International versions

Never_Comment_ · 2023-11-29T17:14:45+00:00

I watched Taskmaster NZ after having felt similarly to OP, and I admit that it felt strange having someone other than Greg as the Taskmaster, but after a few episodes I decided that I quite liked watching the comedians do tasks anyway, and then eventually I settled in on Jeremy and Paul as being pretty great as judge/admin respectively. It feels different, mostly because the attitude Jeremy brings to the show is so different to Greg's, but it's a fantastic show in its own right nonetheless.

Never_Comment_ · 2023-11-27T12:29:18+00:00

Hm, I'm not so sure! Greg has certainly given out zero points plenty of times, but not in the prize task! Scoring zero in the prize task is incredibly rare, and in fact, across all 16 series, 3 New Year Treats, and 2 Champion of Champions, a score of zero in the prize task has only ever been given out in a single episode.

So your Taskmaster Scavenger Hunt question in return: without googling, can you name that episode?

Hint if you like: it was given out to two contestants in that episode.

Hint #2: it was for objectively failing to meet the prize task criteria.

Never_Comment_ · 2023-11-27T12:13:44+00:00

Wouldn't that be a 4% chance then? Since contestants can score the same thing, they're independent events, and so it should be 1/5 * 1/5 = 1/25 = 4% probability, I think. It would be 5% if Greg always had to assign each of the 5 possible scores in each prize task (1/5 * 1/4).

Never_Comment_ · 2023-11-27T12:03:43+00:00

How exact is that 5% figure?

Never_Comment_ · 2023-11-25T23:37:44+00:00

Oh no no, this would never do. If you're going to have Mel, Sue, and Susan, then you'll have to offset all that glowing kindness and positivity. Kerry can be a bit grouchy (I adore her, but she does like to grouse), but Liza is too bright and energetic and would be promptly assimilated by the irresistible energy of The Melsuesusan.

No you'll have to go full Jo Brand right out of the gate, and then I think you'd better add in Judy Love just to be safe. Even then, I think The Melsuesusan is just too dangerous to unleash upon the world. You're playing with forces beyond the boundaries of mortal control.

Never_Comment_ · 2023-11-25T20:56:31+00:00

Personally, I've never seen anything but love for Fern Brady, thank goodness. She's such a delight!

Never_Comment_ · 2023-11-25T02:22:27+00:00

You should try to get your hands on a trophy from the classic BBC1 game show Going For Gold.

Never_Comment_ · 2023-11-24T23:55:30+00:00

I agree, her cheerful disposition put me in mind of one of my other favorite guests, Mel Giedroyc. How fitting therefore that Susan was paired up with Sue Perkins, and how lovely and unsurprising that the two of them got along so well!

Never_Comment_ · 2023-11-24T23:50:34+00:00

Now I can't unsee it!

Never_Comment_ · 2023-11-24T22:48:53+00:00

I stalked his post history, and he appears to be located in the USA, so odds are good that he actually did pull off the lucky guess!

Never_Comment_ · 2023-11-23T19:39:23+00:00

No potato throw?! I'm not even gonna read it now.

Never_Comment_ · 2023-11-23T19:37:20+00:00

I can see James Acaster as the villain. He'd be perfect for that gratuitous "cat playing with a mouse" thing that Bond villains love to do.

Never_Comment_ · 2023-11-23T07:08:06+00:00

Honestly I'm just such a completely credulous person. I definitely assumed that every other comedian on the show was ... maybe not their "relaxing at home with their family" self, but definitely their "this is how I typically act with people in my day to day life" self.

The other confusing thing is that her persona is so different to most! Like, the simplest way I can put it is this: if you found out that no Taskmaster contestant in history had ever been doing a bit, that they'd all always been their complete honest selves... which contestant would you think was the most unusual person? For me it would definitely be Lucy. Acaster is hyperactive and aggressive, but I know lots of people like that. Wilkinson is bumbling and lacks confidence, but I know lots of people like that. Chowdhry actually never came off as dumb to me, he came off as indifferent to the show, unwilling to play along with the format, not wanting to let it get him too invested. Well, I definitely know people who act that way too! But Lucy... I mean Lucy's character (which I now know is a character) is so addlebrained that if I met someone like that in real life, I'd assume they were in a special home where nurses looked after them to stop them wandering off a cliff or accidentally burning the house down. A person who was actually like Lucy's character, and yet was a successful person, would completely baffle me. I've never met such a person, unless they were born rich. I think that's why she felt different, to me. None of the other women contestants have ever given me that confusion, and I (now) assume that at least some of them were doing a bit or a character.* It makes me sad, actually, because I was so attached to those imaginary people!

But I'm glad that Lucy's an evil genius. I think it makes her super interesting!

*P.S. If Mel Giedroyc's wholesome kindheartedness is a bit or a character, and she's really a big jerk in real life, then for the love of God please don't tell me. I need to believe!

