Graham Norton to host Amazon Prime Video’s first original Irish series

LOL: Last One Laughing Ireland will be made for the streamer by Irish production company Kite Entertainment

Prime Video, Amazon’s subscription streaming service, will this spring film LOL: Last One Laughing Ireland, its first original Irish series, with Graham Norton signed up to host the comedy format.

The six-part series, which will be produced in Ireland by Dublin-based Kite Entertainment, will launch on Prime Video worldwide in 2024.

Prime Video said the Irish presenter would “oversee 10 of Ireland’s most sought-after comedy stars, brought together to make each other laugh by using every comedic tool in the box... without cracking a smile themselves”.

The show, which will also include cameos from celebrities, has a gameshow element, with the comedian who outlasts their competitors and avoids laughing crowned the winner.

READ MORE

“I’m thrilled to be the host for the first Irish original, LOL: Last One Laughing Ireland, on Prime Video, and to be working on home ground for the first time in many, many years,” said Norton.

“I’m so proud of our comedy culture and it’s wonderful to have a platform to showcase Irish talent to a global audience. I can’t wait to see what our comedy masterminds do to get the laughter going.”

The format is the latest local iteration of the successful Japanese Amazon Original series Documental, created by and starring Hitoshi Matsumoto and owned by Yoshimoto Kogyo, in which comedians bet their own money in a “battle of laughter behind closed doors”.

Local versions have followed in Mexico, Australia, India, France, Spain, Canada, the Netherlands, Colombia, Brazil and Sweden, with a South African adaptation, hosted by Trevor Noah, announced last week.

“Ireland is home to world-class comedy and a booming television scene,” said Dan Grabiner, head of Amazon Studios original programming for the UK and Northern Europe. “We can’t wait to celebrate and be part of that with our first Irish original production.”

Kite Entertainment, led by managing director Darren Smith, is the company behind television series such as Gogglebox Ireland and Ireland’s Got Talent for Virgin Media Television, Ireland’s Fittest Family and Big Life Fix for RTÉ and The Deirdre O’Kane Show for Sky.

LOL: Last One Laughing Ireland will be executive produced by Smith and Mairéad Whelan, with David Noble as series producer and Stephen Bradley as story producer. Danny Tate, who directed LOL: Last One Laughing Canada, will direct.

The Amazon streamer said the series was part of its expanding slate of original programming in Britain and Ireland.

Among the titles set to launch on the platform this year are 007′s Road to a Million, which is an unscripted adventure show “inspired” by James Bond, as well as the “stranger-than-fiction” docuseries The Greatest Show Never Made and Fifteen-Love, a drama set in the world of professional tennis starring Irish actors Ella Lily Hyland and Aidan Turner.

Laura Slattery

Laura Slattery

Laura Slattery is an Irish Times journalist writing about media, advertising and other business topics