Hey Hey It’s Saturday host Daryl Somers confirmed that the controversial show is coming back for a 50th anniversary special and after countless racism scandals can they like not??
Daryl Somers put a call on social media, asking for suggestions on what segments the public would like to see to ‘celebrate’ the 50th anniversary of the show.
According to the Herald Sun, Somers has already started filming segments with key cast members. However, Channel Nine told the publication that it would not be airing the 50 year anniversary show, with TV sources speculating that it may air on Seven instead.
Just FYI: Hey Hey it’s Saturday has already been cancelled twice, which should be enough of a reason not to bring it back, but alas TV networks will never learn. The first time the show was cancelled was in 1999, however the second time it was cancelled is probably the one you remember.
In 2010, the program was met with immense backlash and controversy after giving the green light to an extremely offensive and racist blackface sketch.
More recently, Somers and the show were met with even more backlash this year when the TV host told The Daily Telegraph that the content they used to air wouldn’t be acceptable today due to “political correctness and the cancel culture.” Yeah no shit, Sherlock.
Not long after that tone-deaf take, a series of problematic clips resurfaced on Twitter and went viral. Malaysian-born singer (and fun fact: old school mate of my grandfather) Kamahl is constantly ridiculed by the cast in the below footage. From making jokes about how “black” he is, to throwing white powder on him to make him “white’ – it’s not only racist, but it’s bullying.
To celebrate Daryl Somers’ hot take on cancel culture yesterday here’s all the edits I’ve done from the Hey Hey archives.
Here’s the legend Kamahl being bullied by the Hey Hey gang pic.twitter.com/Aa3WMeRw54
— John Patterson (@johnpatterson) March 22, 2021
Boomers will try and convince you that the show “was all in good fun”, but looking back at old footage will tell you otherwise. Instead, it looks like a boys club for bigots who think taking cheap-shots at minorities and bullying people who disagree is funny. No, thanks.
Bringing back Hey Hey It’s Saturday would be a huge slap in the face to the progress we’ve made as a country in unlearning our racist attitudes and behaviours.
Cancel culture doesn’t exist, because this fucking show keeps coming back.
