The Xtra Source- Hey Hey Reunion 2 Review

08/10/09: Hey Hey it's Saturday Reunion Special #2 reviewed. Nathan Taylor & Peter Lang discuss the reunion show in detail including the controversial Red Faces segment which offended overseas crooner Harry Connick Jr.

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Hey Hey it's over again...

Well unless Channel 9 give it the greenlight for a full season in 2010, and if ratings are any indication whether Hey Hey will return again... then it's a sure thing.
Hey Hey rated through the roof again last night achieving 2.3 million viewers around Australia and probably a few more thousand around the world watching LIVE online. This was an extra 100,000 viewers than last weeks first special.
However, the night has been over shadowed by the 'Jackson Jive' Red Faces act which American singer Harry Connick Jr was heavily offended.
In a recent 7 News poll 80% of people WEREN'T offended by the skit. I must agree I didn't think anything of it when I saw it and still don't. It's funny how Aussie's are so much different to our American friends.
In a Special Edition of The Extra Source Podcast which will be available from 8pm tonight we will weigh in on if we think Hey Hey should be back next year and also the debate of this OTT (Over The Top) reaction of the world's media to the 'black face' Red Faces skit.
Check out the act here:

(Pic: TV Tonight)

Hey Hey kills Masterchef

by Nathan Taylor

It was the TV battle audiences had been waiting for and 38 years after it had its debut on air Hey Hey it's Saturday was back with Hey Hey the Reunion and it blew its competition Celebrity Masterchef out of the saucepan.

Hey Hey reached 2.16 million viewers nationwide and managed to keep viewers glued for nearly three hours, making it one of the highest rating shows of the year.

Channel Ten's offering of Celebrity Masterchef rated 1.3 million and in all reports was very dull and the "celebrity" talent on there last night would be somewhat questionable. I'd only heard of the guy from INXS on last night's show.

But Hey Hey proved itself in the modern day of television, by bringing back old gags and favourite segments. I must say John Blackman is a true genius and Daryl did a great job too.

And what's best is it will be back next week and hopefully the big wigs at NINE will resurrect it for a whole season in 2010.

Hey Hey ROVE it's time to pack your bags, your mediocre 600,000 viewers last Sunday night was childish. It's time to mix it with the big boys now!

(Pic: TV Tonight)

Hey Hey It's BACK!

Yes it's true! The show that we loved to watch every Saturday is returning to our screens. Hey Hey It's Saturday is coming back after ten years for two Reunion specials and with the possibility of a brand new series.

Host Daryl Somers and Channel 9 confirmed the two shows will be screened later this year, most likely October and would be a mix of nostalgia and new material. And if they rate well, Nine will look at doing a new series.

Somers is believed to be over the moon about the decision and now there is a mad scramble to get the cast back together. Favourites like that funny hand puppet Dickie Knee and Plucka Duck will most certainly be there. But Somers really needs the other cast members like Red, Wilbur, Molly, John Blackman, Livinia Nixon, Russell Gilbert and Ernie Carroll who played Ossie Ostrich to make this show a hit again.

Hey Hey was a family show. It appealed to people of all ages and it's something that Australian audiences have been missing since the show ended in 1999 after a 28 year run. I for one was a devastated little 12 year-old in '99 when the show was axed having grown up with it. And I'm extremely excited to see it back even if it is for just two Reunion episodes.

Many people bag the show, saying it's corny or Daryl is the most irritating man on television. And I guess Australian TV and audiences have come a long long way since Hey Hey was on last but I do believe if they do it right, Hey Hey can bring families back together on a Saturday night to enjoy fun, games, live music and a few laughs.