Podcast Corner: Talking Ted gets behind the scenes of Ireland's favourite priest
Dermot Morgan and Patrick McDonnell in Father Ted.
From Talking Sopranos, featuring Michael Imperioli and Steve Schirripa, to Office Ladies, with Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey of the US Office, the co-stars rewatch podcast has become a podcast genre all of its own in recent years.
Closer to home, Joe Rooney (Fr Damo) and Patrick McDonnell (Eoin McLove) have just wrapped the first season of Talking Ted (Headstuff Podcast Network), looking back on the first six episodes of Father Ted. Surprisingly, they only made one appearance each on the sitcom, but are happy to recall their various memories - with some special guests along the way including Ardal O'Hanlon, Pat Shortt, Jon Kenny, and Arthur Matthews.
A lot of Talking Ted is taken up with the pair explaining how different Ireland was back in the early 1990s, and how Father Ted hit at just the right time - unlike another similar show, Leave it to Mrs O’Brien, which ran for a couple years in the mid-1980s, though the hosts brush past that quickly.
At the time, Rooney was flying over to the UK to do five-minute standup slots (he chuckles at the madness of it), while McDonnell was working in Dublin Woollen Mills selling jumpers. They banter while watching along with each episode of Ted, though they don’t have that much insight to offer that adds to what we already know - indeed, your Father Ted-obsessed friend might have more titbits than you’ll find here. A case of flogging a dead lovely horse, perhaps?
Rob Lowe and writer/director Alan Yang on Parks & Recreation, the Amy Poehler-starring sitcom set in Pawnee that came to an end in 2015. Having begun in September 2021, Lowe and Yang are some 40 episodes in and up to season three.
Zooey Deschanel, Hannah Simone, and Lamorne Morris on New Girl. Having run for seven seasons, from 2011-2018, New Girl feels a little underrated - and if you haven’t watched it before, the podcast will make a great companion. Each week, the trio play a different version of the True American game, where the rules don't make any sense, and you'll leave more confused than when you arrived.
Rachel Bilson and Melinda Clarke take a trip back to the early 2000s and one of the first defining series of the century. As they say, zip up your Juicy Couture tracksuits and grab a seat by the pool.
Zach Braff and Donald Faison are some 150 episodes into their look back on hospital sitcom Scrubs - there were nine seasons, concluding in 2010, so there’s plenty more of this podcast to come
