Host’s charisma keeps Lego show from collapse
‘‘YOU know the old TV saying, season four, change the floor – and the door.’’
When host Hamish Blake makes light of his new surrounds as the latest edition of Lego Masters Australia gets under way, it might be cover for the production’s enforced shift from Melbourne to Sydney’s Fox Studios due to Covid, but it’s also all part of his brilliant banter, which is a huge factor in preventing the now familiar format from feeling tired.
Promising that this year will be ‘‘tougher than ever, have more danger than ever, get more outside than ever, feature more smashes than ever, more tension than ever, more frantic running around than ever and more Delta Goodrem than ever’’, he tries to whip the eight new duos into a frenzy by announcing the top prize has increased by the $50 he’s thrown in there himself and that there’s a brand new gamechanging MacGuffin to play for – ‘‘the titanium brick of triumph’’.
Naturally, he’s evasive about what it actually does.
As his sidekick and sometimes controversial sole judge Ryan ‘‘Brickman’’ McNaught (the only certified Lego professional in the southern hemisphere) goes through his regular spiel about how he’s looking for creative, technical and storytelling skills as part of each build, we’re introduced to the disparate pairs. This season they range from Lego obsessives like Lexi, to ‘‘hardcore students of the game’’ and support worker
Kirsti, who claims to have never seen the show (and judging by her reaction to the Brick Room, she’s not lying).
Everyone’s first task is to create a scene suitable for a giant water tank that will provide a suitably jaw-dropping reveal as it is drained of water. As well as the inevitable mermaids, sea serpents and Poseidon, a rather surprising choice of Amelia Earhart provides inspiration for the 16-hour builds.
While Brickman offers often smart, ongoing advice and perhaps lets slip who his future favourites might be, Blake and some slick editing ensure watching them create these architectural triumphs brick-bybrick isn’t the modern day televisual equivalent of watching paint dry. Whether it’s an unexpected ‘‘episode two costume reveal’’, gentle contestant interrogations, or a plea to make sure a seahorse doesn’t fall over, he really is the heart, soul and hilarity of the show and light years ahead of his international equivalents Will Arnett and Dai Henwood.
With a visit to the SCG, other tasks involving creating a car of the future and making a song title out of Lego and the promise of a ‘‘necklace of nuisance’’, there looks to be plenty of opportunity for his blend of charisma and chutzpah to shine again this season, just as sure as there will be Brickman tears before bedtime once the eliminations start.
Season four of Lego Masters Australia debuts on Three tomorrow at 7.30pm. Episodes will also be available to stream on ThreeNow.