Muppets, a Beatle, half of U2 and plenty of Toy Show memories, Ryan Tubridy was in his element as he waved farewell to the Late Late Show
"This is the weirdest night of my life." says Ryan Tubridy as he settles down to host his very last Late Late Show.
We’d wager that the last "weirdest night" of his life was in September 2009 when he hosted his very first edition of the show and it’s been quite a trip for for the host who brought a new sense of togetherness to the Irish institution that has weathered all kinds of upheavals and criticism.
This is a programme that knocked Friday night entertainment out of hotelier Francis Brennan wrestling with a duvet on the studio floor, a member of the Irish Defence Forces bursting out of a giant Christmas gift box to greet his kids for the first time in three months, free bags of crisps ... for everyone in the audience and exploding bottles of Ffffffffffanta.
All of this and more was revisited on Ryan's final Late Late Show. As he sweeps onto the studio floor on Friday night to a standing ovation from the audience, he’s like an only child on Christmas morning. He is composed but more than aware that surprises are about to be sprung on him
Fears that we might rechristen last night’s farewell "Tubs Blub Watch" as we waited for the host to shed a tear as he departs the show that has been his life for 14 years, soon faded. His voice did waver and crack at several points during last night’s proceedings. However, the diffident nice guy remains as in control as ever. "Stay strong!" he tells himself.
The first item is a pre-recorded interview with President Michael D Higgins in an elegant room in Áras an Uachtaráin flooded with sunlight. Perhaps the kind of room Tubs could see himself occupying one day . . .
It strikes a suitable tone of gravitas for a show that has long mixed the deadly serious with the light-hearted and from there, last night was a canter and then a gallop of retrospection but not introspection.
Given that it is the jewel in the Late Late crown and something that Tubs excelled at, it is no surprise that a goodly slice is given over to meeting the kids (and my, have they grown!) from Late Late Toy Shows down the years (just don’t mention the musical!).
But the sight of Ryan back in a garish crimbo jumper, jeans and converse surrounded by giant books and cuddly toys as we enter summer and bask in a mini-heatwave is a tad off.
Ryan turns 50 tomorrow and his parting words to the Toy Show gang ring as true as ever - "Don’t grow up. It’s a trap."
And when one ten-year-old girl in the audience, who appeared on the Toy Show when she was only three, cries because she’s afraid Ryan is "going away forever", it’s a genuinely touching moment. "I’m not going anywhere," he assures her and adds archly, "There’s always YouTube."
We could have done with more music. A rousing session from a sprawling band featuring a Corr, a Horslip, a Waterboy, a Tumbling Paddy, Dubliner, and a, eh, Clannad and a Stunning reveals again that Tubs seems to have a fondness for Irish folk and trad and doesn’t just relax at home to the strains of The Beatles and Sinatra.
Pop flibbertigibbets Jedward, older, wiser, still very much twins, are on hand in the audience to offer wise words to anyone who is affected by cancer. In another nice moment, Charlie Bird and his wife Claire were in studio and Charlie, whose motor neuron disease has worsened in recent weeks, asks the host if he’ll mind his dog, Tiger, if he and Claire manage to go on holiday this summer.
We expected video messages from famous well-wishers, and they didn't disappoint. Floyd and Animal of The Muppet Show’s Electric Mayhem band are first up, a genuinely affectionate Saoirse Ronan ("I love how brilliant and smart and kind and cheeky you are,"), and Jessie Buckley are next and then . . . Macca.
Finally, the man Tubs has wanted to interview more than anyone else, possibly since he was 12 years old, swims into view on the video pre-record and Ryan’s face is a picture. He is genuinely overawed that the once and forever Beatle is even saying his name and who wouldn't be?
Paul also has some parting wisdom. "I hear you’re learning to play guitar. I wouldn’t do it, it’s a bad career move."
Another VT montage of inspiring guests like the incredible Catherine Corless, Vicky Phelan, and Charlie Bird to the strains of Dreams by The Cranberries reminds us once again that the Late Late is so much more than a mere chat show.
As the night draws to a close, it’s time to get your motor running. Back in 1999, U2 memorably presented Gay Byrne with a Harley-Davidson on his very last Late Late. And of course, the Irish supergroup are back (well, half of them) with a very special present for Ryan.
Speaking via video link from Beverley Hills, Bono quips, "You’re a mod, not a rocker" and speak-sings Born to be Wild by Steppenwolf down the lens as the build-up to the band’s gift, "an upgrade on your pushbike" - a fire engine red Vespa scooter. Reg; 2RYN XU2. Classy.
But it’s all about the folks in studio and out there in tv land. "I’d like to thank everyone in the audience who have come in here for the past 14 years, clapped out of time and gone home with a bag of tat." Ryan says and he means it.
The show closes with rising Irish star Cian Ducrot singing All You Need is Love by The Beatles (If he had sang In My Life My Life, Tubs surely woulda blubbed).
Tubirdy has certainly stamped his persona on The Late Late Show over the past 14 years, from dapper metrosexual, to young fogey and professional nerd, to nice guy everyman who can rise to a sense of occasion as well as literally getting down with the kids on the studio floor.
"I’m leaving with a spring in my step rather than with a heavy heart," he says, "Tonight is a night of endings but also of beginnings. I just want to say thank you to everybody."
Maybe Tubs' final Late Late stand lacked a sense of spectacle and occasion. It was a more of a long goodbye and heartfelt thank you for the past 14 years. However, the central message that "kindness is king" is always one worth hearing.
He’s leaving at the right time. Some might say he stayed too long. Not because he wasn’t welcome or because he wasn’t very good but because there’s only so many times you can chat to Daniel O’Donnell and Vogue Williams on live tv on a Friday night.
But as Ryan rides off into the downtown sunset on his spanking red Vespa, will we also be bidding farewell to the Late Late Show of country specials, Valentine’s night madness, live lambs in the studio, crying babies and human-interest stories?
Over to you, Mister Kielty.
Alan Corr @CorrAlan2
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