Hey Dad..!
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Hey Dad..! | |
|---|---|
 The cast of Hey Dad..! from 1993. Left to right: Jenny Kelly, Betty Wilson, Arthur McArthur, Sam Kelly, Martin Kelly, and Ben Hubner |
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| Genre | Sitcom |
| Running time | 22-23 minutes (per episode) |
| Creator(s) | Gary Reilly & John Flanagan |
| Starring | Hey Dad..! Cast |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Original channel | Seven Network |
| Original run | 11 February 1987–17 August 1994 [1] |
| No. of episodes | 291 |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
Hey Dad..! (1987 - 1994) is an Australian sitcom that originally screened on the Seven Network and was very successful in Australia and Germany in the 1980s and the early 1990s. It was recorded at ATN-7 studios in Epping, New South Wales.
The show centers on the Kelly family. The central character was father Martin Kelly, a widowed architect who worked from his home in Chatswood, a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales. Prominent characters included his ditsy secretary Betty, originally from the country town of Walgett, his son Simon and daughters Debbie and Jennifer. Nudge, Simon's best friend, also dropped by often in search of food.
Later, many of the original actors playing the siblings left and were replaced by other actors. New characters also filled in the void, including Martin's niece Samantha and Arthur McArthur, a schoolboy who enjoyed Mr Kelly's company. Arthur McArthur passed into Australian television folklore as "the fat kid from Hey Dad..!" and became a comedic byword for most of the '90s.
In the show's last season, Martin Kelly moved to Saudi Arabia to take on a lucrative job offer, leaving his house and business in the care of friend Greg Russell. This is the point where many consider the show to have jumped the shark. Julie McGregor was the only cast member to appear in all 8 seasons.
In the series finale, the entire family was confined to the house with a fugitive bankrobber who was holding the characters hostage. The robber had placed a bomb in the family's VCR as leverage with the police. In an uncharacteristically darkly humorous ending, the bomb presumably goes off, at which point the cast break the fourth wall to thank the studio audience.
More recently, since July 2006 the Australian Pay-TV channel FOX Classics has been airing the program.
In September 2006 satirical comedy 'current affairs' show Real Stories aired a fictional story about an up-and-coming director attempting to make a feature film of Hey Dad..! The film was to be titled "Hey Dad..! The Movie" and was to star Stephen Curry (who made a cameo appearance in the Real Stories episode) as Hey Dad..! character Nudge.
Shock DVD has announced it will be releasing The Best of Hey Dad...! on DVD in mid-March 2007.
Contents |
[edit] Cast
[edit] Main characters
- Martin Kelly – Robert Hughes (1987-1993; episodes 1-264)
- Betty Wilson – Julie McGregor (1987-1994; episodes 1-291)
- Simon Kelly – Paul Smith (1987; episodes 1-38), Christopher Mayer (1988-1991; episodes 40-187)
- Debbie Kelly – Simone Buchanan (1987-1990; episodes 1-165, 268)
- Jennifer Kelly – Sarah Monahan (1987-1993; episodes 1-227), Angela Keep (1993-94; episodes 231-291)
- Nudge – Christopher Truswell (1987-1991; episodes 1-174)
- Samantha Kelly – Rachael Beck (1991-1994; episodes 166-266)
- Arthur McArthur – Matthew Krok (1991-1994; episodes 178-291)
- Ben Hubner - Ben Oxenbould (1991-1994; episodes 177-291)
- Greg Russell – Mark Owen-Taylor (1993-94; episodes 263-291)
- Tracy Russell – Belinda Emmett (1994; episodes 266-291)
[edit] Recurring characters
- Det. Sgt. Anne Burke – Tina Bursill (episodes 1, 2, 15, 22, 28, 34)
- Grandma Lois Kelly – Moya O'Sullivan (episodes 6, 21, 40, 71, 86, 134, 167)
- Stan Hickey – Bill Young (episodes 17, 33, 48, 55, 73, 91, 92, 93, 130, 143, 164, 188, 189, 200)
- Lyn Parker – Mary Lou Stewart (episodes 233, 239, 241, 244, 246, 248, 251, 253, 255, 264)
[edit] Deceased cast members
Belinda Emmett, who played Tracy Russell in 1994, died of cancer on 11 November 2006.
[edit] Episodes
See List of Hey Dad..! episodes
[edit] Trivia
- The series pilot was taped in 1984. However, the series did not begin airing on the Seven Network until early 1987.[citation needed]
- Although portions of the pilot were aired in flashback sequences for the episode "Country Cousin", the pilot itself was never aired on television.
- The fictional street address used for the Kelly house is 33 Jacaranda Avenue, Chatswood, New South Wales, 2067.
- The exterior shots of the house in later episodes were filmed using a miniature model.
- Hey Dad..! makes a surprise appearance on the U2 video and DVD Zoo TV. During each concert at the start of the song Even Better Than The Real Thing frontman Bono would use a remote control to show what television show was actually airing at the time. These "airings" would be displayed on the stage's giant television screens to the audience. During the Sydney concert which was filmed for the later release of the live video, Hey Dad..! is one of the shows that appears. Bono comments "What is this soap opera? The accent changes but the script sounds the same" before switching to the next channel.
- A short-lived spinoff was created with the character Julie McGregor called Hampton Court (TV series).
