Podge and Rodge

Pádraig Judas O'Leprosy and Rodraig Spartacus O'Leprosy ( b.1941 [Podge & Rodge, "The Ballydung Bible", 2007 (Dublin: Solo Books) - pages 37 & 38] ) are the two central characters on "A Scare at Bedtime", an Irish adult comedy televised puppet show and more recently "The Podge and Rodge Show", a chat show in the same vein. The characters were created and are produced by Ciaran Morrison and Mick O'Hara, who also voiced the characters of Zig and Zag and Bronx Bunny and Teddy T.

Origins

Podge originally appeared on "The Den", as a decidedly evil little character. At first, he was introduced as nothing more than a puppet Zag (of Zig and Zag) had found in a box amongst the rubbish behind a magic shop, and used him to practise ventriloquism, eventually performing a few dire shorts that showcased Zag's lack of skill. Zig was particularly jealous of the attention Podge was receiving.

Things took a sinister turn, however, when one day, during one of these shorts, a mysterious voice said to Zag, "aren't you a smelly stupid ugly alien". With the pieces in place for the revelation, Podge made himself fully known to the audience - alone with Zig at the conclusion of the broadcasting day, he moved and spoke on his own, bullying Zig, telling him he would be his friend if he stole the bike presently being offered as a competition prize. Zag and presenter Ray D'Arcy remaining oblivious to this as Podge would occasionally move in the background or be seen scheming on his own, and letters and pictures would pour in from the viewing children trying to let them know that Podge was evil. Eventually, after Zig finally spilled the beans, Podge made a power play and took over the programme for a day, revealing that he had been brought to life by a magician, but then sealed away when he turned evil. Podge also possessed some magical powers of his own that he'd learned from the magician, and turned one of the crew members into a teapot. He was finally dealt with when the magician arrived at the end of the programming day, hypnotised Podge, and took him away.

Not that that stopped him.

The Den

Podge would continue to reappear in disguise - be it as a postman, a leprechaun, a trick-or-treater, a health inspector or a taxi-driver, and once, he locked Dustin the Turkey, with whom he shared a history of physical violence, in the cupboard under the stairs and attempted to take his place by means of disguising himself with a few feathers and a coffee cup for a beak. His most daring schemes would come around the holidays - in his first Christmas-ruining scheme, he tried to ensure that Zig would receive no presents from Santa Claus, using his postman disguise to enter their home, break one of the presents, for which Zig would be blamed, and also make off with a bottle of Scent of Man, a cologne which he would develop a great fondness for, which would often give away his identity. Zig was able to prove his innocence, but Podge was still intent on ruining Christmas, taking the gang's Christmas letters and not delivering them to Santa. When the Den crew set out to do the job themselves, Podge kidnapped Kris Kringle and took his place, only to be thankfully thwarted in a scuffle with Ray.

Eventually, after the departure of Zig and Zag from the show, Podge was finally well and truly caught by the Den gang, only to be freed by his never-before-seen twin brother, Rodge, posing as a policeman, who escorted him away. The Dastardly Duo continued to make trouble for the gang, mostly on the holidays, often seeking to eat Zuppy - Podge had the little creature to blame for being caught out in several of his schemes before, and seemed to have developed a taste for dog. Rodge's precise origins were never gone into (Podge's introduction, after all, happened many years before Rodge first appeared, and since young children were the target audience, and none of them would have been around for Podge's origin, it didn't really matter), but it did appear that he possessed some magic powers like Podge, as the duo were capable of vanishing into thin air. They had particular contempt for Echo Island, especially the version broadcast in Irish.

Ballydung

Podge and Rodge live in Ballydung Manor, a fictional estate located their fictional hometown in Ballydung (off the bypass past Ballywank) in County Ring. The duo present their comedy chatshow "The Podge and Rodge Show" from Ballydung Manor. Ballydung Manor was converted into the brothers' home from the former Ballydung Asylum and may be reached by dialling Ballydung 666 from a telephone. Another location known to be in Ballydung is "The Stickitt Inn", which features on the chatshow. Ballydung also has a bypass which was blocked off by a swarm of locusts on the Christmas Special of 2006, "A Frightmare Before Christmas", thus preventing any of the guests attending the show.

Ballydung Manor first featured in "A Scare at Bedtime" in the late 1990s. In earlier editions, the bedroom used by the brothers was shown extensively whilst in later episodes, the main action occurred around the kitchen table. This has remained largely the case during "The Podge and Rodge Show", although the living room was featured in the "Bogmannay" special on New Year's Eve 2006. The underground dungeon of Ballydung Manor was also shown in an episode of the chatshow when Podge and Rodge invited guest Sheana Keane to partake in a gruesome game of Operation!.

