Talk:Mrs. Brown's Boys

Episodes
could someone plz put in the episodes?

Interpretation of The Guardian's review of the show
I think it's a little odd to say that Dessau's review compared Mrs Brown's Boys to "Pinter, Brecht, Chekhov and Sophocles" just because their names are mentioned (or, in the case of Sophocles, just because the name of one of the characters in his play appears). The use of "Pinteresque" as an adverb cannot really be called a comparison, nor does the term "Beckett-like bleakness of Hancock" imply a comparison between Mrs Brown's Boys and Beckett or his work. Similarly, just because "Chekhov's Gun" is invoked to explain why the show is enjoyable doesn't mean that the reviewer sees a correlation between it and the work of Chekhov. The invocation of Sophocles, however, is the worst of the lot. I hope this sentence (which includes the single word in the entire article that can be connected with Sophocles) will explain why:
 * "The cast, who include – holy Oedipus! – O'Carroll's wife Jennifer as daughter Cathy, certainly enjoy themselves, regularly corpsing."

Anyway, I've edited out the four offending names, and, for the sake of minimising my edit, included a couple of the other shows that are brought up in the review.Aquamonkey (talk) 00:59, 8 March 2011 (UTC)

Ratings section
I've been reverted a couple of times, for adding the 'Consolidated' ratings of the Christmas and S2/E1 episodes of the article. The IP responded 'BARB is inaccurate', BARB is the official and only source of TV data in the UK that I know of, the 'Overnight' ratings come from the Digital Spy source which come from overnights.tv who get the data from BARB's Overnight figures. Overnight ratings are only as they say 'overnight' 'Consolidated’ data incorporates playback of time-shifted content within 7 days of the original broadcast. This timeshift viewing is added to the live data to produce consolidated viewing data made available 8 days after the original transmission date. If this does not make sense do ask --  [[ axg  ◉  talk   ]] 20:33, 20 January 2012 (UTC)

If the BARB ratings are the correct ratings why is the entire first series still referring to the Digital Spy Overnight ratings then? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Clarky323 (talk • contribs) 00:33, 21 January 2012 (UTC)
 * As said Overnight figures are BARB figures. BARB release the 'Consolidated' figures a few weeks after broadcast, they are released on the website as a 'Top 30', for example S1/E6 "Mammy of the Groom" broadcast on 21 March 2011 got 2.96m overnight, the programme after the timeshift etc figures are added, failed to appear in the 'Top 30' list meaning the programme received less than an episode of DIY SOS which had 4.45m. The reason why the overnight figures have to be used here is because of this, it is the only other source of ratings. --  [[ axg  ◉  talk   ]] 22:29, 21 January 2012 (UTC)

so what your basically saying is the whole of the first series viewing figures are incorrect and cannot be corrected. Also, what are the timeshift figures exactly? because if these are added to the overnights then the timeshift figures for the xmas special for example are over 2 million. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Clarky323 (talk • contribs) 00:14, 23 January 2012 (UTC)
 * In a way yes, however the Top 30 is part of the free service that BARB provide, a subscription service is also provided however, this costs £7,320 annually plus other costs, paying this possible for broadcasters only but not for your everyday Wikipedian. The first series should indicate that they are overnight figures. I can't provide the breakdown of the timeshift viewing, but this includes DVD, BD as well as BBC iPlayer viewings, other BBC programmes for that time of year have had a boost in viewing from timshift. --  [[ axg  ◉  talk   ]] 00:31, 23 January 2012 (UTC)

Factual Errors
The film Agnes Brown was based on the novel The Mammy and was retitled Agnes Brown as a tie-in novel for the movies release with photo cover of its stars and has previously released as The Mammy blurb on it, also according to Brendan O'Carroll there was also a five minute radio version of Mrs Browns Boys on RTE radio in 1999 not mentioned here. And the novel The Scrapper is not a Mrs Brown story.81.111.124.190 (talk) 20:19, 24 January 2012 (UTC)

Overnight Ratings
after a lot of discussion and changing the ratings section on the page, I have decided to post the overnight ratings here for people who think the overnights are the important ones, I believe the overnight ratings should be the ones everyone should know because it indicates exactly how many people watched the program at the time it was aired, the official rating includes the number of viewers in the 7 days following the original broadcast on bbc iPlayer and so on, the extra people who watch this on BBC iPlayer in the 7 following days could be watching it for a second time (or even a third) where as the overnights tells you the EXACT number of viewers when it first aired.

