Mrs. Brown__APOS__s Boys became a runaway success upon its initial broadcast. Every episode aired won its timeslot for RTÉ, with an average viewership of 753,500 in January, 2011. One episode__APOS__s rating beat that of RTÉ__APOS__s own ratings giant The Late Late Show, with 856,000 viewers tuning in to watch. However, critics disliked the show. __QUOTE__The whole thing is entirely predicated on viewers finding a man dressed as a foul-mouthed elderly woman intrinsically funny,__QUOTE__ noted Bernice Harrison in the Irish Times. __QUOTE__If you do, you’re away in a hack (and the viewing figures are astronomical), but if you don’t, and you think that died out with Les Dawson and Dick Emery, then it’s a long half-hour.__QUOTE__ The Irish Independent said that Mrs Brown__APOS__s Boys was the type of TV programme that __QUOTE__that makes you vaguely embarrassed to be Irish__QUOTE__. The Daily Telegraph__APOS__s Sam Richards noted that show__APOS__s comedy has a __QUOTE__rudimentary nature__QUOTE__, consisting of __QUOTE__an old-fashioned blend of silly voices and slapstick, played out in front of a live studio audience who collapse into giggles at the mere mention of the word “willy”.
