"Ireland: A land of complex questions and simple people. Over this intriguing little place, we cast The Savage Eye."
The Savage Eye is an Irish comedy show written and acted primarily by David McSavage which lampoons different aspects of Irish culture and history. Each episode poses a question, usually in the form of "Why are the Irish so x?" and up to eight reasons are given. It has aspects of a Faux Documentary, with real interviews with people on the street about the episode's question, interspersed with comedic sketches. Ran for three seasons on RTÉ between 2009 and 2011. There was also a Christmas special at the end of series three in 2011.
The fourth series ran in May and June 2014 on RTÉ Two.
The Savage Eye provides examples of:
- All Gays are Promiscuous: Mick 'The Bull' Daly claims that all 'quaaares' will try to trick you into riding them.
- Answer Cut: This exchange.Liam Fay: In the past, people might've recognised someone from the television, gone up and gotten their autograph. Now, they're more likely to go up and punch them.(cut)Hector Ó hEochagáin: Rahoo, rahoo, rahoo!
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: "The consequence of bad parenting shows itself in Ireland's high percentage of alcoholics, drug addicts and advertising executives."
- Bestiality Is Depraved: Mick 'The Bull' Daly:Mick 'The Bull' Daly: You can kill and eat animals - that's no problem, like. That's fine, you kill them and eat them. But once you start riding them, then society's like 'Oh no, you can't ride them.' But you can kill them and eat them, like. But if the animal had a choice, huh?
- Big Bad: The British and the Catholic Church.
- Big Ol' Eyebrows: Mick 'The Bull' Daly has massive grey eyebrows.
- Blatant Lies: From the Sports episode, the 'completely impartial' football referee, in the match between England and Ireland, who is wearing a Union Jack waistcoat and top hat.
- Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs: "I am half-lesbian and half-vegetarian, or 'Lesbitarian', if you will."
- Breathless Non Sequitur: The presenter for RTE news does this quite often.Go fuck yourself, it's six o'clock. My vagina is as eager as the clapping flippers of a wet sea-lion.
- British Stuffiness: Parodied in a fake, British, war propaganda film. The children of Britain are shown as being smart and well-educated, having learned from birth how to be useful and productive members of society. The Irish children, on the other hand, only learn how to dance and play. Thus, when an atomic bomb goes off, the British children are able to quickly construct bomb shelters and tend to the injured, while the Irish children are left soot-faced (but still dancing).
- Catchphrase: Hector Ó hEochagáin — "Rahoo! Rahoo! Rahoo!"
- John Duffy — "How did that make you feel?", "Ah jeeyaysus"
- Mick 'The Bull' Daly — "Fuckin' quaaares!"
- Pat Kenny — "Woooooooow"
- Patsy — "Stick it in a pan!"
- Ireland's President for Life has a minor one — "On behalf of the Irish Nation, this is happening."
- Calvin Ball: The Sports episode tells us about a precursor of Gaelic football called 'Whackadabollockin' where the object is to hit someone's testicles with a hurdle.
- Also mentioned is 'Eel Wrangling' and 'Potato Whispering'.
- Cloud Cuckoolander: Most of the characters.
- The Garda Sergeant.
- Hector Ó hEochagáin.
- Ireland's President for Life.
- John Duffy.
- Mick 'The Bull' Daly.
- Cluster F-Bomb: Whenever Mick 'The Bull' Daly speaks.
- Comedic Sociopathy: John Duffy gets great (sexual) pleasure from hearing people's sad stories.
- Ireland's President for Life advises foreigners to precede good news with bad news, so your neighbours won't hate you.
- Creation Story: The President for Life claims to have given birth to Ireland —President for Life: As You Know, I gave birth to Ireland. I was in labour for 800 years. The doctors grabbed hold of the six counties and try as they might, it wouldn't budge. But finally, with the help of a shire horse and a tug boat, it all came out. The doctors were surprised because they'd never witnessed the birth of a nation before.
- Did I Just Say That Out Loud?: This exchange from the Family episode:Minister for using Three Similar Words: This government is a family and I think in every family there has to be a bit of secrecy.Minister for Breathlessness to Convey Sincerity: And no different to any Irish family, there are things that have gone on within this family like favouritism, alcoholism, violence...Minister for the Awareness of Problems: Buggery!(All ministers turn and look at him uncomfortably)
- Even Evil Has Standards: John Duffy remarks that the theme from Schindler's List is almost too miserable.
- Evil Laugh: Mick 'The Bull' Daly.
- Female Misogynist: Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh, who belittles any woman who comes onto her show (to date — a politican, an animal rights activist, a farmer and an astronaut) and tells them they should be at home doing the baby's nappies or minding their children instead.
- Flanderization: John (Joe) Duffy. In the first three seasons he was simply a normal man who enjoyed (and sometimes got sexual pleasure out of) hearing listeners' miserable stories. By series four, he has become a Nosferatu-like creature with an assistant that can't hear any hint of happiness without visibly recoiling.
- From the Mouths of Babes: The first episode of season 4 describes how the Internet has caused the children of Ireland to lose their innocence. This is demonstrated with a group of children who decide to play Cowboys and Indians.Boy: Okay, the Indians live over there peacefully, and we'll attack.Children: Yaaaay!Girl: And we'll make you surrender, and steal all your land and demonise your culture!Children: Yaaaay!
- "Did you get all that, boys and girls?" "Fuck Protestants!"