Series 2 overnight ratings

 * So we are going to forget about the other million odd people that watched it? I don't think using overnight ratings is an accurately indication of viewing figures. "Watch this on BBC iPlayer in the 7 following days could be watching it for a second time (or even a third)" - BARB may count a person watching it twice as a new figure, or it may count per IP address, we can't find this out, and what about the people watching it for the first time? --  [[ axg  ◉  talk   ]] 14:57, 31 January 2012 (UTC)

Yes it might be people watching it for the first time but we don't know for sure do we? at least with the overnight its spot on, exactly the amount of people who have watched it, plus, aren't ratings suppose to be the amount of people who watched the original broadcast? for example, Coming of Age got viewed by about 1 million people on BBC iPlayer alone, considerably more than the original broadcast but it got axed partly due to low viewing figures. Also, I wasn't happy with the BARB ratings being added to the ratings section but I let you include it, why not just let me do this, its out of the way of the main page and then maybe people can see how many people watched it on the original broadcast AND how many people watched it on timeshift. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Clarky323 (talk • contribs) 21:05, 31 January 2012 (UTC)
 * As a solution would you agree on both figures being used, with the relevant 'Overnight' and 'Consolidated' in brackets next to each? --  [[ axg  ◉  talk   ]] 19:41, 2 February 2012 (UTC)

if you want, I don't mind either way, this way or your way, you choose. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Clarky323 (talk • contribs) 20:41, 2 February 2012 (UTC)

Just to clarify, overnight ratings include recordings watched that same night, up to 2am (and incidentally people who watch and record, and watch again are counted twice). Consolidated ratings include iPlayer use only via the TV (e.g. Sky on Demand): PC, tablet and mobile are not currently counted. Again, repeat viewings (whether recorded on a PVR/VCR/DVD-R or using iPlayer via the TV) are counted again.

Also, under Reception/United Kingdom, I think we should give the consolidated rating of 11.52m (36.3%) for Christmas Day 2013, to keep it consistent with the ratings given for Christmas 2012 in the previous sentence. That rating is taken from Broadcast magazine (10 January 2014, but I am not sure how to add that reference correctly. --Neil W (talk) 20:45, 12 May 2014 (UTC)

Racist ?
Can we not put something about the negative affects of self stereotyping by Irish nationals and the racist implications thereof?

What I mean is. If an Englishman put on a Irish accent acted foolishly and swore a lot he would be told he was both stereotyping and racist. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 109.149.19.249 (talk) 18:43, 5 February 2012 (UTC)


 * When Mrs Brown was on RTE radio many years ago, there were no complaints of racism ( that I am aware of). O'Carroll was just an Irish commedian doing an Irish character. Now that he's doing a co-production with BBC that still doesn't change. Similarly if we laugh at Mr Bean, we are laughing at an Englishman, but that's not what racism is. Aberdeen01 (talk) 04:17, 1 April 2012 (UTC)

You mean xenophobic surely. Even still as already said its an Irish made show of Irish actors. Racism or xenophobia can't come into it. 92.25.102.100 (talk) 23:27, 1 November 2012 (UTC)

Fast forward to 2023. If we can be honest, and avoid any attempts at deflecting the issue, should not this article make clear that the BBC are shamelessly using "Mrs Brown's" Irishness as licence to make cheap jokes and play to all the most long-standing and negative English views of Irish people? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2.27.2.29 (talk) 08:11, 10 September 2023 (UTC)

