The Inspired Unemployed are making their TV hosting debut, and are ready to wreak havoc when The Inspired Unemployed (Impractical) Jokers, debuts on 10, 10 Play and Paramount+ on Wednesday, 9 August.
The show 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.
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.
Sophia Mogford
“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.”
It’s not just the guys from The Inspired Unemployed that have got Mogford excited either, with the hidden camera format one that she’s particularly excited about bringing back to Australian screens.
“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.”
Having worked on hidden camera shows before with the likes of Hamish and Andy and the UK’s TFI Friday, Mogford says that there are some very important things that need to be nailed in order to pull off the genre.
“People love watching that stuff because it’s real, but in order to produce it, you have to have a very strong creative vision of what you want, so that the performer can play within that framework.
“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.
“They were able to take lessons from the US version, but what the boys brought to it is their beautiful friendship, you can’t fake or manufacture that. The fact that they all live in a shared house is not done for any sort of publicity reasons, it’s because they’re best mates – it’s a very likeable quality.”
Ultimately, Mogford says that the key to the show will be the fact that it appeals to such a wide audience.
“I know that everyone always says it, but there’s nothing on TV like this. It’s hidden camera and it’s brand new talent for some audiences – I hope that it gets the audience that it deserves. It’s really really fun television, and anybody can watch it. It’s as entertaining for a six-year-old as it is for an 86-year-old.”
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Top Image: Liam, Falcon, Jack, and Dom