A family’s chance to drive off in a brand new SUV was left in the hands of a toddler on Thursday Generation gapin a recurring segment that some viewers don’t really like.
The ABC comedy game show is hosted by Kelly Rippa, who also serves as an executive producer alongside the likes of Jimmy Kimmel and Mark Burnett. It pairs children with older adults to answer pop culture questions from generations past and present. On Thursday’s show, 13-year-old Olivia and her grandfather, Irving, won the most money during the game, $11,000, and qualified for the final round of bonus prizes.
This round is called “Tot’s Choice”, where the youngest member of Olivia and Irving’s family gets to choose the prize, which usually pits a large adult-like item against a much cheaper kid-themed prize.
In this case, it all came down to Olivia’s kindergarten-aged younger sister, Lili. And Lili’s top prize option was a 2023 Kia Sportage Hybrid, which the advertiser described as “an SUV the whole family can enjoy.” The runner-up was a Radio Flyer Ultimate Go-Kart, which “can reach top speeds of 8 mph” and has a reverse function.
While they’re both good options, a hybrid Kia Sportage starts at around $30,000 brand new, while the Radio Flyer Ultimate Go-Kart costs $329. So on a family game show like this, the SUV is probably the best option for a young family.
But Lili, being the kid that she is, headed straight for the kart.
The moment produced lots of laughs and applause from the audience, as well as some reactions from Lili’s family. The reaction from viewers at home has been mixed, however, as some are fed up with the segment.
Tot’s Choice is called “cruel“in the past, perhaps creating vibes similar to a scene from the series premiere of Succession, when Kieran Culkin’s Roman Roy offers a kid $1 million to hit a home run during a softball game while his parents watch, and of course the poor kid can’t deliver. And after this week Generation gapsome fans felt bad for the child and called for the segment to be deleted altogether.
On the other hand, some who watched the show didn’t seem to care about the segment and certainly didn’t blame Lili for her choice.
And while not everyone is happy with the segment — or how it turned out this week — one thing is certain, based on the show’s final moments: Lili is thrilled about it.
“Well, Lili chose the go-kart. I think we can all agree this is the one the whole family wanted,” Rippa told Olivia, Irving and her family. To which they all enthusiastically agreed – or perhaps sarcastically.
Generation gap airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. on ABC.