Irish Eye on Hollywood:
TV & Streaming Report

Frasier, starring the late John Mahoney, who was born in England to Irish parents, is streaming on Netflix. (Photo: NBC)

By Tom Deignan, Columnist
April / May 2018

New, recent, and noteworthy Irish shows streaming on various services.

℘℘℘

The aforementioned Domhnall Gleeson is currently appearing in the Netflix comedy-drama A Futile and Stupid Gesture, about the wild and crazy days of the magazine National Lampoon, which influenced a generation of comics and launched the careers of many Irish American comedy writers, including Doug Kenney, P.J. O’Rourke, Michael O’Donoghue, and Brian McConnachie. Will Forte, Ed Helms, Thomas Lennon, and Joel McHale also appear in A Futile and Stupid Gesture’s very large cast.

Domhnall Gleeson’s father, Brendan Gleeson, will soon be appearing in one of the more highly-anticipated Netflix shows. The Coen brothers (The Big Lebowski, Miller’s Crossing) will soon release The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, a western anthology series, along the lines of The Twilight Zone and Black Mirror. Gleeson’s fellow Irish thespian Liam Neeson is also reportedly set to appear in Buster Scruggs, along with James Franco, Zoe Kazan, and Tyne Daly.

Finally, the recent passing of John Mahoney – an English emigrant whose family roots are in Cork – in February at the age of 77 provides a good opportunity to look back on this amazing career, via streaming movies or DVD. While Mahoney was best known for his role in TV’s Frasier, there were also many movie roles that may have been small, but were gems. Among the best was his role as the meek Perry in Moonstruck, an Italian American romantic comedy-drama written by Irish American John Patrick Shanley. Mahoney also shines as the grumpy dad in the 1989 comedy Say Anything, alongside Irish American John Cusack. Finally, Mahoney did play Irish, as Mr. Fitzpatrick, in Ed Burns’ 1996 film She’s the One, Burns’s follow-up to his breakout hit The Brothers McMullen. ♦

MORE FROM IRISH EYE ON HOLLYWOOD:

Fiona Shaw’s French Turn in Collette

Ireland’s Great Hunger Revenge Movie Finally Premieres

A Year in the Life of Brosnan

Domhnall Gleeson Becomes a Little Stranger

A Hereditary Horror

Irish Shine in McQueen’s New Thriller