The Late Late Show turns 60 this year - and will celebrate the landmark birthday with a special end-of-season show next week.
The national institution is one of the world’s longest-running chat shows, making its screen debut as a late-night summer filler back in 1962 with legendary host Gay Byrne.
It took off, with a host of national and international stars appearing down the years - with some controversial moments going out live across the country’s TV screens.
It has endured throughout the decades as a chronicle of Irish life and continues to be the flagship RTE show with Ryan Tubridy at the helm.
Speaking about its anniversary, Ryan said: “Sixty years ago, I’d say they never imagined it running in 2022.
“It still has a role in Irish life. You can stream to your heart’s content but you can’t download sou.
“There is no other live chat show, as far as I’m aware, and I think people appreciate that.
The show first went out at 11.20pm on July 6, 1962.
Producer Tom McGrath wanted to make an Irish version of the classic American chat show The Tonight Show, which is also still running now.
He wanted guests to feel as though they had dropped in for an informal chat on the couch.
It started off with a young Gay Byrne talking to people in the audience also called Gay Byrne.
First broadcast in black and white, it was screened in colour from 1976.
Gaybo stayed in place for 37 years, followed by Pat Kenny for 10. Ryan is now in his 13th year as host.
As the season reaches its finale, we look back on some of the best Friday night moments in its history.
Chairgate, May 1997
One of the most memorable moments in the Late Late’s history was the scandal known as Chairgate.
Donegal woman Siubhan Maloney entered a popular antiques restoration contest with a beautifully restored regency armchair.
So impressive was the work on it, she won the competition.
However, a few days later, antique shop owner Joshua Duffy came forward claiming he had carried out the work.
He said he had been promised that he would be acknowledged for his involvement.
The case ended up in court, where it was confirmed by both Maloney and RTE that Duffy had done the restoration.
Gay Byrne interviews Annie Murphy, April 1993
Gay’s exclusive interview with Bishop Eamon Casey’s former lover Annie Murphy was one of his most controversial moments.
Annie, now in her 70s, talked to Gaybo on the Late Late to promote her book Forbidden Fruit: The True Story of My Secret Love For The Bishop of Galway.
She revealed the detauils of her affair with the bishop, which led to the birth of their son, Peter. She told how he pressured her to have the boy adopted, but she raised her son alone.
Casey at the time was a larger-than-life figure, who was popular in Ireland.
Byrne ended the meeting telling Murphy: “If your son is half as good a man as his father, he won’t be doing too badly.”
Annie replied: “Well Mr Byrne, I’m not half bad myself” before walking off set.
It was the one interview that drew Gaybo significant criticism and he later admitted: “The public thought I had done a bad interview.”
Oliver Reed’s appearance, April 1979
There have been a number of drunken guests over the years on the Late Late show, most notably footballer George Best and the psychiatrist RD Laing.
Best was later described by Terry Wogan as being “drunk as a skunk” and Laing was scolded by Byrne during the interview, who asked him why he thought it was necessary to get “intoxicated” before coming on.
But the most memorable drunken appearance has to go to actor Oliver Reed, who threw himself on actress Susan George, knocking her off her seat.
A sober Reed made a return visit to the show a few weeks later.
Haughey’s lover Terry Keane reveals all, May 1999
One of Gay Byrne’s last interviews as host was one of his biggest scoops.
Socialite and journalist Terry Keane appeared on the Late Late Show in 1999 revealing details of her 27-year affair with Charlie Haughey.
She told the host: “I love him. I think he loved - loves - me very much.
Speaking about the former Taoiseach, she said: “He was larger than life, very attractive. Strong, clever, entertaining, amusing, irreverent, wonderful.”
Keane later said she regretted the appearance, which drew some criticism from viewers at the time who felt it was unfair on the Haughey family.
Boyzone’s first appearance, November 1993
There was much tittering when Gaybo introduced Ireland’s first boyband.
The five lads - led by Ronan Keating in braces and a flat cap - came into studio to jump around to a dance track.
Shane Lynch, dressed in dungarees, gyrated and grabbed his crotch, as the bemused studio panel looked on.
No-one predicted they would go on to be one of the most successful musical acts in Ireland.
Least of all Gay who said: “You don’t sing, you don’t play. No talent whatsoever.”
He may have been right - but it didn’t stop them making millions as a boyband act.
Bono and Larry David present Gay with a Harley Davison, May 1999
The biggest rock band in the world have been regular guests on the nation’s chat show over the decades.
But the best U2 appearance was when Bono and Larry Mullen rode into the live show on a Harley Davison, a surprise gift for Gay to mark his very last show.
The rockers gave a dumbstruck Gay the Harley and, with Larry saying: “Do you remember aout three years ago on Sutton Cross, I was sitting on my Harley looking cool?
“A car pulled up beside me and the window went down and yo stuck your head out and said: ‘I love those bikes. So Gay this is a gift from us to you.”
Bono later said: “It was nice to have Gay join the Hell’s Angels.”
Ryan Tubridy gets a coronavirus test, 2020
When Ireland went into shutdown in March 2020, Ryan Tubridy was determined to keep the show on the road.
He hosted the Late Late throughout the pandemic and it now serves as a record of how Ireland coped during the crisis.
There was no in-studio audience, but he had a captive audience who were locked down at home due to restrictions.
The host gave numerous pep talks during the pandemic,but the standout moment was when he took a coronavirus test, at a time most of us were unaware of how they were carried out.
A tester in blue scrubs and mask gave Ryan a nose and throat swab.
Ryan told viewers: “It’s normal to feel scared. It’s perfectly normal to feel lonely, but you’re not alone.”
Russell Crowe plays with the Late Late house band, March 2015
Actor Russell Crowe surprised viewers when he popped up on the show’s balcony to sing with the house band.
He joined the Camembert Quartet to sing the Johnny Cash classic Folsom Prison Blues.
The Gladiator star plays music in his own band 30 Odd Foot of Grunts and likes to take to the stage.
But the famously grumpy star only made it to the first few lines before he was giving out to the audience.
“If you’re going to clap, clap in time,” he instructed them. “And if you can’t clap in time, just shut up.”
Shane McGowan tribute show, December 2019
The Late Late Show set was turned into a pub to celebrate the life and music of the legendary Pogues frontman, one of the greatest Irish musicians of all time.
The mock set was a suitable theme for the Fairytale of New York singer, known for his rock n’roll lifestyle.
Among the guests were actors Patrick Bergin and Aidan Gillen, as well as singers Moya Brennan and Glen Hansard.
Shane - who grew up in England but whose family are from Tipperary - performed Fairtytale with Philomena Begley. Lisa O’Neill joined The Pogues for a rendition of a Rainy Night in Soho.
The celebration was not without controversy, as killjoys on social media criticised the irresponsible bar setting.
Pat Kenny tears up Toy Show tickets, November 2008
Pat Kenny’s tenure as host had some controversial moments, the most memorable of which was when a man stormed the stage and called him an “insufferable arsehole” live on air.
But even that paled in comparison to Kenny’s most outrageous moment - tearing up Toy Show tickets in a fit of pique.
It shocked audiences as it was totally out of character for the normally calm and collected Kenny.
He had called a prize-winner to inform her she had won €10,000 and two coveted tickets to the annual special.
The caller said she wouldn’t have any interest in attending - so Pat ripped up the tickets live on air.
He later said: “I got into terrible trouble for tearing up the tickets. People were outraged.”
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