Taskmaster Series 13

[selectivememory]

Bridget Christie interview task (I find this incredibly relatable): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7Y5w2PX8eA

Haha, that was great. Feel like she has the potential to be one of the best contestants ever. A bit like Mike Wozniak in that she seems a perfect fit for the show.

[Twilkes]

Bridget Christie interview task (I find this incredibly relatable): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7Y5w2PX8eA

I once had almost this exact first date.

[no_offenc]

This group is very high-chaos and I like it. Feels in a similar vein to season 7. Weird to see Chris Ramsay on there, I remember when he used to compere in Liverpool for a bit right when he was starting out. A very good mix, this lot. Looking forward to the coming weeks!

[Ron Superior]

I love Bridget Christie so much. Had her down as a dream contestant for a while, and wasn't disappointed.

[Captain Z]

Surprised nobody has mentioned Matt Baker yet. He was better than I expected and seems like he will fit in well alongside the comedians.

[Norton Canes]

Best thing about it no longer being filmed under lockdown restrictions is that there won't be any more of those terrible team tasks where they have to stay socially distanced.

[Captain Z]

How did nobody make a small/far away reference.

[selectivememory]

Pretty decent tasks today I thought, and the cast seems really strong. I even quite like Chris, who could come across a bit bland, but he fits in well with this group.

Ardal is great fun. More subversive than I expected him to be.

[Ja'moke]

Ardal pointing out Chris' photo recreation having too many stars on his shirt was a great bit of humorous nitpicking.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

How did nobody make a small/far away reference.

The football/go kart one had me thinking, "Wait a second. These are FAKE hands!"

[Virgo76]

Surprised nobody has mentioned Matt Baker yet. He was better than I expected and seems like he will fit in well alongside the comedians.

Ha!

[Wayman C. McCreery]

I didn't think the maypole or buggy tasks were particularly great ideas, but this lot are funny enough to make them work. I was only excited about Bridget when the lineup was announced but they're all a really good laugh. I think Judi might end up being an all time favourite.

The last series started well before the quality plummeted, but I'm optimistic about this one. Having the studio audience back and contestants sat closer together definitely helps.

Great fun.

[Virgo76]

Great.
Greg seemed to lose it a bit during the group task. He didn't seem to know who had won at the end and confused Alex by scoring it in a strange way.
Very unusual for him though.

[MigraineBoy]

Knowing it's all ultimately nonsense Ardal's nit-picking is a mischievous way to further wobble the scoring.  In contrast to someone like Iain Stirling who did it because they really wanted to win.

Did NZ do that studio task? It seemed really familiar.

[Virgo76]

Knowing it's all ultimately nonsense Ardal's nit-picking is a mischievous way to further wobble the scoring.  In contrast to someone like Iain Stirling who did it because they really wanted to win.

Did NZ do that studio task? It seemed really familiar.

I've revised my opinion of Iain Sterling since hearing him being interviewed about it. I think he came across badly on the show, but I don't think he was as ultra-competitive as he seemed.

[olliebean]

I didn't like the buggy-ball task, partly because I hate football, partly because I didn't find it interesting enough to justify the time spent on it, but mostly because I absolutely hate those head-cams. They freak me the fuck out. The only use of them I've been on board with was in a Peter Gabriel concert video, where being freaked the fuck out was the entire point.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

I find the headcams inherently funny.

I had no real idea of what to expect from any of the current lot, but it's turning out to be an excellent lineup. O'Hanlon and Christie were the only ones I'd even heard of and I only really knew them from Father Ted and five minute of standup respectively.

I don't think he was as ultra-competitive as he seemed.

The other contestants appeared to think he was. Didn't Paul Sinha say as much to him during one of the studio bits? Sterling is, to me, the worst contestant the show has ever had. By quite some distance, too. Ed Gamble gets brought up quit a bit, but what did he do? Shout at David Baddiel? Seemingly everyone on here wants to do that themselves.

