Celebrity News

Larry Emdur reflects on his time on Hey Hey it’s Saturday to mark its 50th anniversary: ‘An absolute highlight of my 40 years in TV’

The show first aired back in 1971.
Loading the player...

Larry Emdur has reminisced on Hey Hey It’s Saturday days as the iconic variety show celebrates 50 years since first hitting Aussie TV screens.

The 56-year-old took to Instagram to pay homage to the programme that helped kick off his career, saying it was the highlight of his 40 years in television.

Larry looked back on the time he hosted four episodes of the “iconically ironically ridiculous and outrageously silly” show in the 1990s.

“I grew up watching it with my family then when I was a bit older I would watch it before going out on a Saturday night. It was compulsory viewing for much of my life,” he shared.

Larry reminisced on getting to host four episodes of the “iconically ironically ridiculous and outrageously silly” show in the 1990s.

(Image: Nine)

“Then in the mid-90’s Daryl [Somers] invited me to host it, I was so honoured and so petrified. It was completely discombobulating, totally out of control and 10000% thrilling to host.

“Live and very dangerous, no scripts, no safety nets, no idea what was going to happen next. It was like Cirque du Soleil and The Squid Game were having a party in your head as you tried to work out what the frig was going on.

The Morning Show host reflected on getting “dry humped” by Plucka Duck, bitten on the bum by Dickie Knee (played by John Blackman) and getting the chance to interview “some huge stars”.

The Morning Show host said his time on Hey Hey it’s Saturday was the highlight of his 40-year TV career.

(Image: Nine)

“I loved every single stoooopid second of it,” the television personality wrote.

Daryl also took a trip down memory lane, saying the program was initially a “babysitter” as it started out as a kids show that aired on Saturday mornings.

“We’ve survived all these different time spots. Normally if the show doesn’t work, it’s moved to another slot and then usually then drops away. In our case, we had a 14-year apprenticeship on a Saturday morning, and then moved into night time,” he told News Corp.

Through the years, a bevvy of high-profile international stars appeared on the show, including Sylvester Stallone.

(Image: Nine)

In 1984, 13 years after first hitting TV screens, it was moved to the 9.30pm-midnight slot on Saturday nights, before eventually ending up at 6.30-8.30pm.

“And then when we got into the 90s, the show really wound up, it was at fever pitch,” Daryl said.

Through the years, a bevvy of high-profile international stars appeared on the show, including Sylvester Stallone, Cate Blanchett, Madonna, Christina Applegate and Clint Eastwood.

Related stories