That's not like RTE... sure isn’t Montrose brimming with unbridled ingenuity.

Apparently, come November, we'll be treated to a "new comedy" from RTE featuring Mario Rosenstock, called - wait for it - The Mario Rosenstock Show. Weirdly enough, it will mainly feature Mario in a range of wigs impersonating Irish politicians and the like.

Sounds familiar. Well, that's 'cause it is. Mario and his range of wily wigs have been lampooning politicians on TV3 for quite some time. You might have seen them on Vincent Browne's TV3 'Tonight Show'.

Speaking with Ken Sweeney of the Irish Independent regarding the similarities of the two ventures, Rosenstock said: "There is an element of truth in that. RTE loved the Vincent Browne/TV3 thing, and along with my live show, asked me could we transfer it to RTE, and I said yes."

And here's possibly why. RTE are spending in the region of €270,000 and €360,000 to make the show. That means some REALLY f*cking good wigs.

Who could blame Mario for bailing to the dark side? TV3 certainly don't, however a spokesperson talking to the Indo had some choice words regarding the national broadcaster: "How is TV3 supposed to compete against a state company when they make unlimited losses. It's so utterly irresponsible."

An RTE spokesperson retorted with: "Producing distinctive Irish comedy… is part of our remit as Ireland's public service broadcaster and one which we are committed to fulfilling." And that evidently means pilfering other people's ideas because their homegrown comedy department has the imagination of a half-witted gnat.

At the risk of repeating myself; RTE ritually nail documentaries, current affairs and stuff like Operation Transformation. However, their comedy/'lite ennertainment' has always been their buttock clenching black void. The Cassidys, Upwardly Mobile, The Roaring Twenties, This is Shitelive (apologies, Nightlive), anything Craig Doyle's ever done, anything Lucky Kennedy's ever done. I've not watched Jennifer Maguire's latest vehicle, The Fear, largely due to the aforementioned. In fact, the only thing decent to come out of RTE's comedy department of late is The Republic of Telly. And that's saying something.

But back to Rosenstock and his quest to have his prop department bulging with state of the art prosthetics: "I had a great time working with Vincent Browne and TV3 was my first port of call with this, but TV3 simply don't have the budget for this kind of project (um, neither do RTE with reported losses of €17.59m last year). What I want to do now is bring it to another level."

We'll look forward to the uproarious laughs, Mario - after all, we're paying for it.