Taskmaster - A general review
Taskmaster has ended up as one of my absolute favorite shows on television. One of the reasons for this is because it is so difficult to box it into a given category of light entertainment shows on television. On paper I suppose it is seen as a panel show, but it could just as easily be seen as a form of sitcom or perhaps a reality show to some degree. Or why not a sports series? The appeal of following Taskmaster to me is that in part it doesn't feel like watching a television show, you peak into a whole universe of its own.
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Taskmaster is created by the comedian Alex Horne, who also serves as the taskmaster's assistant and the show saw its premiere in 2015 in the UK. Shortly thereafter the concept spread around the globe and currently there have been 13 countries airing their own version of the show, among them Bäst i Test (BiT) here in Sweden and when it comes to the reviewing part I will limit myself to the original UK version and BiT, the other international versions that i've seen are all fairly great, but we can't talk about everything going on in the Taskmaster Universe in this text, we would never get done..
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Taskmaster is created by the comedian Alex Horne, who also serves as the taskmaster's assistant and the show saw its premiere in 2015 in the UK. Shortly thereafter the concept spread around the globe and currently there have been 13 countries airing their own version of the show, among them Bäst i Test (BiT) here in Sweden and when it comes to the reviewing part I will limit myself to the original UK version and BiT, the other international versions that i've seen are all fairly great, but we can't talk about everything going on in the Taskmaster Universe in this text, we would never get done..
The concept of the show is rather straight forward. Five comedians form a cast that will undergo a series of tasks conducted and overseen by the taskmaster's assistant. Later on, the taskmaster himself (Greg Davies in the UK) will judge how well the contestants performed and dish out points accordingly. After a number of episodes, which all will have their own winners, a champion of the series is awarded with the prize of a golden head of the taskmaster himself. That's pretty much it. A light, silly competition designed in a way to highlight the personalities and the comedic skills of the chosen performers.
The thing is that this concept really works. Something that highlights this fact is the competition "frame", if you will. It really isn't an actual competition. It indeed is like the catchphrase of Whose line is it anyway? "The points don't matter" and the show is rather upfront about this. The point of the show is to be funny and for the contestants to have fun participating in. When there are team tasks they are split in uneven numbers and there is no chance of getting the competition element fair in that aspect - yet, team tasks are done. Of course it is, the pairing of the contestants opens up for dynamics among them the audience would have missed otherwise and the show is not about being fair - the points are just a framing device, that is all.
Doesn't really matter.
The thing is that this concept really works. Something that highlights this fact is the competition "frame", if you will. It really isn't an actual competition. It indeed is like the catchphrase of Whose line is it anyway? "The points don't matter" and the show is rather upfront about this. The point of the show is to be funny and for the contestants to have fun participating in. When there are team tasks they are split in uneven numbers and there is no chance of getting the competition element fair in that aspect - yet, team tasks are done. Of course it is, the pairing of the contestants opens up for dynamics among them the audience would have missed otherwise and the show is not about being fair - the points are just a framing device, that is all.
Doesn't really matter.
The audience at large, but especially the dedicated fans, still care about the competition taking place. It's thrilling. Yes, it's arbitrary, yes it's definitely silly but one part that makes it so fun watching grown adults goofing around performing obnoxious tasks on telly is that they actually care. The competition element drives at least one of the contestants in every series to the brink of madness in the desire to win, or to not see themselves come dead last, and even if it is only a yellow-colored bust at stakes (and a participation ticket to the champions of champions special) it is enough for many of the contestants to give it their all in their performance. A fact that drives the audience in and suddenly the silly competition feels like a real sporting event at times. The taskmaster is indeed a sovereign ruler and his judgment is law, but it doesn't stop the fans from scrutinize over his decisions and if or when he makes a miscall it will cause an uproar in rather broad segments of the audience. The show knows this and sometimes they create controversial situations on purpose (potatogate in s2 TMUK will never be forgotten) because at least the production team can stay level headed enough to remember that the competition isn't really there, it's just the frame for all the real fun stuff taking place.
When Whose line has been mentioned I must try to speak about another thing, related to the old improv show. Taskmaster is one of very few shows to allow for a style of comedy I like to describe as dank comedy. This form is about letting mistakes be mistakes and instead of hiding or redoing stuff when those occur one doubles down and milk the mistake for all of its comedic value. This "style" is crucial when it comes to Improv, in fact it is what gives Improv its ability to be fun at all, and "Whose line" was experts in letting dank comedy shine through - anytime anyone of the cast made a mistake or said an especially odd comment those instances became inside jokes for the rest of the episodes and God was it fun.
