The Piss-Weakest Link

Press release time!

Meet Your Team Captains. Dave Hughes, Tommy Little And Anisa Nandaula Are Ready For Generational Mayhem.

Whether you were raised on VHS tapes or TikTok trends, Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Gen is back, bringing a wildly entertaining clash of cultures, callbacks, and comebacks, and it’s taking family fun to a whole new level!

Joining Anne Edmonds as host of Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Gen, are the show’s captains who will bring their own unique flair to each generation.

Gen X, the “slacker” generation too busy rolling their eyes to get involved in the drama, will be led by the sharp-witted, irreverent Dave Hughes.

Gen Y, masters of avocado toast and skinny black jeans, will be represented by the hilariously charming Tommy Little.

Finally, Gen Z, the most informed yet easily distracted generation, who are ready to document everything on TikTok, will be Captained by the vibrant and fearless Anisa Nandaula.

Expect nostalgic throwbacks, modern mayhem, and challenges that’ll have the whole family shouting answers at the screen. It’s smart, silly, and guaranteed to spark some excellent intergenerational debates! 

Who knew we’d long for the days when Hughsie had his own show? At least then he was confined to one location. Now he’s turning up on every single comedy show stinking up the place. And just in time to confirm our gripe, we’ve been handed another press release!

Guy Montgomery’s Guy Mont Spelling Bee returns for more outlandish fun in June

Thrills! Suspense! Sesquipedalian! These are just some of the words that could be spelled correctly or absolutely fumbled when Guy Montgomery’s Guy Mont Spelling Bee returns for season two on Wednesday 4 June at 8.35pm on ABC TV, with all episodes available to stream on ABC iview.

Host Guy Montgomery and his loyal assistant, Aaron Chen, return to test whether Australia’s best and brightest comedians are actually all that bright when it comes to spelling. Across the extended 10-episode season, get ready for more hilarious misspellings, witty banter, and unforgettable moments as four comedians take to the podiums every week.

Vying for the most prestigious prize on TV – a one-way ticket to defend their title on the next episode – is an all-star lineup including Hannah Gadsby, Hamish Blake, Julia Morris, Rove McManus, Denise Scott, Becky Lucas, Kirsty Webeck, Josh Thomas, Dave Hughes, Dilruk Jayasinha, Susie Youssef, Lizzy Hoo and more.

Each episode features five high stakes spelling rounds, each more outlandish and frustrating than the last. Brand new spelling rounds this season include “The Love Spell” where comedians must date potential matches in the hopes of gaining a ‘partner’ to help them spell. In “Speance”, a spelling-séance, the comedians connect with a spirit to help them spell out their next words. And in “Show and Spell” the comedians have been asked for the first time to bring in something from home that they can spell, but all is not as it seems.

No big surprises there, aside from Hannah Gadsby dipping her toe back into the local comedy scene. Hard to believe that only a few years ago she’d have been a regular on this kind of show (if not hosting her own).

Otherwise, Hughsie’s back! Seems he’s legally required to be part of every single Australian comedy program not made by Working Dog. Good news is, about 70% of Hughsie’s act is that he’s clueless and out-of-touch, making him the perfect quiz show contestant in opposite land. Which is handy because that’s also the place where he’s considered funny.

The fact that Australian television comedy is now almost entirely quiz shows is a big part of why Australian television comedy constantly feels like it’s got one foot in the grave. You can make jokes when you appear on a quiz show, but you can’t build a career on those jokes.

Even if you’re extremely funny and able to craft a distinctive comedy persona that comes across in the tiny window a game show gives you – ie, Aaron Chen – it’s not enough. You’re not going to get your own sitcom or comedy series. The best you can hope for is a gig hosting another game show.

Game shows have a place in the comedy ecosystem. Some of the funniest Australian shows this century have technically been game shows. Though usually the good ones push the format so far the “game” part is largely buried. But when the only kind of show that makes it to air is the same kind of show, that ain’t good.

Australian television is a slow moving boat. But there are trends, and formats do go out of style. When Gruen became a hit on the ABC, they gave the go-ahead to every “comedy” panel show format they could. And then when every last one was trash, they gave up on the format.

Hard to believe in the era of Hard Quiz, but there was a decade or so where the ABC turned their backs on quiz shows featuring ordinary people. Remember sitcoms? Local drama? The commercial networks don’t.

Australian television currently has all their laugh-producing eggs in one overcrowded basket. Fingers crossed bird flu doesn’t spread to comedy.