Episode 2 : The second episode sees Joe the dad who can’t drive wanting to bring his charming good-natured son Conor Brown on a lads’ trip – both father and son are Sci-Fi crazy. Conor has Swan’s disease but the Brown Boys don’t see restrictions – only opportunity and the Brown family leave it up to Baz to come up with a plan. The challenge of driver seems easy enough for Wingman – as he sorts a trip in a blue van to Courtown, the Las Vegas of Ireland – for the Dubs – but can he up the ante from a Wexford road trip?
Series Overview:
Baz Ashmawy is a good guy to have on your side.
With 50 Ways To Kill Your Mammy and Holy Show, he sealed his reputation as a good-natured, mischievous messer and an inveterate taker of things to their extremes. With Lost Muslim and All Bets Are Off, he showed that he can handle serious issues too – with a unique blend of sincerity, charm and empathy.
Baz is a charismatic ‘people person’, a doting son, a fully engaged dad and the big brother everyone wishes they had.
Now, he brings that entire skillset to bear in an entertaining, madcap, poignant, revealing new series: Baz Ashmawy: Wingman.
FORMAT
In each of the 3 episodes, Baz meets a person with something missing from their life: an unfulfilled ambition, a personal dream ; a love lost; a hope that’s never been encouraged; a one-time zest frozen by loneliness or self-doubt; an opportunity missed or avoided.
As he gets to know each new friend, engaging with them on their home ground, Baz hatches a plan to shake things up, to open their mind to new possibilities and show them what could be.
Some may take a bit of convincing but eventually, they agree to embark on a journey of discovery with Baz as their cheerleader, their facilitator – their ‘wingman’.
And so the journey begins. Each one unique and tonally independent from others in the series. Baz’s commitment is unwavering – every move he pulls, every experience he sets up is in the service of his new friend. Naturally – because it’s Baz – some of the ‘waypoints’ on this quest are well over the top, seemingly inexplicable but always done with the sincere aim of helping, encouraging and moving things forward.
Inevitably, in the course of the journey, new or accidental revelations will serve to consolidate and refine the original plan. Often, the ultimate goal will turn out to be different to, but even more relevant than the original one.
Baz Ashawy: Wingman is entertaining, emotional, feel-good TV – full of heart and empathy. Initial feedback says it is both grassroots and contemporary. This is Baz’s first entertainment series for RTÉ One – and he feels as proud of this series as he did of his Emmy-winning series.
The unpredictability of its authored approach and the diversity (in terms of age, social background and outlook) of the people featured are all key to this fresh new homegrown series.