Television Taskmaster | Series 18 starts tonight

I tapped out 3 episodes into this series, just haven't had the urge to watch it, even on catch up. Its felt like some of the covid series, spoiled by bland casting and not great tasks. I was actually thinking the show might have run its course until the previous series which was up there with the best at times. Maybe they should move to only doing one series a year, less strain on coming up with interesting tasks but that's probably not going to happen.
 
Mae Martin genuinely sucked the soul out of the season. That and the shit tasks. Wasted Frankie and Ivo.
 
Mystry said:
I tapped out 3 episodes into this series, just haven't had the urge to watch it, even on catch up. Its felt like some of the covid series, spoiled by bland casting and not great tasks. I was actually thinking the show might have run its course until the previous series which was up there with the best at times. Maybe they should move to only doing one series a year, less strain on coming up with interesting tasks but that's probably not going to happen.
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The most recent two are on a par with some of the best of last season tbf.

Mae is a bit of a fun sponge but they knew who they were booking.

Ivo and Frankie have been dynamite in the last two edits. Kiele has been brilliant too. Ivo doing the walk in the episode a fortnight ago is up there with the best taskmaster moments.

It’s definitely worth sticking with it. This series more than most has taken forever to develop a great studio dynamic. I generally hate those parts but this season has been great recently.
 
Yeah Mae is a weird one because there have been contestants who found loopholes and skirted the rules before but for some reason when they do it it feels very smug and irritating. Ivo & Frankie have been good. Kiel to an extent too and Jennie’s enthusiasm is fun but it has been a bit bland despite all that. Not helped by the tasks at times.
 
Damien said:
I like those - I mean the stage "live" team tasks where in both this series the team of three had a clear advantage.

After the previous one where the team of three got 10(?) points it was pretty much impossible for Frankie and Ivo to catch up to them over the rest of the series.
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Well Frankie has already declared that his only goal was to ‘not win’ as he’s then contractually obliged to do Champion of Champions.

I don’t think winning really matters to most. I’ll buy tickets to Ivo’s next show but perhaps wouldn’t have had he been full on try hard in every task.

The best contestants are generally the ones that just don’t give a Fcuk about the scoreboard. Kearns, Acaster, Nish, Fern, Wozniak, Stirling, are all Taskmaster Royalty and never really tried to win.

But yeah, the 10-10-10-0-0 was still mental.
 
Solius said:
Yeah Mae is a weird one because there have been contestants who found loopholes and skirted the rules before but for some reason when they do it it feels very smug and irritating. Ivo & Frankie have been good. Kiel to an extent too and Jennie’s enthusiasm is fun but it has been a bit bland despite all that. Not helped by the tasks at times.
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It didn't help as soon as they walk into a room they are looking under the table before even opening the task.

Weird scoring just continues tonight five points for a puppet of Alan sugar that's supposed to be Greg
 
I think people would probably be loving Mae if they had some kind of cultural foothold in the UK.

They’re awfully similar to Tarbuck, Herring, Gamble. And so much more likeable than Beckett or Kendall.

The winners are rarely beloved.
 
UnrelatedPsuedo said:
I think people would probably be loving Mae if they had some kind of cultural foothold in the UK.

They’re awfully similar to Tarbuck, Herring, Gamble. And so much more likeable than Beckett or Kendall.

The winners are rarely beloved.
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I don't think the issue has been the contestants, more the uninspired tasks this series. Ivo was a constant source of laughs, but otherwise it's been a very forgettable series.
 
Aww even the next season is a letdown as I was spoiled the line up and was kind of hoping it wasn't true.

Still Sue Perkins might be good
 
decorativeed said:
I don't think the issue has been the contestants, more the uninspired tasks this series. Ivo was a constant source of laughs, but otherwise it's been a very forgettable series.
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The location based tasks were mostly wasted I’d say. The House based tasks were pretty solid.

In my opinion, being commissioned for an additional 6 seasons probably should have seen them shrink back to 8 episodes and ditch the weaker tasks.

But… Ad revenue.

Leads to weaker episodes but still serves up great highlights.

This season is still in the top 50% in terms of moments. Seasons are always torpedoed when they have a Harry Hardout in them.
 
