New Taskmaster- anyone watching?

[anonacfr]

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

[CaveMum]

The slo-mo fight sequence was hilarious, and I love that Frankie’s kids got in on the action!

[thebellagio]

The potato task was great!

[Bimbleberries]

It was great fun, the potato task and the fight!

I wondered how closely they stick to the prep time for some of them - like the fight scene. Maybe they had their 30 min to prep and plan, and then a gap for a while with no more planning allowed, but it must have taken a while to get other people there (if they were Frankie's kids), and to make the masks with Ivo's face on!

It's nice that there are some hidden solutions again in this series, as some of the previous ones haven't had as many of those.

The industrial warehouse will be interesting for location tasks, though not so aesthetically appealing.

Jenny is funny, though trading a lot on the 'slightly mad older lady' trope, in the same was as Ivo is very much being the 'very polite, self-effacing posh boy' - I know, both of them are basically those identities, but they are exaggerating them a little much. I still really like them both. Actually I like all of them. Kiell especially funny - I really like how he is so confident but not arrogant, and totally accepts that he's screwed up when he thought at the time that he was going to win something, and readily admits it. Mae is good too, wee touch of smug at times I guess, like someone said, but mostly just pretty competent at things. Frankie is my least favourite but he's not bad either. I think I'd prefer Kiell, Mae, or Ivo to win at this stage, but don't mind any of them really.

I would never have thought of counting syllables in the words tasks rather than letters! I guess I play too many word games so number of letters just seems an obvious thing to me, and it didn't seem like it would be that hard to think of 40 words, but I guess under pressure it must be.

[SoupDragon]

Frankie's kids might have already been there to watch filming. I did wonder how they'd got the Ivo masks so quickly though.

Jenny is utterly bonkers. I loved her sheer joy at the potato task 😂

Kiell is great with his supreme confidence. He said on the podcast that he genuinely thought he had smashed every task. His utter disgust and disbelief at being hum'ilated when he finds out he was wrong is a joy.

[thebellagio]

It's interesting how they get such a good mix of people. I've learned never to judge a book by the cover. After the last two series with Ardal O'Hanlon, Chris Ramsey then Dara O'Briain (some of my favourite comics), I wasn't that fussed by this series because I really don't find Frankie Boyle funny, nor Mae Martin (I watched Mae on LOL Canada and it was painful). But the actual blend of "big" names and lower-key people really works and it all depends on the task itself.

I love being able to see how different minds approach different tasks. We often pause it to say to each other, what would we do to do that task. For example, the "hero" task last night, I said I would have brought in a Fireman Sam truck, because who's more heroic than "sam is the hero next door"

[zombiecupcakes]

I have this idea that they pause the time if the contestants ask for something from the shops that requires someone to fetch it.

No idea where I got this though!

[Mycatisaqueen]

Haven't seen it but Jenny Eclair's stand up show "60 FFS" had me crying with laughter late last year - she's still touring, so worth seeing her if you get a chance.

[Mooserp]

I love the Frankie/Ivo combo - what a great pairing.

He said he was on the programme because his kids love it, so I'm guessing he took them along to the filming with him. They must have been over the moon to join in.

[Bimbleberries]

It's funny, I'd never considered that people would be allowed to come along and watch them film it. I always had in my head that it was this total secret, contestants couldn't tell anyone, even their families what they'd done etc (I don't know where I got that idea, as obviously some of the tasks are done in public, so it's not that much of a secret!!).

[TrenchVagina]

I had the impression that the house is full of very eager production assistants - so they would have printed the Ivo faces and stuck them on cardboard - or run to a print shop in Chiswick to do it. And they are the ones putting stuff in the shed and the kitchen and moving the crochet dolls around in the caravan etc.

[ArtfulPuss]

@Bimbleberries

It's funny, I'd never considered that people would be allowed to come along and watch them film it. I always had in my head that it was this total secret, contestants couldn't tell anyone, even their families what they'd done etc (I don't know where I got that idea, as obviously some of the tasks are done in public, so it's not that much of a secret!!).

If you get on the mailing list for SRO you can apply for audience tickets for the filming. Next series is filming mid-May. It's fully booked, but you can still join the waiting list!

[ArtfulPuss]

Haven't seen the latest ep yet but we're really enjoying the line-up this series. Kiell and Mae are already linked in my mind by their connection with Charlotte Ritchie (Ghosts/Feel Good); had never seen Ivo in anything before but knew he was friendly with Ed Gamble and James Acaster as they mention him every now and then in Off Menu... speaking of which, this thread has been a good reminder that I have some episodes to catch up on...

