Ellen DeGeneres is expanding her talk show universe with another new digital series. Young comedians Sydney Heller, 26, and Olivia DeLaurentis, 25, are co-hosting the The Generational Talk Show — and if the premiere episode is any indication, no topic is off limits for these funny ladies. Syd and Olivia chatted about casual sex with women from three different generations — Gen X (those born between 1965 – 1980), Gen Y (a.k.a millennials, born between 1980 – 1995) and Gen Z (born after 1995) to get their different perspectives in this EXCLUSIVE clip to HollywoodLife.
“Hello and welcome to The Generational Talk Show! I’m Syd Heller,” Sydney began, standing next to Olivia in a classroom setting. “We are your hosts slash teachers of this class,” Olivia added as Sydney explained that their mission is to “teach you about all things having to do with identifying as a woman,” before announcing the debut topic: casual sex and dating.
Their “students” included Gen X’s Paige, millennial Crystelle, and Gen Z-er Gabby. “Knowing the way you that were taught about sex, do you want the next generation to be taught in a different way?” Sydney posed to the trio. Crystelle jumped in, saying, “I want the next generation to be taught that it is so normal for us to have sex whether you’re 16 or 50. It’s completely – I mean, we were made to, you know…” as Olivia finished her thought. “To bang,” the host hilariously added.
“Nothing should be negative attached to the whole sex education…I think we should especially educate men on how the women operate with sex, with STIs,” Crystelle went on. “I think everyone should be more educated and make it more fun and when learning about this kind of stuff.”
Gen X-er Paige agreed, noting that “men need to have very positive male examples,” as Paige added that communication and behavior are key. “I feel like the narrative should just change overall and that starts with how society perceives sex,” Gabby, the youngest in the crew, chimed in.
Prior to landing the new show, Olivia was well known for her self-produced comedy shorts that have appeared at the L.A. Film Fest, SoHo International Film Festival, the New York Documentary Emmys (earning her the Mike Wallace Scholarship Award). Olivia has also acted in the Netflix show Prank Encounters, as well as Fox’s The Cool Kids, and Nickelodeon’s Henry Danger.
Like her partner-in-crime, Sydney is well-versed in the entertainment space as a sketch comedian — writing for Amy Poehler‘s Smart Girls. Beyond collaborating with Olivia, she acts on comedy sketch show After Dark with Julian Clark, which is streamed on Amazon and filmed at the legendary Second City. Together, the two women have a comedy sketch channel dubbed Barely Legal Comedy on YouTube and conceptualized Snapchat series Stir Crazy.
The Generational Talk Show premieres on Wednesday, January 19 as part of Ellen’s new digital hub Sage, which is dedicated to female-focused content dedicated to navigating the meaning of adulthood.