Review: Hamish and Andy's Gap Year Episode 2

Oh dear, last night's Hamish and Andy's Gap Year was not good.

... Or at least not as good as was expected; I, and many others had hoped for at least a modicum of improvement from week 1 to week 2.

But there was hardly any... which doesn't bode well for the series.

Last week, the premiere dragged an impressive, but not amazing 1.45 million, and I shudder to think what the tomorrow's ratings hold.

Obviously the neutral-to-scathing reviews that came out after the show's premiere will not help its word-of-mouth cause in week 2.

But for the viewers that tuned in, what happened to the pair's promise ("We'll sharpen up, we'll sharpen up for next week.")?

Most of episode 2 would have turned off the more casual Hamish and Andy fans - for the most part it was flat, messy and amateurish.

In my first review I skirted around these points, choosing to brush them off as the show finding its style. Then there's of course the fact that you can never truly judge a show based on its first episode. 

But there comes a time when you have to start looking at what the show is choosing to stick with for its entire run - what will plague it, and what will serve it in good stead.

So, unfortunately for the show, it is sticking with the same half-baked jokes, including the hand-drawn sketches, the robot, the bobble-heads, etc. Maybe they are aspiring to be Craig Ferguson-types, with the parallels of the robot and desk-clutter certainly eerily consistent- but the difference is, they have introduced all of this all at once, seemingly without rhyme nor reason.

It may be a case of throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks at the moment, but wouldn't you prefer them to start with the basics (Hamish and Andy's banter, funny antics, etc.) then work their way up, adding various accoutrements on the way? 

And the rest of the show?

The Ryan Shelton segment, "100 Second New York Lesson" was nothing special (certainly no better than anything he used to do on Rove) and came off as a cross between his absurdist Rove segments and his regular podcast "For One Minute Only". Presumably the podcast idea of condensing jokes into a limited number of seconds is now his "thing".

The James Franco interview was not live - even though the show is filmed in the States. Not good enough, especially not for a second week. I'd rather they have a B-list guest in studio than an A-list one in a pre-filmed interview with bizarre time-portal prop jokes.

But worst of all, my main gripe was that the first segment was by far the worst part of the show- something it can ill-afford to continue every week. This means it lost any undecided viewers forgiving enough to give the show another go.

And there were some OK points, don't get me wrong, but they were sandwiched in the mess that continues to be the rest of the show.

Their presenting style was marginally better, and it will continue to be. People have to remember that they have hosted a radio show for the best part of a decade, not a TV show- and TV is much less forgiving.

The roller derby segment was pretty good- but again relied too much on Hamish and/or Andy getting hurt and/or getting nude for laughs. The "Ultimate Wingman" segment was also an OK idea, but somehow didn't succeed- possibly because the Candid Camera-type set ups were so obvious (or puzzling) to onlookers that they didn't receive any reactions to bring home the jokes.

Once again, I don't take any joy out of picking apart the show like this, but hopefully it points out what will cause the audience to switch off gradually.

I still throw my full support behind the pair, and still believe that they can produce a good show at the very, very least.

They need someone over there that can tell them if a joke isn't going to work, and in which case, they need to drop that joke and perhaps sit on the couch for a segment with no script and no props, where they can just muck-around.

But most importantly, they just need more than a couple of episodes under their belt- I'm sure they will be able to nut out what works and what doesn't by themselves...

But, unfortunately for them, they don't have the luxury of time- Nine will be wanting results, and quickly.

And if ratings drop off too steeply, it will only increase the pressure on the pair- which would not create a very conducive attitude for comedy.

They need to smooth out the kinks quick-smart, because they are at risk of losing even more of their audience.

I sincerely hope I am wrong, but don't think I am.

What did you think? Was there a marked improvement or have you given up watching altogether?

If you missed it, here is last night's show.