Hey Hey It's Saturday
Encyclopedia
Hey Hey It's Saturday was a long-running variety
television program on Australian television. It initially ran for 27 years (there was a recess in 1978), debuting on the Nine Network
on 9 October 1971 and broadcasting its last episode on 20 November 1999. Its host throughout its entire run was Daryl Somers
, who would later become executive producer
of the program. The original producer, Gavin Disney, left the program in the 1980s and Somers then jointly formed his own production company, Somers Carroll Productions
, with on-screen partner Ernie Carroll
, the performer of Somers' puppet sidekick Ossie Ostrich
.
On 25 July 2009, the Nine Network announced the show would return for two reunion specials in late 2009 and hinted if they rated strongly, the show could return full time. The first reunion show aired on 30 September 2009 and the second on 7 October and rated well.
On 7 December 2009, it was announced that the show was planned to return in 2010 with a speculated run of 20 episodes. During the 2010 premiere on Wednesday 14 April, it was indicated that the 20-episode run would be split into two groups, with a break between them, and the second group was broadcast on Saturday nights from 16 October 2010 with the season final on 27 November 2010.
The constant ad-libbing (often laced with double entendre
) of the presenters, including voice-over man John Blackman
, soon attracted a cult following among younger and older viewers alike. The show's style was variously influenced by vaudeville
, the American Tonight Show format, The Marx Brothers, The Goon Show
and Monty Python
. Somers was also strongly influenced by comedy duo Graham Kennedy
and Bert Newton
, and it is significant that Carroll wrote for In Melbourne Tonight
(IMT) for many years.
Through the early 1970s, as its ratings grew and its meagre budget was increased, Hey Hey evolved into a freewheeling live light entertainment
/ comedy
variety program. Regular segments included "What Cheeses Me Off" (which aired viewer complaints on virtually any subject), "Media Watch" (to which viewers contributed humorous newspaper misprints, almost invariably smutty), "Red Faces" (a Gong Show-style talent competition) and "Chook Lotto", a parody of variety show barrel competitions, in which the numbers in a farcical lotto
game were chosen using numbered frozen chickens spun in a large wire cage. The team also performed live revue-style send-ups of current TV shows such as The Sullivans
, or chaotic parodies of soap operas, police shows and other popular TV genres. Like Kennedy's, the humour was of the wink-wink, nudge-nudge variety—viewers became accustomed to Blackman's voice-over snigger—and the satire was broad and skit-level, rather than sharp and disturbing. The show aimed to please its lower-middle-class demographic and succeeded well.
Like IMT, the earliest years of Hey Hey were marked by a similar "anything can happen" attitude, with sketches and improvisations stretched to the point of absurdity or terminated without warning. Sponsors were also laid open to some gentle ridicule, and live "reads" of sponsor advertising often became part of the comedy—a device that Graham Kennedy had made famous. Hey Hey also broke the "Fourth Wall
", frequently turning the cameras around, taking viewers behind the scenes into every area of the studio, out to the studio pool and even beyond the building. Many of the crew (e.g. floor manager Phillip Lambert) effectively became the de facto supporting cast, either as themselves or as occasional extras in regular segments. It should also be noted that during this formative period there was no studio audience, although this later became an integral part of the show. Carroll also occasionally stepped out from behind Ozzie to perform in sketches or as a character, although he usually disguised his voice and/or appearance.
.jpg)
The rapid-fire comedic interplay between Somers, Carroll, Blackman and audio operator Murray Tregonning was central to the show's success. Blackman kept up a near-constant stream of jokes and remarks, and he also provided the voice of the show's many invented characters; some were merely voiced, while others were seen in various forms, including "Mrs McGillicuddy" (a stock photo of a toothless old woman), "Angel" (a Barbie
doll dressed as an angel and Chroma key
ed into the scene), "Norman Neumann" , a talking Neumann boom microphone, "The Man From Jupiter" and the character that became an icon of the show, cheeky "schoolboy" Dickie Knee (a ball with a school cap and wig, stuck on a stick) who would pop up in front of Daryl (operated by a stage hand) and make rude remarks.
Tregonning was renowned for his remarkable ability to select and play appropriate sound effects at a second's notice and his humorous audio punctuations became another trademark of the series. This was long before the introduction of digital sound recording and digital samplers, and all Tregonning's sound effects were played from a huge collection of tape cartridges
.
The program went into recess in 1978 when Daryl and Ossie took the bold step of leaving the Nine Network
for the rival 0-10 Network
to present a prime time game show
, simply titled The Daryl And Ossie Show, with hostess Monique Daams. Only forty episodes were aired between September and November 1978. Daryl and Ossie then went back to Nine and Hey Hey It's Saturday was returned to air in 1979. The show continued its evolution, beginning with recruitment of popular Queensland TV presenter Jacki MacDonald
as a co-host of the show on its return to Nine in 1979.
, Tom Jones
and Stevie Ray Vaughan
, were impressed by the program's zany style (and its wide appeal) and made return appearances on subsequent visits. During its peak years, backed by the full resources of Nine and assisted by the rapid improvement in satellite communication, Hey Hey regularly travelled to locations all over Australia and even overseas for live broadcasts.
In 1984, in a world first, reformed Aussie rock legends Skyhooks appeared on the same night live from their concert at Olympic Park in front of 26,000 people with Daryl and Ossie appearing with them on a giant screen above the stage. The band traded quips with the Hey Hey crew in between performing some of their biggest hits. It is said that Red Symons landed his Hey Hey gig as a result of the success of this appearance.
The show enjoyed strong ratings and maintained a dedicated following throughout the Eighties, and became a "must watch" program for a generation of viewers, with its popularity augmented by the stellar guest lineup and regular musical performances. Other personalities gradually came on board, including ex-Skyhooks guitarist Red Symons
, who not only played in the show's house band, but was also infamous for his withering sarcasm and as a judge on the "talent" segment Red Faces. Another noted Australian rock musician who became a long serving cast member was saxophonist Wilbur Wilde
, who had previously played in Australian bands Ol' 55
and Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons
. The regular cast was further expanded by the addition of former Countdown host Ian "Molly" Meldrum
, comedian and ex-The Comedy Company
star Russell Gilbert
, and ex-The Curiosity Show
presenter, Dr Deane Hutton
.
Hey Hey retained its loyal following well into the 1990s but Ernie Carroll decided to retire in 1994, taking Ossie Ostrich
with him. Other characters including "Plucka Duck" were brought in to partially fill the void left by Carroll's departure. In the late 1980s a cartoonist, Andrew Fyfe
, was added to the team, offering visual gags similar to Blackman and Tregonning's audio contributions. In 1992 Fyfe started his own children's game show on Nine called GuessWhat?. On this show he drew picture puzzles in front of two teams of children. A number of Somers-Carroll produced "Red Faces" and "Best of Hey Hey" specials screened and were rescreened with high ratings for their timeslots. The show also had a lane named after it near its studios.
In 1998, Russell Gilbert
got his own Somers-Carroll
sketch comedy show on Nine, The Russell Gilbert Show
, which lasted a year. Also in that year Hey Hey went full circle and became a Saturday morning kids TV show again, in the form of a separate show called Plucka's Place. This was hosted by Plucka Duck and Livinia Nixon. Livinia soon went on to co-host the main show. A wide range of Plucka merchandise was released to complement the new program.
1999 also saw the beginning of another variety show on Nine, Rove, featuring Rove McManus
. Newspapers reported Kerry Packer
's relative closeness to McManus and distance from Somers during the year. Rove was itself axed at the year's end, but was reborn in 2000 on Network Ten
as Rove Live.
and so are not available for repeats or DVD release. However, home recordings of some material have been included in retrospectives.
Nine re-aired the Hey Hey By Request specials in 2005 and June 2006. Also, on Nine's quiz show Temptation, Hey Hey's Wilbur Wilde
and John Blackman
appeared in May 2006 as part of Temptation's Logies Superchallenge, and both represented the show. Dickie Knee also made a brief appearance.
In October 2006, the Seven Network began airing old Red Faces segments as a part of a show called The Best and Worst of Red Faces, which had originally screened on the Nine Network in the 1990s.
In June 2007, Daryl Somers received funding from the Seven Network to produce a pilot for a new Saturday Night format.
During the 2008 Logies ceremony, Daryl Somers presented an award for the "Most Outstanding Children's Program". Prior to announcing the winner of the award, Somers did a skit with Dickie Knee and Plucka Duck.
group, created by Corrine Lawrence of Broken Hill, was set up to garner support for a return. In mid-July, the Herald Sun
ran a story on the campaign, which was subsequently picked up by other media outlets, including the Nine Network itself. Membership of the group skyrocketed as a result, going from 10,000 members to 32,000 members by 22 July 2009. By July 2010 membership exceeded 488,000. ABC Radio
Broken Hill interviewed Lawrence and Somers on 22 July 2009 in regard to the growing interest.
It was reported on 24 July 2009 that Daryl Somers and the Nine Network had agreed to a deal for two specials to air in late 2009 after lengthy negotiations and, if the shows rate well, the two will negotiate the return of the show to its original format.
The specials were a mix of old and new content. Graeme Trippett joined Daryl Somers as co-executive producer. The first aired on Wednesday, 30 September 2009,reunion and was a ratings success. It attracted a peak audience of 2.64 million viewers and an average audience of 2.169 million people. It beat the debut of Celebrity MasterChef Australia
which had a peak audience of 1.92 million viewers and an average audience of 1.36 million. It gave Nine a 40% share of the rating for that day, toping all other television stations by a massive 20%. It ranked Number 1 as the highest rating show for that week. The second aired on 7 October and attracted 300, 000 viewers more. The second reunion special once again toped the ratings for that week with an average of 2.308 million viewers, giving Nine it's highest share of Australian viewing for 2009—43.3% (uncommon for an Australian TV network to get such a high amount!)
