What the bugger is Hey Dad?

It was an Aboriginal sit-com in the 1980s - the Australian version of Different Strokes. Remember that?

Dirty Paki Khunt wrote on Mar 26^th, 2010 at 1:14pm:

It was an Aboriginal sit-com in the 1980s - the Australian version of Different Strokes. Remember that?

An Aboriginal sitcom?

Well, sort of. Where was the dizzy redhead from?

Dirty Paki Khunt wrote on Mar 26^th, 2010 at 1:23pm:

Well, sort of. Where was the dizzy redhead from?

Walgett.

There you go, you see.

Dirty Paki Khunt wrote on Mar 26^th, 2010 at 1:28pm:

There you go, you see.

Ah, yes I see.

Those Celtic Aboriginals.

Alright, it might not have had actual Aboriginals in it, but it was about Aboriginal issues.

Dirty Paki Khunt wrote on Mar 26^th, 2010 at 2:06pm:

Alright, it might not have had actual Aboriginals in it, but it was about Aboriginal issues.

You're obviously not Australian.

I think he's taking the piss again.

But yeah, he's not Australian. He's Pakistani. He just lives here. ;)

I only wander why wait 17 years to come out?

But no child should be subjected to any type of abuse, hope we have good measures to stop it immediately now, even prevent it happening in a first place.

aikmann4 wrote on Mar 26^th, 2010 at 2:35pm:

I think he's taking the piss again. But yeah, he's not Australian. He's Pakistani. He just lives here. ;)

Ah, OK then. I should have said "You obviously didn't grow up watching Australian sitcoms". It was a pretty weak show, comedicly, but it had its charisma.  Betty's convoluted stories, her malapropisms and mispronounced words (remember "archertect") stayed with us over the years. A couple of times I have met someone in real life like her and I'm reminded of Betty.

NorthOfNorth wrote on Mar 26^th, 2010 at 2:26pm:

Dirty Paki Khunt wrote on Mar 26th, 2010 at 2:06pm: Alright, it might not have had actual Aboriginals in it, but it was about Aboriginal issues. You're obviously not Australian.

Okay, I aknowledge that it may not have been about actual Aboriginal issues, but there were Aboriginal implications.

Anyway, I think Ernie Dingo did a walk on once.

Dirty Paki Khunt wrote on Mar 26^th, 2010 at 3:32pm:

NorthOfNorth wrote on Mar 26th, 2010 at 2:26pm: Dirty Paki Khunt wrote on Mar 26th, 2010 at 2:06pm: Alright, it might not have had actual Aboriginals in it, but it was about Aboriginal issues. You're obviously not Australian. Okay, I aknowledge that it may not have been about actual Aboriginal issues, but there were Aboriginal implications. Anyway, I think Ernie Dingo did a walk on once.

Sorry mate, you're way off. Hey Dad was the most inoffensive show on air and did not touch on any controversial issues. It was a sitcom about a family and their daily lives. No pedagogic pretensions, no risqué subjects, no great social issues, just very light humour.

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Okay, I aknowledge that it may not have been about actual Aboriginal issues, but there were Aboriginal implications.

I think the indigenous aspect of the show that you may have been thinking of was to do with the little Eskimo kid in the show.

It may seem tame now, but it was revolutionary in its day.

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It may seem tame now, but it was revolutionary in its day.

What was so revolutionary about it?

It seemed pretty innocuous to me, and I think that's what a lot of people liked about it. You could switch off and know that you're not going to have to think about anything much for the next half hour.

It's amusing that these types of shows seemed to have the biggest dramas going on behind the scenes.

It does seem strange that this is all just coming out now.
Very good for ratings one imagines. Though I tend to feel a little sorry for Grimshaw, who obviously doesn't have the final say on which stories are presented. She had a look of distaste on her face during the Bingle/Clarke business, and an obvious sense of relief when it came to the final instalment.

freediver wrote on Mar 26^th, 2010 at 7:54pm:

It may seem tame now, but it was revolutionary in its day.