NB: the Off Menu ep with Mae Martin has James describing a lovely pasta dish he makes with chorizo, broccoli and capers!

[Mooserp]

I applied for tickets, waiting to hear what, if any, I got 😬

[GreenHorses]

New to TM, really enjoying it. Just watched the latest series 3 episodes. Surprised that Frankie Boyle is fine in this, Jenny is fab and has some clever solutions, Ivo is making me laugh as is Kiell. Mae is really good and looks hard to beat.

Can someone recommend another series of TM for me to watch? Is there a stand out series, a really funny one? TIA.

[zombiecupcakes]

@GreenHorses

New to TM, really enjoying it. Just watched the latest series 3 episodes. Surprised that Frankie Boyle is fine in this, Jenny is fab and has some clever solutions, Ivo is making me laugh as is Kiell. Mae is really good and looks hard to beat.

Can someone recommend another series of TM for me to watch? Is there a stand out series, a really funny one? TIA.

It’s worth starting from the very beginning! The first series is great.

[GreenHorses]

@zombiecupcakes thanks, no idea why I haven’t watched it before!

[zombiecupcakes]

I think you need Dave/UKTV for the early ones as it moved to Channel 4 later on.

[PapadamPreach]

@zombiecupcakes

I think you need Dave/UKTV for the early ones as it moved to Channel 4 later on.

Nope, all series are on All4.

[GMOOH2023]

Taskmaster has its own YouTube channel.

Episodes in full and lots of compilations too.

Ed Gamble does a Taskmaster podcast. He has been going through every episode from the start, but when there is a current series then the Friday podcast is about the episode the broadcast the night before.

Great guests and some interesting insights into how the programme is made.

[Bimbleberries]

@ArtfulPuss

If you get on the mailing list for SRO you can apply for audience tickets for the filming. Next series is filming mid-May. It's fully booked, but you can still join the waiting list!

Yes I'd heard about audience tickets for the studio filming, though never applied as I don't think it would be easy to get to for me.

But I was meaning more about the tasks filming - the idea that Frankie's children might just be hanging around watching.

I too think that there are loads of production assistants around doing the grunt work - counting and measuring and all that, as well as getting all the stuff needed and ready. And occasionally taking part! Like that funeral for a chick pea or whatever it was, and various other times when they've been in the little films or used as props somehow. I think it would be quite a fun job!

Camera man needs to remember to take his watch off though...

[CaveMum]

I’m not sure I could pick a favourite Taskmaster series!

The one with Rob Beckett is amusing to rewatch after finding out he did it when his oldest daughter was just a week or so old! He talks about it on the Parenting Hell podcast and says he can barely remember doing it as he was in the Newborn Fog and only getting a couple of hours sleep per night!

There are some genius tasks in every series, I did like the lockdown series where they filmed several tasks in Gatwick Airport. We flew out of there last December and walked past the spot where they filmed the “roll the giant ball” task and I got ridiculously giddy when I recognised it 😳🤣 You walk past it when coming back through as an arrival.

The early “draw a picture while riding a horse” type tasks are great too!

Like I said, not possible to pick a favourite. Just watch them all!

[PickAChew]

When I saw the line up I was wondering if this would be the first season I couldn't bare to watch but Frankie is pretty relaxed. I saw the un-pixrlated version of his prize task pic from last night, online, and parts of it were still blurred!

TM of some sort is almost nightly viewing for us - we've watched the finales of TM Australia and the latest season of Kongen Befaler, this week.

[TrenchVagina]

When I saw the line up I was wondering if this would be the first season I couldn't bare to watch
I think I think that every time though. I thought Judi Love would be awful but was hilarious. Al Murray, Doc Brown - it does get the best out of people. Except David Baddiel, but even his gradual breakdown was funny. The only one I didn't change my opinion of was Iain Stirling, who I thought was nasty before still do.

[ChaoticCrumble]

Iain Stirling was too competitive and almost ruined that season for me!

[TrenchVagina]

@ChaoticCrumble

Iain Stirling was too competitive and almost ruined that season for me!

He looked on the verge of punching someone most shows, he gave me the creeps. Judi, for example, would argue the toss over points but knew she was trying it on - he just looked like he felt he was entitled to points and was angry he was being denied them. Twat.