During the second reunion show, the "Red Faces" segment featured a tribute act to the Jackson 5
called "the Jackson Jive", consisting of a Michael Jackson
impersonator and five backup dancers in blackface
. Harry Connick, Jr.
, guest-judge for the segment, was offended. Somers later apologised to Connick on-camera. This incident was mentioned in several publications in the United States and the UK, including New York Magazine and guardian.co.uk
.
on Channel 7. The show returned on 14 April 2010 with over 1.5 million viewers.
On the 7 July 2010 episode, in the wake of declining ratings, Somers announced on air that the season would conclude on 21 July 2010 and that Hey Hey It's Saturday would be returning for a 7 episode run in October 2010, and be moved back to its original Saturday night timeslot. The final episode of the first series had an average of 1.52 million viewers across the 5 major cities.
Note: Molly was roto-captured in 2010 from a previous Melodrama.
coupled with the gong
as in The Gong Show
. The panel consisted of Hey Hey's resident band's guitar player Red Symons
along with two of the show's guests from that week.
Normally contestants would be gonged by Red Symons well before they finished their performance. Each contestant was then given a score out of 10 by each of the judges. For most acts Red, always the last to give his score, would usually give his trademark score of 2 together with a pithy and acidic comment. Other times he would give high scores when the performance really was particularly good (or poor!)—on several occasions he declared a performance the winning one, even if the others hadn't been done yet. The winning contestant received a $500 cash prize, second received $250 and third received $100. In the final years, the prizes were doubled and were sponsored by McDonald's
restaurant chain. In the 2010 revival of the show, first would receive $2000, second received $1000 and third received $500, initially sponsored by Hungry Jack's
but later changed to MyFun.
Some, but not many, contestants found fame after appearing on "Red Faces". One group of friends performed their own rendition of I Am The Music Man, and were later hired to perform in a beer commercial as a result. Jason Stephens, a comedian who appeared on The Late Show
, had his start on Red Faces impersonating a penguin. The Melbourne-based musical comedy trio Tripod
also performed a satirical medley of Oasis
songs on the show in their very early years. Cate Blanchett
also appeared on Red Faces in the late 80s, at the age of 17.
"Red Faces" faced its oldest contestant, 96-year-old Dorothy Hayter, in the 80s and Red Faces had its youngest contestant, Sarah Jane Bailey (9 months old) in 1995.
An important ingredient of the segment was Wilbur Wilde singing the Plucka Duck theme song to the tune of Roger Miller
's Chug-a-Lug:
Many different versions of the theme song were used over time, based on a number of different tunes and adjusted lyrics, such as "Excuse me while I kiss this duck", spoofing a Jimi Hendrix
number. (In the reunion shows and 2010 seasons 1 & 2, Livinia Nixon joined in as well)
If the contestant elected to pluck a duck, the character Plucka Duck—a man in a duck costume—appeared and contestants plucked a feather from his tail. Each feather had a number concealed on it which corresponded to a prize, and that would be the prize won.
This was later changed. In the subsequent version of the contest a large mechanical contraption resemblant of a merry-go-round powered by a bicycle—usually ridden by Plucka himself—would be wheeled on. The contestant would have to pick a soft-toy duck (later created in Plucka's image) from the spinning wheel, which would have a number hidden under its vest. This number, as with the wheel, corresponded with a prize. (for more details on Plucka Duck, see Plucka Duck (character)
.
On one occasion a contestant spun the wheel and landed the peg between the wheel's highest prize (a car) and that of a lesser prize. The show was interrupted by a phone call from the head of the Nine Network, Kerry Packer, who directed Somers to "Give her the car."
Plucka Duck would often have a female presenter performing alongside him. One of his presenters in the early 90's was Melissa Hannan
who was a popular TV personality at the time, daughter of Jimmy Hannan
. Plucka Duck's current female presenter is Suze Raymond, who is also host of Channel Nine's music video program Eclipse Music TV
.
, Ian "Molly" Meldrum hosted a segment titled "Molly's Melodrama". This segment was similar to Countdowns Humdrum segment where Molly would review local and international music as well as interview the famous and infamous faces of the musical scene. However, in true Hey Hey fashion, Molly's segment was often taken over by other cast members (Dickie Knee in particular) who often performed often cruel and painful pranks on Meldrum.
Prior to Molly Meldrum, the music review segment featured Gavin Wood, former Countdown voice-over man, with his segments frequently punctuated with practical jokes targeting him.
song of the same name, which was played by the house band at the beginning of each installment.
, where contestants were strapped to a chair and had to answer a maximum of 6 questions. If that contestant got three questions wrong, he or she got "slimed".
program Media Watch.
The "Media Watch" segment displayed humorous errors from TV and newspapers, generally sent in by the viewers. As the segment became more popular, it was split into "Media Watch Press" and "Media Watch TV".
After the end of HHIS, the concept used in "Media Watch" and "Phunny Fotos" was replicated in the "What The?" segment on Rove Live. A similar segment appears on the U.S. TV program Late Show with David Letterman
under the name "Small Town News".
and Maurie Fields
.
This segment was featured on the first reunion show, with Maurie being rotocaptured into the set, and doing the joke with son Marty.
of some sort (such as a production error). Audience members had to guess what the mistake was.
and similar to other Australian comedy efforts including the "Europa Films" segments of The Aunty Jack Show
and the 1980s live comedy team Double Take
). Later, this expanded into ongoing comedy sketches such as Division Saturday (a parody of Division 4
), The Sillivans (The Sullivans
) and The Shove Boat (The Love Boat
).
The rural radio station 2QN
Radio Deniliquin was satirised until official complaints were received, leading to a change over to 2KW Upper Kumbukta West, a fictional country town that was also home to the "Mrs Mac" character. The fictitious country of 'Biddleonia' was created as a new home for Irish jokes etc., so as not to offend any actual minorities.
Ian Buckland appeared and also performed in sketches including a satire called "The World's Worst Magician". These segments spawned merchandise in the form of magic kits and products.
In each of the two reunion shows, there was a "DisasterChef" segment—a spoof of MasterChef Australia
.
In 2010, Hey Hey have spoofed many commercials with Trevor
and Russell
in them.
when it was parodied as Ho Hum It's Saturday and Mad
magazine which did a parody with the same title.
Use of terminology from the show spawned controversy during a Test cricket match between Australia and South Africa in Melbourne in December 2005. Australian bowler Shane Warne
referred to South African batsman Makhaya Ntini
, who was batting with an injured knee, as "John Blackman". Warne was claiming that Ntini was controlling his "dicky knee" just like Blackman "controlled" Dickie Knee on the show. But Ntini, a Bantu, interpreted the remark as a racist jibe, and a minor controversy occurred. Eventually Australian captain Ricky Ponting
explained the situation to South African captain Graeme Smith
. Blackman himself had in fact visited the Australian team's dressing rooms not long before the incident occurred.
John Farnham
was a frequent guest. A number of tribute songs were written, including one by Ricky May
.
performed a song by the Jackson Five, attracted international media attention, with both condemnation and defence. American musician Harry Connick Jr., performing on the show with his band was guest judging at the time and panned the skit.
outfits and wearing large afro
wigs. They also made their teeth out to be extremely white. Anand Deva performed as an adult Michael Jackson
, painting his face white. They sang the Jackson Five's hit "Can You Feel It
" in a jive style.
The performers are all from Sydney, and they work there as physicians. Times Online has described Deva as a "prominent Sydney-based plastic surgeon". The others included a radiologist, an anaesthetist, a psychiatrist
, a cardiologist and a urologist. The group had performed a similar sketch on Hey Hey It's Saturday in 1989, when they were all medical students.
.
Connick's Australian co-judge, seated to his right, awarded the performers a "7" score. This judge, Jacki MacDonald
, had originally intended to not participate in the show, but decided to after seeing the success of the first reunion episode. Her showing here was her first appearance on television with host Daryl Somers
in 21 years. In grading the 'Jackson Jive', she remarked that "I thought you were very cute". Regular judge Red Symons
, famous for giving low scores, awarded them a score of "1".
Daryl Somers
stated that nobody had intended to deliberately offend the viewers, the guests, or the audience. He described the sketch as a "bit retro". Somers apologised to Connick on air after a brief station break, and he said that he had forgotten that blackface has a different cultural background in the United States compared to Australia. Somers had been genuinely surprised by Connick's reaction.
-related agencies and Twitter
stated that many Australians considered the sketch to be a funny and inoffensive tribute to Michael Jackson
's memory. Some Australian political commentators remarked that only political correctness
had been upset. In the United States, however, many internet based commentators reacted very negatively. Many internet commentators also panned the sketch in the United Kingdom.
Julia Gillard
, Deputy Prime Minister of Australia
, defended the skit. She has said, "It was just a bit of fun . . . a tribute to Michael Jackson and I think from an Australian audience point of view, they see the lightness of it". Acting Victoria Premier Rob Hulls
labelled the skit as offensive. He also stated that Australia is not a racist country. Australian feminist Germaine Greer
condemned the sketch as a "piece of shit".
Australian television personality Sam Newman
, who has used blackface in his acts before, has stated sarcastically that the sketch would "arouse moralists". He argued that it is not truly offensive. Kamahl
, an Australian entertainer who was mentioned in the sketch since he is of Malaysian ethnic heritage, referred to it as "a desperate attempt at notoriety and publicity". He has also said, "Hey Hey is devoid of any real wit. It's desperate. It's toilet humour and it should be flushed".
