''Big Questions'' is an Australian television show which is produced and broadcast on the

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...

, with

Jules Lund Jules Lund (born 24 April 1979) is an Australian television presenter from Melbourne and founder of TR, BE. Early life Lund was born in Melbourne in 1979, where he attended De La Salle College, Malvern. Lund studied Graphic Design, Photograph ...

as host. It commenced broadcasting on 19 October 2006. It shouldn't be confused with the

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

column of the same name in the Saturday edition that poses sometimes serious, sometimes whimsical questions answered by readers. Prolific contributors are John Moir, Jim Dewar and David Buley.

Premise

The show features 2 panels each with two people debating on a popular question which divides people's opinions. Examples include ''

Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. It aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, over nine seasons and 180 episodes. It stars Seinfeld as a fictionalized version of himself and ...

'' or ''

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'', ''

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

'' or the ''

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

'' and ''

Speedo Speedo International Limited is a distributor of swimwear and swim-related accessories based in Nottingham, England, known for its swim briefs. The company has roots in Australia but is no longer based there. Founded in Sydney in 1914 by A ...

s'' or ''Board shorts''. A live audience casts their vote on which is the better of the two. Many celebrities have been chosen to debate the issues: *

Red Symons Redmond Symons (born 13 June 1949) is an English-born Australian musician, and television and radio personality. He was the lead guitarist in the band Skyhooks, the snide judge of 'Red Faces' (a segment of the long-running variety show ''Hey H ...

Tom Gleeson Thomas Francis Gleeson (born 2 June 1974) is an Australian stand-up comedian, writer, television and radio presenter. Gleeson formerly co-hosted ''The Weekly with Charlie Pickering'' alongside Judith Lucy and currently hosts ''Hard Quiz'', both ...

Kate Kendall Kate Kendall (born 27 July 1973) is an Australian actress and director. She played Angie Piper in the long-running Nine Network Australian drama '' Stingers'' from 1998 to 2004. Kendall has appeared in television series '' The Librarians'' (20 ...

* Andy Lee * Hamish Blake *

Tottie Goldsmith Caroline "Tottie" Goldsmith (born 27 August 1962) is an Australian actress and singer. Career Television In the early 1980s, Goldsmith acted in the Australian television series ''The Young Doctors'', ''Starting Out'', '' Prisoner'', '' Saturd ...

Leo Sayer Gerard Hugh "Leo" Sayer (born 21 May 1948) is an English-Australian singer and songwriter whose singing career has spanned five decades. He has been an Australian citizen and resident since 2009. Sayer launched his career in the United Kingdom ...

Sami Lukis Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise net ...

Akmal Saleh Akmal Saleh ( ar, أكمل صالح Coptic: AKMAΛ CAΛΕϨ) (born 21 July 1964) is an Egyptian-Australian comedian and actor. He was born in Egypt and arrived in Sydney with his family in 1975 at the age of 11. He has been performing comedy si ...

Human Nature Human nature is a concept that denotes the fundamental dispositions and characteristics—including ways of thinking, feeling, and acting—that humans are said to have naturally. The term is often used to denote the essence of humankind, or ...

Livinia Nixon Livinia Helen Nixon (19 March 1975) is an Australian television presenter and actress. Nixon is the chief weather presenter for ''Nine News Melbourne''.Trevor Marmalade Trevor Marmalade (born Jason van de Velde, 26 April 1962) is an Australian comedian and radio and television presenter. Marmalade is of Dutch descent and grew up in the Melbourne suburb of Surrey Hills. Career During the 1980s, Marmalade wa ...

''So far the audience has voted on'' There is no news whether Big Questions will return on Channel 9 after a seven-year hiatus.

Background

Upon the program's commencement, there had been an increasing trend of pop culture panel programs on

Australian television Television in Australia began experimentally as early as 1929 in Melbourne with radio stations 3DB and 3UZ, and 2UE in Sydney, using the ''Radiovision'' system by Gilbert Miles and Donald McDonald, and later from other locations, such as Bris ...

. The success of the ABC's '' Spicks and Specks'' began the popular trend and has been replicated, often unsuccessfully on other networks.

External links

* Nine Network original programming 2006 Australian television series debuts 2006 Australian television series endings {{Australia-tv-prog-stub