Taskmaster series 11

[Spode]

Really enjoyed last night's episode, more than the whole of the last series (although I liked the line-up in S10, the tasks were crap and the vibe was weird). Never heard of Mike Wozniak before but he looks like being one of the best contestants they've had on. Nice as well to see Lee Mack unable to step over everyone else's jokes with his crowbarred puns and quips, properly subdued and normal, almost likeable. Nah, he's alright really, Lee Mack. They all seem like good dudes.

Agree with all of this. I've struggled with the no audience episodes in general but didn't notice at all last night. That Mike fella has been brilliant and I liked Lee's post caravan reaction with Alex, 'you callingg yourself an actor in that are you?'

Seems like the best line up since the Acaster series.

[Captain Z]

Someone should have been competitive enough to point out that the task was make this house as haunted as possible.

[DrGreggles]

Yes this was my main take away as well. I do not accept that that is possible unless you're Andre the Giant.

Wasn't it hands [plural]?

[amateur]

Thought this episode had some brilliant opportunities for the kind of creativity that was lacking last series.

Also feel that the argument task was pretty much perfect for Woznimack (wait for that intro to come up soon) given their backgrounds.

Most I've laughed at a TM since the Acaster series. More please!

[IsavedLatin]

Really enjoyed last night's episode, more than the whole of the last series (although I liked the line-up in S10, the tasks were crap and the vibe was weird). Never heard of Mike Wozniak before but he looks like being one of the best contestants they've had on. Nice as well to see Lee Mack unable to step over everyone else's jokes with his crowbarred puns and quips, properly subdued and normal, almost likeable. Nah, he's alright really, Lee Mack. They all seem like good dudes.

Agreed on all fronts. A vast improvement on last series, which I'm rather surprised to say; I was concerned Mack was going to (be allowed to) dominate proceedings and I'm delighted that he's just part of the mix here.

I seem to have fallen completely, but completely, in love with Wozniak, which could be influencing my weighting of his performance and contribution, but I don't think so: between the hoverboard and the vaulting over the fence to retrieve the balloon (and succeeding in doing so!), he's already delivered some proper series highlights.

[gilbertharding]

Impressed Mike Wozniak got that balloon back. Both that he tried and that he succeeded. Fairly quickly too.
Mind you, it had obviously landed in a tree or something. The other two really had no chance of retrieving their ones.

He'd tied something (a couple of pegs?) to his balloon, so although it rose on the wind, it was always going to come down again.

[Ja'moke]

With the balloon task, I wonder if you'd have been allowed to untie it, let out the helium, and then blow it back up manually. Would that have made the static electricity trick work easier?

[DrGreggles]

Couldn't they just have put the helium balloon in a wheelie bin?
Wouldn't be tethered and would be at the correct height.

[Pete23]

They spent so long showing them unclip the balloon I was expecting the clip (if clipped to the balloon off the line) to be exactly the right weight to keep the balloon hovering in one spot.

[mjwilson]

I don't want to get too bogged down in minor details but how do you end up washing your towels 6 times a month?

Like, three times a fortnight? What kind of schedule is that?

[BeardFaceMan]

Was it just me then that had the thought of lying in the press up position and placing the balloon underneath the chest? Would have been inbetween the neck and waist and not tethered to anything. So there.

[DrGreggles]

I don't want to get too bogged down in minor details but how do you end up washing your towels 6 times a month?

Like, three times a fortnight? What kind of schedule is that?

1 towel on rotation?

I have 6 or 7 towels, so I wash them once a month.
Without the number of towels included it's a pointless question!

[DrGreggles]

Was it just me then that had the thought of lying in the press up position and placing the balloon underneath the chest? Would have been inbetween the neck and waist and not tethered to anything. So there.

Possibly not between neck and waist height, but that would be open to interpretation.

[olliebean]

Was it just me then that had the thought of lying in the press up position and placing the balloon underneath the chest? Would have been inbetween the neck and waist and not tethered to anything. So there.

