Familiar as hell? Shaun Micallef’s new chat show not what the ABC needs

It was almost two years ago that the ABC announced Fran Kelly would host a new Friday night chat show, Frankly. In response to this news, I wrote an opinion column in this masthead with the title, “Fran Kelly is fine and familiar, but she’s not the future of the ABC”.

The piece sparked a conversation about ABC’s risk-averse nature and unwillingness to embrace and trust a younger generation of creatives. It also led to accusations from some senior ABC staff of ageism and sexism.

Fran Kelly began her life as a chat show host by inviting Shaun Micallef onto the couch.Credit: ABC

This brings me to ABC’s latest announcement: the new chat show Eve of Destruction, hosted by Shaun Micallef and set to premiere on August 14. Micallef, who left the ABC in 2022 after 10 years and 15 seasons of Mad As Hell, was the very first guest on the first episode of Frankly.

Sitting on the couch, Kelly asked Micallef why he had decided to call it a day when the show was still rating its socks off, to which he replied: “I genuinely wanted to give the microphone over to someone who was perhaps younger, or some different voices.”

Today it appears we’re back where we started: same voices, same ABC.

Let me go on the record and say, just as with Fran, this has nothing to do with Micallef. I’m a longtime fan of his work; I think he is a funny and incisive comedian with a history of producing some of our most original TV.

I grew up watching Full Frontal, laughed along with Mad as Hell, and am excited to watch his other new travel show, Odyssey of Origins, set to screen on SBS later this year.

But Micallef knows better than anyone that there are very few vehicles for emerging comedic talent in this country, so much so that he makes reference to it in a clip promoting Eve of Destruction: “Two years ago, I resigned from television to make way for bright new young talent here at the ABC; as it turns out, there wasn’t any, so I am back doing a new show.”

They say there’s a grain of truth in every joke, and while Micallef might be poking fun, it increasingly seems that the ABC believes that to be the case.

Outside the recent addition of Monday’s Experts, a sports entertainment show hosted by Tony Armstrong and Catherine Murphy, and Guy Montgomery’s Guy Mont Spelling Bee featuring comedians Aaron Chen and Guy Montgomery, the ABC’s comedy line-up is a roster of familiar faces.

Anderson with fellow comedian Tom Gleeson in 2015.Credit: Glenn Hunt

Tom Gleeson on Hard Quiz (plus new Hard Quiz Kids), Wil Anderson on Gruen, Charlie Pickering on The Weekly and Adam Hills on Spicks & Specks. The freshest of these shows (Hard Quiz) has been on for eight years. The oldest (Spicks & Specks) will turn 20 next year.

Speaking to this masthead following the announcement of the 2024 line-up, the ABC’s chief content officer, Chris Oliver-Taylor, discussed the need to back shows that are innovative, edgy, or provide a space for new talent to develop.

“Public broadcasters have to take risks,” Oliver-Taylor said. “We just need to make sure that we never forget our public broadcaster obligations as well.”

That’s an obligation that must extend to everyone, though, not just the rusted-on audience.

‘I’ve had discussions with the ABC about running a mentor program … I think it could help young comedians.’

Shaun Micallef

The ABC has been bleeding young people for more than a decade now. It’s lost its connection to Millennials; it barely has a connection to Gen Z. By doubling down on giving its longest-serving contributors more opportunities, it seems to be saying it knows this and doesn’t have much of a plan to fix it.

Ironically, one person who may have a plan is Micallef. I spoke to him on the Logies red carpet last year following his departure, and he was quick to address the need for the ABC to nurture fresh talent.

“I’ve had discussions with the ABC about running a mentor program using the years I had under my belt from Mad As Hell. I think it could help young comedians,” he said. “I’ve put my hand up, and I’ve offered to do it for free, so we’ll see.”

All we can see now, though, is that the lack of “bright young talent” is being treated as a punchline rather than a priority. Considering the broadcaster is supposed to be for all of us, that doesn’t feel good enough.

If you’re a young person looking to engage with the ABC, the obvious question remains: why isn’t anyone talkin’ ’bout my generation?

Find more of the author’s work here. Email him at [e-mail] or follow him on Instagram at @thomasalexandermitchell and on Twitter @_thmitchell.

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