Taskmaster

[Gabe]

I started binging series 8 last night (watched 5 episodes back to back) and it again highlights the need for somebody having a real presence for the studio section to make it all sing:

 

Joe Thomas just looks permanently uncomfortable and uninterested (I've seen a clip of him ranting about the scoring in a later episode, so at least he has a bit of emotion on display); Paul Sinha is just completely devoid of anything, either in or outside of the tasks (I don't know when this was filmed, I know he's had various health issues and references a bad shoulder); I'm not familiar with Sian Gibson at all, but she is just very meek; Lou Sanders at least seems to be getting into the spirit of it all, whereas Iain Stirling is quite shouty and aggressive.

 

It's been watchable, as highlighted by the binging, but more and more I find the tasks themselves are often not the interesting bit. 

[QuackQuack]

Series 8 was a definite low point

[spork]

Judi Love was one of those contestants who hadn't won an episode, then in one of the later eps was top of the leader board going into the live task but messed up and so ended up not winning any of the episodes.

[wullie]

Iain Stirling is probably my least favourite contestant of the lot, although I did enjoy the parts when he became embarrassingly aware of how aggressively competitive he was.

[PK]

On 11/12/2022 at 18:50, drob4 said:

Anyone who liked John Kearns in Taskmaster should search for the show ‘Lasties’ on BBC Sounds. 15 mins episodes of him and Tim Key talking nonsense in a pub.

 

I was listening to his appearance on RHLSTP and he mentioned being in a sitcom called Top Coppers which was on BBC3 just before the channel died. I'm not familiar with it but from this clip it looks like it might be amazing.

 

 

[Gabe]

1 hour ago, QuackQuack said:

Series 8 was a definite low point

It's just so weird. Joe constantly looks like he just woke up, feels its all beneath him and needs his next cocaine fix. He is exactly as socially awkward as he was in The Inbetweeners - and that clip where he met Sian for the first time, you just could tell that neither of them knew who the other was (ditto when Iain walked in with Paul and Lou.)

 

Paul is just terrible though. He looks really ill and his highlight is that he has sworn a couple of times. I know he has done stand-up, but he's just not funny - although the little temper tantrum Iain had with him was amusing.

 

Sian is just completely forgettable and just looks happy to be there, too.

 

I mean, it is objectively a pretty bad mix of contestants, but it is still very watchable because whilst I may think they are bad, I don't dislike any of them. There are other series where one or more of the gang I actively don't like (c.f. Jo Brand, Noel Fielding, Tim Vine), so I am put off them completely. 

 

Before I picked series 8 I was going to watch series 13,but that doesn't appear to be on All4 - anybody know why?

[wev]

If anyone didn't realise the New Year's Special was tonight.

 

I really enjoyed it, and not just because of Rebecca Lucy Taylor

[Mawdlin]

Yes, tonight's special was very good. I was fully expecting Mo Farah to bland his way through it but he stole the show.

[davidcotton]

The frustrating thing about the new year specials is that you want a full series with the contestants.  Though I suspect Vorderman would rapidly get irritating. 

[Made of Ghosts]

Great cast. Mo is such a ray of sunshine. 

[Fry Crayola]

Rebecca was great, I thought. Mo was fun and just seemed happy to be there, which is pretty much how he always appears to be. The Cube, now Taskmaster, what next?

[Sidewaysbob]

That was considerably better then it had any right to be. The tone was set perfectly with Mo producing a hairdryer. 

 

[Gabe]

I thought it was quite disappointing, to be honest. I would've liked a bit more studio time to get their personalities across, but the format doesn't really allow that and it is more an issue in these one-off episodes where we don't get a chance to get to know them.

 

That said, Mo had an infectious fun around him (his joy at the scalp massager was a delight) and I would've liked to see more of Amelia and Rebecca - but Carol and Greg were pretty nondescript.

 

I've said before about the usual series that it really needs a good studio presence to pop, because a lot of the challenges lack opportunity for laughs as they are quite straightforward, so having a good back-and-forth can make all the difference (series 5 & 14 are good examples of this.)

 

Is there a confirmed date for series 15?

[davidcotton]

On 02/01/2023 at 21:38, Fry Crayola said:

Rebecca was great, I thought. Mo was fun and just seemed happy to be there, which is pretty much how he always appears to be. The Cube, now Taskmaster, what next?

I’d have said Crystal maze if that were still going. 

[Fry Crayola]

Taskmaster Australia starts on February 2nd. Here's hoping it's another NZ.