When Whose line has been mentioned I must try to speak about another thing, related to the old improv show. Taskmaster is one of very few shows to allow for a style of comedy I like to describe as dank comedy. This form is about letting mistakes be mistakes and instead of hiding or redoing stuff when those occur one doubles down and milk the mistake for all of its comedic value. This "style" is crucial when it comes to Improv, in fact it is what gives Improv its ability to be fun at all, and "Whose line" was experts in letting dank comedy shine through - anytime anyone of the cast made a mistake or said an especially odd comment those instances became inside jokes for the rest of the episodes and God was it fun.
I never thought that this style could become prevalent in ordinary tv-shows due to several reasons. One might be that the air time often is so short and all the scripted or prepared material needs to get its focus first, another might be because any "dank" element by its nature forces the control of the tonality of the show in question to slip from the production team's hands. Mistakes and random stuff can't be planned and the more structure a show relies on, the less it can allow for "dank" stuff to take place. But, Taskmaster is indeed a show that is not afraid for "dank comedy" to occur and embraces it fully when it happens. This doesn't mean that Taskmaster is an improv show, but neither is it scripted. It dances in a twilight zone in that regard and at the very least it's obvious to an old improv actor that the production team enjoys improv as an art of comedy. When the odd thing happens it's never hidden and retakes are very seldom (if ever?) done. One time one of the contestants mistakenly fell off the stage during a live task and not only did the production include the event in the show, they also named the stage after the contestant - the stage is now called the Knappet - as an homage. Dank, just so very dank.
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Yes. The show is able to explore so many different genres of television and styles of comedy that it just never feels stale in that regard. The fact that the five contestants are exposed to a number of days of filming within the Taskmaster house and that they then share the outcome of those days together in the studio makes the show very close to both a reality show and a form of sitcom. Panel shows don't usually keep the same cast episode by episode but Taskmaster keeps the cast for a whole season which allows for relationships among them to form. Friendships, rivalries and other forms of story arcs are allowed to play themselves out just by nature of the show's format. It can be two avid contestants fighting neck to neck the whole series to grab the win (Dara and Sarah, s14) or it can be two rivals playing up their "hate" for each other as contestants in the studio (James and Rhod s7) or it can be a poor contestant's journey to accept how shit they really are at the tasks and games of this strange show, but how fun it was regardless (Nish s5) - the fact that we can get to know the contestants for relatively long time and share their weird experience with them forms quite close connections to comedians that often otherwise we only get to know via their scripted personas on stage or by the screen. Naturally, the contestants still have a persona with them during their performance on Taskmaster but it can't really be scripted and they have to deal with how it changes and evolves in a way they don't have as much control over as they may be used too. Taskmaster brings out realness to a comedic scene that might feel rather constructed and contrived in other formats. I enjoy this aspect tremendously.
What's described above is also, I would argue, what makes it so easy to tune into foreign versions of the show and enjoy them in a similar fashion. You don't need to know the contestants beforehand nor do you need to like their ordinary style of comedy. Of course does it help if you do, I would imagine, but the journey of the Taskmaster experience will bring out comedic moments from any comedian avid enough to be cast by the show - it's just a guarantee at this point. And since the meat of the enjoyment is to share-in in the experience they are having even such things as culture barriers are at a minimum as well. It doesn't matter if it is Norwegians, kiwis or french- Canadians (we don't speak about the US version) displayed in the format. It's easy to enjoy regardless, which I find to be rather remarkable. We as an audience undertake the journey with the contestants and in the end most of us will find that we have got a new bunch of adorable comedians to enjoy in regards to their other works. I don't know of any other show that allows for that kind of experience.
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Isn't there anything negative to say about the show? Well, when it comes to the format actually there isn't. I think Alex Horne hit it out of the park, simply put. Everything within the original Taskmaster UK seems to have been thought of and considered even to such details as the way they are seated (always alphabetically by their first name) and the format of the show is just a beast when it comes to carrying so much of comedic value.