Exactly. You'd be a fool if you didn't recognise Hey Dad as a seminal Australian program of the 1980s, targeting fundamental issues/themes within the Australian social-political landscape, and reflecting cultural mores and values that we would otherwise have ignored. Groundbreaking TV, Hey Dad shaped the Australian zeitgeist. It was, in its time, must-see television. I'm yet to see it on DVD, but I think some episodes were released on video. You can probably find copies in the odd rural op-shop - if you're lucky.

I miss Hey Dad. It harks back to a time when important issues were not merely swept under the carpet (or absorbed into the vortex of consumer celebrity culture), but fleshed out and deeply considered - a bit like this board, really. Historical moments like these are rare. 1848, 1968, and Hey Dad's Bicentennial celebration in 1988, where Betty wore her boxing kangaroo jumper, resonated long afterwards.

Remember: if we don't learn from history, we are destined to repeat it.

Dirty Paki Khunt wrote on Mar 27^th, 2010 at 5:43pm:

freediver wrote on Mar 26th, 2010 at 7:54pm: It may seem tame now, but it was revolutionary in its day. Exactly. You'd be a fool if you didn't recognise Hey Dad as a seminal Australian program of the 1980s, targeting fundamental issues/themes within the Australian social-political landscape, and reflecting cultural mores and values that we would otherwise have ignored. Groundbreaking TV, Hey Dad shaped the Australian zeitgeist. It was, in its time, must-see television. I'm yet to see it on DVD, but I think some episodes were released on video. You can probably find copies in the odd rural op-shop - if you're lucky. I miss Hey Dad. It harks back to a time when important issues were not merely swept under the carpet (or absorbed into the vortex of consumer celebrity culture), but fleshed out and deeply considered - a bit like this board, really. Historical moments like these are rare. 1848, 1968, and Hey Dad's Bicentennial celebration in 1988, where Betty wore her boxing kangaroo jumper, resonated long afterwards. Remember: if we don't learn from history, we are destined to repeat it.

That's what I like to read, you tongue-in-cheek bullsh!t artist! ;D

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Remember: if we don't learn from history, we are destined to repeat it.

We already have annuals of history, but we repeat it anyway.
Could it be that we are merely human? Oh..no perish the thought.


Betty should never wear that jumper again.

Amadd wrote on Mar 28^th, 2010 at 3:48am:

Quote: Remember: if we don't learn from history, we are destined to repeat it. We already have annuals of history, but we repeat it anyway. Could it be that we are merely human? Oh..no perish the thought. Betty should never wear that jumper again.

That could be interpreted as a bit racist, Amadd.

If Betty, a character who defined the essence of Aboriginal sisterhood throughout the 1980s, wants to display her tribal totem, she should be perfectly entitled to do so.

Cathy Freeman draped herself in the Aboriginal flag at the Olympic games, Burnum Burnum drove a Rolls Royce painted with Aboriginal artwork, and Betty proudly wore her tribal insignia for all to see.

Jenny Kee, inspired by Betty's stance, probably knocked off a job lot of them.

To this day, many people fail to see the spiritual references in Hey Dad. They point to Acropolis Now or All in the Family as representing the defining spirit of the times.

This is pure nonsense. Hey Dad displayed perfectly what it meant to be Australian, highlighting the divide between our past and present, the need for reconciliation, and our sense of a proud nation in Asia, fighting for the rights of all its citizens. I happen to know, for example, it was one of the main influences on Paul Keating's famous Redfern speech.

Don Watson, after all, was an avid Hey Dad viewer.

Historians will not ignore Hey Dad's influence on our national tapestry. They will praise the contribution Hey Dad made to our sense of national sovereignty and pay homage to its resonance within our social and cultural makeup. One day, along with the Bulletin, people will look back on Hey Dad as being a defining mouthpiece of Australian national pride and cohesion.

Dirty Paki Khunt wrote on Apr 1^st, 2010 at 3:42pm:

If Betty, a character who defined the essence of Aboriginal sisterhood throughout the 1980s, wants to display her tribal totem, she should be perfectly entitled to do so.

I don't know what planet you're really from, but the character, Betty, was not an Aboriginal. Betty was Martin Kelly's (the dad) cousin.


Dirty Paki Khunt wrote on Apr 1^st, 2010 at 3:42pm:

To this day, many people fail to see the spiritual references in Hey Dad. They point to Acropolis Now or All in the Family as representing the defining spirit of the times.

