After all the bombast and the clatter of 'House of Guinness,' it's time for something much more muted.
'Leonard and Hungry Paul' is an understated BBC and RTE co-production that's definitely not about alpha males.
Adapted from the well received 2019 novel by Irish civil servant Ronan Hession, it's a story of two nerdy adult friends who are anything but champions of the universe and are content to fulfil a daily ritual of playing boardgames since childhood.
Alex Lawther's softly spoken Leonard is a ghost writer of children's encyclopaedias for Paul Reid's insufferable Mark Baxter who takes all the credit for his work.
Within minutes of the show Leonard, who has a close bond with his mum, has his world turned upside down when she unexpectedly dies.
Luckily, he has Laurie Kynaston's even quirkier Hungry Paul and his family to lean on as he comes to terms with his loss.
He also falls deeply in love with a bubbly new work colleague, Jamie Lee O'Donnell's Shelley who he initially meets during a fire drill.
The problem is: Leonard doesn't really know how to tell her.
While wishing his friend all the best with his romantic endeavours, Hungry Paul is too preoccupied with other things to find love.
He spends his time visiting an elderly lady in hospital, keeping her company by holding her hand while never really talking.
And then, there's a Chamber of Commerce email sign off competition that he's entered which opens up an unexpected career path.
Hungry Paul's parents, Helen Behan's Helen and Lorcan Cranitch's Peter are preparing for his sister, Niamh Brannigan's Grace's wedding.
When they're not engaged in planning the big day, Peter likes to pretend he's a daytime quiz show genius when they're at home.
All of these plotlines in unfold over six half hour episides at a leisurely pace with not a lot of fuss.
'Leonatd and Hungry Paul' is an introverts' tale whose only flashiness is that it's narration is delivered by none other than Julia Roberts.
The 'Pretty Woman' and 'Erin Brockovich' star was secured by the producers after she she fell in love with the book shortly after its publication and sent a message of admiration to Hession.
Set in the same middle class Dublin world as Nancy Harris' wonderful comedy drana 'The Dry,' the family dynamics of 'Leonard and Hungry Paul' are very different - they're nowhere near as caustic or dysfunctional.
If anything, they're unfashionably quirky and gentle and that what's makes the show stand out.
Handsomely directed by Andrew Chaplin in breezy colours shot by Matthew Wicks, the show ambles along at a languid pace.
The humour won't blow your socks off but it's pleasant and the performances - particularly Lawther, Kynaston, Behan, Cranitch and O'Donnell's - will delight and lift your soul.
Maybe in this cynical, constantly outraged world, it's the tonic we didn't know we needed to guzzle.
But you know what? I'll take that.
('Leonard and Hungry Paul' was broadcast on BBC2 between October 20-November 24 2025,and was made available for streaming on the BBC iPlayer on October 17, 2025)
As if to prove the point I've just made, let's talk about Donald Trump.
I know: do we have to?
It's hard to believe we are only 10 months into Donald Trump's second spell as US President.
Such is his domination of the airwaves and everybody's social media feed that it already feels like two years.
His second term has been full of bombast.
It's the politics of noise and spectacle.
But is it of any consequence?
I'm not sure if we really know the answer to that after watching Channel 4's three part 'The Donald Trump Show' which takes a skittish look at his first year back in office.
My gut says, of course, it's consequential but like everything to do with Trump, watching the show's three one hour distillations of his first few months back in the White House is just draining.
The premise of Channel 4's show is simple - this is the first true reality TV Presidency.
The programme makers argue everything he does is all about attention and about grabbing ratings.
And, er, that's about it.
What you get is a succession of clips you've already seen in news bulletins, with the narrator Rick Lance sardonically commenting on them in a Southern US drawl.
Oh and there's an opening credit sequence which is like a spoof of 'The West Wing'.
But do we really need an hour of rewatching clips of the US President and his Vice President JD Vance sparring with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the White House?
Do we need to be reminded of the US President being trash talked by Elon Musk's toddler X in the Oval Office or the tech billionaire's gaucheness in front of the cameras around the US cabinet table?
Is it really essential to relive the Rose Garden announcement of Trump's tariffs on other countries and to be told that his cunning plan may not be so cunning?
No.
Watching 'The Donald Trump Show' is a bit like being on a drive and having someone point out every bus stop to you and shout: "Look, it's a bus stop!"
It's stating the obvious and it isn't going to change a Goddamn thing.
America voted Trump back into office last year and while we deal with the consequences, only America will decide how consequential his Presidency will be.
Good luck with that.
('The Donald Trump Show was broadcast on Channel 4 in the UK and Ireland on September 10-24, 2025)
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