Daryl Somers

Daryl Paul Somers OAM (born Daryl Schulz 6 August 1951 in Geelong, Victoria, Australia), is an triple award winning Gold Logie recipient, who is best known as an Australian television personality and musician. The son of a dairy farmer and a cabaret singer, Somers rose to national fame as the host of the long-running comedy-variety program Hey Hey It's Saturday and continued his television celebrity and status as host of the live performance program Dancing with the Stars.

Early life

Somers, who has an Irish Catholic heritage with a German background, was educated at Christian Brothers College, St. Kilda. A drummer, he joined a group playing music in the style of Herb Alpert which began under the name "Pasquale and his Mexican Rhythm." Under the name "Somerset", the group appeared on GTV-9's talent quest programme New Faces, winning their way to the finals, only to be beaten by John Williamson.^[1]

Television career

Hey Hey It's Saturday Era (1971 – 1999)

Somers started professional TV work on 14 July 1971, taking over as the presenter of an afternoon children's program called Cartoon Corner, which was previously 'Skeeter's Cartoon Corner', hosted by James Kemsley (who went on to draw the famous Ginger Meggs comic strip for 23 years). Daryl's first words were, "Hi I'm Daryl Somers, Skeeter will no longer be with us and now it's time for a cartoon".

His audition consisted of him doing an impersonation of Mr Magoo.^[2] Also present at these auditions was Ernie Carroll. Daryl was accepted and was duly paid $75 a week to do the show^[2]

Later that year, on 9 October 1971, Hey Hey It's Saturday started. Somers at first co-hosted with footballer Peter McKenna but eight weeks later, his co-host became the pink hand-puppet Ossie Ostrich, who was operated by former In Melbourne Tonight staff writer Ernie Carroll. McKenna continued to appear on the show for some time.

Originally created as a Saturday morning children's cartoon show, the program gradually expanded in both size and scope. Soon, additional cast members joined, including booth announcer John Blackman, who also voiced many (unseen) characters, and, later, co-host Jacki MacDonald.

Album cover from the 1976 comedy release Keep Smiling with Daryl and Ossie.

The program's production crew also began to play a prominent role in the series, with sound-effects technician Murray Tregonning adding humorous sound-bites and sound effects from a huge bank of pre-recorded eight track cartridges, and personnel such as long-serving cameraman "Lucky Phil" Lambert making regular appearances.

Props assistant Ian "Krystal" Murray provided props, most famously the "Dicky Knee" character:

Hey Hey was also notable for breaking the so-called fourth wall, often turning the cameras around to show what was happening in the studio and on many occasions (as portable cameras came into use) roaming at will through and outside the studios.

The series' distinctive brand of irreverent humour soon attracted a sizable adult audience and by the mid-1980s it had become so popular that Nine made the unprecedented decision to move it to a primetime Saturday evening timeslot, where it remained for the rest of its run. At its height, Hey Hey It's Saturday was one of the most popular and consistently high-rating series in the history of Australian television, winning many awards including three Gold Logie awards for Somers. In 1983, Somers was crowned King of Moomba with Edna Everage as his Court Jester.^[4]

Hey Hey screened for twenty eight years (1971–1999) on the Nine Network across Australia. It had by then become an institution, so there was considerable shock when the Nine Network announced that the series was to be axed at the end of 1999.

'Television Break' (2000 – 2003)

During the five years after the show's demise in December 1999, Daryl Somers rarely made public appearances, with the exception of a court appearance in 2001 to answer a drink driving charge (after which Somers admitted he was "...a bloody idiot" - a reference to a famous anti drunk driving advertising campaign of that time), and an appearance as a guest on the Network Ten program Rove Live.

Dancing with the Stars era (2004 – 2007)

In late 2004 Somers returned to the small screen when he made the move to sign with Nine's arch rival, the Seven Network, hosting Dancing with the Stars a live program where 10 celebrities compete each week in a dance competition.

On 30 November 2007 Somers announced that he would leave Dancing with the Stars.

Return of Hey Hey It's Saturday (2009 – 2010)

Somers had a year off television duties in 2008.

There has been considerable interest in the reformation of "Hey Hey It's Saturday" in some capacity. ABC Radio Broken Hill interviewed Corrine Lawrence and Daryl Somers on 22 July 2009^[5] in regards to the growing interest. Daryl has revealed the show's return is "not out of the question" and speculated that one or two reunion specials could be made in the near future.

A reunion special aired on 30 September 2009. It rated strongly, attracting 3.9+ million^[6] viewers, although the second show generated international controversy because of a "blackface" Jackson 5 parody act (called The Jackson Jive) that appeared on the "Red Faces" segment.

With the success of the Reunion Specials in 2009, the show returned in 2010 as a regular series. The 2010 series had 20 episodes airing, with the first 13 episodes airing from April until July, with the remaining 7 episodes airing in October and November.

There is no further comment from the Nine Network if the show is returning in 2012 or beyond. No new episodes were produced in 2011.

List of TV programs

• New Faces, 1968, runner-up contestant
• New Faces, 1970, winning contestant
• Cartoon Corner, 1971–1977 Host
• Hey Hey it's Saturday, 1971–1999, 2009–2010, Host & Producer
• Bandstand (Australia), 1976, Host
• King of Pop Awards, 1976-7, Host
• The Graham Kennedy Show, 1970s regular artist
• The Don Lane Show, 1970s regular artist
• The Mike Walsh Show, 1970s regular artist
• Family Feud, 1980–82, Host
• The Daryl Somers Show, 1982-3, Host
• Blankety Blanks, Host, 1985
• TV Week Logie Awards, Host, 1988, 1991, 1996–98, 2006
• New Faces, Host & Producer, 1989
• The Russell Gilbert Show, Producer, 1998
• Gonged But Not Forgotten, Producer (199?)
• Dancing with the Stars, Host, 2004–2007

Logies

Somers has been a part of the Logies since his early days of television, either as host, winner or nominee. He has been host of them 5 times (1988, 1991, 1996, 1997, 1998) and co-host in 2006.

Logies won:

• Gold Logie - 3 times (1983, 1986 and 1989).
• Most Popular Light Entertainment / Comedy Personality - once (1990)
• Most Popular Light Entertainment Personality - 4 times (1993, 1995, 1996, 1997)
• Most Popular Comedy Personality - once (1995)

Logies nominated:

• Gold Logie - 12 times (1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998)
• Most Popular Light Entertainment Personality - once (1994)
• Most Popular Comedy Personality - once (1997)

Personal life

Daryl Somers is a singer and drummer and is married to Julie da Costa, a former principal dancer with the Australian Ballet and is now a Director of The Australian Ballet Company.

Somers is a passionate supporter of the Geelong Football Club and is the Club's #1 ticket holder. Somers has a star on the Caloundra Walk of Stars.

Other work

Somers released an album on the Sony BMG label titled Songlines in 2005. The album contains covers of various music.^[7]

In 2013, Somers was announced as part of the performing line-up of Harvest Rain Theatre Company's 2014 season, playing Nicely Nicely Johnson of Guys and Dolls.^[8]

See also

• Somers Carroll Productions
• Ernie Carroll

References

Other references

• "Daryl Somers 'does the dash with Seven's Logie'". Retrieved 2008-06-21. 

External links

• Daryl Somers at the Internet Movie Database
• Brief bio
• Will Somers never end? - Sydney Morning Herald, 5 May 2006 article describing Somers winning a TV Fugly Award