''The Live Mike'' was an Irish television comedy,

variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

, and

chat 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 Show ...

presented by

Mike Murphy Michael James Murphy (born 20 October 1941) is an Irish broadcaster, actor and property developer. He is best known for his long broadcasting career with RTÉ, presenting many TV shows such as ''The Live Mike'', '' Winning Streak'' and '' The Bi ...

. It was first broadcast 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 ...

on 9 November 1979. The programme featured a candid camera pieces by Murphy himself, with parody songs and comedy sketches by Twink,

Dermot Morgan Dermot John Morgan (31 March 1952 – 28 February 1998) was an Irish comedian and actor, best known for his role as Father Ted Crilly in the Channel 4 sitcom ''Father Ted''. Early life Morgan was born in Dublin, the son of Hilda "Holly" (née S ...

and Fran Dempsey, as well as a serious studio interview. The show ended on 2 April 1982.

The show

Format

''The Live Mike'' was created to fill the vacant Friday night slot on the newly created channel,

RTÉ 2 (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 ...

, in November 1979. Presented by

, the show usually consisted of a serious discussion, comedy contributions by

, and a candid camera segment of unsuspecting members of the public, including a famous prank played on broadcaster

Gay Byrne Gabriel Mary "Gay" Byrne (5 August 1934 – 4 November 2019) was an Irish presenter and host of radio and television. His most notable role was first host of '' The Late Late Show'' over a 37-year period spanning 1962 until 1999. ''The Late Lat ...

. The candid camera scenes invariably ended with the host saying "I'm Mike Murphy from RTÉ", which virtually became a catchphrase.

Final show

The programme ran for three series and ended in 1982. On the last show, Murphy caused consternation when he told viewers that the show would not be returning. This was Murphy's decision and had not been discussed with any of the senior management at the station. Many thought that this incident would result in the death of Murphy's career. However, he remained with the station for the next twenty years. Murphy said in an interview in 2006 that he had decided to end the show when, after the second season ended in 1981, a number of crew members had left, and that the show was no longer as fun to make as it had previously been.

Documentary

A two-part documentary series, ''The Lives of Mike'', was broadcast in 2008. The series focused on Murphy's part in the original show.

References

External links

''The Lives of Mike'' site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Live Mike, The 1979 Irish television series debuts 1982 Irish television series endings 1970s Irish television series 1980s Irish television series Irish television sketch shows Irish variety television shows RTÉ original programming