secret Guide to Life'', ''Giving Out Yards: The Art of Complaint, Irish Style'' and ''Rage-In: Trolls and Tribulations of ...

, Sue Collins, Luke Murphy and

Mario Rosenstock Mario Rosenstock (born 31 August 1970) is an Irish actor, comedian, impressionist and musician. Career Rosenstock first came to the attention of the Irish public playing the role of Dr. David Hanlon in the soap '' Glenroe'' in the 1990s.

. Where the original soap opera dealt with a girl leaving her family behind to go to college, the re-dubbed version of the programme explores the

culture shock Culture shock is an experience a person may have when one moves to a cultural environment which is different from one's own; it is also the personal disorientation a person may feel when experiencing an unfamiliar way of life due to immigration ...

of a dysfunctional family from

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

. The series'

surreal humour Surreal humour (also called surreal comedy, absurdist humour, or absurdist comedy) is a form of humour predicated on deliberate violations of causal reasoning, thus producing events and behaviours that are obviously illogical. Portrayals of surrea ...

led to a

cult following A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...

, with its episodes being popular on YouTube. A special episode entitled "The Late Late Soupy Norman Tribute" which featured dubbed clips from

's '' The Late Late Show'' as well as clips from previous episodes of ''Soupy Norman'' as well as including a new scene of the show. This was broadcast on Christmas Eve 2007. A pilot sketch for the series initially aired on

Armando Iannucci Armando Giovanni Iannucci (; born 28 November 1963) is a Scottish satirist, writer, director, producer, performer, and panellist. Born in Glasgow to Italian parents, Iannucci studied at the University of Glasgow followed by the University of ...

's show ''

Time Trumpet ''Time Trumpet'' is a six-episode satirical television comedy series which aired on BBC Two in August 2006. The series was written by Armando Iannucci, Roger Drew and Will Smith in a similar manner to Iannucci's earlier one-off programmes, '' 20 ...

'' on

BBC 2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

, of which this show was a spin-off.

Plot

The main story of the show concerns Esther, a Polish-Irish teenager from

Buttevant Buttevant ( or ''Ecclesia Tumulorum'' in the Latin) is a medieval market town, incorporated by charter of Edward III of England, Edward III, situated in North County Cork, Ireland. While there may be reason to suggest that the town may occup ...

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

, who travels up to

to study in college. There she encounters strong discrimination, for being a "

culchie Culchie is a pejorative term in Hiberno-English for someone from rural Ireland. The term usually has a pejorative meaning directed by urban Irish against rural Irish, but since the late 20th century, the term has also been reclaimed by some who are ...

". She lives with Susan Costigan (or Gleeson, depending on the episode), described by Esther as "a woman with red hair", her daughter Kylie, her son Nathan (who becomes possessed by voices in the episode "Omen"), and her husband Declan. Kylie becomes Esther's friend, and they are seen stealing items (such as a dog) in the episode "Margarita". The series' other main characters are Esther's father, named Jack, and her Grandad, known to Jack as "Daddy", who live in

. She has a sister, who is unseen throughout the series, who Jack mentions a few times ("I have two daughters – two of them – and one of them's a boy"). Grandad is an extreme

authority figure In the fields of sociology and political science, authority is the legitimate power of a person or group over other people. In a civil state, ''authority'' is practiced in ways such a judicial branch or an executive branch of government.''The Ne ...

, as seen in the first episode "Buttevant", often sending Jack to the "bold chair" if he disobeys him in any way. He constantly berates Jack, calling him a "great big disappointment". The two of them are mostly seen drinking vinegar (Jack thinking it was

whisky Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Various grains (which may be malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky is typically aged in wooden c ...

), and being visited by Soupy Norman, the title character. Soupy is always extremely aggressive and

inebriated Alcohol intoxication, also known as alcohol poisoning, commonly described as drunkenness or inebriation, is the negative behavior and physical effects caused by a recent consumption of alcohol. In addition to the toxicity of ethanol, the main ps ...

, and is only ever seen stumbling into the pair's house, delivering rambling, nonsensical rantings to the two men, always trying to punch Jack. In one episode, he asks to marry Esther's sister. He refers to Esther as "that culchie bitch". The Soupy Norman sequences are always taken from the same scene from ''First Love'', and are repeated every episode. The series has a subplot of Sean, a

youth, trying to make a living in the city. He does this by applying for increasingly strange jobs, such as a

builder Builder may refer to: * Construction worker, who specializes in building work * Carpenter, a skilled craftsman who works with wood * General contractor, that specializes in building work ** Subcontractor * Builder (detergent), a component of moder ...

, walking a dog with "canine leg disorder", running the "Red Car Bar" nightclub, and helping Satanic spirits in the episode "Omen" (a reference to the film ''

The Omen ''The Omen'' is a 1976 supernatural horror film directed by Richard Donner and written by David Seltzer. An international co-production of the United Kingdom and the United States, it stars Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, David Warner, Harvey Spencer ...

''.) In the final episode, "Straz", a character called Soupy Dave (who is sometimes seen throughout the series trying to sell Jack and Grandad shady goods such as

prawn Prawn is a common name for small aquatic crustaceans with an exoskeleton and ten legs (which is a member of the order decapoda), some of which can be eaten. The term "prawn"Mortenson, Philip B (2010''This is not a weasel: a close look at nature ...

s and whale meat) is contracted by Jack's estranged wife (rarely seen before this episode) to kill him, using a number of surreal techniques.

Episodes

Legacy

Although unsuccessful on its initial broadcast, ''Soupy Norman'' acquired a following online and is now considered a

cult classic A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...

, with a 2018 article on

's website naming it the third greatest Irish sitcom of all time, with

the Rubberbandits The Rubberbandits are an Irish comedy hip-hop duo from Limerick city. They consist of Blindboy Boatclub (real name Dave Chambers) and Mr Chrome (sometimes Bobby Chrome; real name Bob McGlynn). During performances and interviews, they conceal t ...

commenting "To this day I've no idea how RTE let something that good on TV".

References

External links

Soupy Norman official site (Web Archive)

The original sketch on Youtube

Soupy Norman on Bebo (Web Archive)

{{RTÉ Comedies 2007 Irish television series debuts 2007 Polish television series debuts Parody television series Irish comedy-drama television series Polish comedy-drama television series 2000s comedy-drama television series RTÉ original programming 2007 Irish television series endings 2007 Polish television series endings 2000s Polish television series Irish people of Polish descent