Television Taskmaster | Series 18 starts tonight

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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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 :lol:

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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
Triple post.

Oh, and it is shit that Taskmaster next week is getting bumped back for this.
Yeah, absolutely ludicrous. Brings back memories of trying to watch Seinfeld on BBC2 back in the mid to late 90s. Bumped every other week for some bullshit like snooker or fecking darts coverage.
 
Really enjoyed the potato and caravan tasks. The live task was a bit crap.

and yeah pushing it back to 10.30 for that shite is ridiculous.
 
Really enjoyed the potato and caravan tasks. The live task was a bit crap.

and yeah pushing it back to 10.30 for that shite is ridiculous.


I think it will be on All4 from 9. I really hate Danny Dyer have no idea how he gets shows.

Will take over celebrity hunted too which I'm watching if only for James Acastor and Ed Gamble
 
It was never going to match up last year but it's warning up ok I think. They are all likeable Was worried Mae would run away with it but perhaps not.

Frankie's face when he saw he was being teamed up with Ivo was priceless and made the season worthwhile already
 
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.
I actually thought the first season in Australia was really good. I generally don't care much for the taskmasters anyway, so whether it's Greg or Tom I don't really care.

The episode where they had to become twins/triplets had me laughing my head off. Completely unhinged.
I do think that if you want your contestants to be competent, the Australian one is not for you.
 
I actually thought the first season in Australia was really good. I generally don't care much for the taskmasters anyway, so whether it's Greg or Tom I don't really care.

The episode where they had to become twins/triplets had me laughing my head off. Completely unhinged.
I do think that if you want your contestants to be competent, the Australian one is not for you.
Oh, I'm not bothered about them being competent at the tasks or not. There's entertainment / humour either way, and often them being useless at the tasks can be the funniest. I said I didn't find any of the five contestants particularly funny in the first Australian series. Which is a drawback.

One of the most boring contestants in the UK version was, ironically enough, the Australian Sarah Kendall. She was very competent at the tasks and won her series (11), but was pretty dull and humour-free in doing so.

I enjoyed the first Australian series and found it a grower. Like with the English and NZ versions, just the tasks themselves make every season well worth watching. But the quality of the contestants tips the balance between the series being quite good-to-brilliant. And I only thought this series was quite good because the contestants weren't all that funny. With a funnier group, I'm hoping series 2 will be closer to the brilliant side of the scale.
 
Thought the latest episode was incredibly weak. Not helped by the tasks.
 
Thought the latest episode was incredibly weak. Not helped by the tasks.
Yeah, me too.

I didn't like to post more negatives after already saying I didn't rate the dancing and music tasks from episodes 1 and 2. But, truthfully, I didn't really like the potato task or the fight scenes in slow motions this week either.

They're only a decent group - far from the best, but reasonably OK - but I don't think they've been helped by the tasks so far either. Some have been the usual standard, but I think they've been much more hit and miss than usual so far.

The episodes are always still enjoyable, but the beginnings of this series hasn't reached the heights of many of it's predecessors.
 
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One thing you notice with the series now compared to older seasons, they just dont do properly physical tasks any more.

Too many tasks now just revolving around mime. Already we've had wedding dance, musical instrument and fake fights... just boring.
Agreed. The best tasks have always been the 'thinking outside the box' kind of tasks or physical ones like you say.
 
Yeah there's been too many 'everyone do the same thing and we judge the best one' tasks and not enough ones that give room for interpretation and different approaches.
 
I don't get this show at all. Don't find it remotely funny or entertaining personally and I normally really like Greg Davies.
 
One thing you notice with the series now compared to older seasons, they just dont do properly physical tasks any more.

Too many tasks now just revolving around mime. Already we've had wedding dance, musical instrument and fake fights... just boring.
Yeah there's been too many 'everyone do the same thing and we judge the best one' tasks and not enough ones that give room for interpretation and different approaches.
Great points.
 
The tasks have been pretty stale in general for a while now. Suppose its inevitable after 15 seasons. They could do with freshening it up somehow. Maybe they should use a new location for the taskmaster house or something. Or just do more off site tasks.
 
The tasks have been pretty stale in general for a while now. Suppose its inevitable after 15 seasons. They could do with freshening it up somehow. Maybe they should use a new location for the taskmaster house or something. Or just do more off site tasks.

The NZ Taskmaster house was a lot bigger. It does have similar rooms but a lot more outdoor space.
 
The NZ Taskmaster house was a lot bigger. It does have similar rooms but a lot more outdoor space.

I had that in mind tbf. They have the taskmaster ranch! Two story house, loads of land and a lake. It opens up opportunities to be more creative with the tasks.
 
Thanks to all those in here that recommended the NZ series by the way. Only watched season 2 but really enjoyed it. The studio sections aren't as good (no Greg) but the tasks are great!

Never heard of any of the contestants either but thought they were a great cast.
 
The NZ Taskmaster house was a lot bigger. It does have similar rooms but a lot more outdoor space.
I had that in mind tbf. They have the taskmaster ranch! Two story house, loads of land and a lake. It opens up opportunities to be more creative with the tasks.
Yeah, that really helps the NZ version.

The Australian version also used the same place for its recent first series, so also had plenty of outdoor / water tasks. This is a good example...

 
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Mae has been so disappointing. They must know the aim is too be entertaining and not just endlessly looking for loopholes in every task