Editing Hey Hey It's Saturday (section)

== Move to primetime ==
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. Many visiting overseas stars including actor [[Sylvester Stallone]], singer [[Tom Jones (singer)|Tom Jones]], musician [[Stevie Ray Vaughan]], and professional wrestler [[André the Giant]] were impressed by the program's zany style (and its wide appeal) and made return appearances on subsequent visits. During its peak years, backed by the full resources of Nine and assisted by the rapid improvement in satellite communication, ''Hey Hey'' regularly travelled to locations all over Australia and even overseas for live broadcasts.

In October 1984, in a world first, reformed Aussie 1970s rock band [[Skyhooks (band)|Skyhooks]] appeared on the same night live from their concert at Melbourne's [[Olympic Park]], where they were performing in front of 26,000 people with Daryl and Ossie appearing with them on a giant screen above the stage. The band traded quips with the ''Hey Hey'' crew in between performing some of their biggest hits. [[Red Symons]] landed his ''Hey Hey'' gig as a result of the success of this appearance.{{citation needed|date=August 2015}}

The show enjoyed strong ratings and maintained a dedicated following throughout the Eighties, and became a "must watch" program for a generation of viewers, with its popularity augmented by the stellar guest lineup and regular musical performances. Other personalities gradually came on board, including ex-Skyhooks guitarist Red Symons, who not only played in the show's house band, but was also infamous for his withering sarcasm and as a judge on the "talent" segment ''Red Faces''. Another noted Australian rock musician who became a long serving cast member was [[saxophonist]] [[Wilbur Wilde]], who had previously played in Australian bands [[Ol' 55 (band)|Ol' 55]] and [[Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons]]. The regular cast was further expanded by the addition of former ''[[Countdown (Australian TV series)|Countdown]]'' host [[Ian Meldrum|Ian "Molly" Meldrum]], comedian and ex-''[[The Comedy Company]]'' star [[Russell Gilbert]], actor and comedian [[Maurie Fields]], and ex-''[[The Curiosity Show]]'' presenter, Dr [[Deane Hutton]].

''Hey Hey'' retained its loyal following well into the 1990s—at one point between 1992 and 1994 also screening on [[TVNZ]] (briefly) in primetime, before later being moved to late Saturday nights—but Ernie Carroll decided to retire in 1994, taking [[Ossie Ostrich]] with him. Other characters, including "Plucka Duck", were brought in prior to his retirement to partially fill the void left by Carroll's departure. In the late 1980s, a cartoonist, [[Andrew Fyfe (cartoonist)|Andrew Fyfe]], was added to the team, offering visual gags similar to Blackman and Tregonning's audio contributions. In 1992, Fyfe started his own children's game show on Nine called ''GuessWhat?''. On this show, he drew picture puzzles in front of two teams of children. A number of Somers–Carroll-produced "Red Faces" and ''Best of Hey Hey'' specials screened and were rescreened with high ratings for their timeslots. The show also had a lane named after it near its studios.

In 1998, [[Russell Gilbert]] got his own [[Somers Carroll Productions|Somers–Carroll]] sketch comedy show on Nine, ''[[The Russell Gilbert Show]]'', which lasted a year. Also in that year, ''Hey Hey'' went full circle and became a Saturday morning kids TV show again, in the form of a separate show called ''[[Plucka's Place]]''. This was hosted by Plucka Duck and [[Livinia Nixon]]. Livinia soon went on to co-host the main show. A wide range of Plucka merchandise was released to complement the new program.