I would've thought it was significantly less input than the BBC. Brendan seldom refers to RTE in interviews or jokes about them during the show ("We have a series on the BBC, I don't think she has!") as well as it being commissioned by Stephen McCrum of the BBC and shot at BBC Scotland.
I agree but of course you couldn't get away with joke about RTE to a UK audience like you could the BBC with an Irish audience.
I imagine the reason RTE gets to show it before the BBC is to give them value in part funding it. It doesn't hurt the BBC to let them do that. Otherwise you'd lose half your audience to the Beeb.
They did include an RTE joke on Saturday's episode, to be fair.
The show seemingly has its genesis in a sketch O'Carroll wrote and performed for RTE 2FM back in 1992, which may be where RTE comes in - they may still retain some rights. Just speculation on my part though.
It's a co-produced show by BocPix, RTÉ and BBC Scotland. BocPix and RTÉ produce it for BBC Scotland. In an interview a few years back with RTÉ News he said the reason it's filmed in Scotland is because it is cheaper than filming it at RTÉ and at the time only BBC Scotland had some studios available without going to London or Manchester.
The BBC jokes, Brendan said, are a poke at them because everybody would get BBC jokes - not everybody gets RTÉ jokes. He even explained in the show what RTÉ stood for in a jokey manner. "RTÉ stands for Raidío Telefís Éirann - which is Irish for... Raidío Telefís Éirann".
TL
toby lerone 2016
Brendan O'Carroll said in an interview that the BBC approached him about doing a series when he was touring as Mrs Brown prior to the TV show starting and they recorded a pilot however O'Carroll didn't want to leave out RTE because the character started out on RTE Radio and the people of Ireland might not have been able to see it.
Also the producers are 4 BBC and 1 RTE as well as the independent producers also there is nothing for the show to be broadcast on RTE first. Yes some of the first few series was shown first on RTE however a few studies such as Christmas were shown on BBC on Christmas Eve and RTE on Christmas Day.
Basically without the BBC this series wouldn't be on tv.
Last edited by toby lerone 2016 on 26 July 2016 6:01pm
The exact credit for Mrs Brown's Boys is "A BBC Scotland/BBC Productions co-production with BOCPIX, in association with RTE"
Usually when a credit reads "in association with..." it implies a rights credit than a production credit. Perhaps they are using someone that happens to be an RTE staffer, in the same way there were about 4 different production companies listed at the end of TFI Friday.
There's the films that are on DVD as "Mrs Brown's Boys: The Original Series"- anyone know who these were made for, were they possibly made for RTE?
I don't see any mention of RTE in the credits (there's an episode or two on YouTube). It looks - not to put it down or anything - like something you'd imagine second year film students might produce. Fairly slick, but all on location in people's living rooms and without much, if any, additional lighting, sound off the camera mic etc.
I still find it a bit boggling that the character (sort of) was played by Anjelica Huston in a film in 1999:
That was all to do with getting the film to be as successful as possible. Brendan talked about the whole story of the film in his biography (which is an absolutely fascinating read).