Hamish & Andy's Gap Year is a Logie Award–winning comedy series following Hamish Blake and Andy Lee, a pair of Australian comedians, on their trips to various international locations. The first season saw the duo visiting America for ten episodes and broadcast their show weekly from New York City. In its second season in 2012, the show was titled Hamish & Andy's Euro Gap Year, and seven episodes were broadcast from The Lord Stanley, a disused pub in East London, England. The third season, known as Hamish and Andy's Gap Year Asia in 2013, was broadcast from a bar in Bangkok, Thailand, called The Raintree. The fourth season was known as Hamish and Andy’s Gap Year South America.
The concept for the show was created when the Nine Network hired comedians Hamish Blake and Andy Lee for two series in two years. They came across the idea of "Gap Year" when they realised they never took a gap year after high school, so they would film their many adventures overseas, as it was ironic that they had just received a contract for TV.
The show featured the American band Moon Hooch for the first season as an in house band; during the show, they band were dubbed The Buskerteers.
Segments A number of regular segments appear throughout the series: Safari: Hamish and Andy show a film about where they last went outside of New York, using a "safari map" hidden underneath their desk to show the exact location. For these adventures, the boys dress in purpose-built safari costumes. Hamish VS. Andy: This involves various competitions between Hamish and Andy. The segment also features Ryan Shelton as a correspondent. From season 2 onwards, Ian Danter serves as the segment’s narrator, replacing an unnamed voiceover artist used in the first season. Ultimate Wingman: Hamish struggles to find Andy (single) a girlfriend, by acting as his wingman (much to the annoyance of Andy). Cultural Eating: Introduced in season 2, the segment involves one of the boys offering the other an unusual local delicacy. Although it only appeared twice in season 2, it became a regular (appearing in almost every episode) in seasons 3 and 4. Interviews (Season 1 only): Hamish and Andy interviewed various celebrities, either in the studio or in hotel rooms. This segment was removed from the DVD release because the people interviewed didn't want them included. R2-To-Do (Season 1 only): This robot featured on the show provides a list of goals for Hamish and Andy to achieve on their journey. 100-Second New York Lesson'd (Season 1 only): Taken by Ryan Shelton, where he would take the viewers on various highly exaggerated tours of different culture and places in New York, each timed to 100 seconds. Hamish and Andy would make cameo appearances in each of the segments.
Series overview To date, four seasons of Hamish & Andy's Gap Year have aired.
Seasons
Hamish & Andy's Gap Year (2011)
Hamish & Andy's Gap Year USA – "Best Of" Edition (2015) A new version of Hamish & Andy's Gap Year was released to Stan in 2015 alongside all other Gap Year series, Caravan of Courage specials, Learn India with Hamish & Andy and Hamish & Andy's Reministmas Special. This version is based on the interview-free DVD, but rearranged and with a few segments (mostly 100-Second New York Lesson'd segments) deleted. This is also the version available on the Hamish & Andy TV YouTube channel, rather than the original.
Hamish & Andy's Euro Gap Year (2012)
The shows were broadcast from the disused Lord Stanley pub in East London (Sandringham Road, Dalston E8).
This season was also the only one broadcast in the UK on ITV4. Euro Gap Year and Gap Year Asia were rebroadcast in Australia throughout December 2020, due to Hamish and Andy not working on a new TV program that year.
Hamish & Andy's Gap Year Asia (2013)
The shows were broadcast from a bar in Bangkok, Thailand, called 'The Raintree'.
Hamish & Andy's Gap Year South America (2014)
The shows were broadcast from Buenos Aires, Argentina. They also decided to include all of Latin America, rather than just South America, so they could go to Mexico and Central America.
Ratings
Awards and nominations Hamish & Andy have won 5 Logie Awards from 16 nominations for their work on Hamish & Andy's Gap Year.
Year Nominee Award Result 2012Hamish Blake Most Popular Presenter Gold Logie: Most Popular Personality on Australian TV Hamish & Andy's Gap Year Most Popular Light Entertainment Program 2013 Hamish BlakeMost Popular Presenter Gold Logie: Most Popular Personality on Australian TV Andy Lee Most Popular Presenter Gold Logie: Most Popular Personality on Australian TV Hamish & Andy's Euro Gap YearMost Popular Light Entertainment Program 2014 Andy Lee Most Popular Presenter Gold Logie: Most Popular Personality on Australian TV Hamish Blake Most Popular Presenter Hamish & Andy's Gap Year Asia Most Popular Light Entertainment Program 2015 Hamish Blake Gold Logie: Most Popular Personality on Australian TV Andy Lee Most Popular Presenter Hamish & Andy's Gap Year South America Most Popular Entertainment Program
References
External links
Hamish and Andy