Talking Footy


Talking Footy is an Australian rules football television program on the Seven Network. The show is hosted by Luke Darcy.

Original format (1994-2002)

The program was first broadcast from 1994 until 2002. It was created by Gary Fenton, the Seven Network's then Director of Sport.
The show was hosted by Bruce McAvaney from 1995 to 1998, Tim Lane in 1999 and Gerard Healy in 2000. McAvaney again hosted from 2001 to 2002.
Regular couch members included Mike Sheahan, Malcolm Blight, Terry Wallace, Caroline Wilson and Leigh Matthews.
It was initially screened on Monday evening at 8:30 pm in 1995, then on Monday at 10:30 pm for the remainder of it run.

New format (2013-present)

In August 2013, the Seven Network revived the series, which aired on a Thursday night throughout the 2013 final series with Bruce McAvaney, Luke Darcy, Wayne Carey and Andrew Demetriou as panelists.
The following year saw the show return to Monday nights at 7.30 pm on 7mate in Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, and on delay at midnight the same day in Sydney and Brisbane.
The show is hosted by Luke Darcy with Wayne Carey, Tim Watson and Jacqueline Felgate. It is broadcast from Seven's Docklands studios in Melbourne.

Segments

Various segments on the show include:
In 2005, comedian Andrew Startin appeared on the rival Nine Network with a send-up of the show on The Footy Show. Gary Ayres was sent up with his catchphrase "at the end of the day" and "You've got your Buckleys, your Hirds, your Ricciutos"; Mike Sheahan with "what do you think?"; and Bruce McAvaney with "Special!".

Theme song

The lyrics to the song are as follows:
The weekend's come and gone,
As we talk up a storm,
'Bout our team, bout our form,
And how it could be.
But when Monday comes around,
Talk around the town,
It's what happened on the weekend in the footy.
Monday nights, we're Talking Footy.
When the show switched to a Tuesday night timeslot, the lyrics changed somewhat. During the 2014 relaunch, only the second verse is used.
In the original season, the theme song was "Monday's Experts" by
Weddings, Parties, Anything.