Mrs BrownÕs Boys Ð as entertaining as Swine Flu

Not that he’d worry too much about finding a polite way of putting it anyway but there’s no point in beating around the bush; Mrs Brown’s Boys might well rank among the greatest pile of rubbish that RTÉ has ever tried to pass off as comedy – and that’s saying something.

It’s not even that it’s more foul-mouthed than a pub scuffle at three in the morning or that the shallow characterisations are only surpassed by the wafer-thin set – it’s just simply that the whole thing is like a bad community hall comedy written by people under the influence of strong drink.

Like the Civil War, views are firmly divided on Brendan O’Carroll’s talents – you either think he’s the funniest comedian around or, no matter how hard you try, you just can’t get him.

RTÉ seems to fall into the former camp because right from his first appearance on the Late Late Show – back in the days of Uncle Gaybo – he’s had more breaks than a TD. And the new six-part series of Mrs Brown’s Boys is just the latest shocker.

In fairness to RTÉ this time, they shouldn’t take all of the blame because this was a co-production with the BBC and O’Carroll’s own BocPix – but they were the first to show it and for that they stand indicted.

Those who remember the movie, Mrs Brown, starring Angelica Huston, might think they’re in for more of the same – given that the character in both cases in based on O’Carroll’s original creation – but that is where the similarity ends.

As before, O'Carroll stars as Agnes Brown, a foul-mouthed Dublin matriarch who interferes in the lives of her children and friends. It’s all based on the stage show of the same name, which, in fairness has been a sell-out for a number of years here and in the UK.

So they filmed it in front of a live audience in Glasgow – although the painfully obvious canned laughter would suggest the attendance either left early or dozed off to sleep.

The cast of the television show features the regular cast of Mrs Brown's Boys on stage, and includes O’Carroll’s real-life wife Jennifer Gibney as Cathy, his daughter Fiona as Maria, his son Danny as Buster, and his sister Eilish O'Carroll as the other old battle axe Winnie McGoogan.

Bur essentially it’s a vehicle for O’Carroll to dress up as an old dear and swear like a sailor for 26 minutes at a time.

For more, read this week's Connacht Sentinel.