Suresh de Silva has publicly responded to the criticisms. He stated that "The worst consequence of what we did is that the skit has raised the question of are Australians racist. We're genuinely horrified that our mistake could cause people to think that . . . Australians care more about ability than race". He also identified himself as having Sri Lanka
n ancestry and the other performers as an Indian-Australian, a Greek-Australian, an Irish-Italian-Australian, and a Lebanese-Australian.
Silva has said that his group would not have performed the sketch in the U.S. He commented as well, "I suspect things are probably a bit different in America in terms of what that [black face] means".
Marlon
, Tito
, and Jackie Jackson
felt shocked after they were informed about the skit. Marlon Jackson thanked Connick for speaking out. He stated that the performers probably had not intended to be offensive and remarked, "Man, if they turned up looking like that in the United States!"
Awards the show has won include:
The show and cast have been nominated for various Logies over its run.
Awards nominated include:
Variety show
A variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is an entertainment made up of a variety of acts, especially musical performances and sketch comedy, and normally introduced by a compère or host. Other types of acts include magic, animal and circus acts, acrobatics, juggling...
television program on Australian television. It initially ran for 27 years (there was a recess in 1978), debuting on the Nine Network
Nine Network
The Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...
on 9 October 1971 and broadcasting its last episode on 20 November 1999. Its host throughout its entire run was Daryl Somers
Daryl Somers
Daryl Paul Somers OAM , is an Australian television personality. The son of a dairy farmer and a cabaret singer, Somers rose to national fame as the host of the long-running comedy-variety program Hey Hey It's Saturday.-Early life:Somers, who has an Irish Catholic heritage, was educated at...
, who would later become executive producer
Executive producer
An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
of the program. The original producer, Gavin Disney, left the program in the 1980s and Somers then jointly formed his own production company, Somers Carroll Productions
Somers Carroll Productions
Somers Carroll Productions is an Australian television production company.Somers Carroll was formed by Daryl Somers and Ernie Carroll, to produce Hey Hey It's Saturday Somers Carroll also produced compilation specials including The Best and Worst of Red Faces, Hey Hey By Request, The Plucka Duck...
, with on-screen partner Ernie Carroll
Ernie Carroll
Ernie Carroll is an Australian entertainer and television personality most recognised for his role as the man behind Ossie Ostrich on Hey Hey It's Saturday....
, the performer of Somers' puppet sidekick Ossie Ostrich
Ossie Ostrich
Ossie Ostrich is an Australian television character, firstly on the Tarax Show, and then on the long-running program Hey Hey It's Saturday which started as a Saturday morning cartoon show for children in 1971. In 1984, he also hosted an after-school children's show called The Ossie Ostrich Video...
.
On 25 July 2009, the Nine Network announced the show would return for two reunion specials in late 2009 and hinted if they rated strongly, the show could return full time. The first reunion show aired on 30 September 2009 and the second on 7 October and rated well.
On 7 December 2009, it was announced that the show was planned to return in 2010 with a speculated run of 20 episodes. During the 2010 premiere on Wednesday 14 April, it was indicated that the 20-episode run would be split into two groups, with a break between them, and the second group was broadcast on Saturday nights from 16 October 2010 with the season final on 27 November 2010.
Origins
Premiering on 9 October 1971, Hey Hey It's Saturday was a Saturday morning children's program in which Somers and Carroll provided "top and tail" segments between cartoon episodes. Due to the relative freedom afforded by its low-priority timeslot, the team was able to develop the comedic aspects of the show and the cartoon segments were eventually phased-out in favour of the live performances.The constant ad-libbing (often laced with double entendre
Double entendre
A double entendre or adianoeta is a figure of speech in which a spoken phrase is devised to be understood in either of two ways. Often the first meaning is straightforward, while the second meaning is less so: often risqué or ironic....
) of the presenters, including voice-over man John Blackman
John Blackman
John Blackman is an Australian radio and television presenter. He is best known for his voice-over work for the comedy show Hey Hey It's Saturday from 1971 to 2010.-Biography:...
, soon attracted a cult following among younger and older viewers alike. The show's style was variously influenced by vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
, the American Tonight Show format, The Marx Brothers, The Goon Show
The Goon Show
The Goon Show was a British radio comedy programme, originally produced and broadcast by the BBC Home Service from 1951 to 1960, with occasional repeats on the BBC Light Programme...
and Monty Python
Monty Python
Monty Python was a British surreal comedy group who created their influential Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series...
. Somers was also strongly influenced by comedy duo Graham Kennedy
Graham Kennedy
Graham Cyril Kennedy, AO was an Australian radio, television and film performer, often called Gra Gra and The King of Australian television.-Childhood:...
and Bert Newton
Bert Newton
Albert Watson "Bert" Newton, AM, MBE is an Australian television personality, known for hosting television series such as In Melbourne Tonight, Good Morning Australia and 20 to 1. Newton has also hosted the Logie Awards on numerous occasions through his career.-Early life:Newton was born in...
, and it is significant that Carroll wrote for In Melbourne Tonight
In Melbourne Tonight
In Melbourne Tonight, also known as "IMT", was a highly popular nightly variety television show produced at GTV-9 Melbourne from 6 May 1957 to 1970....
(IMT) for many years.
Through the early 1970s, as its ratings grew and its meagre budget was increased, Hey Hey evolved into a freewheeling live light entertainment
Light entertainment
Light entertainment is a term used to describe a broad range of usually televisual performances. These include comedies, variety shows, quiz/game shows, sketch shows and people/surprise shows.-Light entertainment in Britain:...
/ comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
variety program. Regular segments included "What Cheeses Me Off" (which aired viewer complaints on virtually any subject), "Media Watch" (to which viewers contributed humorous newspaper misprints, almost invariably smutty), "Red Faces" (a Gong Show-style talent competition) and "Chook Lotto", a parody of variety show barrel competitions, in which the numbers in a farcical lotto
Lottery
A lottery is a form of gambling which involves the drawing of lots for a prize.Lottery is outlawed by some governments, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find some degree of regulation of lottery by governments...
game were chosen using numbered frozen chickens spun in a large wire cage. The team also performed live revue-style send-ups of current TV shows such as The Sullivans
The Sullivans
The Sullivans is an Australian drama television series produced by Crawford Productions which ran from 1976 until 1983. The series told the story of an average middle-classMelbourne family and the effect World War II had on their lives...
, or chaotic parodies of soap operas, police shows and other popular TV genres. Like Kennedy's, the humour was of the wink-wink, nudge-nudge variety—viewers became accustomed to Blackman's voice-over snigger—and the satire was broad and skit-level, rather than sharp and disturbing. The show aimed to please its lower-middle-class demographic and succeeded well.
Like IMT, the earliest years of Hey Hey were marked by a similar "anything can happen" attitude, with sketches and improvisations stretched to the point of absurdity or terminated without warning. Sponsors were also laid open to some gentle ridicule, and live "reads" of sponsor advertising often became part of the comedy—a device that Graham Kennedy had made famous. Hey Hey also broke the "Fourth Wall
Fourth wall
The fourth wall is the imaginary "wall" at the front of the stage in a traditional three-walled box set in a proscenium theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play...
", frequently turning the cameras around, taking viewers behind the scenes into every area of the studio, out to the studio pool and even beyond the building. Many of the crew (e.g. floor manager Phillip Lambert) effectively became the de facto supporting cast, either as themselves or as occasional extras in regular segments. It should also be noted that during this formative period there was no studio audience, although this later became an integral part of the show. Carroll also occasionally stepped out from behind Ozzie to perform in sketches or as a character, although he usually disguised his voice and/or appearance.
Barbie
Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by the American toy-company Mattel, Inc. and launched in March 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration....
doll dressed as an angel and Chroma key
Chroma key
Chroma key compositing is a technique for compositing two images together. A color range in the top layer is made transparent, revealing another image behind. The chroma keying technique is commonly used in video production and post-production...
ed into the scene), "Norman Neumann" , a talking Neumann boom microphone, "The Man From Jupiter" and the character that became an icon of the show, cheeky "schoolboy" Dickie Knee (a ball with a school cap and wig, stuck on a stick) who would pop up in front of Daryl (operated by a stage hand) and make rude remarks.
Tregonning was renowned for his remarkable ability to select and play appropriate sound effects at a second's notice and his humorous audio punctuations became another trademark of the series. This was long before the introduction of digital sound recording and digital samplers, and all Tregonning's sound effects were played from a huge collection of tape cartridges
Fidelipac
The Fidelipac, commonly known as an NAB cartridge or simply cart, is a magnetic tape sound recording format, used for radio broadcasting for playback of material over the air such as radio commercials, jingles, station identifications, and music. Fidelipac is the official name of this industry...
.
The program went into recess in 1978 when Daryl and Ossie took the bold step of leaving the Nine Network
Nine Network
The Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...
for the rival 0-10 Network
Network Ten
Network Ten , is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country...
to present a prime time game show
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
, simply titled The Daryl And Ossie Show, with hostess Monique Daams. Only forty episodes were aired between September and November 1978. Daryl and Ossie then went back to Nine and Hey Hey It's Saturday was returned to air in 1979. The show continued its evolution, beginning with recruitment of popular Queensland TV presenter Jacki MacDonald
Jacki MacDonald
Jacki MacDonald is a former Australian television personality.-Career:...
as a co-host of the show on its return to Nine in 1979.