Started as a Radio show?
From memory Mrs Brown started as a radio show in RTE a couple of decades ago. Did the radio show predate the books? I reckon the original radio programme deserves a mention, though I need to find a good source / reference. Aberdeen01 (talk) 04:17, 1 April 2012 (UTC)
 * From memory aswell the radio show was early to mid-90s, in the afternoon on 2FM, cant remember exactly when, will try to find a reference. The books where late 90s, so the radio show predates it. Will go through the RTE website later looking for refs. Murry1975 (talk) 07:33, 1 April 2012 (UTC)
 * http://www.rte.ie/tv/ttv/thecafe/brendantatiana.html
 * "'Mrs Brown's Boys' started off as a radio show on 2FM and led to the creation Agnes Browne who became the central character in Brendan's first novel, 'The Mammy', published in 1994. "
 * http://www.herald.ie/entertainment/tv-radio/critics-hate-us-but-they-never-say-how-the-audience-is-screaming-with-laughter-2589289.html
 * "Dublin matriarch Agnes Brown was a character originally created for 2fm nearly 20 years ago, but went on to become a play, a movie starring Anjelica Huston and now a hit TV series"
 * http://rteworldplayer.tv/ten/2011/1222/ocarrollbrendan.html
 * "From small beginnings on 2fm back in the early 90s, Mrs Brown's Boys has truly gone international"
 * http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/kfqlojkfmhey/rss2/
 * "The world of Agnes Brown began in 1992 as a five-minute comedy series for RTÉ 2fm. It ran until 1994 and was so popular that Mr O’Carroll decided to bring Mrs Brown and her boys to the stage."
 * I think that could be enough sources. Including the year first broadcast on the radio in the last ref, 1992. Murry1975 (talk) 08:02, 1 April 2012 (UTC)


 * Good research Murry1975.
 * Thanks
 * Aberdeen01 (talk) 13:41, 2 April 2012 (UTC)

Mrs not Mrs.
The show is "Mrs Brown's Boys" not Mrs. as the article title and associated article titles are. Is it too much to suggest moving it to the correct title? And perhaps the others too? Murry1975 (talk) 18:11, 7 April 2012 (UTC)
 * That is not definitive, that lists a whole load of 'Mrs.' (25) vs 'Mrs' (4), as does the mrsbrownsboys.com. RTÉ is at 'Mrs.'. The titlecard itself has 'Mrs.'. --  [[ axg  ◉  talk   ]] 21:39, 7 April 2012 (UTC)
 * What way do you reckon AxG would be the best way? Reading the production website it headlines Mrs then goes Mrs., Rte change betwixt, and Amzon http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_5/183-2061216-2231440?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=mrs+browns+boys&sprefix=mrs+b%2Caps%2C602 lists both aswell. Murry1975 (talk) 23:00, 7 April 2012 (UTC)
 * Yep not clear at all. But the titlecard, DVD, blu-ray covers all read 'Mrs.'. So I would say that is the main usage. --  [[ axg  ◉  talk   ]] 23:31, 7 April 2012 (UTC)
 * OK argee with AxG and points made, even if there are examples of both, most go for Mrs.. Murry1975 (talk) 17:10, 8 April 2012 (UTC)

Old Mother Riley
An elderly Irish woman with a nice line in invective played by a male comedian in drag with his stage daughter played by his real life wife. Not exactly an orginal premise is it? (86.183.61.72 (talk) 11:43, 8 June 2012 (UTC))

number of children?
I know has not really got anything to do with the article as such but can anyone explain why Mrs Brown keeps reffering to 6 children when only 5 have ever been shown on screen unless she counts grandad as a child? Penrithguy (talk) 21:27, 8 October 2012 (UTC)