Television & radio shows

A Scare At Bedtime

A Scare at Bedtime took its name from the nightly RTÉ show called A Prayer at Bedtime, which overlaid the text of a Roman Catholic prayer over serene images with choral music playing. A Scare at Bedtime, first aired in 1997, is close to being the polar opposite of this, with extremely adult content, lewd jokes and slightly obscene anecdotes being related by the two puppets. Their origins on the Den are largely ignored, as the backstory gradually established on A Scare at Bedtime, presents them to be both in their fifties (although they don't look any different from how they used to), and residing in Ballydung Manor, the former Ballydung Asylum. Rumour has it that their parents left them in the asylum many years ago, and in revenge, Rodge took an axe to them both. But no bodies were ever found. They live with a lunatic nurse that they call "Granny" who practices the black arts(since she is dating Satan, whom they refer to as the "quare fella" throughout the series) and Pox the cat who suffers from rabies, the pox, and extreme violence at the hands of its two owners. Their hobbies include cock fighting and exorcisms of which Father Flange occasionally does special sessions. They have been given full names also: Padraig Judas O'Leprosy and Rodraig Spartacus O'Leprosy.

Each episode follows the same pattern: Rodge, the dumber of the two, arrives home. Originally the pair would get into bed but in recent seasons they sit at the kitchen table. They talk about what Rodge was doing, with Podge usually insulting him. This leads Podge on to telling a story (acted out by live actors) about some people (whose names are usually sexual innuendos, e.g. Enda Meshank, Chris Peacock, Ulick McGee) who inevitably come to an unpleasant end. Rodge interrupts the story with stupid comments and/or reference to masturbation. It ends with Podge punishing Rodge for no reason.

A Scare at Bedtime never officially ended and the show has run to eight series as of January 2006, with the first five series available on DVD. The series has aired in both the UK and Ireland on RTÉ Two, Tara TV, BBC UK Play and the Paramount Comedy Channel. A Scare at Bedtime was nominated in the Best Entertainment Programme category of the Irish Film and television Academy Awards in both 1999 and 2000. Winning the IFTA for Best Entertainment Programme in 2000.

In early 2006 RTE convinced Podge and Rodge to host their first chat show which meant that A Scare at Bedtime series was put on hold...for now!

Podge & Rodge's TV Bodges

In 2000 Podge & Rodge hosted a 10 x 8min series entitled Podge & Rodge's TV Bodges for BBC Prime. It was a collection of TV mishaps akin to It'll be Alright on the Night. The series was broadcast all over the world via BBC Worldwide.

Ballydung Radio

Podge & Rodge were commissioned by U.K Play in 2000 to create a music/comedy hybrid show. 20 x 30min programmes were broadcast. Podge and Rodge hosted the series from their home made pirate radio studio set up in Ballydung Manor. The show featured pop videos of the moment in between comedy links performed by the duo.

The Podge and Rodge Show

First aired on February 6, 2006, "The Podge and Rodge Show" fulfilled the duo's main aim by being their first chatshow. It is co-hosted by Lucy Kennedy and airs at 22:50 on Monday and Tuesday nights on RTÉ Two. The show has been a phenomenal ratings success, regularly getting over 400,000 viewers a show. It won "Favourite Irish TV Show" for two years in a row at the 2006 and 2007 TV Now Awards. It was also nominated for an IFTA Award for "Best Entertainment Show 2007" and won the award in 2008. The second series began on RTÉ Two on October 16 2006, with a month's break in January before returning on February 5 2007 and running until April 2007. A third series, began on October 15 2007 ran until April 15 2008 with a months break in January. A fourth series is expected in October 2008.

Christmas special:"For full article, see A Frightmare Before Christmas"Podge and Rodge hosted a special show from Ballydung Manor on December 19 2006, entitled "A Frightmare Before Christmas". It celebrated Christmas from their perspective, a reality where none of the intended guests turned up, and imaginary scenarios where the worst possible guests did. In reality Podge and Rodge and Lucy were left in the darkness of Ballydung Manor as the thunder raged outside, imagining their nightmare guests.

New Year's Eve specials:"For full article, see Bogmannay"Podge and Rodge rang in 2007 on 31 December in a special programme lasting over forty minutes instead of the usual thirty-minute format. The New Year's Eve show was called "Bogmanay" (a play on Hogmanay). It was broadcast on RTÉ Two from 22:30.

On it the boys looked back at some of the highlights of their year. They also handed out their very own Feckin' Eejit of the Year Awards (FEEJITs) to celebrate the great tradition of Irish Feckin' Eejitry. There were nine nominees chosen from the worlds of TV, entertainment, sport and politics.

Guests included Edele and Keavy Lynch of B*Witched fame, Mary Black, Jason Donovan and Freddie Starr returned as the Ballydung Butler for the evening.

Such was the success of the original "Bogmanay", Podge and Rodge hosted a second "Bogmanay" to ring in 2008. It featured guests Miss Ireland, Blathnáid McKenna and boxer Frank Bruno as well as Mr. Gest who was unable to be interviewed as Lucy Kennedy, venturing into his dressing room, discovered he had turned into an ape. Instead a number of previously unseen clips which were not allowed to be shown before midnight were shown, including some in which Lucy Kennedy swore. A number of "Half- Arse Hero" awards were handed out, although none of the recipients (who included Steve Staunton) were present to accept them.