Move to prime time
In 1984 the Nine Network moved the show from its morning timeslot to a primetime slot on Saturday nights, and it was briefly renamed Hey Hey It's Saturday Night before reverting to its original name. During this time, Hey Hey also became one of the most important TV venues for both local and international music, film and TV stars. Many visiting overseas stars including Sylvester StalloneSylvester Stallone
Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone , commonly known as Sylvester Stallone, and nicknamed Sly Stallone, is an American actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, film director and occasional painter. Stallone is known for his machismo and Hollywood action roles. Two of the notable characters he has portrayed...
, Tom Jones
Tom Jones (singer)
Sir Thomas John Woodward, OBE , known by his stage name Tom Jones, is a Welsh singer.Since the mid 1960s, Jones has sung many styles of popular music – pop, rock, R&B, show tunes, country, dance, techno, soul and gospel – and sold over 100 million records...
and Stevie Ray Vaughan
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Stephen Ray "Stevie Ray" Vaughan was an American electric blues guitarist and singer. He was the younger brother of Jimmie Vaughan and frontman for Double Trouble, a band that included bassist Tommy Shannon and drummer Chris Layton. Born in Dallas, Vaughan moved to Austin at the age of 17 and...
, were impressed by the program's zany style (and its wide appeal) and made return appearances on subsequent visits. During its peak years, backed by the full resources of Nine and assisted by the rapid improvement in satellite communication, Hey Hey regularly travelled to locations all over Australia and even overseas for live broadcasts.
In 1984, in a world first, reformed Aussie rock legends Skyhooks appeared on the same night live from their concert at Olympic Park in front of 26,000 people with Daryl and Ossie appearing with them on a giant screen above the stage. The band traded quips with the Hey Hey crew in between performing some of their biggest hits. It is said that Red Symons landed his Hey Hey gig as a result of the success of this appearance.
The show enjoyed strong ratings and maintained a dedicated following throughout the Eighties, and became a "must watch" program for a generation of viewers, with its popularity augmented by the stellar guest lineup and regular musical performances. Other personalities gradually came on board, including ex-Skyhooks guitarist Red Symons
Red Symons
Redmond Symons is an Australian musician, writer, actor and radio host, probably best known as lead guitarist with Skyhooks and as the snide judge of "Red Faces", a segment of the long-running Hey Hey It's Saturday variety television show...
, who not only played in the show's house band, but was also infamous for his withering sarcasm and as a judge on the "talent" segment Red Faces. Another noted Australian rock musician who became a long serving cast member was saxophonist Wilbur Wilde
Wilbur Wilde
Wilbur Wilde is an Australian saxophonist. He rose to prominence with the bands Ol' 55, Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons...
, who had previously played in Australian bands Ol' 55
Ol' 55
Ol' 55 was an Australian band specialising in retro, 1950s-era Rock 'n' Roll. They formed as Fanis in 1972 in Sutherland, Sydney, New South Wales . Drummer Geoff Plummer was working with Glenn A. Baker at the NSW Department of Media and invited Baker to hear his part-time band, including Pat...
and Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons
Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons
Jo Jo Zep and the Falcons were an Australian blues and rock music band which featured singer, songwriter and saxophonist, Joe Camilleri . The band was active in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and had several Australian chart hits, including "Hit and Run", "Shape I'm In" and "All I Wanna Do"...
. The regular cast was further expanded by the addition of former Countdown host Ian "Molly" Meldrum
Ian Meldrum
Ian Alexander "Molly" Meldrum AM is an Australian popular music critic, journalist, record producer , and musical entrepreneur...
, comedian and ex-The Comedy Company
The Comedy Company
The Comedy Company was an Australian comedy television series first aired from 16 February 1988 until about 11 November 1990 on Network Ten, Sunday night and was created and directed by Ian McFadyen, and co directed and produced by Jo Lane...
star Russell Gilbert
Russell Gilbert
Russell Gilbert , is an Australian comedian and actor from Footscray, Victoria.-Television:He has appeared in several Australian TV comedies, first attracting notice as 'Russ the Postie' on The Comedy Company , which led to a nine year stint on Hey Hey It's Saturday...
, and ex-The Curiosity Show
The Curiosity Show
The Curiosity Show was an Australian educational children's television show produced from 1972 to 1990, hosted by Prof. Rob Morrison and Dr. Deane Hutton. The show was produced by Banksia Productions in South Australia for the Nine Network. 149 episodes were produced.-History:Banksia Productions...
presenter, Dr Deane Hutton
Deane Hutton
Dr Deane Hutton is one of Australia's best-known science communicators and futurists. For more than 25 years, he has been sharing his enthusiasm for science and technology with others through nation-wide television programs. Also, he has used books, radio and the internet in science communication...
.
Hey Hey retained its loyal following well into the 1990s but Ernie Carroll decided to retire in 1994, taking Ossie Ostrich
Ossie Ostrich
Ossie Ostrich is an Australian television character, firstly on the Tarax Show, and then on the long-running program Hey Hey It's Saturday which started as a Saturday morning cartoon show for children in 1971. In 1984, he also hosted an after-school children's show called The Ossie Ostrich Video...
with him. Other characters including "Plucka Duck" were brought in to partially fill the void left by Carroll's departure. In the late 1980s a cartoonist, Andrew Fyfe
Andrew Fyfe
Andrew Fyfe is an Australian cartoonist and satirist.He is perhaps best known for his role as the cartoonist on Australia's longest running variety show, Hey Hey It's Saturday, where he would instantly satirize situations that occurred live on air with lightning quick cartoons drawn with his "pen...
, was added to the team, offering visual gags similar to Blackman and Tregonning's audio contributions. In 1992 Fyfe started his own children's game show on Nine called GuessWhat?. On this show he drew picture puzzles in front of two teams of children. A number of Somers-Carroll produced "Red Faces" and "Best of Hey Hey" specials screened and were rescreened with high ratings for their timeslots. The show also had a lane named after it near its studios.
In 1998, Russell Gilbert
Russell Gilbert
Russell Gilbert , is an Australian comedian and actor from Footscray, Victoria.-Television:He has appeared in several Australian TV comedies, first attracting notice as 'Russ the Postie' on The Comedy Company , which led to a nine year stint on Hey Hey It's Saturday...
got his own Somers-Carroll
Somers Carroll Productions
Somers Carroll Productions is an Australian television production company.Somers Carroll was formed by Daryl Somers and Ernie Carroll, to produce Hey Hey It's Saturday Somers Carroll also produced compilation specials including The Best and Worst of Red Faces, Hey Hey By Request, The Plucka Duck...
sketch comedy show on Nine, The Russell Gilbert Show
The Russell Gilbert Show
The Russell Gilbert Show was a short-lived Australian comedy show hosted by Russell Gilbert in 1998. It was partially a spin-off from Hey Hey It's Saturday, where Gilbert had risen to prominence. The show's writers included Kevin Blond, Paul Calleja and Andrew Maj...
, which lasted a year. Also in that year Hey Hey went full circle and became a Saturday morning kids TV show again, in the form of a separate show called Plucka's Place. This was hosted by Plucka Duck and Livinia Nixon. Livinia soon went on to co-host the main show. A wide range of Plucka merchandise was released to complement the new program.
End of series—1999
Nine Network executives decided toward the end of 1999 to cancel Hey Hey It's Saturday. Somers claimed that he wanted to take the program into a new direction after the departure of Caroll, but the budget to redevelop the show was deemed excessive. The final episode ran for 240 minutes, an hour longer than was scheduled.1999 also saw the beginning of another variety show on Nine, Rove, featuring Rove McManus
Rove McManus
John Henry Michael "Rove" McManus is an Australian comedian, television presenter, producer and media personality. He was the host of the self-titled variety show Rove, and is the owner of the production company Roving Enterprises...
. Newspapers reported Kerry Packer
Kerry Packer
Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer, AC was an Australian media tycoon. The son of Sir Frank Packer and Gretel Bullmore, the Packer family company owned controlling interest in both the Nine television network and leading Australian publishing company Australian Consolidated Press, which were later...
's relative closeness to McManus and distance from Somers during the year. Rove was itself axed at the year's end, but was reborn in 2000 on Network Ten
Network Ten
Network Ten , is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country...
as Rove Live.
Repeats
Much of the early years were not retained by GTV-9GTV-9
GTV is a commercial television station in Melbourne, Australia owned by the Nine Network. The station is currently based at a new high-tech, purpose-built studios at 717 Bourke Street, Docklands.-History:...
and so are not available for repeats or DVD release. However, home recordings of some material have been included in retrospectives.
Nine re-aired the Hey Hey By Request specials in 2005 and June 2006. Also, on Nine's quiz show Temptation, Hey Hey's Wilbur Wilde
Wilbur Wilde
Wilbur Wilde is an Australian saxophonist. He rose to prominence with the bands Ol' 55, Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons...
and John Blackman
John Blackman
John Blackman is an Australian radio and television presenter. He is best known for his voice-over work for the comedy show Hey Hey It's Saturday from 1971 to 2010.-Biography:...
appeared in May 2006 as part of Temptation's Logies Superchallenge, and both represented the show. Dickie Knee also made a brief appearance.
In October 2006, the Seven Network began airing old Red Faces segments as a part of a show called The Best and Worst of Red Faces, which had originally screened on the Nine Network in the 1990s.
In June 2007, Daryl Somers received funding from the Seven Network to produce a pilot for a new Saturday Night format.
During the 2008 Logies ceremony, Daryl Somers presented an award for the "Most Outstanding Children's Program". Prior to announcing the winner of the award, Somers did a skit with Dickie Knee and Plucka Duck.
