Our Guide to the Late Late Toy Show

Any guesses for what the most watched TV show in Ireland is? Given the nation’s obsession with sport, you might be forgiven for thinking it must be the All Ireland Football final. But it isn’t a sporting match, although you certainly need endurance to get through it.

I’ll give you a clue, it kicks off the Christmas season here in Ireland and is a treasured seasonal institution for many many Irish households. The answer of course is The Late Late Toy Show.

What is the Late Late Toy Show?

If you don’t live in Ireland you most likely haven’t heard of it. So what is The Late Late Toy Show I hear you ask? This is a surprisingly difficult question to answer for someone who has never seen it! And even then, it can be tricky for someone that didn't grow up here to really understand.

At first glance, it is an annual TV spot that has been running for nearly 50 years on THE late night talk show in Ireland - The Late Late Show. What started as a 25 min segment in the 70's for parents to see what their kids were dreaming of in an age before the internet, has grown to a 2hr + long show, where the host cedes control to kids trying out all the latest toys of the season.

As the name suggests, it starts late. It kicks off around 9:30 pm, well past most kid’s bedtime, which is part of the appeal for the smaller people in our house anyway! There are featured toys, giveaways, musical numbers, story-telling and sweet surprises. But this doesn’t really encapsulate all that the Toy Show is for Irish people.

A Collective and Charitable event wrapped up in a bow

A whopping 81% of Irish TV viewers tune in to see the madness unfold each year, making it by far the most watched show on Irish television. The roads are empty and the pubs have a quieter night. Many more Irish abroad tune in online, with the show streamed from 150+ countries outside of Ireland, including all fifty states in the United States. It is a collective event like no other in the Irish calendar.

Superficially it is about showcasing the latest and greatest toys, but it is also a charitable event. Over €17 million has been raised by the Toy Show Appeal since 2020. In 2021 alone, the show raised a whopping 6.5 million euro for charity, including over 1 million from the founder of Revolut after the app crashed under the weight of Late Late Toy Show donations!

Why is The Late Late Toy Show so popular?

So what is the appeal? As an outsider that grew up far from Ireland’s green shores, I found it hard to understand at first. But after watching it with my own children, I'm slowly being won over to team Toy Show.

From the outside it may look like a long form advertisement for toys. But after watching you realize that it's quite a bit more. For a few hours every year, the entire country stops and joins together to hear what kids have to say. The results can be hilarious, heartwarming, and heartbreaking all at once.

The island stops to watch

Ironically another "blow-in" like myself, named Rye Aker, captured the spirit of the Toy Show in his 2020 poem. He has explained it so well I think we can leave it there:

Toy Show
by Rye Aker

Who would have thought
A country of rocks and winds
And hardened hoors would stall.
Just stop.
Dead. In its tracks.
On a drinking night
for a chat show where all guests
Are less than three feet tall.

I waited to see Mattel's finest
yet toys faded silently like the
mountain of teddy bears
in the background.
We heard the excited
voices of those
hopeful citizens
who never speak on TV after nine.

Into every sittingroom,
falsetto tones rang out
Past roaring fires
toasting furry jammies,
munching
Mr Tayto's latest work
Stay-uppers
thrilled to the clock
strike ten, eleven, twelve.
They tuned for treats
but were taught a lesson
in how a country treats
its youngest. A Masters Degree in
soundness and decency
passed subliminally
with the crunch of crisps
Into their voracious minds.

We all wept at bravery
and hope of those who
will walk this land after us,
who will lie in the shadows
of the trees we plant, and learn
kindness from that
shown to them
And others.

Want to join in?

Want to join in and see what all the fuss is about? There is a new host this year. Patrick Kielty will be the fourth person ever to helm this treasured institution as he takes over. A nation will hold it's breath to see how he gets on. And you can too - tune in to The Late Late Toy Show live on the RTÉ Player on Friday the 24th November this year at 9:35pm Irish time (GMT). Or watch it later on catch up on-demand.