People in Need Telethon 2007 special

On Friday October 26 2007 for the People in Need Telethon Podge and Rodge finally got to interview their arch-nemesis and ultimate rival "Late Late Show" host and "Ireland's Alan Partridge" Pat Kenny. "Do the words lamb and slaughter mean anything to you?" He was asked: "Does it get on your tits though when people are saying, Jaysus - Pat Kenny earns how much? He should be paying me to watch that shite!" He was also asked: "Where did the nickname Pat the Plank come from? Who came up with that beauty?" Pat blamed it on Eamon Dunphy. "Are you bored with the wood puns?" they asked to which Pat jibed: "In fairness lads I'm not the puppet round here." Then it was time for a quick game of "Plankety Plank" which featured author Patricia Cornwell - he'd forgotten her name; Dawn French - he'd told her he'd give her €10 not to get out of bed; Brigitte Nielsen - she'd forced him to dance live on TV. Comparing Pat's bike to Gaybo's Harley-Davidson they asked: "Did Fisher Price make that?" And then it was back to Tubbicino, Teletubby...

Live

Desperate for Housewives

In April 2006, radio ads played on RTÉ radio stations revealed that Podge and Rodge would be appearing in their first ever live stage show entitled "Desperate for Housewives" in Vicar Street in Dublin. The show took place in Autumn 2006 for an initial run of 12 dates.The tickets for the first six dates sold out in a record hour and a half on the day of release. The second six dates followed and sold out as quickly. The venue owners said it was the fastest selling comedy gig ever.

It's a Podge & Rodge Show...Get Me Outta Here!

Podge & Rodge return to Vicar Street with a brand new stage show in April 2008. Tickets went on sale on December 6th 2007. Initially 12 dates were announced [ [http://www.aikenpromotions.com/content/view/123/105/ Aiken Promotions - Podge & Rodge Extra Dates @ Vicar St. May 1st - 4th ] ] . With a further 3 dates added for May 2008. A total of fifteen nights were played.

Meteor Awards 2007

Podge and Rodge hosted the Meteor Music Awards in the Point Depot in Dublin on February 1 2007. They were joined in their presenting duties by comedian Deirdre O' Kane. Kaiser Chiefs, Clannad, Director, The Feeling and The Blizzards were among the bands who performed on the night.

Newspaper column

A Politically Incorrect Broadcast by Podge & Rodge

Podge and Rodge have a page published weekly in The "Irish Daily Star" newspaper. Every Wednesday the pair write about everything from summer holidays to sexy ladies.

Charity magazine editing

RTÉ Guide

They've also edited an edition of the RTÉ Guide for People in Need [ [http://www.rte.ie/arts/2007/1017/podgeandrodge.html RTÉ.ie Entertainment: Podge and Rodge edit the RTÉ Guide ] ]

DVDs

The Podge & Rodge Show

A Scare at Bedtime

The first Five out of the Eight series of A Scare at Bedtime are currently available on a collectors edition DVD.

Book

The Ballydung Bible

Podge and Rodge's first book, entitled "The Ballydung Bible", was released October 5 2007. It reveals much about the history of Ballydung and the surrounding areas. One excerpt reveals that their last day spent with their mother was at the age of seven on May 11 1948 after which they were locked away in Ballydung Asylum. ["The Ballydung Bible" - pages 37 & 38]

References

External links

* [http://www.rte.ie/tv/thepodgeandrodgeshow/ "'Official RTÉ page for "The Podge and Rodge Show"]
* [http://www.myspace.com/fecklessrogues Official 'Podge and Rodge' site on MySpace]
* [http://ballydung.com/ Comprehensive fansite]
* [http://www.rte.ie/tv/podgeandrodge/ A Scare At Bedtime on rte.ie, with detailed biographies]
* [http://www.rte.ie/tv/thepodgeandrodgeshow/ The Podge And Rodge Show on rte.ie]
* [http://www.murtdog.com/podge/history.html Fan site recounting the program's genesis]
* [http://www.zhivagomusic.ie/searchResults.asp?searchString=podge&stockType=0&varGenre=0 Buy DVDs online]
* [http://www.mjs.ca/contentz/tv/podgerodge/interview1.html "The Weirdos Beyond The Pale" (an interview with the Irish Independent)]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0424700/ A Scare at Bedtime on the IMDb]
* [http://www.medialive.ie/Television/top-tw.html Most recent viewing figures]
* [http://www.sligozone.net SligoZone.net]
* [http://www.toys.ie/product_details.jsp?npc=D09205 Podge & Rodge talking figurines]

Articles

* [http://www.mp3newswire.net/stories/6002/youtube2.html YouTube Brings Gem from Ireland] - November 1, 2006 MP3 Newswire article wonders if YouTube can be a catalyst to bring Podge and Rodge to American TV.