Editing Hey Hey It's Saturday (section)

== Reunions and revival ==
Since the show's initial demise in 1999, there has been a considerable, on-going interest in the reformation of ''Hey Hey It's Saturday'' in some capacity. In 2008, a [[Facebook]] group created by Corrine Lawrence of [[Broken Hill]] was set up to garner support for a return.<ref>[https://tvtonight.com.au/2011/03/facebook-fan-joins-somers-carroll.html Facebook fan joins Somers Carroll]</ref> In July 2009, the ''[[Herald Sun]]'' ran a story on the campaign, which was subsequently picked up by other media outlets, including the Nine Network itself. Membership of the group skyrocketed as a result, going from 10,000 members to 32,000 members by 22 July 2009. By July 2010 membership exceeded 488,000. [[ABC Radio and Regional Content|ABC Radio]] [[Broken Hill]] interviewed Lawrence and Somers on 22 July 2009 in regard to the growing interest.<ref>ABC Radio Broken Hill interview featuring Corrine Lawrence and Daryl Somers [http://blogs.abc.net.au/files/hey-hey-its-saturday.mp3] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110917070444/http://blogs.abc.net.au/files/hey-hey-its-saturday.mp3|date=17 September 2011}}</ref>

It was reported on 24 July 2009 that Daryl Somers and the Nine Network had agreed to a deal for two specials to air in late 2009 after lengthy negotiations and, if the shows rated well, the two would negotiate the return of the show to its original format.<ref>[http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,25831496-2682,00.html Article from adelaidenow.com.au, posted 24 July 2009 at 8:50pm]</ref>

The specials were a mix of old and new content. Graeme Trippett joined Daryl Somers as co-executive producer. The first reunion special aired on Wednesday, 30 September 2009 and was a ratings success.<ref>1 October 2009 [http://www.theage.com.au/news/entertainment/tv-radio/articles/2009/10/01/1253989982974.html Hey Hey wins ratings showdown] Theage.com.au</ref> It attracted a peak audience of 2.64 million viewers and an average audience of 2.169 million people, and beat the debut of ''[[Celebrity MasterChef Australia]]'' which had a peak audience of 1.92 million viewers and an average audience of 1.36 million.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/latest-news/hey-hey-its-saturday-wins-masterchef-ratings-battle/news-story/ae812cebe1589cc2313845cf8fed5a53|title=Hey Hey, it's blown MasterChef away|last=Davey|first=Ben|date=1 October 2009|website=The Australian|access-date=2019-02-06}}</ref> It gave Nine a 40% share of the ratings for that day, topping all other television stations by a massive 20%; it also ranked Number 1 as the highest rating show for that week. The second special aired on 7 October and attracted 300,000 viewers more. The second reunion special once again topped the ratings for that week with an average of 2.3 million viewers, giving Nine its highest share of 2009 at 43.3%. However, it also drew international reaction for the Red Faces segment "[[#The Jackson Jive|The Jackson Jive]]" (see below), consisting of a [[Michael Jackson]] impersonator and five backup dancers in [[blackface]].<ref name=abcred>{{Cite web|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2009-10-08/hey-hey-red-faced-over-blackface-skit/1094878|title=Hey Hey red-faced over blackface skit|date=8 October 2009|website=ABC News|language=en-AU|access-date=2019-02-06}}</ref>

Following the success of the 2009 reunion specials, the show returned in 2010 after a deal was signed for at least 20 new episodes. The show was set to air on Wednesday nights but retain the title ''Hey Hey It's Saturday'' with Daryl Somers returning as host. Ian "Molly" Meldrum had recently signed a deal with Channel 7, excluding him from the line-up. Red Symons was part of the lineup, after his decision to leave ''[[Australia's Got Talent]]'' on Channel 7.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/television/hey-hey-its-saturday-to-get-at-least-20-more-episodes/story-e6frfmyi-1225807567425|title=Hey Hey It's Saturday to get at least 20 more episodes|author=News.com.au|work=[[News.com.au]]|date=7 December 2009|access-date=7 December 2009|archive-date=8 December 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091208102541/http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/television/hey-hey-its-saturday-to-get-at-least-20-more-episodes/story-e6frfmyi-1225807567425|url-status=dead}}</ref> The show returned on 14 April 2010 with over 1.5 million viewers across the five major cities.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/hey-hey-its-a-photo-finish-20100415-sfa1.html | title = Hey Hey it's a photo finish | date = 15 April 2010 | last = Quinn | first = Karl | access-date = 22 July 2010 | work = The Age | publisher = Fairfax Media | location=Melbourne}}</ref>