It wouldn't have been above the waist, though, would it? But I guess they could have sandwiched it between themself and a wall (or between themself and Alex, for a more fun solution) - surely that wouldn't count as tethering? Given that Jamali won the task by basically just trapping it under the bottom of his jumper.

[holyzombiejesus]

It's not remotely hard to get a balloon to hover, especially once you take it indoors. Just tie a piece of paper to it and keep snipping until it doesn't rise or fall.

Really enjoying this series. Echo the Wozniak love and I think Jamali's been super too. His impression of Alex has been a series highlight so far.

[Wayman C. McCreery]

I was concerned Mack was going to (be allowed to) dominate proceedings and I'm delighted that he's just part of the mix here.

I might be giving him too much credit here but I feel like he's enough of a pro to know that his usual shtick would be to the detriment of the show. He's been excellent so far and I thought his haunted house caravan was the best of the lot.

This is definitely the best bunch of contestants they've had since series 5. I just hope the tasks continue to be as good as they have been so far.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

I don't think sticking the balloon to something with static counts as making it hover. They may as well have just held it.

That aside, it was a terrific episode.

[Tony Yeboah]

Has Greg's head always rotated?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmpRhDqARuE

[greencalx]

Nice one. Thanks. Thought I was going mad. Interesting to see how intent they are on the VT as it's playing.

[BeardFaceMan]

Just listened to the podcast and I'll never understand the attitude of someone like Jamali. He had never seen the show before doing it, just a few youtube clips here and there, and was then suprised at how into the show he got and what it was really like. Fair enough, not everyone is going to be an Ed Gamble-manic-fan-of-the-show type, but who the fuck signs on to appear on a show for 10 weeks that they've never seen and then never watch it after they agree to be on it to see what the show is like? I don't think he's the first person to say that either. Baffling.

[Mr Trumpet]

Jamali Maddix popped up briefly in last week's Gogglebox, as a guest on some Through The Keyhole knockoff show. Not criticising that, i'd probably do the same sort of well-paid shite if I was moderately famous. But I don't think most of these gigs really demand much in the way of research ahead of time.

[Virgo76]

Just listened to the podcast and I'll never understand the attitude of someone like Jamali. He had never seen the show before doing it, just a few youtube clips here and there, and was then suprised at how into the show he got and what it was really like. Fair enough, not everyone is going to be an Ed Gamble-manic-fan-of-the-show type, but who the fuck signs on to appear on a show for 10 weeks that they've never seen and then never watch it after they agree to be on it to see what the show is like? I don't think he's the first person to say that either. Baffling.

David Baddiel also had never seen it before and famously did pretty badly.
I wouldn't say having seen it before should be an essential prerequisite for being on though. in a way adds to the general unpredictability of the whole thing if all the contestants have different levels of unfamiliarity with the show.
A plastic cup though? Honestly! Laziest prize task submission ever.

Doc Brown would have benefitted from at least some elementary research too as having enrolled he apparently hated every minute of it.

[BeardFaceMan]

Jamali Maddix popped up briefly in last week's Gogglebox, as a guest on some Through The Keyhole knockoff show. Not criticising that, i'd probably do the same sort of well-paid shite if I was moderately famous. But I don't think most of these gigs really demand much in the way of research ahead of time.

If you're just doing a one-off appearance on a show you're unfamiliar with, I can understand not knowing or watching it. But agreeing to appear in a show for 10 weeks and then not bothering to find out what the show is before you appear? That's the bit I find odd, agreeing to do something that will keep you busy for months and not knowing what it is.

David Baddiel also had never seen it before and famously did pretty badly.

Lets be honest though, Baddiel could have spent a year researching Taskmaster (ie reading about it on twitter, that seems to count as research) and he would still have been utter shit.

[Retinend]

I use a VPN to watch this on 4od. At one point it told me "not available in your current location" so I thought "oh shit, better check the VPN" but the VPN was fine - it was set to the UK.

