GENERATION GAP (1989)

Bizarre family game show ‘Generation Gap’ left contestants and viewers baffled

Long before YTV mastered the art of kids’ game shows with “Video & Arcade Top 10” and “Uh Oh!” there was “Generation Gap.” 

The short-lived Canadian family game show was far from a success and host Jeff Rechner doesn’t hold back when explaining why.

“The show didn’t become a hit because it wasn’t very good,” says Rechner with a laugh. 

“It was a lot of fun to do but I think the audience was hip enough to go, ‘What on earth is this?’ and then flip to another channel.”

“Generation Gap” featured two teams competing against each other in bizarre games like stacking cookies or throwing balls at one of the family members wearing a Velcro shirt. 

Between the stunt rounds, the show also interspersed “Newlywed Game” style questions to see how well the parents knew their kids and vice versa. 

Rechner, who is now a successful L.A.-based voiceover artist for TV and film, says the contestants were often confused about how the games were played.

Airing for just one season in 1989, the whole series was filmed in three weeks, with five to six shows taped a day. 

“It was a very surreal and short experience,” says Rechner, who sported Christmas sweaters and bad mullets during his stint at host.

But despite the bizarre nature of the show and the low budget prizes – a schoolmaster’s desk or a year’s supply of hot chocolate – Rechner says the show was incredibly fun to do. 

“It was just an odd thing. From every member of the crew, we knew this thing wasn’t going anywhere fast but we were having such a good time doing it and there were more laughs from the crew than could possibly could’ve been happening (from viewers) at home.” 

The low-budget game show was loosely based on an American game show called The Generation Gap that ran for just a few short months in 1969.

Fun Fact: Jimmy Kimmel and Mark Burnett have teamed up to make a game show called “Generation Gap” for ABC with family members asking each other questions about each other’s generation.