New ‘Today’ looks a lot like yesterday
That at least would be the suggestion after the first day of the broadcaster’s “new” midday chat show, Today.
The programme is led by four presenters, three of whom — Dáithí Ó Sé, Maura Derrane and Blaithnaid Ní Chofaigh — have already hosted almost identical shows.
It mimics the idea behind failed predecessors The Afternoon Show, Seoige & O’Shea, Seoige and The Daily Show, to name just four, suggesting the same people are making the same choices.
And while yesterday’s debut, presented by Dáithí Ó Sé and Maura Derrane, was inoffensive and exactly what you should expect, the fact a show can already seem old before the end of its first episode does not bode well for the future.
The programme, airing live from Cork, kicked off at 4.30pm with the promise of a more relaxed look at issues grabbing the public’s attention.
Over the course of just under 90 minutes it drew attention to cyberbullying with experts such as clinical psychologist and broadcaster David Coleman; discussed athletics with Derval O’Rourke; and highlighted the opening of a soup kitchen in Athlone.
A “most annoying invention” segment — Dáithí suggested to Derval it was the hurdles someone puts in her lane during a race — and a tasty chicken dish from chef Paul Flynn also cooked up some attention.
But if the biggest real change offered by a “new” show is that it’s based in another part of the country — although it has a near identical studio design and viewers are more focussed on quality than geography — then the only thing cooking is trouble.
Shows like Today are nice, lighthearted fillers that necessarily bridge the gap between the dregs of daytime TV and hard-hitting news and current affairs.
There is nothing wrong with them. But without a real dedication to change — moving to Cork and repackaging old formulas doesn’t count — that’s all they will ever be.
And history suggests that “ever” tends not to last very long.
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