Redlambs said:
I was just thinking we haven't seen Jon Richardson's painfully unfunny wife, shoehorned into something he has already done, for about 5mins...
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One of the least exciting group reveals for me. I've never heard of two of them, and don't find the other three particularly funny.

Hopefully the tasks will be better than this series, and the group dynamic in the studio will work well. But was hoping to see at least one comedian I like in there - though I guess a lot have already been on by now!
 
Bertie Wooster said:
One of the least exciting group reveals for me. I've never heard of two of them, and don't find the other three particularly funny.

Hopefully the tasks will be better than this series, and the group dynamic in the studio will work well. But was hoping to see at least one comedian I like in there - though I guess a lot have already been on by now!
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Sam will be someone people find very funny or very annoying. There won't be an in-between. Susan is an actress and they tend to be very good on the show and usually a bit mental
 
lsd said:
Sam will be someone people find very funny or very annoying. There won't be an in-between. Susan is an actress and they tend to be very good on the show and usually a bit mental
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Ah, thanks. Yeah, they were obviously the two I wasn't familiar with.

I've watched a lot of the panel shows over the years so have usually seen at least 4, often all 5, of the contestants before on numerous shows. But this is the first time I'd never heard of two of them.
 
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UnrelatedPsuedo said:
The best contestants are generally the ones that just don’t give a Fcuk about the scoreboard. Kearns, Acaster, Nish, Fern, Wozniak, Stirling, are all Taskmaster Royalty and never really tried to win.

But yeah, the 10-10-10-0-0 was still mental.
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Am I completely misremembering but wasn't Ian Stirling really competitive, to the point he apologised for the way he acted in a team task after watching it back? Found him to be really irritating.
 
Mystry said:
Am I completely misremembering but wasn't Ian Stirling really competitive, to the point he apologised for the way he acted in a team task after watching it back? Found him to be really irritating.
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Yes and No. he wanted to win, but only for shits n giggles.

People got their noses out of joint with a team task he had with Lou Sanders. Ignoring the fact that they’re close friends. The edit made him look like a prick.

On-task he was braggadocios but care-free. He aimed at funny before victory and didn’t give two poops about losing overall.
 
Sue Perkins will probably be good value. Julian Clary’s innuendo shtick will probably ware quite thin as the series goes on.

Holding out a bit of hope for Lucy Beaumont that she might be good in a completely shite at everything kind of way.
 
Bertie Wooster said:
One of the least exciting group reveals for me. I've never heard of two of them, and don't find the other three particularly funny.

Hopefully the tasks will be better than this series, and the group dynamic in the studio will work well. But was hoping to see at least one comedian I like in there - though I guess a lot have already been on by now!
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To be fair, often the lineups that look bad on paper can give us some great moments. As others have said, they need to sort the tasks out.


Stevondo8 said:
Holding out a bit of hope for Lucy Beaumont that she might be good in a completely shite at everything kind of way.
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She'll script herself to be exactly that. Hopefully it's at least funny though!
 
I think the season get a lot better as it went on. Obviously one of the best ever seasons, but still good value and still taskmaster.

Guess we have to wait until Taskmaster New Zealand Season 4 now.
 
Dog walker was clearly the superior lullaby but I guess it is fitting to end the series with another dodgy/questionably scored team task.

Slightly surprised that Sue Perkins and Lucy Beaumont (but mostly Sue) haven't been on earlier with their comedy/real life partners appearing in the first few series of the show.
 
Been catching up over the last few days.

The season does improve as it goes on, but my god Mae is a charisma vacuum.

Also surprised people don't seem to like Jenny, I think she's been one of the better older contestants.
 
Don't think I'll bother with the next season tbh
 
I have the feeling that Alex doesn't really understand what makes a task good. He seems to enjoy giving them very complicated instructions, when the best ones are usually very simple.
 
Ibi Dreams said:
I have the feeling that Alex doesn't really understand what makes a task good. He seems to enjoy giving them very complicated instructions, when the best ones are usually very simple.
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I mean I don’t think you can ever say this since he literally invented the show and comes up with every task. But could be fair to say he’a maybe got caught up with specific types of tasks too much recently.
 
b82REZ said:
Been catching up over the last few days.

The season does improve as it goes on, but my god Mae is a charisma vacuum.