- Gag Nose: David McSavage
- Heteronormative Crusader: Mick 'The Bull' Daly, who believes that homosexuals ('quaaares' as he calls them) are vampires that live in mountains, can fly, have magical powers and have claws.
- He is completely oblivious to (or chooses to ignore) the fact that his own son, Mickey, is a very camp homosexual (in hiding though, of course, given who his father is!).
- Mick even says he would have to claw his son apart with a hammer if it turned out that he was 'quaaar'.
- He is completely oblivious to (or chooses to ignore) the fact that his own son, Mickey, is a very camp homosexual (in hiding though, of course, given who his father is!).
- Hilariously Abusive Childhood: Mick 'The Bull' Daly's had a pretty screwed-up upbringing.
- Hypocritical Humour: "I just think it's criminal, the control that religion has in the countries. Anyway, we'll take a break there for the Angelus, and we'll be right back!"
- I Am the Noun: Ireland's President for Life claims to be the nation of Ireland itself.
- In the Sports episode, she travels back in time
to November 19, 2009 and cuts Thierry Henry's hand off for knocking "me, the Irish Nation" out of the World Cup.
- In the Sports episode, she travels back in time
- Incredibly Lame Pun: "I had a very bad experience with laughter when I was a child." "What do you mean?" "I was amused by a priest!"
- Jerkass:
- In-Universe: Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh — she interrupts, makes faces at and insults all her guests.
- Militaries Are Useless: The Irish Defence Forces, as portrayed in Series 4.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh.
- John Duffy, the radio presenter parody of Joe Duffy.
- Hector Ó hEochagáin.
- Pat Kenny.
- Ireland's President For Life is a parody of real life Irish president Mary Robinson (1990 — 1997).
- Her Housebound It, Mary's real life husband, Nicholas Robinson.
- Seamus Heaney.
- Daniel Day-Lewis and Rihanna, since series four.
- Non-Answer: The Minister for using Three Similar Words.
- The Minister for Breathlessness to Convey Sincerity isn't much better.
- Noodle Incident: Any of Mick 'The Bull' Daly's stories
- Any of the President for Life's stories about her past.
- Obligatory Bondage Song: Rihanna's song that she sings after claiming that —Rihanna: (heavy Caribbean accent) Woman is always aks-in' me about love. But sometimes all a woman wants from a man is a punch and to be called a dirty little slut.
- Oireland: Parodied, especially with relation to Cavan people.
- In the tourism episode, a passing Irish peasant is engaged in conversation with some upper class English gentlemen on holiday in Ireland (the joke being that when the Irish man walks off, he goes back to acting normal and mutters under his breath "For fuck's sake!")
Gentleman: I say, Irishman, wonderful weather we're having!Irishman: (doing a little jig) Oh ho ho ho, 'tis, 'tis, to be sure, to be sure. - Ominous Latin Chanting: "O Fortuna" from Carmina Burana plays every time the Catholic priest robs the little boy in the 'Catholic Church' titles.
- Once per Episode: In almost every episode, 'British Rule' and 'The Catholic Church' are reasons number one and two.
- Pedophile Priest: The Catholic priest who steals the little boy in the 'Catholic Church' titles.
- Permanent Elected Official: Ireland's President For Life.
- Police Are Useless: The Gardai in the classroom, mostly due to the unusual and incompetent methods of the Sergeant teaching them.
- In a domestic dispute, he ignores the actual good suggestions by the students and tells them to either drive slowly past the house, or get out standing far away and say 'Keep it down'.Sergeant: Repeat after me — domestic dishputes will always sort themselves out!
- In other situations, such as when learning how to take care of a baby, the above dynamic is reversed. The students act like Cloud Cuckoo Lander manchildren while the Garda Sergeant is Surrounded by Idiots.
- In a domestic dispute
- Self-Deprecation: Not exactly self, but McSavage frequently ridicules and makes fun of Fianna Fáil, despite the fact that his real life father (David Andrews) and brother (Barry Andrews) were both TDs (MPs) for that party in the Irish Parliament.
- Show Within a Show:
- "Edwin & Patsy".
- "Embarrassing Moments with Pat Kenny".
- Sir Swearsalot: Mick 'The Bull' Daly likes to use the F word a lot.
- Super Zeroes: "Dead Man", a superhero whose power is being dead. It's actually quite effective: Dead Man is rolled over on a stretcher towards the scene of a mugging. The mugger feels so awkward and uncomfortable around the dead person that he walks off without taking the victim's handbag.
- It helped that the position he fell in was (bare) ass up.
- Surreal Humor
- Unusual Euphemism: Ireland's President for Life teaching Ajiboye the euphemisms pertaining to the Irish family:
- 'Fond of a few drinks' for a raging alcoholic.
- 'On tablets' for an out-and-out drug addict.
- 'Trouble with his nerves' for any family member who suffers from Alzheimers, Depression or Dementia.
- 'Grand' for any family member who is bipolar, bulimic, suicidal, physically or sexually abusive, sitting on a couch rocking back and forth eating biscuits.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Ireland's population is said to be this to each other as friends in the episode on why the Irish love to be unhappy.
- Wacky Sound Effect: The President for Life's Housebound It.
- Whatevermancy: Mick 'The Bull' Daly's mother used to read people's shite (faeces) in a cup to tell their future.
- Word Salad Humour: "Of course I have a vagina. I don't have it with me. It's strapped to a skateboard, rolling down a hill, being chased by a rabbit."
