Hey Hey It's Saturday

Name: Hey Hey It's Saturday
Genre: Comedy, Family, Talk
Released: 1971-10-09
Cast: Livinia Nixon, Red Symons, Wilbur Wilde, Jacki MacDonald, Daryl Somers

1971 –2010
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In production
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PG

Hey Hey It's Saturday was a long-running variety television program on Australian television. It initially ran for 27 years, 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.

Created by: Daryl Somers, Gavin Disney, Ernie Carroll
Seasons: 29
Episodes: 681
Episode length: ~2h
First aired: Oct 9, 1971
Networks: Nine Network, Seven Network
Original language: English
Origin: Australia

Cast of Hey Hey It's Saturday

Livinia Nixon
Red Symons
Wilbur Wilde
Jacki MacDonald
Daryl Somers
Host
John Blackman

Seasons

Specials

Air date unknown

6 episodes

Nine re-aired the Hey Hey By Request specials in 2005 and June 2006. Daryl and Nine agreed to a deal for two specials to air in late 2009. They aired in September and October and were a ratings success, attracting peak audiences of 2.64 and 3.1 million viewers respectively.
Season 1

Oct 9, 1971

1 episode

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.
Season 7 (1977)

Air date unknown

1 episode

This was the final season before the show went into recess, when Daryl and Ossie took the bold step of leaving the Nine Network for the rival 0–10 Network to present a prime time show featuring 'comedy, audience participation and novelty games', simply titled The Daryl and Ossie Show.
Season 9 (1980)

Feb 16, 1980

5 episodes
Season 10 (1981)

Air date unknown

2 episodes
Season 13 (1984)

Feb 18, 1984

39 episodes

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.
Season 14 (1985)

Air date unknown

39 episodes
Season 15 (1986)

Air date unknown

40 episodes
Season 16 (1987)

Air date unknown

40 episodes
Season 17 (1988)

Air date unknown

40 episodes
Season 18 (1989)

Air date unknown

40 episodes
Season 19 (1990)

Air date unknown

40 episodes
Season 20 (1991)

Air date unknown

42 episodes
Season 21 (1992)

Air date unknown

42 episodes
Season 22 (1993)

Air date unknown

42 episodes
Season 23 (1994)

Air date unknown

42 episodes
Season 24 (1995)

Air date unknown

42 episodes
Season 25 (1996)

Air date unknown

41 episodes
Season 26 (1997)

Air date unknown

42 episodes
Season 27 (1998)

Air date unknown

40 episodes
Season 28 (1999)

Air date unknown

41 episodes

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 in 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.
Season 29

Apr 14, 2010

20 episodes

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. The show returned on 14 April 2010 with over 1.5 million viewers.