Of course, however, when it comes to individual series and seasons the show can't be on top all the time but that is just to be expected. The UK version of the show is airing its 17th season now and it is impossible to produce episodes and seasons of the same golden standard every time. There has been lows, there has been frustrating and unfunny moments but ah, as a saying among the fans goes - "as with pizza, even subpar taskmaster is still taskmaster and thus among the best thing on television" and I would agree with that. I have some dislikes when it comes to the different series: the first "covid-season" of s10 which they had to film without a live audience I found incredibly convoluted and unfunny in the end - but at the same time that series has quite a few lovers among the fans and I would lie if I claimed that that series produced no comedic gold whatsoever ("am I the spider" and the "helium egg" is just two immediate examples).
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Yes. The show is able to explore so many different genres of television and styles of comedy that it just never feels stale in that regard. The fact that the five contestants are exposed to a number of days of filming within the Taskmaster house and that they then share the outcome of those days together in the studio makes the show very close to both a reality show and a form of sitcom. Panel shows don't usually keep the same cast episode by episode but Taskmaster keeps the cast for a whole season which allows for relationships among them to form. Friendships, rivalries and other forms of story arcs are allowed to play themselves out just by nature of the show's format. It can be two avid contestants fighting neck to neck the whole series to grab the win (Dara and Sarah, s14) or it can be two rivals playing up their "hate" for each other as contestants in the studio (James and Rhod s7) or it can be a poor contestant's journey to accept how shit they really are at the tasks and games of this strange show, but how fun it was regardless (Nish s5) - the fact that we can get to know the contestants for relatively long time and share their weird experience with them forms quite close connections to comedians that often otherwise we only get to know via their scripted personas on stage or by the screen. Naturally, the contestants still have a persona with them during their performance on Taskmaster but it can't really be scripted and they have to deal with how it changes and evolves in a way they don't have as much control over as they may be used too. Taskmaster brings out realness to a comedic scene that might feel rather constructed and contrived in other formats. I enjoy this aspect tremendously.
What's described above is also, I would argue, what makes it so easy to tune into foreign versions of the show and enjoy them in a similar fashion. You don't need to know the contestants beforehand nor do you need to like their ordinary style of comedy. Of course does it help if you do, I would imagine, but the journey of the Taskmaster experience will bring out comedic moments from any comedian avid enough to be cast by the show - it's just a guarantee at this point. And since the meat of the enjoyment is to share-in in the experience they are having even such things as culture barriers are at a minimum as well. It doesn't matter if it is Norwegians, kiwis or french- Canadians (we don't speak about the US version) displayed in the format. It's easy to enjoy regardless, which I find to be rather remarkable. We as an audience undertake the journey with the contestants and in the end most of us will find that we have got a new bunch of adorable comedians to enjoy in regards to their other works. I don't know of any other show that allows for that kind of experience.
*
Isn't there anything negative to say about the show? Well, when it comes to the format actually there isn't. I think Alex Horne hit it out of the park, simply put. Everything within the original Taskmaster UK seems to have been thought of and considered even to such details as the way they are seated (always alphabetically by their first name) and the format of the show is just a beast when it comes to carrying so much of comedic value.
Of course, however, when it comes to individual series and seasons the show can't be on top all the time but that is just to be expected. The UK version of the show is airing its 17th season now and it is impossible to produce episodes and seasons of the same golden standard every time. There has been lows, there has been frustrating and unfunny moments but ah, as a saying among the fans goes - "as with pizza, even subpar taskmaster is still taskmaster and thus among the best thing on television" and I would agree with that. I have some dislikes when it comes to the different series: the first "covid-season" of s10 which they had to film without a live audience I found incredibly convoluted and unfunny in the end - but at the same time that series has quite a few lovers among the fans and I would lie if I claimed that that series produced no comedic gold whatsoever ("am I the spider" and the "helium egg" is just two immediate examples).
All in all, there is not much use to discuss negatives surrounding Taskmaster, there is negative stuff to pick apart I'm sure, but just in matter of tastes I would argue - "objectively" I can't find anything worth noting that I see is missing with the show
Bäst i Test
Indeed it is when you contrast with one of the adaptations you can notice how brilliant the original actually is. BiT in Sweden admittedly didn't try to stay honest to the original at all. In contrast to TMUK, which in this context I would see as an ordinary comedy show directed to adults, BiT is a light family show. They didn't keep the studio design, they let the contestants sit together in sofas instead of individually on chairs and the Taskmaster and her assistant aren't seated on thrones but in some bureaucratic desks. The feel is purposefully entirely different.
