Taskmaster series 11

[Bad Ambassador]

I speak German, and some of Wozniak's German was quite poor. The subtitles were very generous.

NEUE SEITE VERDAMMT

[Retinend]

Indeed, it was broken German, but he really sold what he was saying. Nailed the accent too.

My wife and I wondered if he had German heritage explaining his apparent proficiency (neither of us know German) and we%u2019re really surprised that he only had GCSE German. Is that really true?

See, this is how well he sold it. He was speaking with a GCSE level (slash O level) but with conviction and fluency.

[amateur]

You simply to have to say that while "yanken" isn't the German word for "pull", it really ought to be.

Superb episode, great final task, scoring doesn't matter, wonderful times.

[Retinend]

It's inadvertently and endearingly funny how Charlotte Richie is trying to fight back against her low-status in the guest hierarchy by being extra "cool" in the studio, in this episode and the last one - she reminds me a lot of her Fresh Meat character, Oregon. On the official podcast, she seemed genuinely bothered about getting a reputation for being shy and retiring, though being a good sport about it, too.

[greencalx]

I seem to have been scarred by the rubbish plates and security task, since every time the intro shows that the task is set in the airfield (or whatever it is), my heart sinks. However, the safety announcement task was pretty good (and the aircraft also delivered the casserole moment) so I think I should stop worrying now.

Also, we've started watching S10 in parallel. I don't yet see a huge difference in the style of the tasks between the two series; I recall mention of the S10 tasks being dogged by over-complexity. We're only up to S10E5 so far, so maybe the rot sets in in the second half: out of all the S10 and 11 tasks I've seen so far, I'd say the security one was the one most ruined by over-complexity.

[Wayman C. McCreery]

Also, we've started watching S10 in parallel. I don't yet see a huge difference in the style of the tasks between the two series; I recall mention of the S10 tasks being dogged by over-complexity. We're only up to S10E5 so far, so maybe the rot sets in in the second half: out of all the S10 and 11 tasks I've seen so far, I'd say the security one was the one most ruined by over-complexity.

If you look back at the series 10 thread, most people really enjoyed it until about halfway through. But then you reach a series of tasks that just seem set up to make the contestants struggle rather than giving them an opportunity to be funny. Though in hindsight, I'm not sure they had the chops to do the latter.

[Small Man Big Horse]

I thought the Metronome task was pretty poor, and only saved by some decent studio commentary from Greg, but the rest was great and the live task a fun one for once. I feel the urge to defend Sarah Kendall as well, she's not been the most entertaining participant but she's been really solid and I think she's very funny the majority of the time, and so I'll have no issue if she does win it, though naturally like all sane human beings / animals / insects I want Mike to do so.

[greencalx]

If you look back at the series 10 thread, most people really enjoyed it until about halfway through. But then you reach a series of tasks that just seem set up to make the contestants struggle rather than giving them an opportunity to be funny. Though in hindsight, I'm not sure they had the chops to do the latter.

I've not been going back to the threads because I lack discipline and tend to read ahead, which can compromise the enjoyment. We'll see how things go from here.

Also thought the prize task was half decent this week. Would have been funnier if all five

Spoiler alert

had  set something in a jelly

[close]

.

[thelittlemango]

I think Charlotte Ritchie has been good this series and her contributions would stand out more if Greg didn't keep lazily making his children's TV presenter joke every time they show a clip of hers.

Think the metronome task is a good example of the kind of thing Alex seemed obsessed with in series 10, where there's some basic kind of thing to do and every 3 seconds you have to do one thing, then 5 seconds you have to say a word beginning with a vowel and on 10 seconds you have to say an odd number or some shit. This time it worked pretty well as Jamali managed to be inventive (also inventive with his pronunciation of 'metronome') and there was some good slapstick with the others.

[Andy147]

I don't want to get too hung up on point distribution, but Mike surely should have won the episode yesterday. Lee Mack was very generously scored for some poor efforts in a couple of tasks.

I thought the points allocation felt more arbitrary than usual, with the Greg seeming to lose interest in the prize task; in the metronome task it really didn't feel like Lee deserved 3 points more than Charlotte; the team task was decided on Mike saying the animals "formed a queue"; and the airplane task, where the demonstration was supposed to be "unforgettable" ended up being marked according to "which would have been less terrifying".

At least with the metronome task they didn't apply the rule of "Everyone's broken the rules at least a tiny amount - no points to anyone!" which I always felt was a bit of a downer when applied in Series 10.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

I would pay money[nb]though not much[/nb] for those freaky hybrid animal models.

