New Taskmaster- anyone watching?

[anonacfr]

I know he's controversial but I do love Frankie Boyle...

[CaveMum]

Loving tonight’s CoC so far!

[MapleSyrupWaffles]

Yes it's very funny. I think Dara might take it - he's been great. so glad it's Kiell instead of Mae. Nice to see Morgan's back too, flirty as always. Sarah is fun too, if not great at the tasks this time!! Sophie was always very clever but somehow has never been a favourite of mine, and same in this one. Trying too hard to be meaningful or be philosophical or get a message across, maybe just too earnest for this show

[CaveMum]

Here we go

Joanne Mcnally
John Robins
Nick Mohammed
Sophie Willan
Steve Pemberton

No start date though.

[Bobshhh]

Will be really interesting to see John in this. He’s not known for being a gracious competitor!

[WhatICallMyUsername]

I agree @MapleSyrupWaffles there's something I don't like about Sophie but I don't know what it is. When they came to announce the winner I was hoping it would be Dara over her.

Interestingly I've only heard of Steve Pemberton for the new series so will be good to watch. I sometimes find the ones I haven't heard of I like the best and have watched some on tour as a result

[MoongazyHare]

I think that’s a really good lineup, but if people didn’t enjoy Mae’s competitiveness and thought she took it too seriously, wait till you see John!

[Basilton]

I did not recognise any of those names. After looking them up, I recognise two out of five faces.

[CwmYoy]

Sara Pascoe's ex - John - has wanted to do it for ages. He treated her badly and I love her so don't want him to win.

Never seen either of the women in anything.

Love Steve - he'll be devious.

Only seen Nick on Cats Countdown and wasn't impressed.

Ed Byrne is longing to be asked and he'd be brilliant.

Disappointed with new line up. Sometimes diversity means boring.

[EvilRingahBitch]

I think John will be hyper competitive but also the others will have licence to lay into him for it which will be funny.

I love Nick Mohammed on Ted Lasso but have no clue about his standup - apparently it's quite weird so I have no clue whether his humour is to my taste (love some weird standups, others leave me cold)

No idea about the two women - I've heard of Alma's not Normal but not seen it.

Pemberton obviously has a brain like a corkscrew, but can he exercise it at speed? V excited to see.

[thebellagio]

The others I don’t know - but I love Nick Mohammed. To get to know him - listen to his episode of the off menu podcast with Ed Gamble and James Acaster.

somehow listening to him ramble on about robinsons squash for 15 mins was hilarious. He’s an absolute treasure of a man.

[CorylusAgain]

I like the line up. I know of all 3 of the men and think they're an interesting trio! I don't know the women but like being introduced to new people.

[WhatICallMyUsername]

Also regarding last nights, how come Sophie wasn't disqualified for not clapping when she knocked the chickpeas out of the bowl. I know she called it deliberate displacement or something similar but anyone could have said oh I did that on purpose!!

[charliecoopershair]

Nick Mohammed's Mr Swallow stand up is AMAZING!

[SprogTakesAQuarry]

@CwmYoy

Sara Pascoe's ex - John - has wanted to do it for ages. He treated her badly and I love her so don't want him to win.

Never seen either of the women in anything.

Love Steve - he'll be devious.

Only seen Nick on Cats Countdown and wasn't impressed.

Ed Byrne is longing to be asked and he'd be brilliant.

Disappointed with new line up. Sometimes diversity means boring.

sometimes diversity means boring

I’m sorry, what?

Honestly, I need to walk away from MN. Sometimes I think I can just lurk around nice threads and topics, then I realise that no matter what, MN will always be MN. Even on a thread about Taskmaster 🙄

[SprogTakesAQuarry]

Sometimes diversity means boring.

Right, I know I need to walk away but really, I can’t, this has annoyed me so much.

Nowadays, schedule allowing, Taskmaster could get just about anyone on. But they choose not to. Do you ever consider the possibility that the Alex and the team around him might have a better knowledge of talent in the comedy scene RN?

I hadn’t heard of Fern Brady or Sam Campbell, but they are two of the best ever contestants. I’m a huge James Acaster fan, but series 7 will always be about Jessica Knappet for me.

Your disappointment at not knowing half the line up is understandable. Rationally, I know that the show will be better for not being filled with white men from Mock the Week. Rationally, I know that my favourite contestant will end up being someone I didn’t know before. But of course I want to look at the line up and see familiar faces. It’s only human.

But please, writing off the series in advance because you believe that the two women and the non-white person will make the series boring because you haven’t heard of them and therefore they must be diversity castings. Can you not see how ridiculous that is?