Reunions
Since the show's initial demise in 1999, there has been considerable interest in the reformation of "Hey Hey It's Saturday" in some capacity. A FacebookFacebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
group, created by Corrine Lawrence of Broken Hill, was set up to garner support for a return. In mid-July, the Herald Sun
Herald Sun
The Herald Sun is a morning tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia. It is published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Limited, itself a subsidiary of News Corporation. It is available for purchase throughout Melbourne, Regional Victoria, Tasmania, the Australian Capital...
ran a story on the campaign, which was subsequently picked up by other media outlets, including the Nine Network itself. Membership of the group skyrocketed as a result, going from 10,000 members to 32,000 members by 22 July 2009. By July 2010 membership exceeded 488,000. ABC Radio
ABC Radio and Regional Content
ABC Radio and Regional Content is the division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for radio output and regional content.-Origins:...
Broken Hill interviewed Lawrence and Somers on 22 July 2009 in regard to the growing interest.
It was reported on 24 July 2009 that Daryl Somers and the Nine Network had agreed to a deal for two specials to air in late 2009 after lengthy negotiations and, if the shows rate well, the two will negotiate the return of the show to its original format.
The specials were a mix of old and new content. Graeme Trippett joined Daryl Somers as co-executive producer. The first aired on Wednesday, 30 September 2009,reunion and was a ratings success. It attracted a peak audience of 2.64 million viewers and an average audience of 2.169 million people. It beat the debut of Celebrity MasterChef Australia
Celebrity MasterChef Australia
Celebrity MasterChef Australia is an Australian competitive cooking game show. It is spin-off of MasterChef Australia, itself an adaptation of the British show MasterChef, and features celebrity contestants...
which had a peak audience of 1.92 million viewers and an average audience of 1.36 million. It gave Nine a 40% share of the rating for that day, toping all other television stations by a massive 20%. It ranked Number 1 as the highest rating show for that week. The second aired on 7 October and attracted 300, 000 viewers more. The second reunion special once again toped the ratings for that week with an average of 2.308 million viewers, giving Nine it's highest share of Australian viewing for 2009—43.3% (uncommon for an Australian TV network to get such a high amount!)
During the second reunion show, the "Red Faces" segment featured a tribute act to the Jackson 5
The Jackson 5
The Jackson 5 , later known as The Jacksons, were an American popular music family group from Gary, Indiana...
called "the Jackson Jive", consisting of a Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
impersonator and five backup dancers in blackface
Blackface
Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used in minstrel shows, and later vaudeville, in which performers create a stereotyped caricature of a black person. The practice gained popularity during the 19th century and contributed to the proliferation of stereotypes such as the "happy-go-lucky darky...
. Harry Connick, Jr.
Harry Connick, Jr.
Joseph Harry Fowler Connick, Jr. is an American singer, big-band leader/conductor, pianist, actor, and composer. He has sold over 25 million albums worldwide. Connick is ranked among the top 60 best-selling male artists in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America, with...
, guest-judge for the segment, was offended. Somers later apologised to Connick on-camera. This incident was mentioned in several publications in the United States and the UK, including New York Magazine and guardian.co.uk
Guardian.co.uk
guardian.co.uk, formerly known as Guardian Unlimited, is a British website owned by the Guardian Media Group. Georgina Henry is the editor...
.
2010 return
Following the success of the 2009 reunion specials, the show returned in 2010 after a deal was signed for at least 20 new episodes. The show was set to air on Wednesday nights but retain the title Hey Hey It's Saturday with Daryl Somers returning as host. Ian 'Molly' Meldrum had recently signed a deal with Channel 7, excluding him from the line-up. Red Symons was part of the lineup, after his decision to leave Australia's Got TalentAustralia's Got Talent
Australia's Got Talent is an Australian reality television talent show which premiered on 18 February 2007 on the Seven Network. The show was based on the Got Talent series format that originated in the United Kingdom with Simon Cowell...
on Channel 7. The show returned on 14 April 2010 with over 1.5 million viewers.
On the 7 July 2010 episode, in the wake of declining ratings, Somers announced on air that the season would conclude on 21 July 2010 and that Hey Hey It's Saturday would be returning for a 7 episode run in October 2010, and be moved back to its original Saturday night timeslot. The final episode of the first series had an average of 1.52 million viewers across the 5 major cities.
Host
| Presenter | Role | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Daryl Somers Daryl Somers Daryl Paul Somers OAM , is an Australian television personality. The son of a dairy farmer and a cabaret singer, Somers rose to national fame as the host of the long-running comedy-variety program Hey Hey It's Saturday.-Early life:Somers, who has an Irish Catholic heritage, was educated at... |
Host | 1971–99, 2009–10 |
Co-hosts
| Presenter | Role | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Peter McKenna Peter McKenna Peter McKenna is a former Australian rules footballer, who played 180 games and kicked 838 goals with the Collingwood Football Club between 1965 and 1975, where he spent the majority of his career... |
Co-host | 1971 (First 8 weeks) |
| Ernie Carroll Ernie Carroll Ernie Carroll is an Australian entertainer and television personality most recognised for his role as the man behind Ossie Ostrich on Hey Hey It's Saturday.... |
Ossie Ostrich Ossie Ostrich Ossie Ostrich is an Australian television character, firstly on the Tarax Show, and then on the long-running program Hey Hey It's Saturday which started as a Saturday morning cartoon show for children in 1971. In 1984, he also hosted an after-school children's show called The Ossie Ostrich Video... (Co-host) |
1971–94, 2009–10 |
| Jacki MacDonald Jacki MacDonald Jacki MacDonald is a former Australian television personality.-Career:... |
Co-host | 1979–89, 2009, 2010 |
| Denise Drysdale Denise Drysdale Denise Anne Christina Drysdale, is an Australian television personality and comedian. She is often affectionately called Ding-Dong.-Childhood:... |
Co-host | 1989–90, 2009 |
| Jo Beth Taylor Jo Beth Taylor Jo Beth Taylor is an Australian television personality most well known for hosting three weekly programs on the Nine Network at the same time between 1993 and 1997: Australia's Funniest Home Video Show, What's Up Doc? and Hey Hey It's Saturday, before taking a hiatus from television for more than... |
Co-host | 1995–97, 99, 2009, 2010 |
| Livinia Nixon Livinia Nixon Livinia Nixon is an Australian television presenter and actress best known for her roles on the Nine Network as weather presenter on Nine News Melbourne and as co-host on the long running variety series Hey Hey It's Saturday.... |
Co-host | 1997–99, 2009–10 |
Other regulars
| Presenter | Role | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Red Symons Red Symons Redmond Symons is an Australian musician, writer, actor and radio host, probably best known as lead guitarist with Skyhooks and as the snide judge of "Red Faces", a segment of the long-running Hey Hey It's Saturday variety television show... |
Red Faces host & guitarist | 1980–99, 2009–10 |
| John Blackman John Blackman John Blackman is an Australian radio and television presenter. He is best known for his voice-over work for the comedy show Hey Hey It's Saturday from 1971 to 2010.-Biography:... |
Voice-overs | 1971–99, 2009–10 |
| Wilbur Wilde Wilbur Wilde Wilbur Wilde is an Australian saxophonist. He rose to prominence with the bands Ol' 55, Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons... |
Saxophonist | 1984–99, 2009–10 |
| Russell Gilbert Russell Gilbert Russell Gilbert , is an Australian comedian and actor from Footscray, Victoria.-Television:He has appeared in several Australian TV comedies, first attracting notice as 'Russ the Postie' on The Comedy Company , which led to a nine year stint on Hey Hey It's Saturday... |
Comedian & audience warm up | 1990–99, 2009–10 |
| Trevor Marmalade Trevor Marmalade Trevor Marmalade is the stage name of a comedian from Melbourne, Australia of Dutch descent. Jason grew up in Surrey Hills in Melbourne.... |
Live reporter | 1991–99, 2009–10 |
| Molly Meldrum | Molly's Melodrama host | 1987–99, 2009 |
| Andrew Fyfe Andrew Fyfe Andrew Fyfe is an Australian cartoonist and satirist.He is perhaps best known for his role as the cartoonist on Australia's longest running variety show, Hey Hey It's Saturday, where he would instantly satirize situations that occurred live on air with lightning quick cartoons drawn with his "pen... |
Cartoonist | 1982–99, 2009–10 |
| Plucka Duck | Pluck-a-duck host | 1990–99, 2009–10 |
| Suze Raymond | Pluck-a-duck co-host & regular segment participant | 2009–10 |
| Penne Dennison Penne Dennison Penne Dennison is an Australian music and television entertainment presenter.Penne's first role as a television presenter was on WIN television Wollongong. Penne has previously appeared on a national radio program hosted by Barry Bissell, "Barry Bissell’s Weekly Countdown” as an entertainment news... |
Entertainment reporter | 1998–99, 2009–10 |
| Danny Clayton | Music | 2010 |
| Daryl McKenzie | Musical Director | 1992–99, 2009 |
| Sally Cooper | Violinist | 2009–10 |
Note: Molly was roto-captured in 2010 from a previous Melodrama.
Segments
The show became a showcase for comedy and music which was reflected in the show's segments:"Red Faces"
"Red Faces" is a segment in which three (sometimes four) amateur performers or groups would present their routine (which was usually singing, dancing, comedy or something utterly bizarre) before a panel of judges. The segment and its name were a parody of the serious talent quest program New FacesNew Faces (Australian)
New Faces was an Australian talent show that preceded the British show of the same name, produced at GTV-9 Melbourne. The program began in 1963 under the name Kevin Dennis Auditions, sponsored by Kevin Dennis Motors, running on Saturday mornings...
coupled with the gong
Gong
A gong is an East and South East Asian musical percussion instrument that takes the form of a flat metal disc which is hit with a mallet....
as in The Gong Show
The Gong Show
The Gong Show is an amateur talent contest franchised by Sony Pictures Television to many countries. It was broadcast on NBC's daytime schedule from June 14, 1976 through July 21, 1978, and in first-run syndication from 1976–1980 and 1988–1989. The show was produced by Chuck Barris, who also served...
