GAY BYRNE AND PAT Kenny will join (relatively) new kid on the block, Ryan Tubridy, for the Late Late Show’s 50th anniversary celebration on Friday, 1 June.

From 9.30pm on RTÉ One, normal operations will be suspended so the milestone can be marked with the help of a host of Irish personalities.

According to the broadcasters, Friday night’s audience will comprise of “people who have made the Late Late Show the most successful and watched chat show in Ireland over the past 50 years”.

Liam Neeson, Imelda May, Horslips, Tommy Tiernan and Daniel O’Donnell will also appear as guests with Kenny and Byrne.

The Late Late Show first went on air on Saturday, 6 July 1962 but was moved to Friday nights in September 1986.

In a press statement announcing the special show, RTÉ’s communications department named some memorable moments from the past 50 years, including the whole Bishop and the Nightie affair. The 1966 furore saw the Bishop of Clonfert Thomas Ryan condemn the show as ‘disgraceful filth’. The official complaint came after a small segment saw Byrne ask a woman from Terenure if she would remember the colour of the nightdress she wore on her first night of married life. She cheekily responded that she may not have worn anything at all. Oh my.

What are your enduring memories of the Late Late Show? Let us know in the comments section.