Reception
The reception section in this article seems to outright take statements out of context from the sources, and often completely changed what the source says. For example, one of the references says "the kind of show that makes you vaguely embarrassed to be Irish", but in the article it says "proud to be Irish". Big problem. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.3.253.215 (talk) 14:48, 31 December 2012 (UTC)
 * Fixed. It seems it was vandalised two days ago and no one apart from you noticed. Thank you and Happy New Year! Peteb16 (talk) 16:10, 31 December 2012 (UTC)

"is and Irish sitcom"
I'm trying to keep the first line like this: "Mrs. Brown's Boys is an award winning sitcom created by and starring Irish writer and performer Brendan O'Carroll." Some have tried to add Irish before the word sitcom to. I'm not directly disputing it's nationality, because it is Irish, but it's also British. So you could say "is an award winning Irish/British sitcom created by and starring Irish writer and performer Brendan O'Carroll.", but this, in my opinion, looks messy and doesn't flow. So why include it at all? Where it is filmed and where it set and what production companies made it is discussed later in the lead, so it's apparent dual nationality can be deducted from this, can it not? Peteb16 (talk) 19:56, 19 January 2013 (UTC)

Mrs. Browns Boys is actually only a British sitcom with it only having an Irish writer and performer Brendan O' Carroll and starring Irish actors yet it is a British sitcom as it was created by British BBC Vision. Due to this, when it comes to Mrs. Browns Boys I believe that it should have (is an award winning British sitcom) on its Wikipedia page as it was created by British BBC Vision but instead it only has (is an award winning sitcom). I believe this is wrong and should be changed as it does not tell the reader the country of origin of Mrs. Browns Boys it just says that Mrs. Browns Boys is an award winning sitcom and no country of origin, which by the way is Britain. Owenfighter1000 (talk) 03:25, 28 August 2013 (UTC)


 * What you have just said is your opinion, we as Wikipedia users cannot define our own criteria for defining a sitcom's country of origin and, as the country of origin is ambiguous, it's best not to mention it and stick with the facts we can accurately source. It's a sitcom, it's won awards and it was created by Brendan O'Carroll (not the BBC - The BBC just film it in association with two Irish companies). No one will ever agree it's British or Irish, nor are you likely to find a reliable external source to prove it. If we put both we're only going to argue on which we put first. It's ridiculous and unnecessary and it makes the sentence bloated. So please can we just leave it as it was? Peteb16 (talk) 08:15, 6 September 2013 (UTC)

After rewriting the lead, mainly to include more information as per the maintenance tag, I deliberately included in the first sentence the production companies that make MBB and their respective nationalities. This clarifies to the reader its country of origin without labelling the show as either Irish or British. The reader is free to make up their own mind and no rules are broken. Peteb16 (talk) 23:28, 4 January 2014 (UTC)

Laughing track?
Whilst it is obviously performed in front of a live audience, is the show not broadcast to a 'laughing track'? If you listen closely, the laughing doesn't 'naturally' fit the speech - often being too excitable and often after every sentence - and is similar to those shows we know of that are set to a laughing track. Any takers? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 37.26.78.99 (talk) 18:28, 24 January 2013 (UTC)
 * As in the best interests of the encyclopedia, if you have a source please add, if not please dont add. Murry1975 (talk) 18:38, 24 January 2013 (UTC)


 * Even on sitcoms performed in front of studio audiences the laughter is sometimes added/taken away (either to include it or to replace an overlong laugh). This was true on Friends for instance and I'm sure is true of many.--Tuzapicabit (talk) 09:35, 10 July 2014 (UTC)


 * BUT were not talking about a US comedy are we? were on about a Glasgow based comedy one, I very much doubt it does have a laugher track. --Crazyseiko (talk) 12:41, 10 July 2014 (UTC)

How many children?
Mrs Brown announces in season 2, episode 2 that she has 6 orphans. Now there's Dermot, Mark, Rory, Cathy and Trevor...Who is number 6? Thanks ツ Je no va  20  (email) 14:16, 2 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Supposition: There was apparently character known as Simon in the original films who was one of Agnes' sons. He's never appeared in the sitcom however, but it seems he's still counted. Peteb16 (talk) 15:43, 2 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Ahhhh...Thank you very much Peteb16 ツ Je no va  20  (email) 00:15, 3 March 2013 (UTC)

Mrs. Browns Boys is a British sitcom
Mrs. Browns Boys is a British sitcom and my reasons for this is down below.

