Zig and Zag are an Irish puppet duo, featured on RTÉ, performed by Ciaran Morrison and Mick O'Hara. The characters are a pair of furry extraterrestrial twins from the planet Zog. They made their television debut on 22 September 1987 on RTÉ's Dempsey's Den. Two years later they won a Jacob's Award for TV Personalities of the year. In 1992, Zig and Zag found fame in the UK when they joined the team of the Channel 4 breakfast show The Big Breakfast. During the 1990s the characters spawned a merchandising range of comic books, videos and embarked on a recording career – scoring a UK top-five single with "Them Girls Them Girls". In 2010, the characters saw a resurgence in their popularity as they joined the Big Brother's Little Brother team and in October 2010 they were commissioned to host a flagship Saturday morning radio show on 2FM called Smells Like Saturday. A brand new TV bloopers show hosted by Zig and Zag entitled Zig & Zag's Superbloopers was announced on the RTÉ TV website. In April 2015, it was announced that the duo would return in 2016 with a 26 episode animated series Zig and Zag commissioned by RTÉ and the BBC. On 22 September 2020, RTÉ confirmed the return of The Den as a weekend family show reuniting Zig and Zag, Ray D'Arcy and Dustin the Turkey. The show returned on 8 November 2020 on RTÉ One whereas previously, the slot was on RTÉ 2.
Characters Zig and Zag's full names are Zigmund Ambrose Zogly and Zagnatius Hillary Zogly and claim they were born 29 February 1971 on Zog. Zig is beige (although he claimed to be fawn) with red "zogabongs" (pom-pom antennae) and a tuft of green hair, and Zag is purple with green spots and yellow zogabongs and dreadlocks. In their original RTÉ incarnation, Zig often came across as the more intelligent one, with Zag under his thumb (most evident in their "Story Time" segments, when Zig would read a nursery rhyme to the audience, and Zag would grudgingly act it out). Zag also displayed a penchant for cross-dressing and playing with Barbie dolls. However, after the two moved to Channel 4, Zag began to be portrayed as the more intelligent older brother, a lecherous lady-killer who claimed to fly every weekend to Hollywood to dine with the stars, as well as performing ragga songs in his guise of "Ragga Zagga". Zig was then portrayed as a weak-willed childish simpleton, constantly giggling at rude jokes (like the word "bottom"), obsessed with specific things (such as The Hunt for Red October or his rash) and frequently unaware of what was going on around him.
Alter ego characters Zig and Zag frequently appeared dressed as other characters, in particular during their tenure on The Den. Such characters ranged from would-be distant relatives to superheroes. Captain Joke – Zag's primary superhero identity, Captain Joke had no superpowers other than his ability to tell silly jokes. He wore a red mask on his eyes and matching cape and only Zig suspected his identity. Captain Pillowcase – While Captain Joke's true identity was never discovered, Zig's first attempt at being a superhero was far less successful and was generally met with contempt. The character consisted of Zig wearing a pillowcase over his head. Captain Pillowcase's alleged special ability consisted of using his pillowcase to do impressions, such as his impression of Mount Everest or an ice cream cone melting. Captain Shamrock – Zig's next superhero alter ego was far more successful. Captain Shamrock generally only made appearances on Saint Patrick's Day. He spoke with a strong American accent and, as such, was delivered as a satire on American tourists visiting Ireland to discover their roots. Captain Shamrock managed to convince the others that he was the primary authority on all things Irish, and would often tell nonsensical stories loosely based on Irish folklore. Cousin Nigel – Zig and Zag's obnoxious, brattish cousin who would constantly complain about everything in a strong Birmingham accent. Cousin Nigel consisted of Zig wearing a pair of drinking glasses over his eyes and a Cub Scouts hat. Sunny Daze – Another Zig alter ego, Sunny Daze was the star crooner at the Rotten Apple Club.
Creators Ciaran Morrison and Mick O'Hara provide the voices for Zig and for Zag, respectively. Their production company, Double Z Enterprises produced The Den when Zig and Zag featured. In 2003 they produced a TV series for Channel 4, The Bronx Bunny Show. They also regularly appear on RTÉ Two in their current incarnations of Podge and Rodge (voiced by O'Hara and Morrison respectively), fellow characters from The Den with an unsavoury past but who are now reformed enough for RTÉ to commission their own primetime chat show, The Podge and Rodge Show. Morrison and O'Hara continue to work in development and as in-demand scriptwriters for a number of companies through their partnership Double Z. They have written on animation series such as Danger Mouse, Oddbods, Kiva Can Do, Claude, Space Chickens in Space, 101 Dalmatian Street and Transformers: Rescue Bots Academy.
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