Soupy Norman

Soupy Norman

Soupy Norman was an eight-part Irish television programme broadcast by RTÉ. It was aired weekly on Thursday nights at 23:05 on the RTÉ Two channel, in ten-minute segments. The series ran from 24 May to 24 July 2007 . The show is a comedic re-dubbing of the Polish soap opera Pierwsza miłość, which has been running on Polsat television since 2004.

The series is written and edited by Barry Murphy and Mark Doherty, with additional voices provided by Tara Flynn, Sue Collins, Luke Murphy and Mario Rosenstock. Where the original soap opera dealt with a girl leaving her family behind to go to college, the re-dubbed version of the programme explores the culture shock of a dysfunctional Cork family in Dublin. The series' surreal humour led to a cult following, with its episodes being popular on YouTube.

A special episode entitled "The Late Late Soupy Norman Tribute" which featured dubbed clips from RTÉ's The Late Late Show as well as clips from previous episodes of Soupy Norman as well as including a new scene of the show. This was broadcast on Christmas Eve 2007..

A pilot sketch for the series initially aired on Armando Iannucci’s show Time Trumpet on BBC 2.

Created By

Barry Murphy

Status

Returning Series

Original Name

Soupy Norman

First Air Date

May 24, 2007

Last Air Date

July 12, 2007

Seasons

1

Episodes

8

Language

English

Production Companies

Networks

S01E08

Who Was Soupy Norman?

Jack's estranged wife cannot beat him a staring contest, so she tries to arrange his murder. She first asks a politician called Finbarr, asking him to "put a sword up (Jack's) hole", but he is mainly interested in smelling her wrist. Sean overhears the conversation and phones the Gardaí, who do nothing. Finbarr sets Jack's house on fire, leading Jack to call "the Straz" (referring to the Polish term Straż pożarna, meaning firefighter). Jack's wife then asks Soupy Dave (previously seen in "Taxi") to murder Jack, but they end up having an affair instead. Soupy Norman comes into Jack and Grandad's house saying he'll kill the two of them with a frying pan. While they think he is joking, Jack is later hit over the head by Soupy.

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