Mrs. Browns Boys I believe should have (is an award winning British sitcom) on its Wikipedia page as it was created by British BBC Vision but instead it only has (is an award winning sitcom). I believe this is wrong and should be changed as it does not tell the reader the country of origin of Mrs. Browns Boys it just says that Mrs. Browns Boys is an award winning sitcom and no country of origin, which by the way is Britain. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Owenfighter1000 (talk • contribs) 03:29, 28 August 2013 (UTC)


 * It is a joint Irish-British production, and the article doesn't disguise this fact. Everyone knows the BBC-Sco is a British production company. No idea about BocPix (shouldn't that be a red-link?) Can someone please clarify the manual of style on this? I'm perfectly comfortable seeing just "Irish" in the info'box as that is the country of origin, although it's filmed in Scotland. I feel adding "British" to the lead would be confusing, even if it is talking about the production, and I see no issue with the way the Info'box is. Ramble ramble. And hey it's OK, I mean I just did an eight hour shift at work but I'm spending my free time helping out ^__^ --Somchai Sun (talk) 19:04, 28 August 2013 (UTC)


 * My response to this is the same as under "is an Irish sitcom". I completely agree with Somchai Sun. Just adding that BocPix is Irish. There's no source for this, but as it's O'Corroll's own production company (Boc = Brendon O'C) it's not going to be British. Peteb16 (talk) 08:19, 6 September 2013 (UTC)


 * Its not just a British sitcom, since if the original user had any understanding about Mrs browns boys, he would know its been going for years and years and years. Then BBC Scotland come along and pick it up, if he really wants to be accurate he should have said, "Celtic" MBB was created in Ireland, stageshow has tour in UK and Ireland for years.., MBB TV sitcom was created in Scotland. --Crazyseiko (talk) 08:32, 6 September 2013 (UTC)

O'Carroll's inspiration for the character
Somewhere we should mention that O'Carroll's mother was the inspiration for the character of Mrs Brown, particularly as this article says that Maureen O'Carroll was Ireland's first female TD. Any thoughts on how to include this? Paul MacDermott (talk) 19:59, 1 January 2014 (UTC)

similarities to Bread
I don't want to appear funny, or suggest anything, but has anyone else noticed the similarities between Mrs Brown and Bread? The mother, the five children - four sons, one girl - and the absent father? They even have the same photograph of Jesus at the bottom of the stairs that Mrs Brown has in her kitchen! It's a bit funny, if it's a coincidence... Clements1997 (talk) 14:34, 12 December 2015 (UTC)

Critical reaction a sign of systematic bias
An interesting string of tweets here by Helen Lewis of the New Statesman - this is a show that doesn't get many (or any) op-eds written in praise of it because it's not a show watched by the sort of people who write op-eds. Is the Critical reception section biased towards disliking reviewers or are critics just unrepresentative of the audience? Timrollpickering 23:02, 14 January 2017 (UTC)

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Dermot O'Neill
Is there a reason why the actor Dermot O'Neill and his character Grandad Brown is not included within the section Characters? Maineartists (talk) 21:51, 17 February 2019 (UTC)

MBB, a Comedy-Free Zone
Without the BBC's media teams (and their on-line trolls) saying how 'wonderful' MBB is, would anyone want to watch such a comedy-free show? Given this, could there be a section on the way TV shows, that are well past their sell-date, are often hyped up by the BBC? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2.27.2.29 (talk) 13:55, 10 September 2023 (UTC)