Also surprised people don't seem to like Jenny, I think she's been one of the better older contestants.
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I really like Mae as a character, and a genuinely funny stand up. But wasn’t much of a value add as a Taskmaster contestant. But winners often aren’t.

If you don’t already, check out the Taskmaster Podcast that they did after the win. Very honest and confessional about their appearance. Self aware enough to see how they came across. Admits that they thought they’d aimed at ‘funny’ more. But missed. Was a really nice insight.

Made me realise that it’s a little unfair to expect all contestants to be the perfect blend of; Genius loophole finder, funny failure, creative genius, hopeless, nice, belligerent and loveable.

The same podcast has episodes with Andy, Andy, Alex and Greg. Kind of reminds you that they’re trying to create great tv, not give you five characters to love.
 
Ibi Dreams said:
I have the feeling that Alex doesn't really understand what makes a task good. He seems to enjoy giving them very complicated instructions, when the best ones are usually very simple.
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It’s… his show? It’s one of the most popular on tv, is now being exported and syndicated, and he’s involved in all of it.

Important to note that he’s not truly in control of contestant bookings, team pairings, and editing.

Also… it’s very hard to keep coming up with new ideas. Now that they have Aus and NZ tasks to co-opt and adapt, we should see sole fresh ideas bleed in.

Mad to say that he of all people doesn’t get it though.
 
UnrelatedPsuedo said:
I really like Mae as a character, and a genuinely funny stand up. But wasn’t much of a value add as a Taskmaster contestant. But winners often aren’t.

If you don’t already, check out the Taskmaster Podcast that they did after the win. Very honest and confessional about their appearance. Self aware enough to see how they came across. Admits that they thought they’d aimed at ‘funny’ more. But missed. Was a really nice insight.

Made me realise that it’s a little unfair to expect all contestants to be the perfect blend of; Genius loophole finder, funny failure, creative genius, hopeless, nice, belligerent and loveable.

The same podcast has episodes with Andy, Andy, Alex and Greg. Kind of reminds you that they’re trying to create great tv, not give you five characters to love.
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Well if their intention going on TM was to gain new fans for their standup they've failed. At no point have they even attempted to be humourous in any capacity.

First and foremost this is a comedy show and Mae has approached this as a proper quiz/challenge show. At least previous dour contestants have at least tried to make jokes at some point.
 
b82REZ said:
Well if their intention going on TM was to gain new fans for their standup they've failed. At no point have they even attempted to be humourous in any capacity.

First and foremost this is a comedy show and Mae has approached this as a proper quiz/challenge show. At least previous dour contestants have at least tried to make jokes at some point.
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They don’t need to entertain anyone to get the exposure.

Their stand up is funny. I’ve told lots. They’ve watched and agreed. Some disagreed.

Basically, I don’t think as many peoples measure of ‘I’ll watch this person’ is the same as yours.

All good if you’ll only watch stand up comedy by people that meet your vision of ‘enjoyable on taskmaster’ I guess. That won’t be the case for others though. More than enough people for them to sell out larger venues going forward.

Beyond that… a stand up only really needs a few thousand fans in large cities to carve out a living. I’m sure that Mae picked up enough to do that. I don’t think they’re in the bottom half of worst contestants. They’ll do just fine without you or I buying a ticket to see them.
 
UnrelatedPsuedo said:
They don’t need to entertain anyone to get the exposure.

Their stand up is funny. I’ve told lots. They’ve watched and agreed. Some disagreed.

Basically, I don’t think as many peoples measure of ‘I’ll watch this person’ is the same as yours.

All good if you’ll only watch stand up comedy by people that meet your vision of ‘enjoyable on taskmaster’ I guess. That won’t be the case for others though. More than enough people for them to sell out larger venues going forward.

Beyond that… a stand up only really needs a few thousand fans in large cities to carve out a living. I’m sure that Mae picked up enough to do that. I don’t think they’re in the bottom half of worst contestants. They’ll do just fine without you or I buying a ticket to see them.
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Are you Mae's agent?

I judge comedians on their ability to make me laugh, if they're unable to do that on a show like Taskmaster I have very little hope for their actual stand-up routines.

Conversely a good contestant on TM isn't necessarily a good stand-up, but I'm much more likely to watch a new comic if they've actually made attempts to be funny on a comedy panel show.

