Podge and Rodge

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Podge and Rodge are the two characters from A Scare at Bedtime and The Podge and Rodge Show, an Irish adult comedy televised puppet show. The characters were created and are produced by Ciaran Morrison and Mick O'Hara, who also voiced the characters of Zig and Zag.

Contents

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] A Scare At Bedtime

Main article: A Scare at Bedtime

The duo's increasingly regular use of profane language and sexual innuendo made them unsuitable for a children's television show (one particular line occurring at approx. 4 p.m the utterance of "Dustin smells like shit", which Dustin covered quickly with "I'm not wearing a hat!"), so, they were moved to a close to midnight slot, in the programme, A Scare at Bedtime. This show 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 (phone no. Ballydung 666), which has been converted from the former Ballydung Asylum. It can be found just off the bypass, past Ballywank. 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" 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'Lepracy and Rodraig Spartacus O'Lepracy.

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. The show has run to ten series as of 2005, with the first three on sale on DVD. The programme frequently airs on the Paramount Comedy Channel in the UK. It won an IFTA for Best Entertainment Programme in 2000.

At this stage they expressed their main aim to be to host their own chat show when A Scare At Bedtime had run its course. (Their CV was further enhanced during a special broadcast as part of Telethon 98, which saw the two giving details of the charity events taking place in Ballydung which involved dolphins and blow-holes).

[edit] The Podge and Rodge Show

Main article: 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" at the 2006 TV Now Awards. And was nominated for an IFTA for Best Entertainment Show 2007 The second series began on RTÉ Two on October 16 2006, whilst the third began on February 5 2007 and will run until April 2007.

[edit] Christmas special

For full article, see A Frightmare Before Christmas

Podge and Rodge hosted a special show from Ballydung Manor on December 19, 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.

[edit] New Year's Eve special

For full article, see Bogmannay

[edit] New Year's Eve special

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 11.30p.m.

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.

[edit] Live

[edit] Desperate for Housewives

Podge and Rodge present the 2007 Meteors on RTÉ TV.
Podge and Rodge present the 2007 Meteors on RTÉ TV.

In April 2006, radio ads played on RTÉ Radio stations revealed that Podge and Rodge will be appearing in their first ever live stage show entitled "Desperate for Housewives" in Vicar Street in Dublin. The show will take 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 say it is the fastest selling comedy gig ever. Sixteen new dates for 2007 went on sale on Dec 14th. The dates are: April 2007 - 12,13,14,15, 17,18,19,20,21,22,24,25,26,27,28,29.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Newspaper column

[edit] 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.

[edit] DVDs

[edit] The Best of the Podge and Rodge Show - Series 1

The Best of Series One was released on November 3 2006 and features all the best interviews, vox pops and some interesting extras including unseen interviews from the pilot with sports presenter George Hamilton and more from the Johnny Vegas interview and a whole section entitled 'Ainezone' featuring all the best bits with Áine Chambers of Sligozone.net

[edit] A Scare at Bedtime

The first Three series of A Scare at Bedtime are currently available on DVD. Each featuring 20 episodes, out-takes and hidden Easter Eggs. A Series Four and Five boxset is planned for release May 2007.

Podge and Rodge
Early years| The Den | Podge | A Scare at Bedtime
The Podge and Rodge Show
Lucy Kennedy | Áine Chambers | Freddie Starr | A Frightmare Before Christmas | Bogmannay | Guestlist | Features
Creators
Ciaran Morrison | Mick O'Hara
Other Related Pages
Ballydung | County Ring | Ballywank | Fester and Ailin' | 2007 Meteor Awards | Ballydung Asylum | Ballydung Manor | Ballydung 666

[edit] External links

[edit] Articles

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