News on Shaun’s current show, Talkin’ Bout Your Generation (or as he calls it – Tayg)
The second part of the current series of Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation begins next week. However, the programming oracles at Ten have decided on a new timeslot – Wednesdays at 8:30pm (up against the ABCs biggest rating night), rather than the previous Tuesday or Sunday 7:30 slot.
It should be a very funny series, with the first guests being Todd McKenney (BB), Dave Hughes (Gen X) and Kate Miller-Heidke (Gen Y).
Along with Shaun, both Stephen Hall and Michael Ward have formed the core writing team for every episode so far of Talkin’ Bout Your Generation.
Stephen might well be remembered for his portrayal of Burt Newton in The King telemovie and Warren in The Hollomen. Both have appeared in roles in Shaun’s other shows.
Both Stephen and Michael are appearing in “Bond-A-Rama” – a re-enactment and celebration of every James Bond movie on stage. It’s on at Chapel off Chapel in Melbourne for a limited time during August.
Also, Michael has compiled the “Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation: Book of Everything Ever”. It contains over 1500 quiz questions, along with a number of dubious ‘facts’ and some re-creations of our favourite games from the show. It’s available from August.
You can read excerpts from the book on Tony Martin’s “Scriveners Fancy” website.
The Age’s Green Guide has today published a list of “50 things we love about TV” – and TAYG is on the list:
SOMETHING for everyone in this delightful blend of nostalgia, trivia and parlour games. There’s the different-yet-complementary comic stylings of three panellists – Amanda Keller, CharliePickering and Josh Thomas – the rotating stable of guests and the unique, almost avant-garde humour of host Shaun Micallef. Add to that a certain indefinable X factor and you have a show that just works.
(Note the comments at the bottom of the article, where opinion on Shaun is deeply divided. :S )
Be warned – some spoilers may follow! Don’t read if you don’t want to know!
Here are the details of the episode I saw taped last week.
In “Episode 15” of Series 3 (which may not air in order) of TAYG, it was indeed Freaky Friday: all four of the usual cast had swapped shoes – literally! Amanda was dressed as and played the role Shaun, Charlie as Amanda, Josh as Charlie and of course – Shaun as Josh! They all looked fantastic, and had a lot of fun sending each other up. Notably Shaun, who tried to imitate Josh’s accent, but it came out more Irish than anything.
The guests were Cornelia Frances (BB), Jimeoin (Gen X) and a You Tuber whose name now escapes me. (Gen Y). The early games were Name That Tee, What’s a Doodle Do (meaning Amanda got to sing the song) and As Quick As. Plenty of questions were asked during the early games; probably a few will be cut from the finished program.
During the four buttons round, “Charlie” (actually Josh) and Jimeoin had to play Chronoloco, arranging different vehicles. After putting the car in spot 6, Josh then reversed it and pointed it at “Shaun” (actually Amanda) and threatened to drive into her desk if she didn’t mark them all correct. Needless to say, this was reshot and isn’t likely to be seen on TV or as a web clip.
(If you zoom in on the photo, you can see Josh as “Charlie” at the front, “Shaun” and “Amanda” near the BB desk and Shaun as “Josh” by the Gen Y desk)
Trust Me is no longer an obvious choice, hidden as one of the games behind the buttons. Gen Y were unlucky enough to pick it, and “Josh” (actually Shaun) was to be the ‘Human Parfait’. Needless to say, everyone delighted in the punishment dished out, and it’s a must see.
The final round involved washing and drying sheets, and the contestants were taken away and blind folded while the game was set-up. But it took a long time for them to actually complete the challenge – I don’t know how they’ll fit it in for broadcast. The real Shaun admitted that listening to the facts which he usually dishes out was actually boring. I won’t tell you who won.
If you have any tales from episodes you have see recently, please email me.
Well tonight I went to see a taping of TAYG, and thought I would share my experience.
The show tapes at the Melbourne Docklands Studios, and we were there for a 4:45pm start. Unfortunately, the schedule was already behind so we had to wait outside (in the cold, wet Melbourne weather) until the crew finished their meal in the canteen. They did apologise.
So we made our way to Studio 5 and took our seats, while Michael Pope warmed us up. All through the show, as filming stopped during set changes and for shot pick-ups, he was there to try and keep us energetic. His humour did border on racist at times. Josh was pretty good to come over and take a few questions, Shaun and Charlie did pop over once each and Amanda was pretty occupied (when I reveal the episode details, you’ll know why). There were a few times when we had to re-do an entire scene, and both Chronoloco and End Game took a while to setup.
The show pretty much runs as on the television, but with plenty of extra stuff so they have choice for editing. We had a very good laugh!
We finished later than expected at 9pm – I feel sorry for the audience that was waiting for the next taping, but more so to Shaun and the captains who have to keep their energy high till after midnight.
I suppose the point to remember is the audience isn’t there to see a performance; they are there to give to the performance. So you’ve got to be there the whole way through and put up with some of the less enjoyable parts – it’s all for television.
As for the episode itself – spoilers to come!
After the mid-season hiatus, shooting for Series 3 of Talkin’ ’bout Your Generation has resumed. A couple have already been completed, with more to happen during June and July. Hopefully, we will see these beginning July or August, depending on Channel Ten’s devotion to Masterchef.
