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John Blackman defends Hey Hey humour

Hey Hey It's Saturday's John Blackman has hit back at entertainment reporter Peter Ford who questioned the inclusion of a Red Faces act this week.

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Hey Hey It’s Saturday‘s John Blackman has hit back at entertainment reporter Peter Ford who questioned the inclusion of a sketch on Red Faces this week.

In one of his regular 3AW radio spots, Ford questioned whether a sketch with a man performing an Elvis Presley song in the style of Porky Pig might offend people who suffer from stutterering.

But Blackman, appearing in a later radio show hosted by Bruce Mansfield and Phillip Brady, said Hey Hey was being unfairly targetted by Ford and that the act was in good humour.

Peter Ford rang into the radio station and a fiery discussion took place in which Ford questioned the show’s comic tone in 2010 and said the show was tanking outside Melbourne. Blackman defended the show as “good old fashioned fun.”

A small number of complaints on the sketch had been received by Nine and on talkback radio.

You can hear the exchange at the 3AW website.

50 Responses

  1. David,
    The only reason the ratings are down is because it is on a Wednesday against MasterChef mainly.

    When that series ends, the ratings will go back up around the 1.5-2.0 million mark. MasterChef is the “in” thing at the moment.

    That said, if Hey Hey was moved to Saturday night, they would kill the ratings easy.

    1. Oh there are numerous reasons why numerous shows are down or up, I don’t think anyone is saying otherwise. Wednesday, MasterChef, Pacific, Somers, novelty interest over, few international guests, etc. etc. That doesn’t change the fact it is Melbourne that is forming the bulk of the national figures. Nine has paid a lot for the show so it needs the return on Wednesday. I don’t see it regularly pulling 2m now, but happy to be proven wrong. Nine will be very grateful for Melbourne.

  3. Peter your a joke. Hey Hey is much better than other TV shows. Watch something like Good News Week, I can guarantee, I repeat guarantee you that there will something in there that offends.

    This is about the most stupidest thing I have heard since someone wanted “Hogan’s Heroes” banned from DVD sale because it was deemed offensive.

    For the record it was only pipped by Two and a Half Men by 50 odd thousand. Now The Pacific lost 200,000 from the other week. Does that mean it is struggling aswell?

    Hey Hey don’t need to change anything. It is fine exactly the way it is. Good onya Blackers.

    1. Peter Ford never claimed he was offended so much as raise the question of whether it was wise to have been included after last year’s Jackson Jive sketch. John Blackman defended that it was fine.

      I have already written stories on Hey Hey’s figures (and The Pacific) being down, including that the show has big problems outside Melbourne. For the money it is costing them the figures are below par. An umpteenth repeat of a US import is not a fair comparison. That said, I believe the Hey Hey audience is getting the show they want. Nine execs may not necessarily agree when they see the figures.

  4. David, just out of interest, when someone posts with a well known name do you have a way of checking that they really are who they claim to be before you allow the post?

    1. Yes. I have verified for this sort of thing before.

      All comments should be using a valid email address as per Comments Policy. Some people do not comply with this, then submit unpublishable / breached comments and provide no opportunity for me to discuss with them. Very annoying.

  7. If anyone was offended by that skit, it is their problem and they should keep it that way instead of infecting the rest of us with their PC BS. Better yet they should be responsible for their own mental health and visit their doctor

  9. What Is “offensive” Is the people who find little moments like these “offensive.” This bitter pill Mr Ford keeps chewing on Is by far showing It’s side effects everytime he talks about Hey Hey , deny It all you want Mr Ford but you clearly have issues with this show ( or better yet certain people behind it )

  11. @Michael I hear Peter Ford thinks Brian Griffin is offensive to all talking Canines and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles misrepresents the Martial Arts Reptiles in society.

  12. Oh just runaway Ford,I watched it and the only thing I thought of was Porky Pig.I suppose the PC police will be banning Porky and even Elmer Fudd now,or have they already?.The stupid people are not the ones that come-up with this PC twaddle but the ones that take notice.

  14. I have not seen a lot of HHIS this year and I never watched it when it was originally on, but I am surprised how corny the segments I’ve seen were. It sounds like the criticism of it is justified, and one glance at the ratings sheet shows that it is tanking in all markets outside of Melbourne.

  15. I think Peter Ford is absolutely correct in terms of the quality of Hey Hey this year.

    Where is the innovation in updating the show for a new decade? Yes I know the regular segments has its fans and certainly the nostalgia factor is what made it a hit last year when it returned.

    But any show worth its salt has to move with the times and update it or whittle away to nothing.

    Peter is also right in that Melbourne is the only place where it is rating well. Adelaide and Perth have switched off and Brisbane and Sydney aren’t far behind.

    Hey Hey needs to not only hold onto its fanbase but bring in a new group of fans to ensure its longevity.

    The current batch of shows have been very poor and I doubt it will see out its 20 episode order due to the high cost of the show versus the low ratings.

    Blackman’s term in saying the Red Faces segment was ‘old fashioned’ fun was unfortunate although its indigative of a format that needs to upgrade or become a relic of a bygone era.

  16. Peter Ford was joking, right? these people who are p.c. are just a very small minded minority!

    if this is the worse thing on T.V thats grab your attention…you really do need to take a good hard look at yourself.

  19. Great to see Pete Ford come and respond to this topic I always listen to your spots on Aw and Bayfm if I miss it on Aw. I think you were a bit nit picky re this skit on Red Faces I also think Blackman won your debate on Aw the other night unfortunately it really seemed to show that you dislike the show and seem intent to bring it down.

    However that being said I also agree Hey Hey has lacked major energy this time around and Daryl does seem to waffle way too much and at times it’s to the detriment of the show.

    All in all I believe we need a show like this on tv, a lot of people seem to bag our industry and sometimes unfairly and I think it doesn’t help to have someone carry on and almost look for the smallest supposed flaw to carry on about, in terms of ‘hiding behind a keyboard’ I think Pete you will find many of us who post on here include links to our sites and are quite accessible.

  21. peter ford is a second rate critic. people should complain about him being an idiot.
    p.c gone mad. we used to be able to laugh at ourselves. what happened?

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