DESPITE THE FURTHER easing restrictions come Monday, weekends in front of the TV are not over just yet. 

Although there’s no shortage of content to stream online, sometimes you just want to hear a familiar face talk about their time in lockdown, or discuss some Hollywood gossip. 

Here’s our latest round-up of talk show content from the week and what will be on tonight. There should be plenty here to keep anyone occupied.

Some Comic Relief  

• RTÉ Does Comic Relief, RTÉ One 8pm

Tonight, in a three-and-a-half-hour special, RTÉ is returning to its telethon roots. 

Hosted by Deirdre O’Kane, Nicky Byrne, Jennifer Zamperelli, Baz Ashmawy and Eoghan McDermott, Ireland’s take on the British fundraising night will feature some of the country’s top comedians and actors raising funds for the Community Foundation For Ireland. 

While a majority of the skits and sketches have been filmed by the comedians and actors themselves, you’ll be happy to hear that a few were not – Normal People being one of them.

Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar Jones will be reviving their Connell and Marianne characters for a sketch written by playwright Conor McPherson and directed by Lenny Abrahamson who says the premise is “top secret”. 

Another sketch to look out for tonight is the Derry Girls reunion via Zoom. Erin, Orla, Clare, Michelle and James’ group call is probably the only video chat you might actually want to be on at this stage. 

A few famous faces that will pop up during the evening includes: Saoirse Ronan, Dara O’Briain, Andrew Scott, Hozier, Roy Keane,  Chris O’Dowd, Jason Byrne, Aisling Bea, and David Mitchell.  

While RTÉ has announced who is taking part in tonight’s show, they haven’t said what they’ll be doing or who’ll they’ll be in a sketch with, so people should keep an eye out for some “unexpected combinations” and “surprise cameos”, according to the producers. 

Across The Pond

After spending what was no doubt a joyous few months in Dalkey, Matt Damon resurfaced this week on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

While Kimmel is announcing that he will be taking the summer off, Damon appears and falsely tells Jimmy that he has spent the last three months in his basement. A hurtful lie.  

Over on Last Week Tonight, John Oliver’s latest deep dive involves incarceration and coronavirus.

While Irish prisons have managed to contain the spread of Covid-19, jails in the US are seeing an alarming spike in infections. Oliver breakdowns why down the virus has spread so rapidly behind bars and what can be done to stop it.

Jimmy Fallon meanwhile chatted with comedian Sarah Cooper about her rise to internet stardom for her Trump impressions on Tik Tok, Twitter and Instagram.  

Trump’s former National Security Advisor John Bolton has been doing the rounds on US talk shows promoting his new tell-all book The Room Where It Happened. 

On The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Bolton says he believes there is more damaging behaviour yet to be revealed with regards to Trump’s quid pro quo with Ukraine and similar dealings with other foreign governments.

Colbert doesn’t give Bolton an easy ride for not testifying during this year’s impeachment trial which the new author claims was too partisan. 

From the Archives  

With pubs set to reopen soon, you’re probably thinking about the sip of that first stout – and balancing it on your head to impress the other patrons. 

Take some inspiration from Carlowman Mick ‘Mull’ Mulrooney in this RTÉ Archives clip from 1986 – the undisputed pint and whiskey balancer in Ireland. 

Not only can Mull balance a pint on his head, but he can pick up a box of matches while doing it. 

“If the Minister for Finance could balance the budget as well as you balance the pints, the country would be rolling in money.”