I've been in the audience of Hey Hey twice, both times back in the 90s. I don't remember exactly when but it was after Ossie Ostrich had left. One of the episodes I saw was live and the other was pre-recorded which I think used to be more common. Both went for about the same amount of time though.

The new series of Hey Hey is live as far as I can tell, perhaps a few minutes delayed... but last week it was interupted by news of the leadership challenge more awkwardly then one would imagine if the show was pre-recorded.

Most TV shows I've been in the audience of require you to be there quite early although they often don't let you in to late. I was in the audience for an episode of Spicks and Specks earlier this year (which just happened to be the Americana episode that was shown tonight) and there was about an hour from the time we had to be there to actually going in. That show is taped and did last longer than the half hour that ended up on TV.

My memories of going to see Hey Hey are good and that it was enjoyable to see live. Often shows that are so/so on TV are more enjoyable with an audience; Rove Live for instance. I didn't like that much on TV compared to the couple of times I was in the studio audience. Shows that are good on TV are even better live (Good News Week as i_amtrunks mentioned is a good example).