. The panel consisted of Hey Hey's resident band's guitar player Red Symons
Red Symons
Redmond Symons is an Australian musician, writer, actor and radio host, probably best known as lead guitarist with Skyhooks and as the snide judge of "Red Faces", a segment of the long-running Hey Hey It's Saturday variety television show...
along with two of the show's guests from that week.
Normally contestants would be gonged by Red Symons well before they finished their performance. Each contestant was then given a score out of 10 by each of the judges. For most acts Red, always the last to give his score, would usually give his trademark score of 2 together with a pithy and acidic comment. Other times he would give high scores when the performance really was particularly good (or poor!)—on several occasions he declared a performance the winning one, even if the others hadn't been done yet. The winning contestant received a $500 cash prize, second received $250 and third received $100. In the final years, the prizes were doubled and were sponsored by McDonald's
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...
restaurant chain. In the 2010 revival of the show, first would receive $2000, second received $1000 and third received $500, initially sponsored by Hungry Jack's
Hungry Jack's
Hungry Jack's Pty Ltd, often colloquially abbreviated to HJ's, Hungry's or Hungie's, is the exclusive Australian master fast food franchisee of Burger King Corporation. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Competitive Foods Australia, a privately held company owned by Jack Cowin...
but later changed to MyFun.
Some, but not many, contestants found fame after appearing on "Red Faces". One group of friends performed their own rendition of I Am The Music Man, and were later hired to perform in a beer commercial as a result. Jason Stephens, a comedian who appeared on The Late Show
The Late Show (Australian TV series)
The Late Show was a popular Australian comedy show, which ran for two seasons on ABC from 18 July 1992 to 30 October 1993.-Cast:The Late Show has its roots in the 1980s comedy group, The D-Generation...
, had his start on Red Faces impersonating a penguin. The Melbourne-based musical comedy trio Tripod
Tripod (band)
Tripod is an Australian musical comedy act, specialising in improv, parody and satire. As its name suggests, the band is a trio; it comprises Scod , Yon and Gatesy...
also performed a satirical medley of Oasis
Oasis (band)
Oasis were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1991. Originally known as The Rain, the group was formed by Liam Gallagher , Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs , Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan and Tony McCarroll , who were soon joined by Liam's older brother Noel Gallagher...
songs on the show in their very early years. Cate Blanchett
Cate Blanchett
Catherine Élise "Cate" Blanchett is an Australian actress. She came to international attention for her role as Elizabeth I of England in the 1998 biopic film Elizabeth, for which she won British Academy of Film and Television Arts and Golden Globe Awards, and earned her first Academy Award...
also appeared on Red Faces in the late 80s, at the age of 17.
"Red Faces" faced its oldest contestant, 96-year-old Dorothy Hayter, in the 80s and Red Faces had its youngest contestant, Sarah Jane Bailey (9 months old) in 1995.
"Chook Lotto"
A longstanding gameshow segment, "Chook Lotto" (or Chooklotto) involved a large barrel of numbered frozen chickens. This segment ran from 1984, was rested in 1985, then returned in 1986 and went till the end of 1988. Daryl and Jackie McDonald would draw out 4 chickens numbered from 10 to 19. The home viewer would send in their entry and have to circle one of those numbers as a "Super 69" number. Then another cast member would enter the numbers into a computer and whoever had those numbers would be the winner. Then Daryl would return to the desk and use the Super 69 number on ten paper eggs which had the same numbers as the chickens drawn out. Each of them held a prize. The main prize was a car from Ken Morgan Toyota or if the prize card had stars on it they would win every prize inside the other eggs. This segment was eventually replaced by Plucka Duck (Pluck-a-duck), however returned in the 2010 revival of the show, with viewers invited to go to the shows website and select 4 numbers as well as a supplementary number."Plucka Duck"
"Plucka Duck", (at first Pluck-a-duck) was the replacement for Chook Lotto, and was responsible for creating the show's character of the same name. Contestants would spin a numbered wheel with each number corresponding to a prize. After the spin, the contestant was allowed to either elect to keep their prize, or have another go by "plucking a duck".An important ingredient of the segment was Wilbur Wilde singing the Plucka Duck theme song to the tune of Roger Miller
Roger Miller
Roger Dean Miller was an American singer, songwriter, musician and actor, best known for his honky tonk-influenced novelty songs...
's Chug-a-Lug:
"Plucka Duck, Plucka Duck,
He's not a chicken or a cow,
Plucka Duck, that's him right now!"
Many different versions of the theme song were used over time, based on a number of different tunes and adjusted lyrics, such as "Excuse me while I kiss this duck", spoofing a Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
number. (In the reunion shows and 2010 seasons 1 & 2, Livinia Nixon joined in as well)
If the contestant elected to pluck a duck, the character Plucka Duck—a man in a duck costume—appeared and contestants plucked a feather from his tail. Each feather had a number concealed on it which corresponded to a prize, and that would be the prize won.
This was later changed. In the subsequent version of the contest a large mechanical contraption resemblant of a merry-go-round powered by a bicycle—usually ridden by Plucka himself—would be wheeled on. The contestant would have to pick a soft-toy duck (later created in Plucka's image) from the spinning wheel, which would have a number hidden under its vest. This number, as with the wheel, corresponded with a prize. (for more details on Plucka Duck, see Plucka Duck (character)
Plucka Duck (character)
Plucka Duck is a character on the popular Australian television program Hey Hey It's Saturday. The character "presented" a segment on the show, alongside with Daryl Somers. Plucka was on the show until the show ended in 1999 and after it returned in 2010....
.
On one occasion a contestant spun the wheel and landed the peg between the wheel's highest prize (a car) and that of a lesser prize. The show was interrupted by a phone call from the head of the Nine Network, Kerry Packer, who directed Somers to "Give her the car."
Plucka Duck would often have a female presenter performing alongside him. One of his presenters in the early 90's was Melissa Hannan
Melissa Hannan
Melissa Hannan was Miss Australia in 1981. She was also in the Miss World 1981 held in London where she won Miss Oceania and by the Worlds Press.-After Miss World:...
who was a popular TV personality at the time, daughter of Jimmy Hannan
Jimmy Hannan
Jimmy Hannan is a retired Australian variety show host, singer and entertainer. Hannan won the 1965 Gold Logie award.One of his daughters is Melissa Hannan who won the Miss Australia title in 1981 and was also in the Miss World competition held in London.-Filmography:*The Sentimental Bloke *Jimmy...
. Plucka Duck's current female presenter is Suze Raymond, who is also host of Channel Nine's music video program Eclipse Music TV
Eclipse Music TV
Eclipse Music TV is an Australian music television show which broadcasts every Sunday from 12:30pm on Go!. On air, the show is referred to as AllPhones Eclipse Music TV, after its major sponsor All Phones. The first series went to air on the Seven Network in 2005, Eclipse Music TV quickly became...
.
"Molly's Melodrama"
The former talent co-ordinator/interviewer of Australian Television's CountdownCountdown (TV series)
Countdown was a long-running popular weekly Australian music television show broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation from 8 November 1974 until 19 July 1987. It was created by Executive Producer Michael Shrimpton, producer/director Robbie Weekes and record producer and music journalist...
, Ian "Molly" Meldrum hosted a segment titled "Molly's Melodrama". This segment was similar to Countdowns Humdrum segment where Molly would review local and international music as well as interview the famous and infamous faces of the musical scene. However, in true Hey Hey fashion, Molly's segment was often taken over by other cast members (Dickie Knee in particular) who often performed often cruel and painful pranks on Meldrum.
Prior to Molly Meldrum, the music review segment featured Gavin Wood, former Countdown voice-over man, with his segments frequently punctuated with practical jokes targeting him.
"Ad Nauseam"
A quiz where contestants, which usually were either studio audience members or Hey Hey guests, would answer questions based on television commercials."Beat It"
Similar to "Ad Nauseam", this was a music quiz. The segment's title was taken from the Michael JacksonMichael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
song of the same name, which was played by the house band at the beginning of each installment.
"Lost for Words"
A game show style segment where a number of celebrities would be asked to name a word that started with the last letter of the previous word."Magic Word"
An audience member would be brought onto the stage and presented with an unusual word. Various Hey Hey crew members (usually Dickie, Red or Russell) would each give the member a possible meaning of the word, one of which was the word's actual meaning. If that person correctly guessed whose meaning was the right one, that person would win a prize."Masterslime"
A parody of MastermindMastermind (TV series)
Mastermind is a British quiz show, well known for its challenging questions, intimidating setting and air of seriousness.Devised by Bill Wright, the basic format of Mastermind has never changed — four and in later contests five contestants face two rounds, one on a specialised subject of the...
, where contestants were strapped to a chair and had to answer a maximum of 6 questions. If that contestant got three questions wrong, he or she got "slimed".
"Media Watch"
Not to be confused with the subsequent Australian ABC-TVAustralian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
program Media Watch.
The "Media Watch" segment displayed humorous errors from TV and newspapers, generally sent in by the viewers. As the segment became more popular, it was split into "Media Watch Press" and "Media Watch TV".
