Television Taskmaster | Season 17 now airing

[Bertie Wooster]

Thanks to all the posts about the New Zealand version, I've had a great few days watching all the full episodes / clips I can find on YouTube - mainly of series 2.

I must have seen some of those episodes before, as I definitely remembered some of David's mad antics, and Guy's t-shirts with early photos of Paul on them.

David's madness provided some great moments (not surprised to read he's now a writer for that version), and Guy's dry humour and one liners probably made him my favourite. Everyone was spot on in the earlier posts - it seemed a great series, Paul was brilliant as the assistant, and the Taskmaster was pretty wooden and humour-free.

 

[Damien]

360 VR version:

 

[Redlambs]

Thanks to all the posts about the New Zealand version, I've had a great few days watching all the full episodes / clips I can find on YouTube - mainly of series 2.

I must have seen some of those episodes before, as I definitely remembered some of David's mad antics, and Guy's t-shirts with early photos of Paul on them.

Everyone was spot on in the posts - it seemed a great series, Paul was brilliant as the assistant, and the Taskmaster was pretty wooden and humour-free.

I think I watched all the episodes of both seasons on YT, have they been taken down?

But yes, they are great. I've watched bits and pieces of others, but not been taken in as much as NZ.

 

[0le]

I think I will watch NZ episodes given the comments above.

 

[hobbers]

NZ is by far the best foreign Taskmaster so far. First season is pretty dull but 2 and 3 are good.

 

[sebsheep]

Dailymotion is generally a good place to find the episodes if they're not on YouTube.

 

[Bertie Wooster]

Started watching Australian TaskMaster... it's OK, some of the comedians are trying too hard though, doesn't seem as natural as the NZ version

That would be great to watch. None of the other taskmasters have come close. I took one look at who they put in for the Aussie version, and knew it wasn't going to be great.

After really enjoying the New Zealand version, I've watched the first couple of episodes from the only Australian series so far. And, I agree - it's not great.

Not helped by none of the 5 contestants being particularly funny, and some, as pointed out, seeming to try too hard. But the bigger problem long term is that the Taskmaster and the assistant aren't great either.

I guess the Taskmaster's no worse than the NZ one, but he's definitely no Greg. And the assistant is really no Alex Horne or Paul Williams. He's the worst of the three by some distance. And, so far, the Australian version is by far the worst of the three that I've seen.

The first series would obviously have been helped with funnier contestants, but the choice of Taskmaster and, especially, the assistant is more of an issue in the long term.

 

[Solius]

Finished the NZ Season 2 one. It's up there with the best of the UK seasons.

 

[Massive Spanner]

Finished the NZ Season 2 one. It's up there with the best of the UK seasons.

Where does one go to watch such a thing?

 

[Solius]

Where does one go to watch such a thing?

You know that convo you're part of? That.

 

[Massive Spanner]

You know that convo you're part of? That.

Oh yeah that makes sense. People who are into beastiality tend to be good at pirating stuff.

 

[Nico87]

Ivo Graham is very funny, I recently listened to Several podcasts where he did a breakdown of Steve Bruce’s trio of novels. I would highly recommend giving them a listen.

 

[hobbers]

Expect Ivo or Kiell to win the season and Frankie to finish last.

 

[UnrelatedPsuedo]

NZ Taskmaster shows just how much Greg carries the show. Put him and Williams together and it would be pure magic every season no matter who the guests are.

Cant stand Greg Davies. I generally fast forward the non tasky bits unless I really like the comedians involved.

 

[Solius]

Cant stand Greg Davies. I generally fast forward the non tasky bits unless I really like the comedians involved.

Get out. In fact that whole post is insanity.

 

[Bertie Wooster]

Ivo Graham is very funny, I recently listened to Several podcasts where he did a breakdown of Steve Bruce’s trio of novels. I would highly recommend giving them a listen.

Expect Ivo or Kiell to win the season and Frankie to finish last.