 

At the very least, they do share the same house.

[disperse and recoagulate]

Speaking of which, did NZ series 3 ever recover from the bad start that was reported on here?

[pledge]

No

[Fry Crayola]

I'm halfway through that season and don't think it's bad, but it's definitely a long way off the best series from either side of the world. The thing is, I find the "bad" series of Taskmaster are still enjoyable TV. 

[pledge]

Yeah it is passable with a few good moments, but easily my least favourite of the 3 NZ editions (and quite low down overall). It is only slightly 'bad' compared directly to the predecessor

[spork]

Taskmaster Australia debuted in Australia earlier today. Reaction seems to be pretty good so far. Not been able to find anywhere to nab it from yet though.

 

 

 

 

[loathsomeleopard]

It was… OK. I’d rate NZ above it (and they use and shoot on the same location). A few cute approaches to tasks, but also a lot of stretching out simple tasks to lean into the next ad break. Still watchable, and I’ll see it through… but recorded so I can skip the ad breaks. 

[spork]

Half way into episode one and it’s a bit painful to be honest.

[Fry Crayola]

Where'd you get hold of it? Or VPN shenanigans?

[xeviousx]

6 minutes ago, Fry Crayola said:

Where'd you get hold of it? Or VPN shenanigans?

Newsgroups for me

[pledge]

After two episodes I am quite liking the AU version. At first I thought the 'Alex' had too deep a voice to pull of the insecure/quirky/awkward role, and even though Alex also corpses at the funniest moment Tom was laughing too often. I've warmed to him though, and the Taskmaster and contestants all seem to be committing to it. I like Nina, she seems to be their Fern Brady.

 

The above enthusiasm though might be affected by me trying to complete my English language set by also watching the older US edition. Also only two episodes in but it is poor. The changes/concessions they made are all for the worse. 22 minute episodes, but still trying to keep the prize task but with just a single person bringing one in. A loot less banter in the studio as they rush through to have two filmed tasks and a studio task in that time. The American audience sounds like canned laughter despite being there. Reusing the British shows tasks also makes it feel like a rush job, like a pilot season rather than pilot episode.  I can see why Alex wanted to be in the US edition, but I'm hoping this is what made him realise better to have a local person than himself (rather than it just being distance and covid that he's not in the NZ and AU ones). Bottom of the list of versions.

 

Has anyone watched non-English ones with subtitles? The Nordic ones have a decent number of seasons each now, so wondering if that's a sign they are ok.

[Nobuo's Organ]

The Norwegian version - Kongen Befaler-  is the best of the ones i've seen from Forn Parts: https://www.reddit.com/r/panelshow/wiki/taskmaster#wiki_kongen_befaler_.28taskmaster_norway.29

 

The Danish one - Stormester - is good but messes with the format, an hour just feels too long per episode and they also do the thing where only one person brings in a prize, which kills most of the potential of that section. The assistant in the Aussie version reminds me of Mark ^{Le Fêvre}  from Stormester for some reason.

 

 

 

 

[PK]

Fans of S2 of Taskmaster NZ - Guy Montgomery's Guy Mont Spelling Bee (of which he did a trial run on Zoom  during lockdown) is very good so far!

 

 

Ep1: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1w9sWIhWsM3bMyZrKTFsmvqykTjj5XGOF/view

 

Ep2: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GXBpsmcSGXrHhddda7odMltsr4xFIlZM/view?usp=share_link

 

 

 

[Gabe]

I've been watching series 9 and it's certainly better than I thought it was. I did go in to it thinking that Jo Brand was going to annoy me, and she did, whilst also sucking the life out of everything. I honestly don't know why she signed-up for it, she never gave off any impression she wanted to be there.

 

Baddiel was also grumpy (and useless), but at least he was making an effort in tasks and as such his earnest approach was at least entertaining. I don't generally like Ed Gamble, but I enjoyed him in this - like Iain Stirling in his series, he clearly wanted to win and got genuinely angry at points. Katy Wix was quite fun in a sense that it honestly felt like she was a bit in her own world, but I think Rose Matafeo was MVP because you also felt she wanted to win but was a bit more inventive than Ed and whilst not as successful, more fun.

 

Quite an enjoyable time overall.

[LowCostMonkey]

Speaking of Taskmaster NZ S2. Does anyone know where I can the last few episodes? I think youtube only has the first 7. I managed to find episode 10 on a torrent site but number 8 & 9 still allude me. It's probably my favorite series of Taskmaster.

[pledge]

Sent you a PM with some tips.