After the end of HHIS, the concept used in "Media Watch" and "Phunny Fotos" was replicated in the "What The?" segment on Rove Live. A similar segment appears on the U.S. TV program Late Show with David Letterman
Late Show with David Letterman
Late Show with David Letterman is a U.S. late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and is produced by Letterman's production company, Worldwide Pants Incorporated. The show's music director and band-leader of the house band, the CBS Orchestra, is...
under the name "Small Town News".
"The Great Aussie Joke"
The hosts of this segment were Shane BourneShane Bourne
Shane Bourne is an Australian stand-up comedian, actor and a television host.-1980's / 1990's:...
and Maurie Fields
Maurie Fields
Maurie Fields was an Australian actor, vaudeville performer and stand-up comedian. He became a well-known face on television thanks to his dramatic roles in Bellbird, The Box, Prisoner and The Flying Doctors...
.
This segment was featured on the first reunion show, with Maurie being rotocaptured into the set, and doing the joke with son Marty.
"The Nixon Tapes"
This segment, which appeared during Livinia Nixon's time on the show, featured footage from movies or TV shows sent in by viewers, which contained a mistake or blooperBlooper
A blooper, also known as an outtake or boner is a short sequence of a film or video production, usually a deleted scene, containing a mistake made by a member of the cast or crew. It also refers to an error made during a live radio or TV broadcast or news report, usually in terms of misspoken words...
of some sort (such as a production error). Audience members had to guess what the mistake was.
"Celebrity Head"
In this segment, three contestants would have the name of a celebrity placed on top of their heads where they could not see them. Using a series of questions which could only be answered with either "yes" or "no", the contestants had to try to guess who their celebrity was. The name, like many other parts of the show, was joked upon for its double-entendre. As one of the most popular games on Hey Hey, "Celebrity Head" was adapted into a board game and retains casual interest.Spoofs
Spoofs of other programs were a regular feature in the early years. This began with caustic voice-overs of old TV shows, (comparable to the much later American program Mystery Science Theater 3000Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000 is an American cult television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Best Brains, Inc., that ran from 1988 to 1999....
and similar to other Australian comedy efforts including the "Europa Films" segments of The Aunty Jack Show
The Aunty Jack Show
The Aunty Jack Show was a Logie Award–winning Australian television comedy series that ran from 1972 to 1973. Produced by and broadcast on ABC-TV, the series attained an instant cult status that persists to the present day....
and the 1980s live comedy team Double Take
Double Take
Double take may refer to:*Double Take , an Australian sketch comedy*Double Take , a 1998 thriller*Double Take , a 2001 comedy*"Double Take" , a Code Lyoko episode...
). Later, this expanded into ongoing comedy sketches such as Division Saturday (a parody of Division 4
Division 4
Division 4 was an Australian television police drama series made by Crawford Productions for the Nine Network between 1969 and 1975 for 300 episodes....
), The Sillivans (The Sullivans
The Sullivans
The Sullivans is an Australian drama television series produced by Crawford Productions which ran from 1976 until 1983. The series told the story of an average middle-classMelbourne family and the effect World War II had on their lives...
) and The Shove Boat (The Love Boat
The Love Boat
The Love Boat is an American television series set on a cruise ship, which aired on the ABC Television Network from September 24,1977, until May 24,1986.The show starred Gavin MacLeod as the ship's captain...
).
The rural radio station 2QN
2QN
2QN is a radio station based in Deniliquin, New South Wales, Australia. It broadcasts on the medium wave radio band, at a frequency of 1521 kHz.2QN focuses on "Classic Hits", and has a 25+ years target audience....
Radio Deniliquin was satirised until official complaints were received, leading to a change over to 2KW Upper Kumbukta West, a fictional country town that was also home to the "Mrs Mac" character. The fictitious country of 'Biddleonia' was created as a new home for Irish jokes etc., so as not to offend any actual minorities.
Ian Buckland appeared and also performed in sketches including a satire called "The World's Worst Magician". These segments spawned merchandise in the form of magic kits and products.
In each of the two reunion shows, there was a "DisasterChef" segment—a spoof of MasterChef Australia
Masterchef Australia
MasterChef Australia is a Logie award winning Australian competitive cooking game show based on the original British MasterChef. It is produced by FremantleMedia Australia and screens on Network Ten. Restaurateur and chef Gary Mehigan, chef George Calombaris and food critic Matt Preston serve as...
.
In 2010, Hey Hey have spoofed many commercials with Trevor
Trevor Marmalade
Trevor Marmalade is the stage name of a comedian from Melbourne, Australia of Dutch descent. Jason grew up in Surrey Hills in Melbourne....
and Russell
Russell Gilbert
Russell Gilbert , is an Australian comedian and actor from Footscray, Victoria.-Television:He has appeared in several Australian TV comedies, first attracting notice as 'Russ the Postie' on The Comedy Company , which led to a nine year stint on Hey Hey It's Saturday...
in them.
Cultural significance
Other Australian sketch comedy programs have satirised the show at one point or another, including The Comedy CompanyThe Comedy Company
The Comedy Company was an Australian comedy television series first aired from 16 February 1988 until about 11 November 1990 on Network Ten, Sunday night and was created and directed by Ian McFadyen, and co directed and produced by Jo Lane...
when it was parodied as Ho Hum It's Saturday and Mad
Mad (magazine)
Mad is an American humor magazine founded by editor Harvey Kurtzman and publisher William Gaines in 1952. Launched as a comic book before it became a magazine, it was widely imitated and influential, impacting not only satirical media but the entire cultural landscape of the 20th century.The last...
magazine which did a parody with the same title.
Use of terminology from the show spawned controversy during a Test cricket match between Australia and South Africa in Melbourne in December 2005. Australian bowler Shane Warne
Shane Warne
Shane Keith Warne is a former Australian international cricketer widely regarded as one of the greatest bowlers in the history of the game. In 2000, he was selected by a panel of cricket experts as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Century, the only specialist bowler selected in the quintet...
referred to South African batsman Makhaya Ntini
Makhaya Ntini
Makhaya Ntini is a former South African cricketer who was the first ethnically black player to play for the South African team. A fast bowler, he tends to bowl from wide of the crease with brisk, although not express, pace...
, who was batting with an injured knee, as "John Blackman". Warne was claiming that Ntini was controlling his "dicky knee" just like Blackman "controlled" Dickie Knee on the show. But Ntini, a Bantu, interpreted the remark as a racist jibe, and a minor controversy occurred. Eventually Australian captain Ricky Ponting
Ricky Ponting
Ricky Thomas Ponting , nicknamed Punter, is an Australian cricketer, a former captain of the Australian cricket team between 2004 and 2011 in Test cricket and 2002 and 2011 in One Day International cricket. He is a specialist right-handed batsman, slips and close catching fielder, as well as a very...
explained the situation to South African captain Graeme Smith
Graeme Smith
Graeme Craig Smith is a South African cricketer and captain of the South African cricket team Test Match side, having succeeded Shaun Pollock after the 2003 Cricket World Cup...
. Blackman himself had in fact visited the Australian team's dressing rooms not long before the incident occurred.
John Farnham
John Farnham
John Peter Farnham, AO, formerly billed as Johnny Farnham , is an English-born Australian pop singer. He was a teen pop idol from 1964 to 1979, and has since forged a career as an adult contemporary singer. His career has mostly been as a solo artist although he briefly replaced Glenn Shorrock as...
was a frequent guest. A number of tribute songs were written, including one by Ricky May
Ricky May
Ricky May was a musician who found fame in New Zealand and Australia.He was of Māori descent. He played a little drums and piano but was known best as a vocalist...
.
Criticism
Although, even in its 21st century incarnation, the show continues to rate highly, not all sectors of the Australian community are fans. The show has been widely criticised as being backward and culturally insensitive. Its outlook and many of its jokes are considered to be racist and sexist. Such views were highlighted by the international controversy surrounding the aforementioned "Jackson Jive" sketch on Red Faces, which had the show derided as “old fashioned, out of touch, stale, [and] misguided”.The Jackson Jive
Appearing on the "Red Faces" segment during second reunion special on 7 October 2009. The sketch, in which six participants in blackfaceBlackface
Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used in minstrel shows, and later vaudeville, in which performers create a stereotyped caricature of a black person. The practice gained popularity during the 19th century and contributed to the proliferation of stereotypes such as the "happy-go-lucky darky...
performed a song by the Jackson Five, attracted international media attention, with both condemnation and defence. American musician Harry Connick Jr., performing on the show with his band was guest judging at the time and panned the skit.
The sketch
Performers Suresh de Silva, Joseph Macdessi, Harry Koumoukelis, Mark Sader, and David Jefferson dressed up as the Jackson Five in matching blackfaceBlackface
Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used in minstrel shows, and later vaudeville, in which performers create a stereotyped caricature of a black person. The practice gained popularity during the 19th century and contributed to the proliferation of stereotypes such as the "happy-go-lucky darky...
outfits and wearing large afro
Afro
Afro, sometimes shortened to fro and also known as a "natural", is a hairstyle worn naturally by people with lengthy kinky hair texture or specifically styled in such a fashion by individuals with naturally curly or straight hair...
wigs. They also made their teeth out to be extremely white. Anand Deva performed as an adult Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
, painting his face white. They sang the Jackson Five's hit "Can You Feel It
Can You Feel It
"Can You Feel It" is a recording by funk and soul group The Jacksons, recorded in March 1980 and released on September 22, 1980 as the first track on their album Triumph....
" in a jive style.