All in the Family was a 70's show.

There were other important American shows that made statements about American life that were far more profound than any Australian show was about Australians (except maybe "Number 96" ;D ).

"Good Times" depicted an honest, decent, working-class African-American family working their way out of the ghetto.

"The Cosby Show" depicted African-Americans as being capable of living as decent middle-class citizens.

It's a positive thing that there have been television shows about African Americans doing positive things that should at least in theory provide African Americans with suitable role-models that they can aspire to, but this trend has recently just degenerated into a ridiculous parody of itself. Current media depictions of blacks are so unrealistic that they are cringeworthy; a race seemingly consisting of super-geniuses, brilliant accountants, doctors, lawyers, 'by the book' police officers and robotic engineers. Hollywood seems to paint a very unfamiliar and pecuiliar reality none of us really know but many seem to still think is there.

By the same token, more and more are whites depicted as the bad guys. I remember watching some film where two criminals broke into a woman's house, one black and one white. The film clearly depicted the black one as a sympathetic figure and victim of circumstance, while the white was the evil manipulator with no concern for human life. I have long taken notice of this pattern but never really made any conclusions as to why it existed -- at least, until recently.

The Australian media seems to be a little more sane, but that might be because I stopped watching television with much frequency many years ago. There have only been a tiny handful of minority families in Ramsay street for instance. Many would decry this as racist, but really it's just realistic. The American media saturates the neighbourhoods and relationships on its programs with minorities, and every character always seems to possess some sort of improbable 'rainbow' circle of friends which he or she confides. The only time this does not hold true of course is with programs made specifically for black audiences made by black people; in this case, there's nary a white face to be found. Where's Whitey? :D

There are lots of minorities in America.

Has anyone else noticed this trend of yours? Sometimes, people just see what they want to see.

Hey Dad had no of this superficiality that you ascribe to other shows. It said it like it was, and still is. Plain and simple, with no icing on top. It achieved something no show since has.

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There are lots of minorities in America.

That is true. Where are all these brilliant black and hispanic accountants, doctors and engineers? Have you watched much American television, Freediver?

Where are the Affirmative Action professionals in Hollywood? :o

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Have you watched much American television, Freediver?

No. I only watch Home and Away, Rex and Bollywood movies.

And Hey Dad reruns.

Neighbours obviously always had the hottest chicks.

What about Bollywood?

Only if those actresses get some Fair & Lovely into their lives.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-9tcXpW1DE&feature=related

freediver wrote on Apr 1^st, 2010 at 8:51pm:

No. I only watch Home and Away, Rex and Bollywood movies.

Rex ::)

That Kraut series about a smart-arse dog. Skippy could kick his smart-arse in the brains department.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9sTVQDdHnE

Full Frontal was always better than Fast Forward or that atrocious Skithouse.

I liked Rubbery Figures.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWlC2V-ZMOM

I wish they were back.

I mean not actors but cartoons.

NorthOfNorth wrote on Apr 1^st, 2010 at 4:03pm:

All in the Family was a 70's show.

You're right there, Helian. What was that show with Jon English as the ageing 60s rockstar? The academics worship that one.

I know it had "family" in the title somewhere.

aikmann4 wrote on Apr 1^st, 2010 at 8:27pm:

It's a positive thing that there have been television shows about African Americans doing positive things that should at least in theory provide African Americans with suitable role-models that they can aspire to, but this trend has recently just degenerated into a ridiculous parody of itself. Current media depictions of blacks are so unrealistic that they are cringeworthy; a race seemingly consisting of super-geniuses, brilliant accountants, doctors, lawyers, 'by the book' police officers and robotic engineers. Hollywood seems to paint a very unfamiliar and pecuiliar reality none of us really know but many seem to still think is there. By the same token, more and more are whites depicted as the bad guys.

Exactly. Take Kingswood Country. The wog was such a nice guy but Ted Bullpit was a real bastard, always bitching about the "other" races, always whingeing about everything, and he was really selfish too.

You had to put money on the fridge if you wanted a beer, and there was always some excuse why you couldn't borrow the Kingswood. You couldn't tell Ted bullpit anything, and he blamed everyone else for his problems.

I mean, come on. Australians aren't like that at all.