View source for The Dunphy Show

{{Use Hiberno-English|date=December 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox television
| image              =
| caption            = 
| genre              = [[Light entertainment]]
| creator            = 
| writer             = 
| director           = Maurice Linnane
| creative_director  = 
| developer          = 
| presenter          = [[Eamon Dunphy]]
| starring           = 
| opentheme          = "[[I Fought the Law#The Clash cover version|I Fought the Law]]"
| endtheme           = 
| composer           = [[The Clash]]
| company            = DC Productions<br />Double Z Enterprises
| country            = [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]]
| language           = English
| num_series         = 1
| num_episodes       = 15
| list_episodes      = 
| executive_producer = [[Jane Gogan]]
| producer           = Cillian Fennell
| editor             = 
| location           = [[The Helix (Dublin)|The Helix]]
| cinematography     = 
| camera             = [[Multi-camera]]
| runtime            = 120 minutes
| network            = [[Virgin Media One|TV3]]
| first_aired        = {{start date|2003|09|05|df=yes}}
| last_aired         = {{end date|2003|12|12|df=yes}}
| related            = ''[[The Late Late Show (Irish talk show)|The Late Late Show]]'' 
}}

'''''The Dunphy Show''''' <!-- STOP...do NOT change to 'was' -->is<!-- NOTE-remains as "is" per Wikipedia convention. See: [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Television/Style guidelines#Lead paragraphs]]. --> an [[Republic of Ireland|Irish]] [[chat show]] hosted by [[Eamon Dunphy]] that aired for one series on [[Virgin Media One|TV3]] in 2003.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0383095/fullcredits#cast|title=The Dunphy Show (2003)|accessdate=17 August 2011|website=[[IMDb]]}}</ref> The programme featured guest interviews, audience participation and live music from guest music groups. ''The Dunphy Show'' aired every Friday night in direct competition with ''[[The Late Late Show (Irish talk show)|The Late Late Show]]'' on [[Raidió Teilifís Éireann]] (RTÉ).

==History==

===Challenging ''The Late Late Show''===
Since 1962, RTÉ's ''The Late Late Show'' had enjoyed total dominance of the Irish chat show market on a Saturday night and subsequently on Friday nights. In 2002, TV3 set about devising their own chat show which would go "head-to-head" and challenge RTÉ's monopoly. By the start of 2003, planning was at an advanced stage after six months of preparatory work; however, little details were revealed about the precise nature of the show or who would host. Ironically, the team behind the programme included [[Cillian Fennell]], an ex-RTÉ producer who had worked on ''The Late Late Show'' during [[Gay Byrne]]'s final season.

In May 2003, TV3 announced that former soccer player and journalist [[Eamon Dunphy]] had signed a contract to present the new show.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2003/0510/1052466094476.html|title=TV3 hires Dunphy for chat show|date=10 May 2003|accessdate=17 August 2011|newspaper=[[The Irish Times]]}}</ref>  Following the announcement the media immediately declared a "clash of the chat shows" and a [[clash of personalities]] between Dunphy and [[Pat Kenny]]. In an interview with the ''[[RTÉ Guide]]'', Kenny described broadcasting as a "hobby for Dunphy" and that "if it goes pear-shaped for Eamon he'll write another book about [[Paul Gascoigne|Gazza]] or something".  Former chat show host Gay Byrne said that "there wasn't enough room for two talk shows" and that TV3 would be "scalded by the experience".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/newsfeatures/2003/0830/1062112152634.html|title=Who will you be watching?|date=30 August 2003|accessdate=17 August 2011|newspaper=[[The Irish Times]]}}</ref>

===Debut===
''The Dunphy Show'' made its debut at 9:00&nbsp;p.m. on 5 September 2003 for an initial run of thirty programmes. The opening set of guests included former footballer [[Páidí Ó Sé]], author [[Candace Bushnell]], journalist [[Robert Fisk]], jockey [[Kieren Fallon]] and [[Huey Morgan]] from the [[Fun Loving Criminals]], while the musical guests were [[Joe Dolan]] and his band, and singer-songwriter [[Paul Brady]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2003/0906/1062799919339.html|title=Good, not great, first nights kick off season|date=6 September 2003|accessdate=17 August 2011|newspaper=[[The Irish Times]]}}</ref>  The opening programme received relatively good reviews, with Shane Hegarty of ''[[The Irish Times]]'' stating that "while there was little of the controversial Dunphy on show, there remained a real edge about the TV3 host. Ding, ding. End of round one. Kenny should be worried, Dunphy should be happy."

===Cancellation===
The first edition of ''The Dunphy Show'' attracted a total audience of 342,000. The first three shows attracted an average total audience of 260,000 compared to 615,000 for ''The Late Late Show'', however, the numbers tuning in for the third edition of Dunphy's chat show fell to 157,000.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2003/0926/1064522110708.html|title=Dunphy's ship flounders as Kenny's 'Late Late' sails on merrily|date=26 September 2003|accessdate=17 August 2011|newspaper=[[The Irish Times]]}}</ref> In November it was announced that the show would be going off-air for a six-week break at Christmas due to commercial reasons and for contractual reasons with Dunphy.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2003/1122/1069451717528.html|title=Dunphy show to take six-week Christmas break from TV3|date=22 November 2003|accessdate=17 August 2011|newspaper=[[The Irish Times]]}}</ref> This was viewed in some media circles as an indication that the show was failing and it came in for some harsher criticism after a promising start.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/features/2003/1205/1070495513773.html|title=A funny way to fight a war|date=5 December 2003|accessdate=17 August 2011|newspaper=[[The Irish Times]]}}</ref> On 5 December 2003, exactly three months to the day since the show began, TV3 announced that it was cancelling ''The Dunphy Show''.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/frontpage/2003/1206/1070666695720.html|title=End of the road for 'Dunphy Show' as 'Late Late' prevails|date=6 December 2003|accessdate=17 August 2011|newspaper=[[The Irish Times]]}}</ref>

==Production==
''The Dunphy Show'' was broadcast from [[The Helix (Dublin)|The Helix]] at [[Dublin City University]] (DCU) in front of an audience of 450, All bar one of the shows were broadcast live.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{VMTV ROI programming}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunphy Show, The}}
[[Category:2003 Irish television series debuts]]
[[Category:2003 Irish television series endings]]
[[Category:Irish television talk shows]]
[[Category:Virgin Media Television (Ireland) original programming]]