I missed the first few seasons and I'm aware that they experimented a bit in the beginning but when the show was established they also ditched the prize task in favor of two studio tasks and they didn't have five ordinary contestants. Instead they had a guest star each episode that didn't participate in the ordinary competition as the others did. All these changes made BiT a whole different show than Taskmaster in my opinion. It didn't help that they mostly imported the task designs from TMUK or TM New Zealand or that they included an "interview" segment with the guest star that always fell flat with me. It was so painfully unfunny and it made me sad, truth be told. It wasn't that Sweden was a small country compared to UK, yes our comedians is generally worse due to this fact but both the rather small country of New Zealand and frekkin Norway had managed to pull off versions of the show that was hilarious for outsiders and Kongen befaler followed the format almost to the tee so no, there weren't a clause that Scandinavian countries need to abandon the designs in the written contract for the show. Why all the needless changes?
The worst change was undeniably the guest star. That "the gang of five" was broken up meant that the special journey of the Taskmaster experience couldn't take place. The cast at each episode didn't share the exact same experience but had an intruder among them that only had done a fraction of what the others had been through and when the sitcom-element of the format couldn't be found the competition element was also left behind and suddenly I found myself watching grown-ups doing obnoxious stuff on telly for no appearant reason. Original Taskmaster has several overarching themes that allow the audience to be immersed in a universe that is jesterous in nature but it still is sincere - the show cares about what happens, the contestant will fight themselves bloody for every point (well, not Jo Brand and her fellows, but you know..) and yes it doesn't ultimately matter but ask someone like Ed Gamble and you will understand that it kinda matters a whole lot anyway - ultimately be damned.
Bäst i Test
Indeed it is when you contrast with one of the adaptations you can notice how brilliant the original actually is. BiT in Sweden admittedly didn't try to stay honest to the original at all. In contrast to TMUK, which in this context I would see as an ordinary comedy show directed to adults, BiT is a light family show. They didn't keep the studio design, they let the contestants sit together in sofas instead of individually on chairs and the Taskmaster and her assistant aren't seated on thrones but in some bureaucratic desks. The feel is purposefully entirely different.
I missed the first few seasons and I'm aware that they experimented a bit in the beginning but when the show was established they also ditched the prize task in favor of two studio tasks and they didn't have five ordinary contestants. Instead they had a guest star each episode that didn't participate in the ordinary competition as the others did. All these changes made BiT a whole different show than Taskmaster in my opinion. It didn't help that they mostly imported the task designs from TMUK or TM New Zealand or that they included an "interview" segment with the guest star that always fell flat with me. It was so painfully unfunny and it made me sad, truth be told. It wasn't that Sweden was a small country compared to UK, yes our comedians is generally worse due to this fact but both the rather small country of New Zealand and frekkin Norway had managed to pull off versions of the show that was hilarious for outsiders and Kongen befaler followed the format almost to the tee so no, there weren't a clause that Scandinavian countries need to abandon the designs in the written contract for the show. Why all the needless changes?
The worst change was undeniably the guest star. That "the gang of five" was broken up meant that the special journey of the Taskmaster experience couldn't take place. The cast at each episode didn't share the exact same experience but had an intruder among them that only had done a fraction of what the others had been through and when the sitcom-element of the format couldn't be found the competition element was also left behind and suddenly I found myself watching grown-ups doing obnoxious stuff on telly for no appearant reason. Original Taskmaster has several overarching themes that allow the audience to be immersed in a universe that is jesterous in nature but it still is sincere - the show cares about what happens, the contestant will fight themselves bloody for every point (well, not Jo Brand and her fellows, but you know..) and yes it doesn't ultimately matter but ask someone like Ed Gamble and you will understand that it kinda matters a whole lot anyway - ultimately be damned.
BiT had none of it. None. It didn't help that Babben Larsson was a piece of cardboard compared to Greg Davies in the UK and i just hated the show. I could watch it but with the same disdain I watch other stuff on television these days. TV isn't fun in the modern era, but Taskmaster isn't supposed to be TV in the ordinary sense.
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I write in the past tense above because in the latest season of BiT (s8) they changed channel - from SVT to TV4 - and suddenly they got the gist somehow. Actually, they did only one relevant change but it highlights and confirms what I talk about above - they ditched the guest star and let the "gang of five" go a proper run, as it should be. And this season is so much better than anything that came before it. I will actually argue that it's the best series of Taskmaster globally and I'm saying that fully aware I'm biased as a swede and that foreigners never can let it pass by say s7 or s5 of TMUK or s2 of TMNZ but it really is that good. For the first time I had the experience in BiT of not knowing some of the contestants, being slightly annoyed by them at first but loving them to bits in the end and the ones I did know was more hilarious than I would ever imagine them to be beforehand.
