The Late Late Show: An institution with a perpetual crisis of identity
The Late Late Show has returned for a new season with host Patrick Kielty, but the program continues to struggle with a lack of clear identity. The show attempts to balance lighthearted banter with serious, somber segments, such as a discussion on the Mother and Baby Home scandal.
Why it matters
As a long-running cultural institution in Ireland, the show's struggle reflects broader challenges facing traditional broadcast television in the digital age.
We are living through the twilight of the chatshow, but The Late Late Show (RTÉ One, 9.35pm) trundles ever onwards and now returns for a fourth season with Patrick Kielty at the helm. And yet RTÉ seems no surer what sort of Late Late it wants for the 21st century. Kielty is game, but The Late Late has now ascended to a state of permanent disorientation: like RTÉ itself, it is an institution locked in a perpetual crisis of identity.
Is it a laugh-along banter-fest? Yes! Or so we are led to believe as Kielty zips through an opening monologue with some topical jokes about Donald Trump – politician, golfer and surprise fan of a united Ireland. (“He’s a lot closer to the green than we thought.”)
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