Hey Hey It’s Saturday
Genre Variety
Directed by Peter Ots
Presented by Daryl Somers
This article is about the Australian television series. For the British series of the same name, see Hey, Hey, it’s Saturday! (United Kingdom).
Hey Hey It’s Saturday was a long-running variety television program on Australian television. It initially ran for 27 years on the Nine Network from on 9 October 1971 to 20 November 1999 (there was a recess in 1978). Its host throughout its entire run was Daryl Somers, who later also became 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 both won the ratings on their respective nights.
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 finale on 27 November 2010. The show was not renewed for a new season in 2011 and since then there has been no announcement of it ever coming back on air.
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 keyed into the scene), “Norman Neumann” (pronounced Noiman), 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 baseball cap and long black-haired wig, stuck on a stick) who would pop up in front of Daryl (operated by a stage hand) and make rude remarks.
Cast
Host
Presenter
Daryl Somers Host 1971–99, 2009–10
Co-hosts
Presenter Role Duration
Peter McKenna Co-host 1971 (First 8 weeks)
Ernie Carroll Ossie Ostrich (Co-host) 1971–94, 2009–10
Jacki MacDonald Co-host 1979–89, 2009, 2010
Denise Drysdale Co-host 1989–90, 2009
Jo Beth Taylor Co-host 1995–97, 99, 2009, 2010
Livinia Nixon Co-host 1997–99, 2009–10
Other regulars
Presenter Role Duration
Red Symons Red Faces host & guitarist 1980–99, 2009–10
John Blackman Voice-overs 1971–99, 2009–10
Wilbur Wilde Saxophonist 1984–99, 2009–10
Russell Gilbert Comedian & audience warm up 1990–99, 2009–10
Trevor Marmalade Live reporter 1991–99, 2009–10
Molly Meldrum Molly’s Melodrama host 1987–99, 2009
Andrew Fyfe 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 Entertainment reporter 1998–99, 2009–10
Danny Clayton Music 2010
Daryl McKenzie Musical Director 1992–99, 2009
Sally Cooper Violinist 2009–10
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia