Author: Stuart

Ten years since we first Your Gen-ened

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On the 5th May 2009, Shaun made his biggest splash into the mainstream zeitgeist by first hosting Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation, joining the original cast of Amanda Keller, Charlie Pickering and Josh Thomas for four glorious seasons, which got zanier as it went on, eventually even spawning a book!

And, sure, there was a hiatus between the original (2009-2012) and the reboot (which returned last year, but splitting hairs aside – happy 10 years to TAYG!

Shaun and Charlie reminisced on the anniversary over Twitter (both of whom obviously have ABC news based comedy shows at various times of the year)….

TAYG is back for another round this Wednesday

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You don’t need a the time machine – the second season of the rebooted Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation is on Channel 9 from 7:30pm this Wednesday.

Shaun will again be joined by Robyn Butler, Andy Lee and Laurence Boxhall as X, Y and Z team captains.

I was lucky enough to be in the audience for one of the episodes, and it certainly feels more freeform than even last season (think ‘As Quick As’ being timed against a competitive hot-dog eater). If you enjoy your Micallef humour with a spot of odd, then strap in!

Feeling bookish

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Did everyone finish reading through Shaun’s uncollected plays over summer? For those die hard fans, maybe you noticed:

– “The Great War and How it Got That Way” was originally featured as a cold open sketch in Mad As Hell

– “Visiting Rites” appeared as “(A Visit)” on Shaun’s His Generation album

– While most of the introductions were tongue-in-cheek, there was a very raw quality to the introduction of “Marx Will Be Deducted” which touched on his casting in the play Boeing Boeing

In other book talk, Shaun hinted recently that he’s working on another book, roughly based around the story of the Pied Piper. Tentatively titled “Rescuing Hamlin’s Children”, it’s aimed at the same readers who enjoyed Tales from a Tall Forest.

Talkin’ ‘Bout another round

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TAYG will be back for 2019! After a come back last year on a new network, with new team captains (but thankfully the same host) Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation (MK2) will return to our screens for Series 2 later in the year. Filming is happening during February and March.

The quiz show battles celebrities from different generations against each other, with questions and physical challenges, to decide who is the greatest generation (of the week).

In the meantime, you can watch Series 1 online.

Mad again in 2019

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The ABC announced their “upfronts” for 2019 (basically what they will air next year), and to avoid riots in the street (as well put by Oz Tumbleweeds), Mad As Hell will be back! Here’s the press release:

Shaun Micallef celebrates his 25th year in television with his 10th season of Mad as Hell. “It’s a bit like the frog in the saucepan of water,” says the comedian of working for the ABC. “If you turn up the heat, the frog doesn’t notice because he’s cold-blooded. Eventually the water’s boiling and the frog’s like ‘Hey, WTAF?’ and he explodes… Actually, it’s not a very good analogy.” Shaun Micallef’s Mad as Hell, Australia’s longest-running half-hour news satire program of that name returns in 2019.

According to Shaun, it will be back in July (presumably for one season only next year), just after the next federal election (and sadly not during the campaign it seems).

The team celebrated 100 episodes recently, and with tonight’s season finale, it puts the total count to 102. Congrats to everyone who makes Mad As Hell the best satirical show on Australian TV, if we do say so ourselves.

The Uncollected Plays of Shaun Micallef

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At least they were uncollected…

Shaun has written a whole bunch of random plays into a new book! As he told News Breakfast, when he was first was approached by a publisher, he thought he’d go to his drawer of actual uncollected plays – but found they “were a bit rubbish”. So he penned some new ones, and here they are, on paper and bound in a hardback cover.

He talked to The Project about it recently.

Here you can see Shaun channel his inner playwright (specifically Samuel Beckett?) in this promo video:

Plus here’s a celebrity endorsement from one T Martin:

Cast changes for “Mad as” Season 9

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Cast of Season 5/6 of Shaun Micallef’s Mad As Hell

The cast of Mad as Hell has been pretty consistent since the show began, with only Stephen Hall’s addition in Season 3, Veronica Milsom’s departure in Season 5, and Nicholas Bell appearing for just Season 6.

In Season 9, two new cast members join Shaun, Francis, Roz, Emily, Tosh and Stephen: Ming-Zhu Hii and Molly Daniels. Ming-Zhu played Dugdale’s cook, later Office Manager, in The Ex-PM and Molly has appeared in Ronny Chieng: International Student and is the daughter of Shaun’s former colleagues Wayne Hope and Robyn Butler! We’d scream nepotism, but her acting is proves otherwise. We’re looking forward to see the exciting new characters.

Mad as Hell is back in September!

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Well it almost is!
And not a moment too soon, with all of the political goings on of late.

It’s back Wednesday 19th September at 8:30(ish)pm.

Only one problem…

Your Generation is back!

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It’s been six years, but next Monday, Shaun returns as host to one of the most popular TV shows he’s ever been a part of: Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation. But this time, it’s on a new television station with three new team captains. Watch the promo.

Shaun spoke to us about the return (Monday 21st 7:30pm, Channel Nine)

TAYG coming back is a bit of a surprise. Were you surprised that you got back involved?

It’s always been asked after, for us to come back. But as the years passed, we thought “oh, it’s gone now.”

The original idea was to just to do a reunion show. But for some reason, there was no opportunity to do that. Nine asked “would you be interested in doing [a new version] over here.”

I wasn’t really interested in doing it without the original cast; that was the point, that the reunion would be fun. Then I helped out with the casting, because they were going to do it anyway, and they did the captains and were looking for a host, so I said I’d come in, and it was quite fun, in a different way.

It’s quite different, as you’d expect. When it was Amanda, Charlie and Josh, they were new, and I was new, and we were getting to know each other, and getting used to it, and that created a really interesting dynamic. This new incarnation, I know the people a bit more, and in a different way. It’s kind of the same ingredients, but it’s being used to make a pudding instead of a risotto – it’s quite strange.

Do you think it’s something you might continue to revisit?

We’ll see how it goes, it’s not really my decision – it was fun to do though, it was great.

But if it works out well, and is continued in some form, would you be interested?

I wouldn’t say no, I don’t say no to anything.

So much to be mad about…

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We’re drawing towards the final 1/4 of Season 8 of Mad As Hell, with the tenth episode airing tonight, and thirteen episodes all up.
But – not to despair! Shaun has confirmed that there will be another block of thirteen starting in September.
(Plus there’s eight episodes of TAYG coming mid-year, but more about that later…)
So there will be Shaun on Australian TV for 65% of the year! (as a minimum requirement it should be).

All those numbers got you confused?
Basically, there’s lots of good television to enjoy this year.