One of the episodes still to come is a special Sci-Fi theme – who will dress as what?! We’re excited. (If Shaun dresses as the Doctor, that would be awesome.)
This week we certainly weren’t in Kansas anymore! It was a Wizard of Oz Special, and Shaun was dressed as Dorothy. That alone was worth the price of admission!
Everyone was dressed – Amanda as the Tin Man, Charlie as the Lion and Josh as the Scarecrow. The guests were announcer John Blackman (BB), dressed as the Munchkin Mayor, “comedian” Kate Langbroek (Gen X) as Toto and actress Sophie Monk as Glenda the Good Witch (Gen Y). There was some confusion over if it was Kate or Stuart the Meerkat who was playing the role of Toto.
The first game was Chicken or Egg, followed by Spoilers Ahoy. Shaun used a picture of Harpo Marx to indicate the viewer should mute to avoid hearing the answer and wreaking the end of the movie. However the round decended into the teams just shouting names of movies until Sophie used the magic word – ‘the’. She then got a special question: What wasn’t Rome built in? Answer: Paris. (or Day, if that’s how you prefer to think)
The four buttons celebrated the children of Judy Garland: Liza Minelli, Lorna Luft and Michelle Gratton (actually a political reporter). Plus of course Trust Me!
The Your Gen topic was something we all live in – Cities! (Not a Yurt Yert) Bert Newton (disguised as a Winged Monkey) delivered the envelope describing the challenge as Which Generation is Best at Winning. The teams had to complete a number of ‘fair-ground’ challenges such as assembling the yellow brick road, shooting a target and dunking a witch.
Gen X won the trophy – a 2003 Typing Award donated by Mindy Wilmhurst of Brisbane.
Guests this week were actor Bill Hunter (BB), chef George Calombaris (Gen X) and actress/comedian Celia Pacquola (Gen Y), who starred in Laid with Shaun.
Shaun wasted no time making fun at Josh’s expense, by comparing him in lack of talent to Roger Taylor from Duran Duran. He (with Stuart the Meerkat’s help) presented George with a Croque Monsieur – or a burnt cheese sandwich.
Games played included TV Spin-offs (guess the original show from the spin-off), Tell-tale Titles (guess the celebrity author) and As Quick As – which involved Tamsin Lewis running 7 laps of the studio as the timer.
The four button options in the Magic Window were great inventors: James Watt, an unknown caveman and Rubin Skells(?); plus Trust Me.
Shaun snuck in a quick Hindenburg reference before a round of Your Gen, which was on the topic of Redness.
For end game, a water buffalo dressed as Maurice Chevalier delivered the envelope – the challenge was “Which Team is Best at Carving an Ice Sculpture.” Due to pesky OH&S, the teams received help with the chainsawing, but could create whatever they wanted. Y made Stuart the Meerkat, X created a replica Logie for Shaun and BB made a ‘B’. For reasons best known to Shaun, BB won the 3rd Prize Trophy for Twilight Bowling 1999/2000, donated by Chris Neil of Cranbourne.
Oh, and Shaun promised to propose but never did! 🙂
Guests this week were comedian Jeff Stilson (for the Baby Boomers), former basketballer Andrew Gaze (for Generation X) and singer Brooke McClymont (for Generation Y).
To begin, Shaun enjoyed mocking Josh’s hair style, getting Andrew to shoot a hoop and having Stuart the Meerkat present the McClymont album. First game was “Accessory Before the Fact”. Four Shaun’s sang the “What’s a Doodle Do?” song, but the segment turned into a series of “joking” advertorial.
In the four buttons round, the choices were people who haven’t been thought of recently: Les Gock (guitarist from Hush), Chiang Kai-Shek and Pauletta Washington (Denzel’s wife) – plus “Trust Me”.
The Your Gen topic was “Australian Popular Music”, an acknowledged well travelled subject on Australian quiz shows.
A cloud of gas delivered the end game envelope – the challenge being “Which Generation is Best at a Black Ops mission?” Teams had to crawl through a series of “lasers” (ie. string), climb a tower, make their way to a secret ball and get the combination to a safe. Phew!
Gen X won, getting the 8th Division Runner-Up Badminton trophy from 1984, donated by Diego Fratenelli from Clovelly Park SA – who looked suspiciously like a young Shaun!
This week, the guests were Noni Hazlehurst (Baby Boomers), comedian Rebecca DeUnamuno (Gen X) and dancer Matt Lee (Gen Y).
The first game was Panda-Monium. As a red-herring, one of the people replaced by the Panda wasn’t famous. A new game, Cinematic Smart Alec, involved guessing the film from a single frame of the title sequence. Charlie was handicapped by being the only one who had to answer in French. It was followed by As Quick As, which involved answering questions before an escapologist (“Cosentino”) removed his straight jacket.
The 4 buttons were all movies “promoting Scientology”: Wog Boy II, Battlefield Earth, Knowing and of course, Trust Me.
The Your Gen topic was Fish. For end game, the envelope was delivered by the Dalai Lama wrapped in tinfoil. The challenge was “Which Generation is Best at Working at a Fish and Chip shop?” Shaun put his order in and each of the teams had to prepare it. A few of the burgers were still beating, and Shaun managed to drop the contents of Gen Y’s burger on the floor, then step on it. It was Gen X who took the 1996 National Capital 80k Endurance Ride, donated by Nikki Ward and Trippy Dippy – and shaped like the back end of a horse!