''The End'' is an Irish adult comedy late night television strand on Network Two/ RTÉ Two in the Republic of Ireland. It was first broadcast September 1993, and last aired in May 1996. ''The End'' was aired on Friday and Saturday night from 11pm to 2am.

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 ...

used this show to test the audience appetite for late night TV. ''The End'' was presented by Barry Murphy on Friday nights and by

Sean Moncrieff Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Irish English, is a male given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name ''Yohanan'' (), Seán (anglicized as ''Shaun/Shawn/ Shon'') and Séan (Ulster variant; angliciz ...

on Saturday nights. ''The End'' had a cult following of "drunks and teenagers" who would often ring into the show leaving bizarre late night messages for the presenters. Sean Moncrieff would be joined by a puppet called Septic in later seasons. Barry Murphy would use ''The End'' to launch many of his Apres Match characters such as

Frank Stapleton Francis Anthony Stapleton (born 10 July 1956) is an Irish former professional football player and manager. He is best remembered for his time at Arsenal, Manchester United and as a pivotal player for the Republic of Ireland national team. H ...

would get a new chat show on RTÉ One called '' Good Grief Moncrieff'', however this was not a success due in part to the conservative and mainstream RTÉ One audience. Later he would go on to present the RTÉ Two series ''

Don't Feed the Gondolas ''Don't Feed the Gondolas'' is an Irish comedy panel show, that ran for four series on Network 2 between 1997 and 2001. The show was hosted by Seán Moncrieff and the longest-serving panellists were Brendan O'Connor and Dara Ó Briain. The nam ...

''.

Format

Barry Murphy presented Friday Nights with a mix of his surreal comedy and introductions to the classic BBC comedy series '' The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin'' and the US sitcom ''

3rd Rock from the Sun ''3rd Rock from the Sun'' is an American television sitcom created by Bonnie and Terry Turner, which originally aired from January 9, 1996, to May 22, 2001, on NBC. The show is about four Extraterrestrial life, extraterrestrials who are on an e ...

''.

presented Saturday Nights with a mix of interviews and introductions to classic BBC comedy series '' Fawlty Towers'' and '' Yes, Minister''. Colin Murnane who had moved on from RTÉ young people's JMTV and Plastic Orange, appeared on both nights as a reporter.

History

''The End'' would help to launch the careers of its two presenters,

now hosts his own daytime radio show on Newstalk, while Barry Murphy continues to be a very successful Irish comedian, while also starring in and writing Apres Match for

RTÉ Sport RTÉ Sport is a department of Irish public broadcaster RTÉ. The department provides sporting coverage through a number of platforms including RTÉ Radio, RTÉ Television, RTÉ.ie, RTÉ Player Sport and RTÉ Mobile. RTÉ holds the television ...

. The End's reporter Colin Murnane had appeared first on RTÉ's youth show JMTV moved to London to present for TCC, BBC, Sky1 and others, and to forge a career as one of the most successful Irish voice-overs in Soho. It would also begin RTÉ's 24-hour services, up to this point both RTÉ One and Two aired until about midnight each night. The Network Two '' Night Shift'' strand would ultimately take over from ''The End''. ''Night Shift'' would use the catchphrase "2 until 2" noting that Network Two would be on the air until 2am. Each night would have a specific theme, Sci-Fi on Mondays with shows like Stargate: SG1, Crime on Tuesdays with shows like '' Millennium'' and Profiler etc.

External links

* http://www.poolbeg.com/authors/moncrieff_sean.htm * http://www.londonspeakerbureau.ie/barry_murphy.aspx {{DEFAULTSORT:End, The (TV programme) 1993 Irish television series debuts 1996 Irish television series endings Irish comedy television shows RTÉ original programming