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Craicnet

Toyshow - will you watch it this year?

71 replies

PleasantBirthday · 22/11/2021 19:21

Hopefully they'll go back to basics this year - last year was hard going at times.

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Gooseysgirl · 26/11/2021 23:52

Fair play to Ed 🥰

ReiltinDubh · 26/11/2021 23:53

Fantastic amount of money raised

evilharpy · 26/11/2021 23:56

I managed to get my nights totally mixed up and missed it. It'll be on catchup tomorrow. Although judging by previous posts it sounds like it's a bit shit :(

I liked last year's.

ReiltinDubh · 26/11/2021 23:58

@3luckystars

It’s so staged and not anything to do with Christmas really.
Yes! No Christmas magic about it at all
evilharpy · 27/11/2021 00:04

Was there always so much of the heart-rending inspirational story type stuff? I don't remember those bits at all from when I was a child, I remember it being all about the toys.

3luckystars · 27/11/2021 00:06

Ed might have saved the night.

Pucarbuile · 27/11/2021 00:09

@Gooseysgirl

Fair play to Ed 🥰
He seems like a really nice guy.

I think after last year's sob fest they've gone as light as possible.

Really disappointed the book section was so skipped over. Ryan started to mention a book I read about yesterday, but he didn't finish the reference www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-40750923.html

elizabethdraper · 27/11/2021 00:30

We really enjoyed it in our house.

thebakeoffwasntasgoodthisyear · 27/11/2021 05:25

I thought it was dreadful - Ryan throwing the toys about, and seemed rude to some of the kids. The little girl in the blue dress who was into dinosaurs, it was excruciating to watch how he spoke to her at the end of her piece.

PleasantBirthday · 27/11/2021 08:27

I don't think they showed more than 10 toys in all! What's the story with that? There are loads of toys!

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MindyStClaire · 27/11/2021 08:44

I was looking forward to showing it to my three year old for the first time today but I don't think I will, not enough to hold her attention.

CantStartaFireWithoutaSpark · 27/11/2021 08:56

I’m super disappointed with it. It’s not like how it used to be.
I know they are trying to tug at heart strings and warm even the coldest of hearts. But (I mean this in a respectful manner!) there were many many sad stories of children overcoming awful things, which is utterly heart wrenching, but there are also lots of kids that haven’t and just want to see a toy demonstration and help them decide what Santa should bring. It has become more of an advertising stunt (aer lingus etc giveaways to kids!), with sometimes no apparent reason, then actually what the magic of Christmas was lost. I love the book section, why turn it into a talent show? Yep the kids were great, but they all were, so bring on more kids to show us how the latest baby born works.

Last years I cried through it. This year I didn’t. I had the tissues ready and waiting.

Fair play to Ed though. It amazing that someone as famous and in demand as him could take the time.

Next year RTE please have lots of toy demos, less individual performances, more craic and banter! 1/2 sad stories and make the rest about fun, magic and Christmas!

gabsdot45 · 27/11/2021 09:01

They spent all the budget on Ed Sherrans fee. He was great though
No video games? No trad?,
The musical bits weren't up to the usual standard.
And I thought making a new Christmas jumper out of 6 old ones was not a good way to avoid fast fashion. Just wear one of the old ones again.
I did like seeing Katie Harrington. She's very inspirational.

LavenderAskew · 27/11/2021 09:03

@thebakeoffwasntasgoodthisyear

I thought it was dreadful - Ryan throwing the toys about, and seemed rude to some of the kids. The little girl in the blue dress who was into dinosaurs, it was excruciating to watch how he spoke to her at the end of her piece.
I thought that. The Dinosaur girl was wonderful and I hated how she tried so hard to get her favourite bun abd he knocked in on the floor. I just thought he could have offered her one as she left rather than dismiss her.

I think he got all narked because the first child like the bubble doll and wanted to just play with that. I know she ended up being a bit irksome shoving the thing in his face. But he could have handled that better from the start and it might have ended up differently. Ryan go a bit better after the little boy rang the bell - which just made me feel he had been narked earlier by bubbles.

I loved last year's.ahow, usually not a fan as it's just so consumeristic (real word, honest!!) and I just loved the focus on the children and families.

Though that said I did love the reactions of the children when they got given something. That moment of it sinking in and then their overwhelmed gratitude.

Taytocrisps · 27/11/2021 09:54

I think Ryan has maybe lost sight of what the show should be about - kids talking about toys and demonstrating them, with the odd musical performance thrown in. Or maybe he's treating it like an extension of his morning show - talking about the mood of the nation etc.

I had the news on in the background before the LLTS and it was even gloomier than usual - the new variant and flights being cancelled and primary school children wearing masks at school etc. So I was looking forward to a bit of fun and escapism. But as soon as the opening number was over (which I loved) he spent ages showing the different coloured bears and talking about the colours and emotions and how people might be feeling angry or blue because of Covid and the restrictions etc. I just thought, "Oh, give us a break from it all". This is the part that most of the kids would be watching because the smallest kids are probably asleep within the first half hour to an hour.

To be fair to Ryan, a few things went wrong. The little girl with the bubble doll was very hyper and had no interest in demonstrating anything other than the bubble doll. The boy making the burgers was in his own little world and intent on squirting out the ketchup. The batteries had ran out in the dog toy and it wouldn't perform any tricks. That's live TV for you. But Ryan is a veteran of Toy Shows and he should have just moved on to the next thing.

