New Taskmaster- anyone watching?

[anonacfr]

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

I read that they spend ages working out who will gel together amd bounce off each other,, they're carefully chosen as a group, not as a tick box exercise.

Some might be brilliant but not work together so well, it always needs to be greater than the sum of the parts, and is very good at achieving that.

one of the reasons why I really didn't like season 15 was because I felt that the whole group collectively where scared of Frankie Boyle. They didn't seem to gel with him - perhaps knowing that if they called him out and gave him shit, he would absolutely eviscerate them in response. Ivo in particular looked utterly terrified of him.

The gelling of the group is essential.

The duo of Ardal O Hanlon and Chris Ramsey working together was awesome, as was the love between Sue Perkins and Susan W last series. You can't force that chemistry.

There was only one in the new line-up that I hadn’t heard of. I’ve watched Sophie Willan in Alma’s not Normal 4 times. I kept trying to persuade other people to give it a go and ended up watching it with them again. It was filmed in locations that I recognised and it was loosely autobiographical. Siobhan Finneran and Lorraine Ashbourne were also in it. It was funny but moving as well. Steve Pemberton I think is amazing, so looking forward to see if he thinks out of the box. I’d looked up John Robins after hearing Sarah Pascoe talk about him once. He’s also been on House of Games. Nick Mohammed I’d seen on Ted Lasso and also his own sitcom (which I thought was a bit hit and miss in the funny stakes). I’m looking forward to seeing Joanne McNally as I don’t know her at all.
I find Richard Osman’s House of Games usually has a mixture of new and recognisable people on there. There have only been a couple of comedians I’ve seen on there that I would really not like to see on Taskmaster.

The one thing that's changed about the casting is that in the first couple of series they used to say "and I guess we'll need a woman, does anyone know any women?" then look at the assembled cast of two male presenters, four male contestants and one woman and say to themselves "well we've certainly nailed that diversity lads! Job done!"

John Robins does/did a Radio 5 show with Elis James called “How do you cope?” Most episodes are interviews with other celebs and sometimes it’s just the two of them chatting. They focus on mental health issues and John has been quite honest talking about his battles with alcohol and poor mental health. It’s worth a listen., you can access it on BBC Sounds.

I liked the partnership of Frankie Boyle and Ivo Graham, it was absolutely inspired, and so funny! I couldn't think of two more different people!
I also liked the two Susans in the last series.
Steve Pemberton should be good - he's very clever and very creative.

@Maireas Ivo/Frankie was brilliant, wasn’t it? Love that moment they meet for the first team task 😁 S15 was one of the greats, not least because of the great atmosphere during the studio record. The idea that the other contestants were scared of Frankie is slightly bonkers.

Isn't it?! There was great cameraderie. I loved Frankie saying that working with Ivo was like listening to Radio 4! 😂

I've just finished rewatching that series and it just got better. I was not a Frankie fan at all but was surprised at how much I actually liked him on there.
I howled at the barge task and the pineapple one as well. The one where Ivo was trying to tell Frankie he was wrong, very diffident was so funny.

I was so pleased that Kiell got to be in the Champions one, although I would have been pleased at any of the others taking part instead of Mae.

I think they were a little bit scared of Frankie and that's what made it great, the series had a unique atmosphere and the dynamics were interesting.

Who was scared of Frankie? That didn't come across to me.

I loved Ivo/Frankie too, thought them bouncing off each other was hilarious.

I agree, I thought Ivo and Frankie were great together, didn’t see any signs of him being scared of him. It was a really good series.

That makes no sense 🙄 I meant Ivo being scared of Frankie. Too many hims and not enough name!