One change I liked, and that I actually would recommend even for the original to consider, was to allow a past contestant to return in the team tasks to form teams which go 3v3. TMUK did this in one of their Champion's special but never since and I would actually say that it works and stays true to essence of Taskmaster because you can let someone return that was funny more than good at the games. Ankan, who returned in BiT was more of a detriment and a hinder to the team of two so in terms of fairness he wasn't an help at all - but the show got elevated and quite a few pegs funnier than without him there. Imagine Phil Wang or David Baddiel as an aid to future teams of two in the UK. Would simply be hilarious.
Another thing that struck me in the new season of BiT was how good David Sundin is as the assistant. I was aware that he was the mastermind of the Swedish version, as Alex Horne is for the original and Taskmaster as a whole, and that Sundin truly gets the concept and what makes it fly but this time around it showed for the first time as I saw it. Sundin's style is to be perfectly submissive to the Taskmaster but at the same time showing no remorse when it comes to annoying the hell out of the contestants. He speaks constantly during their performance of the tasks and for some reason I noticed that fact for the first time this time around - the editing must be sharper on TV4 or something because Sundin was simply brilliant. In fact, Alex Horne aside since he serves as the blueprint for how the assistant is supposed to be portrayed, I will argue that David Sundin is the best assistant in the universe of Taskmaster! Yes, better than Paul Williams of TMNZ even, he is that good.
Skeptical? Well, you just have to see s8 of BiT to be the judge yourself. Don't rely solely on earlier seasons of BiT, Sundin is solid in those too (the only redeeming factor really) but in s8 he is the star of the show in an unmatched way in my opinion.
All in all, Sweden is back on the Taskmaster map and I don't have to be ashamed in the international forums anymore. Tackar tackar!
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I write in the past tense above because in the latest season of BiT (s8) they changed channel - from SVT to TV4 - and suddenly they got the gist somehow. Actually, they did only one relevant change but it highlights and confirms what I talk about above - they ditched the guest star and let the "gang of five" go a proper run, as it should be. And this season is so much better than anything that came before it. I will actually argue that it's the best series of Taskmaster globally and I'm saying that fully aware I'm biased as a swede and that foreigners never can let it pass by say s7 or s5 of TMUK or s2 of TMNZ but it really is that good. For the first time I had the experience in BiT of not knowing some of the contestants, being slightly annoyed by them at first but loving them to bits in the end and the ones I did know was more hilarious than I would ever imagine them to be beforehand.
One change I liked, and that I actually would recommend even for the original to consider, was to allow a past contestant to return in the team tasks to form teams which go 3v3. TMUK did this in one of their Champion's special but never since and I would actually say that it works and stays true to essence of Taskmaster because you can let someone return that was funny more than good at the games. Ankan, who returned in BiT was more of a detriment and a hinder to the team of two so in terms of fairness he wasn't an help at all - but the show got elevated and quite a few pegs funnier than without him there. Imagine Phil Wang or David Baddiel as an aid to future teams of two in the UK. Would simply be hilarious.
Another thing that struck me in the new season of BiT was how good David Sundin is as the assistant. I was aware that he was the mastermind of the Swedish version, as Alex Horne is for the original and Taskmaster as a whole, and that Sundin truly gets the concept and what makes it fly but this time around it showed for the first time as I saw it. Sundin's style is to be perfectly submissive to the Taskmaster but at the same time showing no remorse when it comes to annoying the hell out of the contestants. He speaks constantly during their performance of the tasks and for some reason I noticed that fact for the first time this time around - the editing must be sharper on TV4 or something because Sundin was simply brilliant. In fact, Alex Horne aside since he serves as the blueprint for how the assistant is supposed to be portrayed, I will argue that David Sundin is the best assistant in the universe of Taskmaster! Yes, better than Paul Williams of TMNZ even, he is that good.
Skeptical? Well, you just have to see s8 of BiT to be the judge yourself. Don't rely solely on earlier seasons of BiT, Sundin is solid in those too (the only redeeming factor really) but in s8 he is the star of the show in an unmatched way in my opinion.
All in all, Sweden is back on the Taskmaster map and I don't have to be ashamed in the international forums anymore. Tackar tackar!
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