Pictorial Weekly

It is hard to believe that this show, which was three decades ahead of John Stewart, was almost entirely written by its presenter, Frank Hall.

He assembled a cast of brilliant character actors whose comic personas became household names: Councillor Parnell Mooney from Ballymagash and Fr. Romulus Todd, the antecedent of Father Ted (Dermot Morgan owed a great deal to Frank Hall).

I loved the two Cork characters, Cha and Miah, who were waiting for Godot on the banks of the Lee. And the two bachelor farmers sitting in the light of their black and white TV commenting on the show, drinking tea from the saucer.

I remember this show well,it was an hilarious take on Irish politics both local and National in the 1970's and early 80's. Frank Hall was an under-rated genius, playing straight man to the antics of Frank Kelly, Eamonn Morrisey and the rest of the cast. Parodies of governmental figures of the time were spot on! Frank Kelly and Eamonn Morrisey have since come to be a couple of Irelands greatest character actors. Such characters as Cha and Miah, the local County Council, and inhabitants of the fictional village of Ballykillferret, all very funny and unforgettable. Stories ripped from the week's headlines, were parodied to the great glee of the general public, however it didn't go down well with the politicians of the day, I guess you could say it was controversial. The Best of the series(in two volumes)is now available, it would be nice if I could get it in NTSC

In the user review, the commentator has mentioned that the characters were based in the fictitious village called "Ballykilferret". That would be incorrect but it's easy to see how the mistake is made as Ballykilferret is the place where Gobnet O'Lunacy (a Frank Kelly radio character) was supposed to hail from.

Anyway the villages of the local politicians in Hall's Pic were Tooreendoheneybeg (Cha and Moya) and Ballymagash which was famous for the antics in its urban district council with Councillor Larry Hooligan (Eamonn Morrissey). Let's not forget the Cork Mothers of Seven and Barney and Beaney and "boys, oh boys!".

They used to do skits on the Riordans too, and I remember something about the EU butter mountain being featured satirically. There was also the Minister for Hardship, Minister for Gate Posts and Telegraph Poles. A great play was made on the Ferenka dispute in the late 70's in Limerick with Redmond MacSeamus of the Sub-Marine, Port and Wine Tasters Union (Marine Port and Dock Workers Union) and its dispute with Farouka Limited. It was hilarious.

Is it a data processing thing? On at least a dozen occasions I have posted a correction ... the show was always called "Hall's Pictorial Weekly". It was NEVER called "Pictorial Weekly" (and certainly never called "Hall's Pictorial Weekly Ireland" which has been posted as an alternate title). If you check any reference source around, from scholarly histories of Irish television to Wikipedia to the RTE website where "Best Of" DVDs are for sale, they ALL have the same (correct) title: "Hall's Pictorial Weekly". But for some reason, IMDb refuse to accept that.

Thank you, I'm glad I got that off my chest.

Oh, and it was a superb and often savage show, at a time when Irish television comedy was an oxymoron.