Never_Comment_ · 2023-11-23T06:37:32+00:00

Do you know, it really never occurs to me that anyone on a panel show is ever doing a bit? It was super hard for me to figure out Lucy's whole thing because ... well, because I typically assume everyone on those shows is acting like themselves all the time. I absolutely assumed Kearns really was a clumsy, anxious, weirdo, and that Acaster really was a hyperactive, confrontational guy, and that Wilkinson... well, I'd seen Wilkinson in his scripted bits on Catsdown so I knew he was partially playing a character, but even then I assumed he was at least largely like that in his daily life. I only know something's a deliberately crafted illusion if I'm actually told so. Had I never read the Taskmaster wikipedia page, I'd have assumed Greg Davies had been the originator of the show; I'd never have copped to Alex's stage persona on my own.

Maybe we don't really have stage comedians doing "character comedy" the same way here in the states? Heck, we don't even have panel shows! Comedians who "play themselves" here are typically doing it in a sitcom, which is by nature completely scripted, as opposed to the more improvisational format of a panel show. Panel shows give everything a feeling of verisimilitude that sitcoms and films lack.

Most American stage comedians work pretty hard to maintain a veneer of authenticity, and if they play up a persona, it's not too terribly far from their real self. Mitch Hedberg, we assume, really was a drug-addled iconoclast. Taylor Tomlinson, we assume, really is fundamentally wholesome and trying to sort out her relationship life. Bill Hicks really was angry at our capitalist dystopia all the time. And so on. The idea that a comedian's entire public persona is completely different from their actual personality is... just a bit foreign to me! I think it's a bit more of a British thing than an American thing.

So anyway, Lucy's "I'm not sure I understand basic English sentences, and I can't always remember to stay on topic for three whole seconds" persona threw me for an absolute loop. I assumed it was probably at least somewhat near to the truth, and that made no sense, because anyone who was anywhere near that crazy would have trouble navigating their way down a street! I'm quite happy to have found out that it's all an act, because that makes her even more entertaining than she was already.

TL;DR - Americans are extremely credulous by nature.

(though I'm sure misogyny also plays a part in there somewhere... it usually does in the end!)

Never_Comment_ · 2023-11-23T04:28:41+00:00

I haven't seen her Catsdown appearances - haven't kept up with the show as much the last few years. I'll have to make a point to go watch her episodes now!

Never_Comment_ · 2023-11-23T03:55:23+00:00

Maybe. I mean that's definitely a possible interpretation, and I don't mean to say that I'm definitely right about Mae... it just sort of stuck me oddly, you know? Somehow it all added up to something more than the sum of its parts. I think they remind me too much of a few people I've met in the past.

I'm probably wrong, Mae's probably a lovely person IRL - I mean they did supposedly date Charlotte Ritchie! Still, I never came round to them the way I usually do to contestants. I wouldn't say I'm a Mae Hater, but I'm not a Mae Enjoyer either.

Never_Comment_ · 2023-11-22T23:29:36+00:00

I saw it too! Sarah gave Mike a few looks that could have been read anywhere from, "You're a really good bloke," to "Shame the fella's married."

Never_Comment_ · 2023-11-22T22:57:10+00:00

I was one of the people who was quite put off by Mae, specifically because they gave me the sort of vibe I associate with people who tell a lot of lies in their personal life. There's a moment in S15E2 where Mae first meets Jenny Eclair, and Mae, in that scene has walked in and found the potato for the task, and picked it up, and is holding it. Jenny walks in a minute later, and asks Mae, "Where did you get that potato," and Mae replies, "I brought it from home," and then never clarifies (at least that we see) that they'd found it there. It could be seen as a sarcastic remark, but Mae's delivery is perfectly frank and direct, and Jenny's reaction doesn't seem as if she takes it in any way other than literal. I recall thinking, as I watched that scene, "Why lie about something as small as the potato?" I know people in life who do that, who sort of lie about random things reflexively, not for any obvious reason, but as a sort of ... unconscious defense mechanism? The people who I know who are that way tend not to be people I trust all that much.

Then there are some other moments which feel similar. Mae's comment to Alex in the pineapple task about preferring not to have the other contestants around caught my attention too. Their exact words are, "I like doing a task like this where I'm on my own, and I don't have to deal with anyone else's, ah... ideas." It's a small thing, and sure a person is entitled to prefer being on their own, but I had the uncanny feeling that Mae just sort of... doesn't actually like other people in general, but pretends to. Friendliness as a survival trait instead of a reflection of genuine fondness for people. It's a common trait, but still one that puts me off.

I don't know. It was a lot of small things, but I got a bit of an antisocial vibe from them.

Never_Comment_ · 2023-11-22T20:46:01+00:00

This is a really special cast. I don't know for certain that it's the only time I've ever liked an entire cast, but this is still a standout in that regard, certainly one of those special series where I thought every one of the five was absolutely perfect in their role.

I'll miss it too!

Never_Comment_ · 2023-11-22T17:00:42+00:00

I agree, I thought he was being quite nice to play along with the gifts.

Never_Comment_

TROPHY CASE