Yeah, I've seen Ivo on a good few panel shows, podcasts, YouTube Pub Quiz, etc, and always like his dry, self-effacing humour.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Ivo's ultra poshness working against him at times in Greg's scoring, but I would imagine it will be between him, Kiell or Mae Martin to win it - and can't see Frankie Boyle over exerting himself in many tasks.

 

[UnrelatedPsuedo]

Get out. In fact that whole post is insanity.

Yeah I missed the whole Taskmaster bandwagon. Only watched my first episode in February. I just find him to be desperately unfunny. Alex Horne is a genius and many of the comedians are good value. Greg is a bit of an empty vessel after coming to it this late.

 

[Annihilate Now!]

After really enjoying the New Zealand version, I've watched the first couple of episodes from the only Australian series so far. And, I agree - it's not great.

Not helped by none of the 5 contestants being particularly funny, and some, as pointed out, seeming to try too hard. But the bigger problem long term is that the Taskmaster and the assistant aren't great either.

I guess the Taskmaster's no worse than the NZ one, but he's definitely no Greg. And the assistant is really no Alex Horne or Paul Williams. He's the worst of the three by some distance. And, so far, the Australian version is by far the worst of the three that I've seen.

The first series would obviously have been helped with funnier contestants, but the choice of Taskmaster and, especially, the assistant is more of an issue in the long term.

Yeah, pretty valid criticisms... Though I am enjoying it a bit more now to be fair. Just got to episode 5 and it was definitely the strongest so far (thanks largely to some excellent tasks).

 

[sebsheep]

Where does one go to watch such a thing?

I used dailymotion. You might be able to find it on YouTube as well.

 

[The Cat]

Cant stand Greg Davies. I generally fast forward the non tasky bits unless I really like the comedians involved.

Agreed, hate his stand up too.

 

[Bertie Wooster]

Cant stand Greg Davies. I generally fast forward the non tasky bits unless I really like the comedians involved.

Agreed, hate his stand up too.

I've not really seen much of his stand up, and thought it was only OK when I did.

But as the Taskmaster he's fantastic. He absolutely nails that role. Even more so after watching the Australia and New Zealand versions recently. The latter is actually very good, but the Taskmaster's in both are so poor compared to Greg.

 

[CallyRed]

Strong start I felt

 

[decorativeed]

Ivo finishing dead last is exactly what I expected from him. Excellent start, although Frankie Boyle needs to get more in the spirit of things.

 

[altodevil]

Gonna be one of those tryhard seasons. Meh. Also the string one was a bit of a swizz. Usually the hidden text is a clue or something to make it a lot quicker/better. Not the actual task itself.

 

[Bertie Wooster]

Good start to the series.

Looks a good bunch for comedy. As likely, looks like Mae and Kiell will be taking the tasks serious and will be tough to beat. Frankie and Jenny - a lot less so. Ivo's a loose cannon, and could go either way. This episode he certainly played more for laughs than points.

Very enjoyable start.

 

[Bertie Wooster]

Yeah, pretty valid criticisms... Though I am enjoying it a bit more now to be fair. Just got to episode 5 and it was definitely the strongest so far (thanks largely to some excellent tasks).

I skipped to episode 5 and, yeah, that was a much better episode than the first two. As you say, great tasks.

I'll go back to episode 3 and watch it all through as series 2 and 3 of the NZ version are much better than the first so I guess got to give the Aussie version time to bed in. And the humour of the contestants for each series makes a huge difference of course. Not an hilarious group in series 1 so far.

The Australian Taskmaster is growing on me. He's no Greg, but much better than the NZ one. Still not overly fond of the Assistant though. He's only OK, and I find his regular smirk quite annoying. Alex and Paul from the other versions are so much better and more likeable.

 

[nimic]

Not a great start to the season for me. Bit boring. Expect it to pick up, though.

 

[Redlambs]

I enjoyed it. There have been worse opening episodes for sure, at least in this there were some real laughs. Jenny is a weird one for me, she's like a much less funny Jo Brand in this episode. Hopefully she finds her own. Kiel I don't know much about and thought he had an awkward introduction...and then the dancing task kicks off.

