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RAY D’ARCY BEGAN his quest to take over Saturday night telly last night – and it provoked quite a response from those eager to see what RTÉ would be serving up as prime time weekend TV from now on.

He entered the stage and could barely get started such was the hoopla in the RTÉ studio.

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He began by telling the story of how one of his neighbours popped the head over the fence during the week and said:

Good luck Ray. It’s a big deal.

No pressure, then. He then revealed that he was feeling the stress a little coming up to the new show:

I have to be honest, I am feeling a little bit of pressure this week. I was tense at home in the D’Arcy household.

Ah, Ray. It’ll be grand.

The first guest up was ex Munster rugby man Donnacha O’Callaghan

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Loads of people absolutely loved him, as he chatted away about his charity work and showed some adorable shots of his kids

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The make-up came under fire though

Still a decent, if unsurprising first guest down for Ray

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The fact that there was a massive rugby match happening at the time of the interview wasn’t lost on people

Remember the Dancing Man story from back in May? Ray had him on next

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Englishman Sean O’Brien chatted about the viral story, but it wasn’t the most timely of interviews:

Next up was Tulisa, but because of some legal wranglings she couldn’t talk about her recent trials and tribulations

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Which didn’t go down well

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The final guest of the night was the main man of the evening – Tommy Tiernan. And he had some decent lines

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Including one notable line about soft mickeys that got Ray and the crowd going

Then, Wheatus (remember them?) played out the show with TEENAGE DIRTBAG

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There was a choir involved too

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And some good gags

So, what were people’s first impressions of the show? There were plenty of lighbulbs, anyway

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Overall though, some were impressed with Ray’s first outing in the Saturday night hotseat

While others thought it was same old same old

But most people agreed that Tommy Tiernan was probably the real star of the first show

First night down Ray. Onwards to next week’s show.

Written by David Elkin and originally published on DailyEdge.ie

More: 11 times Ray D’Arcy captured the nation’s heart>