So I try another TV show on 4od. It lets me play it just fine. I go back to Taskmaster and it says "not available in your current location". How does it know I am abroad, but only for one specific show?

I even closed down my account and re-registered it, in case my account had some sort of bug.

When I logged into the fresh new account, I encountered exactly the same problem.

I have a program-specific ban on the only program I want to watch on the app right now. What a pain in the arse. I love this show.

edit: for fucks sake, I even registered with a new email address and nothing has changed. This is very odd. Only Taskmaster is blocked.

[Artie Fufkin]

Wasn't it hands [plural]?

HandS, yes.

Just adding this to bookmark the page.....

[Mr Trumpet]

If you're just doing a one-off appearance on a show you're unfamiliar with, I can understand not knowing or watching it. But agreeing to appear in a show for 10 weeks and then not bothering to find out what the show is before you appear? That's the bit I find odd, agreeing to do something that will keep you busy for months and not knowing what it is.

To be fair in the podcast he did say he'd watched clips on YouTube and chatted with other comics who'd been on the show. And I sort of like having a mix of hardcore fans and people approaching it all with minimal preconceptions? I don't think someone who knew the conventions of the show would be so chippy with Greg Davies, but it's quite entertaining.

And unlike Baddiel, Maddix does seem to have become invested in the contest.

[Enzo]

I use a VPN to watch this on 4od. At one point it told me "not available in your current location" so I thought "oh shit, better check the VPN" but the VPN was fine - it was set to the UK.

So I try another TV show on 4od. It lets me play it just fine. I go back to Taskmaster and it says "not available in your current location". How does it know I am abroad, but only for one specific show?

I even closed down my account and re-registered it, in case my account had some sort of bug.

When I logged into the fresh new account, I encountered exactly the same problem.

I have a program-specific ban on the only program I want to watch on the app right now. What a pain in the arse. I love this show.

edit: for fucks sake, I even registered with a new email address and nothing has changed. This is very odd. Only Taskmaster is blocked.

full episodes are also uploaded on to youtube. That may work with your vpn

[Retinend]

full episodes are also uploaded on to youtube. That may work with your vpn

Thanks! It even works without the VPN (in Germany). What's more, now the adverts are adblockable! If you watching this on 4od, switch to YouTube, I say.

I never thought they would just put it all on YouTube like that, so I didn't bother checking. Along with Spitting Image and Modern Life is Goodish I suppose it's all part of a good trend.

edit: in fact, this is just like Spitting Image, in so far that the full length episodes are ONLY on non-UK YouTube. That is, if you want fewer ads, you can consider using your VPN to switch to being OUTSIDE of the UK! This is the link to s08e01, for example, which will only work if your IP is not from the UK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39n5LJel7qk

[bigfatheart]

I may be misremembering, but didn't Alex Horne say at some point that he only wanted guests who hadn't seen the show, because it made their reactions more genuine? Obviously they've relaxed this, not least to avoid limiting their pool of comedians to draw on, but I suspect he still likes to have some people who are unawares.

[andy33]

Just listened to the podcast and I'll never understand the attitude of someone like Jamali. He had never seen the show before doing it, just a few youtube clips here and there, and was then suprised at how into the show he got and what it was really like. Fair enough, not everyone is going to be an Ed Gamble-manic-fan-of-the-show type, but who the fuck signs on to appear on a show for 10 weeks that they've never seen and then never watch it after they agree to be on it to see what the show is like? I don't think he's the first person to say that either. Baffling.

Not disagreeing with your main point, but just pointing out that he didn't actually sign up for 10 weeks of work. I think they record the tasks over a matter of about three days and the studio bit is done in a week. So it's two weeks of work really. (I also find it kind of strange that someone wouldn't at least give themselves some kind of primer before appearing, but it's not like he was signing up for some Big Brother-like marathon commitment.)