I wonder if Frankie is getting the Lee Mack treatment though? Just so much to go through and so many comments, that they have to cut most of it out

I'm ok with Mae being a tryhard. It suits their character and seems more from a place of bewilderment at the situation they are in more than competitiveness so there's a charm to it.

 

[Damien]

The dancing task was a rough one to start with due to no music but it picked up after.

Early days but I think Mae will win at a canter, Kiell comfortably second and the rest in any order.

Would have been suspicious of the cushion and no win condition on the initial readthrough of the task (like fastest wins or whatever) but wouldn't think of looking at the back of the task until Alex did the badgering prompt. Then again it's easy to say all that in hindsight and I'd have probably ended up doing a Frankie.

I'm amazed the barge task got approved by health and safety. The task was a good advert for one though, really sturdy surviving the constant bashes bar Ivo breaking off the tiller.

 

[Red Shorts]

Didn't find the lineup particularly funny. Kiell seems like the funniest, even over Boyle but as some said there is time to get better

 

[hobbers]

Yeah not a very comedic bunch at all really. Wonder how much of Frankie’s patter they’re cutting.

Following after Fern and John doesn’t help.

 

[Red Shorts]

Yeah not a very comedic bunch at all really. Wonder how much of Frankie’s patter they’re cutting.

Following after Fern and John doesn’t help.

Last season was probably in top 3 of all time for me, was always going to be a hard act to follow. This bunch seem like they will be part of the forgettable casts, which has happened only on a few occasions.

 

[Damien]

I thought that was a much better episode. Quite a few quips from Frankie (I guessed the episode title would be coming from him), decent chemistry on the team tasks and Ivo, Jenny and Kiell on the breath task was great too.

 

[Massive Spanner]

The musical instrument task was up there with the worst I’ve ever seen on the show

 

[Bertie Wooster]

The musical instrument task was up there with the worst I’ve ever seen on the show

It was a good episode, but, yeah, that wasn't a great task. I'm often less fond of the music / dancing tasks, really. And didn't enjoy the dancing one in the first episode either.

There's been some classics over the years - both songs about Rosalind (is a f***ing nightmare!) - but, generally, I just find many of them to be at the same base, cliche level as so many other clips you see of people singing / dancing poorly. So they often lack the depth and ingenuity of many of the other types of tasks.

 

[Bertie Wooster]

I finished the first series of the Australian version a couple of days ago (when the last episode aired and was put on YouTube).

It grew on me as it went along, and I'll definitely be giving series 2 a go. Hopefully, like the New Zealand one, they'll get a funnier group for the second series as neither had particularly funny contestants for the first series.

I grew to appreciate the Taskmaster as the series progressed - much better than the NZ host. But the Australian assistant was only OK and wasn't as funny or likeable as Paul (NZ) or Alex.

 

[Bertie Wooster]

Has anyone been watching Greg's show, 'The Cleaner'?

I only became aware of it when the second series started a couple of weeks ago, so I've caught up with the first series on iPlayer. It's OK. A strange comedy - generally has just Greg and one other (different) person for much of each episode. And not many big laughs. But there's often some decent dialogue and a few chuckles so very watchable.

 

[Damien]

Has anyone been watching Greg's show, 'The Cleaner'?

I only became aware of it when the second series started a couple of weeks ago, so I've caught up with the first series on iPlayer. It's OK. A strange comedy - generally has just Greg and one other (different) person for much of each episode. And not many big laughs. But there's often some decent dialogue and a few chuckles so very watchable.

Yeah I've watched it since series 1. Last week's episode had a moment that was a bit too shit but the episode before that (I think) had a fantastic one.

 

[Damien]

Really enjoyed latest episode. Jenny excited about the potato hat task, Ivo going insane in the caravan, Frankie's prize task, Frankie's children beating him up... yeah, all in all great stuff.

Changed my mind about Mae winning, looking good for Ivo. And I was completely wrong about Kiell.

 

[Damien]

Triple post.

Oh, and it is shit that Taskmaster next week is getting bumped back for this.