Editing Father Ted Crilly (section)

==Casting==
Actor [[Maurice O'Donoghue]] auditioned for the role, and Linehan felt that he was the right appearance, age and "lightness" for the character. Mathews wanted to cast comedian [[Dermot Morgan]] from an early stage, but Linehan was reluctant; he worried that audiences would confuse Ted with Father Trendy, a character Morgan had previously created for ''[[The Live Mike]]''. Trendy parodied a class of priests including [[Brian D'Arcy]], perceived in the 1970s as wanting to be considered liberal and "[[Cool (aesthetic)|cool]]", whereas Ted was written as a more conservative, traditional priest.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/john-drennan/enda-kenny-the-father-trendy-of-fine-gael-30319726.html|title=Enda Kenny the 'Father Trendy' of Fine Gael|last=Drennan|first=John|author-link=John Drennan|work=[[The Independent]]|date=1 June 2014|access-date=4 July 2015}}</ref><ref name="2012commentaries"/> Morgan lobbied hard for the role, eventually persuading Linehan. The writers considered O'Donoghue a back-up to use should Morgan become unavailable, and later created Father Dick Byrne, Ted's recurring rival, specifically for O'Donoghue to play.<ref name="2012commentaries"/>

Aspects such as Ted's obsession with money and fantasy of going to Las Vegas emerged while writing for Morgan, and the writers began to feel for Ted in a way they did not for the other characters.<ref name="Guardian20"/>

After the second series aired, Linehan said he still believed that Mathews could easily have played Ted in the show.<ref name="IndependentWriters1997"/>

There have been several attempts to remake the show for American audiences. In 2004, [[Steve Martin]] was reported to have signed on to play Ted in a new version.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.supanet.com/cgi-bin/news/showfeed.pl?id=1079275308-2&area=entertainment |title=Martin And Norton Team Up Martin And Norton Team Up |publisher=Supanet Limited |date=14 March 2004 |access-date=28 December 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040423160956/http://www.supanet.com/cgi-bin/news/showfeed.pl?id=1079275308-2&area=entertainment |archive-date=April 23, 2004 }}</ref> In 2007, [[John Michael Higgins]] was cast in the part.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.darkhorizons.com/news/9355/higgins-in-us-father-ted-remake|title=Higgins In US Father Ted Remake|work=darkhorizons.com|last=Franklin|first=Garth|date=26 November 2007|access-date=9 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150709163806/http://www.darkhorizons.com/news/9355/higgins-in-us-father-ted-remake|archive-date=9 July 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>