What I am saying is all these 20 year olds and millennials (and I am not far off by age, it shames me the stupidity of people who do not understand that today does not equate to 30 or 50 years ago) need to get off their high horse and understand there is more than one way with a problem.
It was what it was. I don’t agree with Daryl’s direct equation of his show being only a victim of cancel culture, he needs to move on. But I agree with his sentiment on cancel culture as vermin from nobodies behind a keyboard.
I have no issue with the concept that times were different - however, even back in the ‘90s it was clear that the show was awful and treated guests like Kamahl terribly. Today we’d call it bullying - it was bullying then too.
I have seen people, even now, insist Kamahl must have been OK with it. Like a lot of people who weren’t male and white in those days, it’s likely he felt he had no choice but to go along with it.
Edit: I see you’ve added an extra bit to your post @Aurora … I think we agree for the most part!
And I wonder if that’s why Nine pulled the plug the first time around 20 years ago. Ratings were falling and I can imagine Daryl Somers, as its producer, being reluctant to do anything to change the show to accommodate a change in the times. Nine I think had enough foresight to see that HHIS was no longer going to be relevant.
I think @TelevisionAU sums up perfectly the opinions I have while looking back at old footage of Hey Hey It’s Saturday…or indeed just about any variety/comedy show on television from yesteryear.
Even more recently than those clips of Kamahl, there were segments on The Footy Show (both versions AFAIK) done as recently as the 2000s which most likely would not be seen as acceptable by modern standards.
Realistically just about every high profile comedian or entertainer has at one point or another, done things which may have been seen as acceptable at the time but would not be by today’s standards. Those who acknowledge their past mistakes (such as Magda who’s about to present Nine’s revived version of The Weakest Link) will likely be forgiven, while others who vigorously all their material no matter how questionable are likely to be viewed in a considerably less positive light.
Make no mistake, it’s a good thing that racism, sexism, mysogyny, discrimination against the LGBTI+ community or people with disabilities, etc is not seen as acceptable by todays standards. But at the same time, we won’t have a better future for the Australian media & entertainment industry if we don’t learn lessons (as painful as some may be) from the past.
I loved Hey Hey on a Saturday night when it aired at 6.30. It’s magic was you could drop in and put of the show as you got ready to go out. You did not need to commit for a whole hour, five minutes here and ten minutes there was fine.
I never realised how unsettling so much of the show was at the time. The clips of Kamahl show a bunch of white men who are obsessed with the colour of his skin. Imagine being non-white Australian and watching. If cancel culture is about cancelling white people from throwing flour in a coloured person’s face for a laugh - then this is a culture that should be supported.
I also never realised how talentless Daryl was - John Blackman really “carried” the show.
I should also mention that they are also selected clips (easy to be moved by the uploader on one perspective from specifically chosen clips) rather than the whole two hours plus of content each week. Not your fault for not realising particularly watching five or ten minutes here and there.
“There were a number of instances where I felt humiliated, but I didn’t want to raise any objections or protest about it. I kept smiling and pretending all was OK.”
The worst incident occurred in 1984, when Kamahl was hit in the face with a powder-puff while performing, rendering him in whiteface. Somers’ off-camera sidekick John Blackman quipped: “You’re a real white man now Kamahl, you know that?”
“I found that quite offensive,” Kamahl said. “Friends of mine in America saw that and to this day they can’t believe that somebody would treat an artist with that amount of disrespect.”
Meanwhile, Malaysian-born Kamahl was not among the personalities who agreed to return to air for the reunion special, but featured in a cartoon by resident artist Andrew Fyfe, which flashed up on screen during the skit with the words “Where’s Kamahl?” The veteran performer, whose “why are people so unkind?” comment featured often as a punchline on Hey, Hey , said he did not watch the show out of disgust.
“It’s really just a desperate attempt at notoriety and publicity,” he said.
"I used to laugh along when I was a guest but deep down I was thinking why are people so unkind? It’s just the same old rubbish.
"They are just trying to push the envelope. Like The Chaser . The Chaser may take it to another level but at least it’s witty.
" Hey, Hey is devoid of any real wit.
“It’s desperate. It’s toilet humour and it should be flushed.”
I just don’t understand how seven has re employed this fool. Have they really got a death wish or something? Then again most of their programs including H&A are all white…
Its good to see that people are coming out and attacking the show for racist jokes ans bullying of Kamal. Hopefully they will take down Hey hey tv as a result. Anyone who is subscribed to that site ans doesnt think theres anything wrong with that needs a good kick up the back side.
