Mrs. Brown'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's rating beat that of RTé's own ratings giant The Late Late Show, with 856,000 viewers tuning in to watch. However, critics disliked the show. "The whole thing is entirely predicated on viewers f..ccc