Amazing that Episodic Medium is covering Taskmaster!
As a Brit, I've been watching since Season 2, and a massive fan (even went to the live experience last year, which was a lot of fun).
What I especially love is the way that so many comedians I'd never heard of before turn into 'I will follow you to whatever you do next' favourites (I'll take the opportunity to again plug Mahwaan Rizwhan's show Juice)
It also acts as a great gateway into the shared British Comedian Podcast Universe, where everyone is constantly interviewing each other on Off Menu and shows of it's ilk...
Anyway, clearly the best season is 7 (where James freakin Acaster was the 'who is the fifth contestant I can't quite remember'), but a personal favourite is season 14 (Fern Brady is a national treasure, John Kearns... exists).
Mike Wozniak for most iconic contestant of all time, though!
I think Season 7 easily had the best in-studio segments with the Taskmaster having to actively discipline Acaster multiple times, Jessica Knappett careening off stage, and Rhod Gilbert antagonizing and embarrassing the Taskmaster with his prizes.
14 is a favorite of mine as well! It was the first season that I watched as whole episodes after getting hooked on Youtube clips. I was already a fan of Fern Brady so I started there. There was a good spread of competency and I really liked the focus on team tasks. Fern was great and Sarah Millican and Dara O'Briain charmed the heck out of me.
I think 16 was a ton of fun too. Great whacky bullshit from Lucy Beaumont and Sam Campbell. "Can I ask questions? Are you a child of divorce?" is an all time funniest quotable anything. Sue Perkins was a mensch and gave everything a fair shot. Susan Wokoma was adorable. Good season.
What's the discourse on Season 4? It's my second favorite just for the cast (Mel Giedroyc alldayerrday) and it seems like the season that became the aesthetic template.
Call me crazy but I loved series 16. Sam Campbell and Lucy Beaumont all timer contestants. Sam asking Greg if he’s a child of divorce…set me over the edge
Ooh, thrilled this is getting coverage here! I thought this was the strongest opener in a few series, promising stuff.
4, 7, 9, 13 and 14 are my favourites, with 12 the best of the Covid era (love Victoria Coren Mitchell).
Also: anyone who’s up to date with UK Taskmaster and is looking for more, the New Zealand and Australian versions have 5 and 4 seasons respectively, and they’re on a par with the British original.
I've been watching and enjoying AUS and NZ Taskmaster over the past couple of months. The casts are up there with the best of the UK (particularly NZ), but watching Greg and Alex today really underscored how weak the banter is in the other English language Taskmasters Cashman and Williams are great as the TM's assistant, but Gleeson and Wells are passable at best. And Jeremy Wells's scoring is just insane.
Delighted to see Episodic Medium covering Taskmaster, I love this show so much. I think it’s the most consistently funny show we put out here in the UK, so glad to see it’s getting recognised across the pond. 1, 7, 11 and 16 are my favourites, with Sam Campbell possibly the best contestant.
Jason Mantzoukas is such a great get for this series, I’m curious about how that happened. From this episode seems like he’s going to fit right in. Also appreciate that Alex Horne will not rest until every member of the Ghosts cast has done a series of TM, Matthew Baynton feels like he’ll be the contestant this series you love to watch being broken by the tasks. And Fatiha is going to be “the unhinged one” - that sweet guessing game was deranged.
Yay for this coverage! Too hard to name a season, but I'll say 11 for now -- even with the challenges they had, it was a great group with excellent moments.
Was lucky enough to see this episode in January with Greg and Alex in NYC -- happy to see that 19 series in, it only seems to be gathering strength and US knowledge. Would definitely love your (and Myles') thoughts on the strategy of releasing it on Youtube weekly, which marked a shift from their strategy (for the better, imho).
Taskmaster coverage... what a happy surprise. Fantastic start to the season, though I hope Faitha's refusal to do the live task doesn't presage a larger problem.
We ended up rewatching that first episode with my siblings, parents, and grandparents on Mother's Day and the raisins task killed with them too. I think Stevie Martin flopping onto the stage is going to be a lasting image from this season.
Amazing that Episodic Medium is covering Taskmaster!
As a Brit, I've been watching since Season 2, and a massive fan (even went to the live experience last year, which was a lot of fun).
What I especially love is the way that so many comedians I'd never heard of before turn into 'I will follow you to whatever you do next' favourites (I'll take the opportunity to again plug Mahwaan Rizwhan's show Juice)
It also acts as a great gateway into the shared British Comedian Podcast Universe, where everyone is constantly interviewing each other on Off Menu and shows of it's ilk...
Anyway, clearly the best season is 7 (where James freakin Acaster was the 'who is the fifth contestant I can't quite remember'), but a personal favourite is season 14 (Fern Brady is a national treasure, John Kearns... exists).
