TG4 has snapped up the rights to the Cecilia Ahern penned Samantha Who?

RTE rejected the show and their director of acquisitions said it was the right choice to turn it down because it offered (wait for it) “nothing incredibly new or innovative”.

Wow, all of sudden someone in RTE is applying some measure of quality control. Why is there so much crap Lifestyle programming in the much hyped new season? Who is responsible for it and why is a public service broadcaster filling prime time hours following self absorbed individuals fixing themselves or their houses.

Rachel Allen is back again too with more cooking - I mean come on, how many ways is there to cook asparagus?

It’s not all bad though - we’re getting a “Who do you think you are” - where well known faces trace their roots. The BBC incarnation is superb - hopefully this version will be as well.

I don’t really care whether RTE show Samantha Who? or not, it’s just seems like an odd decision for RTE to make. I’m pretty sure it would have gained huge interest because of the Cecilia connection.

It starts on TG4 on September 11th at 9pm with a repeat on Friday. Should be worth a watch for Christina Applegate anyway!

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Delighted to see the true gent, John Creedon win RTE’s Failte Towers.

The charity he raised funds for was Our Lady’s Hospital Crumlin. His daughter Katie wrote in the Daily Mail on Friday about why this was his chosen charity.

Katie lost her daughter, Lucie, after a battle for life lasting 8 short weeks. In the article she says that John rarely opens up about Lucie, his first granddaughter.

She says :

“Having Lucie was the hardest experience of my life, but it was also the best. She comes up in almost every conversation I have with my Dad. He was just bowled over by her – a totally obsessed Grandad. But he finds it difficult to discuss her in public, which is why most people hadn’t heard the story before now. “

“So when I see dad on telly doing the cleaning, standing up for himself against Derry Clarke or ever leaping to the defence of Michelle Heaton, I feel so proud of him I could burst.

He may not often articulate in public how much he loved Lucie, but he shows us all each and every night. That makes him the best dad, and grandad, any girl could ever wish for…”

John spoke of “Lucie in the sky with diamonds” when he won tonight and many people might have wondered what he was talking about. Now you know.

Congratulations John, you did Lucie, your family and your charity proud.

Ryan Tubridy is so at home on the set of his show, that he sometimes confuses it with his own living room. He was speaking to the Herald about the 5th series of his show starting in September.

"At this point I know what it’s all about and how to approach it, I feel comfortable talking to the guests and grilling them about their life stories," he added.

In fact the father-of-two enjoys his role as a television presenter so much he says, "When I go in there to present Tubridy Tonight, I just sit back on the couch and relax and enjoy my evening."

Joking he says, "Sometimes I get so into it that I forget myself and get confused and think I’m sitting in my own home waiting on a Chinese and then a guest arrives and I snap to it."

Imagine a highly paid sales person in an organisation giving an interview saying they’re not really putting in a whole lot of effort in their job. Imagine him or her admitting that while on company time, they’re thinking about take away food. If I were his boss I’d be having a few words with him about not getting too comfortable in his job.

Unfortunately, in a state supported organisation like RTE, that’s hardly going to happen. Nope, instead we’ll be reading about RTE’s top earners again come February and find this dweeb earning lottery sums of money for sitting on a couch, when he’d rather be at home in his underpants eating junk food.

Only in Ireland.

I realise that this now Wednesday, but I’m only catching up on blogging today.

And today’s big question is: Why do holiday weekends go by so quickly? Before I knew where I was, it was 11pm on Monday night and I was tucked up in bed with a Blackberry and Nettle tea. Livin’ the life - lovin’ the tea as the saying goes, eh?

Hindsight is a great thing, and had I had only listened to his cousin, foresight, I’d have had a much better day yesterday. By listening to him, I wouldn’t have made the decision to “watch just one episode” from the DVD box set of ‘Deadliest Catch’.

One episode turned into another one, and another one, and another - until just before 3.30 am when I finally managed to kick the habit and my head hit the pillow. All I could see was crabs - lots and lots of creepy crawly crabs.

The alarm went off at 6 and with eyes feeling heavier than lead on Jupiter, I dragged myself out of bed half an hour later and made a start to the day. It didn’t go very well as it happens but that’s neither here nor there.

I have gorged on box sets before (Prison Break Series 1 about a year ago), and I swore I would never do it again but I have no will power. The only solution for me is never to buy them again.

One thing for sure is that I never want another box set hangover like I had yesterday as there ain’t no cure for it on the shelves of the chemist - and I did ask.

Read in the Daily Mail this morning that Grainne Seoige is being screen tested for ‘The Panel’.

Have Happy Endings/RTE lost their marbles? Apart from appearing humourless as a panelist on the show, her face annoys me and they WILL lose a viewer if this comes to fruition. Also, doesn’t everyone know that females just don’t make good comedians?

Why don’t they produce a list of candidates and let the public vote?

This has thrown me for the day I tell ya. Thrown me it has…