It’s the late-noughties game show that had Australians young and old in stitches as Shaun Micallef gleefully pitted generations against each other in a test of pop culture knowledge. Now, Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation is returning to its original home at Network 10 – albeit with a cooler, hipper name and a new host in Anne Edmonds.
There’s also a fresh batch of team captains in Dave Hughes (who is leading Gen X), Tommy Little (Gen Y), and Anisa Nandaula, whose Gen Z replaces the original show’s Baby Boomers generation. Each week, they’ll be joined by guest panellists and face questions, viral-worthy challenges, and nostalgic throwbacks that will test their memory.
Chatting to New Idea ahead of Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Gen’s premiere, Anne, 45, shares that everyone just had “the best time” on set. The comedian adds that they worked hard to respect the original show’s legacy.
The Shaun-fronted version aired on Network 10 from 2009 to 2012. Amanda Keller, Charlie Pickering, and Josh Thomas were the very first team captains. Channel Nine then revived the show in 2018, where it ran for two more seasons. While they kept Shaun on as host, Robyn Butler, Andy Lee, and Laurence Boxhall were brought in to lead the generations.
“We’ve kept the spirit of Shaun and his kind of silly energy, and kept that alive,” Anne shares.
But that doesn’t mean audiences can’t expect some new and exciting content!
“We’ve added in some, like, karaoke and a little bit more, like, sketchy kind of stuff, character work, if you will,” Anne reveals.
As host with the most, Anne had a pivotal role in what games they played on the show. In fact, she tells us that she was “pretty hands-on with it, actually”.
“I was in it throughout the process, doing workshops and playing the games, coming up with stuff and putting myself in silly situations!” she reveals.
As for which generation finds the games the most challenging, Anne says it swings between Gen Y and Gen Z.
“Gen Z just don’t really know about any of the mainstream TV references that we all grew up with. But then they really come into their own when it comes to all the new music references, all the TikTok stars and the Instagram people that we’ve just got no idea about!” she says with a laugh.
“Hughesy is probably the most bewildered most of the time!”
Although she’s a Gen X herself, Anne says that as a host, she doesn’t hold any bias. However, in the real world, she thinks Gen Z has it hard.
“They’re staring down the barrel of limited employment opportunities, the climate change disaster, everything that we’ve done to ruin their world. It’s tough for them out there. Our generation knew there
was going to be a job for us… and the housing prices hadn’t gone absolutely nuts,” she says.
But, Anne insists her main concern is that “everybody is having fun. I’m hoping families, people of all ages will enjoy the show”.
Share this post