Worst/funniest depiction of Ireland on TV

[SoFeckingCross]

Watching Scorpion, they're meant to be in Cork.

They reckon they're in the middle of a year long drought. The house is a lovely wooden framed house that the family have lived in for generations…

The neighbours have accents that are roaming round the country.

And biggest one of all it's meant to be a family party and not one person has a cup of tea.…

[LuckyLuckyMe]

A year long drought in Cork

I don't have anything good to add. I haven't seen anything good yet.

[TrollTheRespawnJeremy]

Have to mention Father Ted... good grief. What an amazing show. Not great for Irish tourism I'd bet though

[Hardshoulder]

I don't even know what Scorpion, but am already highly amused by the drought-stricken Cork countryside and the ancestral log cabin. I fail to see why I don't have one of those.

[Hardshoulder]

what Scorpion IS, that should have read.

On your actual question, I'm not entirely sure that non-Irish depictions of Ireland in film and TV have moved on all that much from Darby O'Gill and the Little People.

[Littlegreyauditor]

Sons of Anarchy. They went to arrange crime in Belfast. Belfast with the palm trees, wall to wall sunshine and the cops in their open top land rovers. Belfast twinned with Southern California. The journey from the airport to the city took them along the Antrim coast road past the Giants Causeway. All the accents were woeful. I cringed so much I think I managed to tone my abdominals.

I feel I should stress that I don't watch Sons of Anarchy willingly. DH does and was so delighted with the awful Belfast bits he made me watch. Just so we're clear, it was not my choice.

[LuckyLuckyMe]

So Cork has a drought and Belfast has palm trees?? I'm living in the wrong part of Ireland

[ScarletForYa]

Came on specifically to say Sons of anarchy.

Dear God, it was a cringe-fest. In fact that whole season was desperate.

[Kai1977]

There was a Murder She Wrote Special where Jessica visited Ireland. Every stereotype you can think of, it was in there...

[Hardshoulder]

I wouldn't mind, but Angela Lansbury lived in Cork for years, so you'd think she'd have exercised some quality control. Did the episode have droughts and log cabins???

[MissMarplesHat]

Got to be Father Ted for me

[JenLindleyShitMom]

great thread!

Not sure if I have any contribution but I'm enjoying these posts!

[Littlegreyauditor]

Is it only TV? Because I would like to mention "Leap Year".

How was that film not regarded as an act of war against the Irish nation?

[Hardshoulder]

I've never seen Leap Year, but I gather from friends screaming with horrified laughter that it involves an American flying Boston-Dublin to propose to her boyfriend because of a Charming Irish Tradition of Proposing To Your Boyfriend on Feb 29 and weather meaning her flight is diverted to Wales, as you do, where she hires a boat to take her to Cork, only it somehow lands her in Dingle. And then falls in love with the cab driver because of cows on the road. Possibly. It was the geography that killed me.

[Cosmicglitterpug]

The Eastenders episodes set in Ireland were
Controversial due to the sheer number of stereotypes.

Was Ballykissangel considered terrible in Ireland? (I'm not Irish).

[Kai1977]

Not sure Hard but there were pubs with drunk people, spooky graveyards with 'Celtic fairies' and the worst Oirish accents ever from what I remember.

[BelfastSmile]

I think Ballykissangel went down ok, cosmic. There were some stereotypes in there, but to be honest, most of them were not totally unrealistic! And I think it's a bit like the way Cornwall is represented in Doc Martin - you know it's not meant to be realistic, and they've added funny characters just to add to the comedy.

There was a terrible episode of an American cartoon in which they came to Belfast. I'll go and look for it - it had bad accents, awful stereotypes and was generally mocked!

[BelfastSmile]

This was it, Captain Planet:

Terrible, and hilarious!

[iklboo]

Angel's Oirish wandering accent was pretty horrific.

[wigglesrock]

Ooohh Leap Year!! I have watched some shite films in my time, I have particularly bad taste in the old romcom, contrived plot genre yes I'm the the fool who watches Nicholas Sparks adaptions but I have never sat through such nonsensical, badly acted guff as that film. It has tainted Amy Adams forever for me, every time I see her in a good film I cast my mind back to Leap Year and shudder.

[SoFeckingCross]

I once have a conversation with a (thankfully now) ex-colleague who said she'd love to visit Ireland but could imagine living a week without electricity................

I had no words

[Littlegreyauditor]

I have an American relative who mourns the loss of "proper Ireland". It's seems we all have notions now, with our refrigerators and cars. It was better "before", when it was nothing but leprechauns, priests and Aran jumpers.

She's from Philadelphia. Born there to third generation-ers, lived there her whole life. First visited Ire-ER-land in 1996 and stayed in my aunt's lovely, modern house. The lost Ireland that she mourns was planted in her head by the film Far and Away.

She doesn't speak to me any more since I (maybe a teensy bit drunk at a wedding) loudly informed her that we were an actual country, not a fucking theme park for pseudo-nostalgic fecking Yanks
In my defence I had listened to her bemoaning for two hours. Every time I see a film like Leap Year I know exactly which type of eejit it is aimed at.

[honeyrider]

It has to be Eastenders, that was dreadful and very insulting. I only hope it's 6 part spin off that was filmed in Dunmore East and due to be screened in the New Year isn't more of the same.

[Hardshoulder]

She doesn't speak to me any more since I (maybe a teensy bit drunk at a wedding) loudly informed her that we were an actual country, not a fucking theme park for pseudo-nostalgic fecking Yanks

I blame the Rose of Tralee, personally. Actually, I blame the Rose of Tralee for everything, including climate change, the fact that the gaps in Toblerones are getting bigger, and the election of Donald Trump.

[hollyisalovelyname]

I stopped watching Eastenders when they did the Pauline's cousin in Ireland scenes- it was years back and a disgrace.
I got years of my life back though- not wasting time watching Eastenders.

[Littlegreyauditor]

You may be right, Hardshoulder The international Lovely Girls contest does present an unpleasantly twee image to the world. It does us no favours.