Unskilled Adults: You Got That Right

Unskilled Adults is a show that features comedians but is in no way a comedy. This is not an unusual situation for Australian television in 2026. Yes, the host and cast are given some space in which they can be funny. But that space is squeezed in between relatively unfunny activities like “purchasing wood”. So is it even worth watching if you’re someone who likes to laugh? Well, kinda.

The premise here is that Hamish Blake has realised he’s reached middle age without developing any useful skills. His solution? Make a TV show! Oh wait, we’re meant to believe his actual solution is a complicated scheme to force himself to develop physical skills via performing on a television series. There is an interesting discussion to be had here about whether anything is real for Hamish if he isn’t filmed doing it, but let’s move on.

Across this series Hamish is going to team up with a variety of comedians to perform a range of small scale physical tasks for people willing to pay below award rates. Building planter boxes for a swim center is the exciting job in episode one. Will the team figure out how to put screws into wood? Stay tuned! Yes, this is a full hour of television.

Later episodes are packed with thrilling tasks like “welding a trailer” and “making costumes for a community group” and “catering a wedding”. All of which have just enough stakes to make things interesting when it becomes obvious Blake and his crew aren’t really up to the task.

As far as comedians go, Becky Lucas is in episode one; Anne Edmonds and Lloyd Langford bumble through episode two. Future episodes promise to showcase the lack of ability of Andy Lee, Sophie Monk, Susie Youssef, Bret McKenzie, Ryan Shelton, Melanie Bracewell and Guy Montgomery, amongst others. So yes, there are plenty of comedians here. Comedy? Not so much.

What makes this show work is the combination of low stakes and marginal competence. If they were tackling bigger projects, they’d either have to get in people with actual skills or they’d be wasting people’s time – which would make this a prank show of sorts. And if they knew what they were doing, then it’d be just another home renovation show.

The format is good for the occasional laugh, so this isn’t completely devoid of comedy. But aside from a few quips and Hamish’s seemingly bottomless pockets* the only real joke here is the overall concept. “Hamish Blake building something? Don’t make me laugh”.

Much of Hamish & Andy’s early successes on television came from their willingness to go outside and do things that made them look silly. Remember when they came up with that “sport” of trying to walk super-closely behind someone? This isn’t that, but it’s on the same page. They’re both harmless physical activities that aim to get laughs. Only here, the activities are ones that tradies do for a living.

How much you’ll get out of this depends a lot on how much you’re interested in watching the specific cast members appearing on any given episode. The show itself is okay and Hamish is Hamish. Everyone else has been funnier elsewhere, which is yet another reminder of how Australian television operates.

Comedians in this country work hard to build up their reputations. When they reach a certain level they get offered roles on shows like this. These shows are built on drawing down the goodwill comedians build up elsewhere. You watch them because you’re interested in the comedians involved. You come away a little less interested in the comedians involved.

Maybe someone should have hired Hamish to get to work on creating a show where comedians could simply be funny.

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*if there’s anything that’s annoying about this very mellow viewing experience, it’s that Hamish is someone who is clearly used to throwing money at problems