[olliebean]

I thought if they were allowing Jamali using the recording of his voice in the metronome task - and they did seem to be allowing it - then he ought have won that task, just for being the only contestant to have shown any creativity in approaching it.

[DrGreggles]

I think he should have failed because of it, as the task stated "say metronome" and he wasn't saying it.

[olliebean]

Which is why I qualified with "if they were allowing the recording."

[DrGreggles]

All the information was in the task.

[Seagullsim]

It's inadvertently and endearingly funny how Charlotte Richie is trying to fight back against her low-status in the guest hierarchy by being extra "cool" in the studio, in this episode and the last one - she reminds me a lot of her Fresh Meat character, Oregon. On the official podcast, she seemed genuinely bothered about getting a reputation for being shy and retiring, though being a good sport about it, too.

Her comment in the studio task "my career really is over, isn't it" was interesting. I wonder if any of them really do suffer from being on the show - most seem to benefit from the increased profile.

[KennyMonster]

Does anybody think this series could do with a reboot?
(can't think who would play the lead though)

[vainsharpdad]

No

[DrGreggles]

Lenny Henry?

[KennyMonster]

Her comment in the studio task "my career really is over, isn't it" was interesting. I wonder if any of them really do suffer from being on the show - most seem to benefit from the increased profile.

The worst contestant of all time is surely David Baddiel isn't it?
Post taskmaster he's not been shamed into hiding has he?
In fact, quite the reverse, he's felt emboldened to come out with any old half arsed, punching down, shit

[Bobloblawslawbomb]

The worst contestant of all time is surely David Baddiel isn't it?
Post taskmaster he's not been shamed into hiding has he?
In fact, quite the reverse, he's felt emboldened to come out with any old half arsed, punching down, shit

His new book should really come with a disclaimer explaining that the author thought the best way to guess the flavour of an ice lolly was to smell it rather than lick it.

[Havmannen]

The worst contestant of all time is surely David Baddiel isn't it?
Post taskmaster he's not been shamed into hiding has he?
In fact, quite the reverse, he's felt emboldened to come out with any old half arsed, punching down, shit

His appearance was extra levels of awfulness. But isn't that the story of his career? Has he ever done a single thing of any quality? Sure, he's sat next to some people who have done some good things but what has he actually done that's been of note? His contributions. I'd love to know why he has such a wide audience to keep churning out his shit. He's always struck me as a person who thinks he is funny and clever but is in fact neither. Apart from that I'm sure he's a great guy.

[Retinend]

How long has he been in CaB's sights? I liked him in the show, and so did the missus. That said, I can't remember anything he actually did per se. He was in that generally poor series where it never quite gelled with the personalities involved.

[mjwilson]

Right, now trying telling me that

Spoiler alert

they don't juggle the order of the tasks in order to try and make everyone win an episode

[close]

.

[worldsgreatestsinner]

Because

Spoiler alert

Charlotte won? It was her second time winning.

[close]

[Bad Ambassador]

The

Spoiler alert

fish flying past Greg's face in slow motion

[close]

is the BAFTA clip.

[sevendaughters]

Right, now trying telling me that

Spoiler alert

they don't juggle the order of the tasks in order to try and make everyone win an episode

[close]

.

oh it was just assumed to me that they shoot a whole load of stuff and assemble all later, it's not a real game show is it, despite the weirdness of people who try to win (I mean you Richard Herring).

[trabuch]

I enjoyed Charlotte's joy at winning the prize task. I very much like the mix of contestants in this one.

[Wayman C. McCreery]

The weather task was pretty laugh-free (I thought it was a good idea for a task, but the contestants just didn't really deliver) but the rest was fantastic again. The camera task was a highlight of the series for me - I just wish they'd shown the photos in full rather than four to a screen.

It usually outstays its welcome after seven or eight episodes, but I'd quite happily watch an extra ten with this lot. They're all brilliant.

[greencalx]

I thought that one was a bit "meh" but I had started suffering from side effects of the covid jab so maybe wasn't in the best frame of mind for it. Like you say, the weather task had potential though I suspect no matter how good a job they'd done of it it would still have looked rubbish. The yogurt task was reminiscent of the cardboard box task from S7 (memory may be playing up so forgive me if I got that wrong) which I thought delivered more laughs. Mike finding the shortcut and still fucking it up was funny though.