I did feel sorry for him when he spoke about all the people living abroad and how they had sent in messages for the tree - then the first message was from someone in Limerick! Everything seemed to be going wrong at that point.

I agree that he was very rude with the girl demonstrating the dinosaurs - asking her to repeat the dinosaurs' names over and over and telling her she was very intense (I'm sure she didn't even understand what the word meant). Then getting her to pick up a cake with the dinosaur hands and, after she had spent ages trying to pick it up, knocking it out of her hand. If I was her parent, I'd be very angry at how she was treated.

Kellie Harrington was great, as was Ed Sheeran.

I'm a big reader and the book segment was a joke - he'd barely introduced one of the 'reviewers' when he had them jumping up to do a performance. And he just threw the books on the floor! I get that he was probably running out of time at that point, but he wasted a lot of time on other, less important things. Really disappointing, especially when Ryan is a big reader himself.

Usually Facebook would be full of people sharing clips from the show and saying things like, "You have to see this kid", but there wasn't a peep about it after the pre-show photos of excited kids in their pjs waiting for it to start.

@saleorbouy I'm sorry this was your introduction to the Late Late Toy Show. Last year's show was amazing. This one was a big let down.

thebakeoffwasntasgoodthisyear · 27/11/2021 10:12

I also felt sorry for the boy singing Ave Maria - his voice was absolutely amazing, but instead the camera had him to the edge of the screen, to focus on the reaction of the DJ boys behind him. I’m not blaming the children for their reaction (they seemed impressed rather than laughing) but it was obviously filmed this way for “amusement” and it was completely unfair to the singer, to have it turned into a joke.

Gooseysgirl · 27/11/2021 10:54

I hate criticising, and I know RTE don't have anywhere near the budget of the UK channels, but I thought the set looked amateur, badly lit, and a bit of a mess, and just not Christmassy! I'm sure there must be better creative set designers out there. Did Ed charge for his appearance? I would be really surprised if he did!! And they definitely should have filmed the Ave Maria child out of shot of the DJ kids. The musical numbers with the kids were lovely. It was also good to see the show reflecting the increase in diversity of the Irish population (although no doubt there'll be some crazy right-wingers moaning about this). I'm still annoyed about the book section 😒

MaudebeGonne · 27/11/2021 11:05

I didn't watch it this year - the children were off at their grandparents for a sleepover. I was fascinated with the story about Andrew McGinley being disinvited though and his subsequent massive public sulk. No insight into the fact that the Toy Show is for children and that it might be extremely upsetting for thousands of children watching who have parents with mental illnesses.

PleasantBirthday · 27/11/2021 11:30

Yeah, it doesn't seem to be the right forum to me, either. And I do think that RTÉ were in an invidious position after getting the letter from her family. Probably there are nieces and nephews who would like to watch the toyshow but need protection from the whole story.

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MindyStClaire · 27/11/2021 11:54

Yes indeed. As a country we need to reckon with what happened to that poor family and how it could've been prevented. But the toy show is not the forum. Small children don't need to be anywhere near learning that a mother can kill her children.

IsFuzzyBeagMise · 27/11/2021 12:48

I agree with many of the comments here. I have mixed feelings about it. The children were lovely, some were absolute characters and very entertaining. Kellie Harrington was lovely, so nice with the two girls and Ed Sheeran was great fun too. The opening number was very enjoyable. I can't say I remember anything much about the toys or the books. It was gimmicky. That has been the trend for many years, though. However, they always had a decent book review. It was a mistake to have the book reviewers also perform. It has become more of a talent show, really. Any toys featured are usually for the entertainment factor and for easy laughs.

I also felt sorry for 'the Ave Maria' lad for the reason mentioned by Goosygirl and Taytocrisps.

I hadn't realised that about Andrew McGinley. I wasn't relating it to the toy show, I was thinking it was an ordinary week. I agree with Mindy above. I have every sympathy for him, but it would not be suitable for that particular night when so many young children are watching.

MilkTooth · 27/11/2021 12:56

Oh, I hadn’t understood Andrew McGinley was supposed to be in the Toy Show either, I thought it was an ordinary one.

I felt last night’s was a bit lacklustre too — probably difficult to generate much atmosphere with a socially -distanced mini-audience, but I did think the set looked makeshift and weirdly bereft of toys…? My nine year old was mesmerised, though — I think by the kids, rather than the toys — and we watched through to the bitter end, fuelled by junk food.

PleasantBirthday · 27/11/2021 12:59

Yeah, my six year old loved it too. Especially the batman girl! It's not aimed at me, probably just as well...

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MindyStClaire · 27/11/2021 13:11

Oh maybe it was a normal week, that's an entirely different matter, obviously.

Thethreecs · 27/11/2021 13:13

It was the 1st year I haven't really enjoyed it. I usually find Ryan is great with kids, he gets down to their level and just seems to have fun. I think some of the kids were a little irritating, I hate saying it about kids but we had to lower the sound when they started speaking in American accents. Some were super hyper.

I found the show to be very sad, there were a lot of sad stories alot of talk about depression and stress etc I've a severely disabled dd and we practically live in Crumlin and Temple Street and they are all amazing in the hospitals but sometimes we also need something to distract us. Having just had dd discharged from hospital and watching her being seriously ill and the other children seriously ill and trying to cry in the hospital toilet so as not to upset her, here I was upset again at ill children and children speaking about how stressed they are. My problem I know.

The thing I think I'm most upset by was there was no Christmas tree.