[thebellagio]

I genuinely prefer not knowing who the contestants are because there’s no preconceived ideas. As pp says Fern Brady, John Kearns and Sam Cambell were absolutely flawless contestants.

and I keep saying this but Nick M is a national treasure.

[CwmYoy]

@SprogTakesAQuarry "But please, writing off the series in advance because you believe that the two women and the non-white person will make the series boring because you haven’t heard of themandtherefore they must be diversity castings. Can you not see how ridiculous that is?"

I haven't written it off. I've said the line up is disappointing to me. I'm allowed to be disappointed. I'm a huge fan of comedy and go to many stand up shows, plus know a few people "in the business".

What's ridiculous is a tick box selection of players. And that's how it seems to be since the move to C4, sometimes.

[SprogTakesAQuarry]

@CwmYoy So just to confirm, you believe that the casting of S17 has been heavily influenced by diversity targets?

[MoongazyHare]

@CwmYoy

@SprogTakesAQuarry "But please, writing off the series in advance because you believe that the two women and the non-white person will make the series boring because you haven’t heard of themandtherefore they must be diversity castings. Can you not see how ridiculous that is?"

I haven't written it off. I've said the line up is disappointing to me. I'm allowed to be disappointed. I'm a huge fan of comedy and go to many stand up shows, plus know a few people "in the business".

What's ridiculous is a tick box selection of players. And that's how it seems to be since the move to C4, sometimes.

But the formula of one older person, three established ones and a newbie works really well, and leads to some great contests. Sophie Willan has won BAFTAs for both writing and acting, and Nick Mohammed has been in everything, as well as being a great standup. I’ve not seen Jo do her own show so she is new to me.

There hasn’t been a dud contestant yet, and I don’t expect there to be this time.

Isn’t it just as rewarding to discover new people who make you laugh as to watch the same five men going round and round again?

[CarryOnThen]

The assumption that a diverse cast must be the result of a tick box process is what's ridiculous.

Taskmaster is also one of the few remaining shows for unknowns to get a wider audience. I want the people I've never heard of on there. They are usually brilliant. If I want to see the same old faces I'll just watch the terminally dull Have I Got News For You.

[CwmYoy]

As I said, I'm a huge fan of comedy and this is the first time there are 2 candidates I've not seen or heard of. Only ever not heard of one in previous series and she won it. That was Sarah Kendall and I did like her, so maybe that will happen this time.

I loved the last 2 line ups, to be fair. But I'd seen all of them in something.

[CorylusAgain]

@CwmYoy

As I said, I'm a huge fan of comedy and this is the first time there are 2 candidates I've not seen or heard of. Only ever not heard of one in previous series and she won it. That was Sarah Kendall and I did like her, so maybe that will happen this time.

I loved the last 2 line ups, to be fair. But I'd seen all of them in something.

Given all that you've said, I honestly don't see where your notion of box ticking comes in?
Or what it is that has disappointed you?
Obviously we all have personal preferences and expectations based on prior knowledge of contestants, but it feels odd that you accuse 'diversity' in this particular instance.

[CaveMum]

How on earth anyone can call Nick Mohammed a diversity casting when he's just played a major character in one of the biggest comedy TV shows of recent years baffles me more than a little bit...

[thebellagio]

What's ridiculous is a tick box selection of players. And that's how it seems to be since the move to C4, sometimes.

I'm still not understanding your tick box. Do you mean sex? Age? Race? Years of experience?

Because I started watching in abut series 5 (my husband from the beginning). They've ALWAYS had one or 2 elder recognisable household names (Bob Mortimer, Alan Davis, Sue Perkins, Julian Clarey), an A-Lister from the stand-up circuit (Dara, Sarah Millican, Frankie Boyle, Aisling Bea, Kathyrn Ryan) plus then one or two recognisable faces (Kiell, Chris Ramsey, Judy Love) followed by some relatively low-key names who are huge in the edinburgh fringe festival circuit (which is where the likes of Sophie Duker, Sam Campbell, John Kearns etc all come into it)

I genuinely don't see how that format has changed?

I love seeing the newbies. I love stand-up, so getting to see new people and being introduced to them through TM is amazing. I would love to see Sam or Fern live now...

[thebellagio]

How on earth anyone can call Nick Mohammed a diversity casting when he's just played a major character in one of the biggest comedy TV shows of recent years baffles me more than a little bit...

@CaveMum and wrote his own sitcom that starred David Schwimmer.....