Lilly Singh reveals the surprising trivia categories all generations nail and fail on ‘Battle of the Generations’

Pundits, sociologists, and even business leaders have been dissecting the phenomenon known as the “generational gap” for years. Are there really that many differences between Millennials and Gen Xers? Can Boomers and Gen Zs get along? And how do Gen Alphas differ from them all?

Lilly Singh isn’t looking to answer any deep philosophical questions, but she is here to prove we all have more in common that we previously thought. Enter Battle of the Generations, the Singh-hosted series on CTV that delivers the ultimate intergenerational trivia show.

If you haven’t caught it yet, each episode features four contestants from different generations as they attempt to answer trivia questions from a wide selection of topics and years. On the line is $25,000, plus bragging rights.

“I’ve always really loved game shows, they were one of the only shows that me and the older people in my family would actually watch together,” Singh tells Etalk. “But I won’t lie: I never thought I would host one. But then when this one came across my desk it just spoke to me so much, because so much of my comedy has been intergenerational. This just felt on brand for me.”

Battle of the Generations may be the perfect vehicle for Singh, but she doesn’t pretend to know all of the answers. In fact, she often has no idea what the right response is, which makes her a self-proclaimed fifth contestant.

“I’m getting schooled as well,” she laughs.

She says her strongest categories are things she’s “really nerdy about,” like Game of Thrones or BoJack Horseman. When it comes to the contestants, however, they all seem to excel in one surprising category—no matter how old they are.

“If I had to pick one that across the generations people are pretty good at, it would have to be tech,” Singh reveals. “That’s surprising, because before I started shooting the show, I would think that's the worst category,” she continues.

“I would assume Gen Z wouldn't know what a VHS is or what a flip phone is. But I think it's because old-school tech is still so relevant online. You'll still see TikToks about old-school tech stuff. So I was really surprised that when it came to tech, whether it was a Gen Z contestant or a Boomer, they had both heard of older and newer tech.”

She adds that the categories change every episode and the show writers are great at switching things up, but there was also one category all groups seemed to fail every time the question was from a rival generation: showbiz.

“When it came to actors, actresses or like TV shows, I think that's what people knew less of,” Singh adds.

Test your intergenerational trivia skills out for yourself with new episodes of Battle of the Generations, Mondays at 9 ET/PT on CTV, or stream past episodes now on CTV.ca and on the CTV app.