| Hardy Bucks | |
|---|---|
| Written by | Martin Maloney, Chris Tordoff, Owen Colgan, Tom Kilgallon, Peter Cassidy, Mike Cockayne |
| Starring | Martin Maloney Owen Colgan Peter Cassidy Tom Kilgallon Chris Tordoff |
| Country of origin | Ireland |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 10 |
| Production | |
| Producer | Mike Cockayne |
| Running time | 26 minutes per episode (TV) 9 minutes per webisode |
| Original release | |
| Network | RTÉ |
| Release | 19 October 2009 – 26 December 2010 |
Hardy Bucks is an Irish media series, filmed in mockumentary style and following the fictional exploits of a group of young Irishmen living in small-town Ireland.
It started out as a series of largely improvised online. A six-part webisode series went on to win the 2009 Storyland competition held by Irish national broadcaster RTÉ Television.
In January 2009, Hardy Bucks was shortlisted into the top ten of RTÉ's Storyland Project.[1] A total of 122 applications participated in the new competition.[citation needed] After a Successful pitching round, Hardy Bucks was one of nine projects that were commissioned to make one episode. According to Poll Daddy, (Irish internet Poll server) votes poured in from across the globe.[citation needed] In September 2009 it was announced that Hardy Bucks had won Storyland. [2]
September 2007, with a full cast of actors Martin Maloney, Chris Tordoff, Owen Colgan, Tom Kilgallon, Peter Cassidy, formed the core group of Hardy Bucks. After borrowing camera from equipment from BCFE and help from friends and family, they shot Hardy Bucks Episodes 1-3. After sitting on the rushes (Unedited footage; film material as recorded to tape etc.) for a year, Tordoff uploaded the shorts[clarification needed What does this mean?] to YouTube.
Hardy Bucks was entered into the RTÉ Storyland competition and from a total of 122 applications to participate in the competition, nine projects were commissioned to make one episode each. These episodes were released in March 2009. With all nine projects on the website, the public could vote for their favourite and at the end of every month the shows with the lowest amount of votes would be voted off, leaving the remaining teams to make the next episode with the same €8,000 budget per episode, ultimately the team with the largest amount of votes between the two finalists wins the competition.
The programme has been compared to Trailer Park Boys, a Canadian mockumentary, with Tordoff citing the show as an influence.[3] The show was filmed on location in Swinford, County Mayo.
In May 2010 director Mike Cockayne joined as a writer and producer. The Hardy Bucks have filmed a Christmas special and second series with director Liz Gill.
Irish Comedy series Created by Mike Cockayne was commissioned and broadcast by RTÉ from 12 October 2010 until 26 October 2010.[4] Following the success of their debut television series, the Hardy Bucks[clarification needed] were commissioned by RTÉ to produce a half-hour Christmas special which aired on 26 December 2010.
Starring Martin Maloney as Eddie Durkan, Chris Tordoff as 'The Viper'.[clarification needed What does this mean?] It is written by and produced by Mike Cockayne, Hardy Bucks features Peter Cassidy, Owen Colgan and Tom Kilgallon, plus a cast of extras from Swinford and beyond. The series was directed by Liz Gill.[5]
The three-episode television series, written by the writing trio Tordoff, Maloney and Cockayne, was commissioned and broadcast by RTÉ from 12 October 2010 until 26 October 2010.[3] Following the success of their debut television series, the Hardy Bucks were commissioned by RTÉ to produce a half-hour Christmas special which aired on 26 December 2010. The Hardy Bucks' second series, a six-episode run, was broadcast by RTÉ during 2011.
On the 9th of June 2015, it was announced that the Hardy Bucks would be returning for a third season.
| No. | Title | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Eddie & Buzz" | October 19, 2008 | |
| Introduces the two "hardy bucks" and the Viper. They visit the library where they meet "Ladybird" who runs a psychic book club. "The Boo" somehow finds his way into Eddie and Buzz's cottage, and teaches them about weapons. Eddie gets drunk and stoned the night before his Safe Pass test. | |||
| 2 | "Safe Pass" | October 19, 2008 | |
| Eddie sits the Safe Pass Course which he needs to get on the sites in Galway. Buzz has other ideas and runs away to meet new friends at Ladybirds workshop. | |||
| 3 | "The Plan" | October 20, 2008 | |
| It's time for a plan. Galway beckons but the lads have no money. With a bit of help from an unwitting buddy, they hatch a scheme that's guaranteed to at least cover the petrol money. The lads manage to escape the disturbing Aloisius Lavin but how will they throw a party if the Viper has their mushrooms? | |||
| 4 | "The Mitzi Turbo Cup" | March 16, 2009 | |
| The lads try to earn a bit of money "in the claw" by entering the Mitzi Turbo Cup - an annual underground boy racer tournament. | |||
| 5 | "Foamy Nites" | April 27, 2009 | |
| 6 | "Episode 6" | June 5, 2009 | |
| 7 | "The Drink is a Curse" | July 21, 2009 | |
| 8 | "The Interview" | August 31, 2009 | |
| 9 | "Episode 9" | September 29, 2009 | |
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Episode 1" | October 10, 2010 |
| 2 | 2 | "Episode 1" | October 17, 2010 |
| 3 | 3 | "Episode 3" | October 24, 2010 |
| 4 | 4 | "King of the Town" | October 26, 2010 |
| 5 | 5 | "Christmas Special" | December 26, 2010 |
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 1 | "Episode 1" | November 14, 2011 | |
| 7 | 2 | "Episode 2" | November 21, 2011 | |
| 8 | 3 | "Episode 3" | November 28, 2011 | |
| Having lost the cottage, the lads are homeless. Buzz and Frenchtoast move in with Simcard, leaving Eddie to move back in with his family. Eddie gets the lads work at an "LA pool party", organised by an unknown artist. | ||||
| 9 | 4 | "Episode 4" | December 5, 2011 | |
| 10 | 5 | "Episode 5" | December 12, 2011 | |
| 11 | 6 | "Episode 6" | December 19, 2011 | |
((Episode table |background=#2E5528 |overall= |season = |title= |airdate= | episodes =
11"Episode 1"October 26, 2015
The Hardy Bucks have performed live shows across Ireland and the UK, at venues including The Academy, Dublin and Three Sisters, Edinburgh, The Garage (music venue) London, Electric picnic festival 2011, Roisín Dubh (Galway).
On 28 November 2012, a trailer was released to promote The Hardy Bucks Movie, scheduled for cinematic release on 21 February 2013. The film follows the Hardy Bucks as they travel to Poland to support the Irish football team during the UEFA Euro 2012 football tournament. The film was partly funded by the Irish Film Board, which granted the project a €175,000 production loan and produced by Universal Studios. The film had a budget of €300,000 and was an Irish box office success. It grossed €176,887 on its opening weekend from 57 locations. To date, The Hardy Bucks Movie has taken over €400,000 at the Irish box office.
Series 1 released 12 December 2010. Series 2 released 12 December 2011.