[Captain Z]

I absolutely hate those head-cams. They freak me the fuck out. The only use of them I've been on board with was in a Peter Gabriel concert video

I wanna be... your head-cammer

[The Crumb]

Ed Gamble gets brought up quit a bit, but what did he do? Shout at David Baddiel? Seemingly everyone on here wants to do that themselves.

For me Ed Gamble is horribly competitive in a meta way. Too much forced shit with Alex, too desperate to be the centre of attention in the studio. Shouting his own mediocre quips over other people's bits. He clearly wants to be the best contestant ever, but isn't naturally funny enough at all.

Edit: proper teacher's pet energy too.

[frajer]

I found Gamble very irritating too, for the reasons The Crumb listed above.

Used to love him in the Peacock & Gamble era but I really don't like this beige middle-of-the-road version who shouts his head off with feigned indignation as every punchline. Pure Avalon energy radiating off the lad.

Like that the current line-up doesn't have an "alpha", it makes it so much better when it's a lovely bunch of weirdos.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

I wanna be... your head-cammer

Fantastico!

[Twilkes]

Like that the current line-up doesn't have an "alpha", it makes it so much better when it's a lovely bunch of weirdos.

I think Chris Ramsey would have been the alpha, it's just that he is neutralised by the rest of them being such a bunch of zappas.

[thelittlemango]

Chris Ramsey is someone I expected to be the alpha and quite obnoxious but he just seems like a really nice guy, fun and enthusiastic and laughing along with everything in the studio, good bunch of lads.

[BritishHobo]

I think Ed Gamble's shouting at Baddiel in the live task comes off as much more unpleasant than anything Stirling did. Felt like proper over-exaggerated "look at this thick cunt" gallery-playing. Oh, he struggled to figure out what to draw in a game designed to make it difficult to figure out what to draw did he? When it comes up in YouTube compilations I always skip it.

Also I always say this, but Stirling had the grace and humility to look proper embarassed in the studio after watching the team tasks, and cop to his behaviour.

[Captain Z]

Ian Stirling, Ed Gamble and Joe Lycett are like 3 units that escaped from the Avalon comedian production facility before having their joke modules installed.

[Twilkes]

When you see Iain Stirling's 'See you on Champion of Champions!' schtick on the volcano task, you can't help but not take his competitiveness too seriously, and that's even before the enlarged-prostate-style eruption.

I always find it ironic that Ed Gamble was essentially bullying David Baddiel given they are both comedians who've risen to fame on the coat tails of a much funnier comedian, twice each.

[edwardfog]

Loving all the Gamble trash talk itt

[Wayman C. McCreery]

I rewatched the Iain Stirling series relatively recently and he was much less annoying and a lot more fun than I remember him being. It's a cracking series that one - loads of great tasks, and the contestants (Iain plus Joe Thomas, Lou Sanders, Paul Sinha and Sian Gibson) aren't really like any others they've had on the show.

I can't remember what I thought of the Ed Gamble series at the time, but I tried to rewatch it recently but couldn't get past episode three, mostly thanks to Baddiel, Gamble and Brand. Katy Wix was great though.

[greencalx]

Another decent ep, thanks to the contestants mostly putting in a decent effort, including the prize task. The tasks were maybe not the most entertaining, but I do think in earlier series some of the entertainment came from the novelty value of the tasks as much as the contestants' attempts. Probably we've seen all the different task types by now.

I seem to be in a minority of one on this board in finding Baddiel and Brand's elderly approach reasonably entertaining in itself. Didn't wind me up anywhere near as much as Russell Howard's constant air of having something more important to be doing.

[jimboslice]

I rewatched the Iain Stirling series relatively recently and he was much less annoying and a lot more fun than I remember him being. It's a cracking series that one - loads of great tasks, and the contestants (Iain plus Joe Thomas, Lou Sanders, Paul Sinha and Sian Gibson) aren't really like any others they've had on the show.

I rewatched it recently and tend to agree, although I still got the impression that Paul Sinha hated him.