Mike Wozniak for most iconic contestant of all time, though!
Oh man, Mike Wozniak was so good. The fart task! But for my money, nothing is as funny as Noel Fielding as a tiny banana in a fruit bowl.
I think Season 7 easily had the best in-studio segments with the Taskmaster having to actively discipline Acaster multiple times, Jessica Knappett careening off stage, and Rhod Gilbert antagonizing and embarrassing the Taskmaster with his prizes.
14 is a favorite of mine as well! It was the first season that I watched as whole episodes after getting hooked on Youtube clips. I was already a fan of Fern Brady so I started there. There was a good spread of competency and I really liked the focus on team tasks. Fern was great and Sarah Millican and Dara O'Briain charmed the heck out of me.
I think 16 was a ton of fun too. Great whacky bullshit from Lucy Beaumont and Sam Campbell. "Can I ask questions? Are you a child of divorce?" is an all time funniest quotable anything. Sue Perkins was a mensch and gave everything a fair shot. Susan Wokoma was adorable. Good season.
What's the discourse on Season 4? It's my second favorite just for the cast (Mel Giedroyc alldayerrday) and it seems like the season that became the aesthetic template.
Call me crazy but I loved series 16. Sam Campbell and Lucy Beaumont all timer contestants. Sam asking Greg if he’s a child of divorce…set me over the edge
Sam Campbell is my favorite contestant by far, but that whole cast was fantastic. Can't wait to see Sam come back in CoC.
Sam's Cobalt is probably my favorite prize + explanation of all time.
I also loved that season. Some people loved Lucy and some didn't. I did.
I think about that moment often.
Ooh, thrilled this is getting coverage here! I thought this was the strongest opener in a few series, promising stuff.
4, 7, 9, 13 and 14 are my favourites, with 12 the best of the Covid era (love Victoria Coren Mitchell).
Also: anyone who’s up to date with UK Taskmaster and is looking for more, the New Zealand and Australian versions have 5 and 4 seasons respectively, and they’re on a par with the British original.
Another vote for Taskmaster NZ! Season 2 is up there with my all-time favorite Taskmaster seasons
I've been watching and enjoying AUS and NZ Taskmaster over the past couple of months. The casts are up there with the best of the UK (particularly NZ), but watching Greg and Alex today really underscored how weak the banter is in the other English language Taskmasters Cashman and Williams are great as the TM's assistant, but Gleeson and Wells are passable at best. And Jeremy Wells's scoring is just insane.
Delighted to see Episodic Medium covering Taskmaster, I love this show so much. I think it’s the most consistently funny show we put out here in the UK, so glad to see it’s getting recognised across the pond. 1, 7, 11 and 16 are my favourites, with Sam Campbell possibly the best contestant.
Jason Mantzoukas is such a great get for this series, I’m curious about how that happened. From this episode seems like he’s going to fit right in. Also appreciate that Alex Horne will not rest until every member of the Ghosts cast has done a series of TM, Matthew Baynton feels like he’ll be the contestant this series you love to watch being broken by the tasks. And Fatiha is going to be “the unhinged one” - that sweet guessing game was deranged.
Funny, I was just thinking Jim Howick really should have been on Taskmaster by now.
He was a fan and pitched himself to Alex! This was a good interview with some behind the scenes perspective on how they film: https://www.avclub.com/jason-mantzoukas-interview-taskmaster-ugly-american-villain
Yay for this coverage! Too hard to name a season, but I'll say 11 for now -- even with the challenges they had, it was a great group with excellent moments.
Was lucky enough to see this episode in January with Greg and Alex in NYC -- happy to see that 19 series in, it only seems to be gathering strength and US knowledge. Would definitely love your (and Myles') thoughts on the strategy of releasing it on Youtube weekly, which marked a shift from their strategy (for the better, imho).
Nice to have Laura here, who I've followed for years. Thanks!
Taskmaster coverage... what a happy surprise. Fantastic start to the season, though I hope Faitha's refusal to do the live task doesn't presage a larger problem.
Sorry. Fantastic start to the SERIES. My bad.
The raisins set a high bar for the rest of the live tasks this season! I nearly had to pause it so my wife could catch her breath.
I'm immediately digging this cast. Apart from Mantzoukas, I'm really only familiar with Mathew Baynton's work on Ghosts, but they're all charmers!
We ended up rewatching that first episode with my siblings, parents, and grandparents on Mother's Day and the raisins task killed with them too. I think Stevie Martin flopping onto the stage is going to be a lasting image from this season.
"Wine. Just wine." is one of the funniest tone-setting first prizes of a series/season ever, and Fatiha's golf club definitely had similar vibes.
Definitely big Daisy Mae Cooper and maybe also Paul Chowdry vibes?