The performers are all from Sydney, and they work there as physicians. Times Online has described Deva as a "prominent Sydney-based plastic surgeon". The others included a radiologist, an anaesthetist, a psychiatrist
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
, a cardiologist and a urologist. The group had performed a similar sketch on Hey Hey It's Saturday in 1989, when they were all medical students.
Reactions on the program
Guest judge Harry Connick Jr., an American musician who originated from New Orleans and whose band contains several African-American members, gave the performers a "0" score. He appeared visibly uncomfortable throughout the skit. He said, "If they turned up like that in the United States, it’d be like Hey Hey There's No More Show". He also stated that he would not have agreed to be on the show had he known beforehand about the sketch, despite the fact he had appeared in blackface himself for a skit on MadTVMADtv
MADtv is an American sketch comedy television series. It licensed the name and logo of Mad, but otherwise had no connection with the humor magazine outside the animated Spy vs. Spy and Don Martin cartoon shorts and images of Alfred E. Neuman that the show featured during the late 1990s. Its first...
.
Connick's Australian co-judge, seated to his right, awarded the performers a "7" score. This judge, Jacki MacDonald
Jacki MacDonald
Jacki MacDonald is a former Australian television personality.-Career:...
, had originally intended to not participate in the show, but decided to after seeing the success of the first reunion episode. Her showing here was her first appearance on television with host Daryl Somers
Daryl Somers
Daryl Paul Somers OAM , is an Australian television personality. The son of a dairy farmer and a cabaret singer, Somers rose to national fame as the host of the long-running comedy-variety program Hey Hey It's Saturday.-Early life:Somers, who has an Irish Catholic heritage, was educated at...
in 21 years. In grading the 'Jackson Jive', she remarked that "I thought you were very cute". Regular judge Red Symons
Red Symons
Redmond Symons is an Australian musician, writer, actor and radio host, probably best known as lead guitarist with Skyhooks and as the snide judge of "Red Faces", a segment of the long-running Hey Hey It's Saturday variety television show...
, famous for giving low scores, awarded them a score of "1".
Daryl Somers
Daryl Somers
Daryl Paul Somers OAM , is an Australian television personality. The son of a dairy farmer and a cabaret singer, Somers rose to national fame as the host of the long-running comedy-variety program Hey Hey It's Saturday.-Early life:Somers, who has an Irish Catholic heritage, was educated at...
stated that nobody had intended to deliberately offend the viewers, the guests, or the audience. He described the sketch as a "bit retro". Somers apologised to Connick on air after a brief station break, and he said that he had forgotten that blackface has a different cultural background in the United States compared to Australia. Somers had been genuinely surprised by Connick's reaction.
Other responses
The controversial sketch happened at a point in which many Australians had expressed concern about an underground wave of racism in Australian society. Overall, Australians responded far more positively than residents of other English-speaking nations. Internet surveys done through News LimitedNews Limited
News Limited is one of Australia's largest diversified media companies. The publicly listed company's interests span newspaper and magazine publishing, Internet, Pay TV, National Rugby League, market research, DVD and film distribution, and film and television production trading assets.News Limited...
-related agencies and Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
stated that many Australians considered the sketch to be a funny and inoffensive tribute to Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
's memory. Some Australian political commentators remarked that only political correctness
Political correctness
Political correctness is a term which denotes language, ideas, policies, and behavior seen as seeking to minimize social and institutional offense in occupational, gender, racial, cultural, sexual orientation, certain other religions, beliefs or ideologies, disability, and age-related contexts,...
had been upset. In the United States, however, many internet based commentators reacted very negatively. Many internet commentators also panned the sketch in the United Kingdom.
Julia Gillard
Julia Gillard
Julia Eileen Gillard is the 27th and current Prime Minister of Australia, in office since June 2010.Gillard was born in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales and migrated with her family to Adelaide, Australia in 1966, attending Mitcham Demonstration School and Unley High School. In 1982 Gillard moved...
, Deputy Prime Minister of Australia
Deputy Prime Minister of Australia
The Deputy Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the second-most senior officer in the Government of Australia. The Deputy Prime Ministership has been a ministerial portfolio since 1968, and the Deputy Prime Minister is appointed by the Governor-General on the advice of the Prime...
, defended the skit. She has said, "It was just a bit of fun . . . a tribute to Michael Jackson and I think from an Australian audience point of view, they see the lightness of it". Acting Victoria Premier Rob Hulls
Rob Hulls
Rob Justin Hulls has been a member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly since 1996, representing the electorate of Niddrie. As well as previously serving as the Deputy Premier of Victoria, he was also the state Attorney-General and Minister for Racing.Rob Hulls was born in Melbourne and was...
labelled the skit as offensive. He also stated that Australia is not a racist country. Australian feminist Germaine Greer
Germaine Greer
Germaine Greer is an Australian writer, academic, journalist and scholar of early modern English literature, widely regarded as one of the most significant feminist voices of the later 20th century....
condemned the sketch as a "piece of shit".
Australian television personality Sam Newman
Sam Newman
John Noel William "Sam" Newman is a retired Australian rules football player and current television personality. He is a featured presenter on the AFL version of The Footy Show.-VFL career:...
, who has used blackface in his acts before, has stated sarcastically that the sketch would "arouse moralists". He argued that it is not truly offensive. Kamahl
Kamahl
Kamahl is the stage name of Kandiah Kamalesvaran , an Australian singer and recording artist, perhaps best known for "The Elephant Song", and his repertoire of popular music.-Early life:...
, an Australian entertainer who was mentioned in the sketch since he is of Malaysian ethnic heritage, referred to it as "a desperate attempt at notoriety and publicity". He has also said, "Hey Hey is devoid of any real wit. It's desperate. It's toilet humour and it should be flushed".
Reaction by the performers
Suresh de Silva has publicly responded to the criticisms. He stated that "The worst consequence of what we did is that the skit has raised the question of are Australians racist. We're genuinely horrified that our mistake could cause people to think that . . . Australians care more about ability than race". He also identified himself as having Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
n ancestry and the other performers as an Indian-Australian, a Greek-Australian, an Irish-Italian-Australian, and a Lebanese-Australian.
Silva has said that his group would not have performed the sketch in the U.S. He commented as well, "I suspect things are probably a bit different in America in terms of what that [black face] means".
Reaction by Jackson Five members
Marlon
Marlon Jackson
Marlon David Jackson is an American entertainer singer, dancer, former member of The Jackson 5, and elder brother of American pop stars Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson.-Personal life:...
, Tito
Tito Jackson
Toriano Adaryll "Tito" Jackson is an American singer and lead guitarist and original member of The Jackson 5. He is the older brother of American pop stars Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson.-Early life and rise to stardom:...
, and Jackie Jackson
Jackie Jackson
Sigmund Esco "Jackie" Jackson is an American singer and musician, a member of The Jackson 5, and the second child in the Jackson family.-Life and career:...
felt shocked after they were informed about the skit. Marlon Jackson thanked Connick for speaking out. He stated that the performers probably had not intended to be offensive and remarked, "Man, if they turned up looking like that in the United States!"
Programming history
| Name | Dates | Day | Timeslot |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hey Hey It's Saturday | October 1971 – September 1973 | Saturday | 8:30am–11:30am |
| Hey Hey It's Saturday | October 1973 – December 1977 | Saturday | 8:00am–11:00am |
| Hey Hey It's Saturday | March 1979 – December 1983 | Saturday | 8:00am–11:00am |
| Hey Hey It's Saturday Night | February 1984 – May 1985 | Saturday | 9:30pm–12:00am |
| Hey Hey It's Saturday | June 1985 – November 1999 | Saturday | 6:30pm–8:30pm |
| Hey Hey It's Saturday: Final | 20 November 1999 | Saturday | 6:30pm–10:30pm |
| Hey Hey It's Saturday: The Reunion | 30 September – 7 October 2009 | Wednesday | 7:30pm–10:30pm (30 September) 7.30pm–11:00pm (7 October) |
| Hey Hey It's Saturday | 14 April 2010 – 28 July 2010 | Wednesday | 7:30pm–9:30pm |
| Hey Hey It's Saturday | 16 October 2010 – 27 November 2010 | Saturday | 7:30pm–9:30pm |
Awards
Hey Hey It's Saturday won 19 Logies during its 29 year run.Awards the show has won include:
| Award | Awarded to | Year(s) won |
|---|---|---|
| Most Popular Personality (Gold Logie) | Daryl Somers | 1983, 1986, 1989 |
| Most Popular Light Entertainment Personality | Daryl Somers | 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997 |
| Most Popular Light Entertainment / Comedy Personality | Daryl Somers | 1990 |
| Most Popular Light Entertainment Program | The show | 1987, 1988, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 |
| Most Popular Comedy Program | The show | 1985, 1999 |
The show and cast have been nominated for various Logies over its run.
Awards nominated include:
| Award | Nominee | Year(s) nominated |
|---|---|---|
| Most Popular Personality (Gold Logie) | Daryl Somers | 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998 |
| Most Popular Light Entertainment Personality | Daryl Somers | 1994 |
| Most Popular Light Entertainment Program | The show | 1986, 1996, 2010 (Reunion), 2011 |
| Most Popular Light Entertainment / Comedy Program | The show | 1991, 1992 |
| Most Popular Light Entertainment / Comedy Personality | Daryl Somers | 1990, 1991 |
| Most Popular Comedy Program | The show | 1997, 1998 |
| Most Popular Program | The show | 1998 |
| Most Popular Comedy Personality | Russell Gilbert | 1995, 1996 |
| Most Popular Comedy Personality | Daryl Somers | 1996, 1997 |
| Most Popular Comedy Personality | Plucka Duck | 1997 |