These newer, relatively obscure comedians need and want the exposure from a show like TM to pull in new fans.
 
b82REZ said:
Are you Mae's agent?

I judge comedians on their ability to make me laugh, if they're unable to do that on a show like Taskmaster I have very little hope for their actual stand-up routines.

Conversely a good contestant on TM isn't necessarily a good stand-up, but I'm much more likely to watch a new comic if they've actually made attempts to be funny on a comedy panel show.

These newer, relatively obscure comedians need and want the exposure from a show like TM to pull in new fans.
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Yeah that’s all fair mate. I’m not suggesting that I enjoyed Mae all that much on Taskmaster, and am admitting I was irked by them more often than I was entertained.

The point we don’t acknowledge is that anyone that gets on the show… has already done the work. They already have a following. Be that a National Treasure level status like Frankie, a beloved fan base like Jenny, an appreciative tv watching vibe like Kiel, a huge up and coming breakthrough buzz like Ivo, or an overseas alternative vibe like Mae.

You think they’re obscure. They’re not. Mae has been nominated for, and won, awards in comedy. Ivo is probably 5 years behind her on the circuit.

Nobody gets on taskmaster without already having a body of work behind them. Apart from David Baddiel. (Joke. But not really)
 
Redlambs said:
Frankie Boyle was a lot funnier than Fern Brady live. Noel Fielding actually doing jokes was lightyears beyond both. All three I'd recommend though.

Not sure what this adds.




?
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Baddiel - I added white text. He has an historic body of work. He’s a good writer too. But I can’t stand the fella so shit on him a little bit.

Similar to your ‘not sure what this adds’… the best Taskmaster stand ups I’ve seen;

1. James Acaster - genuinely the best we’ve got
2. Frankie
3 John Kearns - utterly insane and beyond compare.

Fern was great though. Scattergun approach that I loved.

I’m seeing Ivo, Kearns, Gamble in the next few months.
 
UnrelatedPsuedo said:
Baddiel - I added white text. He has an historic body of work. He’s a good writer too. But I can’t stand the fella so shit on him a little bit.
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Not sure your white text you added after my reply helps your cause...


In any case, enjoy the upcoming gigs. I've been umming and ahing about seeing Ivo on his tour and for some reason neither myself nor the missus are interested in seeing Gamble despite both loving his podcast work. I think the issue with these tv comedians is that you've already seen/heard their best jokes.
 
Redlambs said:
Not sure your white text you added after my reply helps your cause...


In any case, enjoy the upcoming gigs. I've been umming and ahing about seeing Ivo on his tour and for some reason neither myself nor the missus are interested in seeing Gamble despite both loving his podcast work. I think the issue with these tv comedians is that you've already seen/heard their best jokes.
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Well Baddiel isn’t funny anymore. He’s never been funny on his own really either. Was also awful on Taskmaster.

Anywho. Go to watch Ed Gamble. He’s not that great as a stand up? But Chloe Petts is his opener and she’s great.
 
UnrelatedPsuedo said:
Well Baddiel isn’t funny anymore. He’s never been funny on his own really either. Was also awful on Taskmaster.
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Yeah I get you don't like him. Which makes it even more weird that you added the white text after.

Can't say I've an opinion on him either way though, so all is well.


Anywho. Go to watch Ed Gamble. He’s not that great as a stand up? But Chloe Petts is his opener and she’s great.
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Can't be worse than Brady's opener. My better half told me she was Fern's old podcast co-host and she was sweet and all but the whole routine was about inserting a coil and I just sat there the whole time waiting for the ironic switch up that never came.
 
I saw Phil Wang a few weeks ago actually and he was a much better stand up than I expected. Not sure why I didn't expect him to be good either cause he was a great contestant.
 
Does seem that good stand up doesn't really equal good Taskmaster contestant.
 
For me the most memorable thing about the last series was Frankie's defence of his concept of heaviness after the balance stuff on jelly task : "The third law of thermodynamics encompasses all the energy in the universe. That's more than your bowl and your feckin' spoon."
 
Played the golf course next to the TM house the other day, and saw big vans outside. Either they were preparing for the season after the one that is due to air, or clearing up after it. Either way, it's cool to see it
 
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