On Tuesday night at Sydney’s Enmore Theatre, Network 10 and Paramount+ launched their newest show, The Inspired Unemployed (Impractical) Jokers with Liam, Falcon, Jack and Dom on stage to present the new show.
The series debuts on 10, 10 Play and Paramount+ on Wednesday, 9 August and will see Jack, Liam, Dom and Falcon egg each other on to make absolute fools of themselves in a public setting.
With no one else in on the joke, the foursome will compete to embarrass each other in the biggest way possible, with those failing at the task given a humiliating punishment – and all the action will be captured by hidden cameras.
Below are some highlights from the event:
Ahead of the show’s premiere, Mediaweek spoke with Network EP Sophia Mogford about the hidden camera genre and what the boys bring to the network.
“It’s a really exciting opportunity,” Mogford says. “According to the boys, they’ve been asked to do a lot of TV before – everything from SAS through to various other reality shows, and they haven’t said yes. But they love this brand.
“The boys have such a massive online following, and to bring that to a TV audience is a great opportunity, along with the fact that we can take them across Paramount+ and 10. The 10 audience may not have heard of them as much as the Paramount+ audience, so it’s an opportunity to bring them across both platforms.”
“There isn’t a show on Australian television that’s hidden camera anymore. I personally love it as a format, because it allows you to play really freely. As a viewer, you’re very voyeuristic, you’re very there. It’s not a polished, produced situation – it is behind the scenes, and you have to have all the building blocks there – but the actual show has a comedic honesty which is really unique.”
“Crucial to it all is that we need to be able to get the release form signed, so you need to have the compliance of the general public afterwards. You need to be able to explain to them what’s happened and make them feel that the joke isn’t on them, it’s very much on boys, in order to make everybody feel comfortable in the situation.”
Whilst The Inspired Unemployed (Impractical) Jokers takes its name from the US show, Mogford says that the team also bring elements that make the show uniquely their own.
“Impractical Jokers in the US has been phenomenally successful – it still runs, and I would imagine it’s anticipated to run for a long time in the future. There are some learnings that you could definitely take from them, I know the production team had calls with the guys in the US, just to work out what had and what hadn’t worked for them.
Read more: The Inspired Unemployed and the logistics of hidden camera shows