Taskmaster NZ

Season 1: At the beginning of the series, I wasn't too impressed - I thought Jeremy Wells didn't get into his role enough, the contestants were weak and the assistant was a bit wooden in his delivery. However by episode 4 or 5, it began to click, with hilarious moments emanating from the contestants' personalities and responses to some genuinely brilliant tasks! Paul Williams as the little Alex Horne stand in became the best part of the show and Jeremy Wells as the Taskmaster was starting to form. Episodes 6 to 10 all consist of the best episodes of Taskmaster fullstop - including the UK original! It really started to give the original Taskmaster series 10 a run for its money!

Season 2 continues to excel in the task department and the new cast has a seemingly lovely rapport with each other! Little Paul is still an absolute delight, and while Jeremy still continues to be possibly the only weak link of the series, season 2 is definitely a step in the right direction.

First of all, I don't understand the high rating of this show. I've watched TM UK and there's a show I do like and laugh a lot too. First season of TM NZ was okey but not really funny. Second season was better. What strikes me in both seasons are that they don't really mix up the point giving part, you see the ones they showcase first always gets the lowest point. And what really bugs me is that from early on is that you can already see who's gonna win the season. They clearly have a favorite from the start and makes sure that the one gets points even for poorly executed tasks or even tasks that they should have been disqualified for.

Having watched Taskmaster in the UK from the beginning I approached Taskmaster NZ with some trepidation and was pleasantly surprised. With a population of only 5 million and viewing figures under 200k with a smaller pool of potential contestants I had to expect some effects of a lower budget than the UK version but I found the range of tasks just as innovative, the positive relationships between the contestants grow as each series progresses and in particular the Taskmaster and his assistant Paul have none of the frankly abusive, unpleasant and not very funny manner of Greg in the UK version towards Alex. Paul in Taskmaster NZ does come in for some stick but it is generally done in good humour. There may be more ad breaks and the humour levels are more adult with greater use of four letter words than the UK version.

I am a great fan of NZ anyway as a country even if the dialect often replaces "e" with "i"....

This is the second attempt to export Taskmaster from the UK. The US version was pc, tame and boring. New Zealand does one better. There is an attempt to translate the style and tone of the UK show, but it's lame. I don't want to offend the hosts, but they are trying too hard. New Zealand, you can do better: how about a female or indigenous taskmaster? That would be an interesting and relevant variation! Still, the challenges show some innovation and the comedians show some imagination and wit and the show is watchable, with some good laughs. Dear Alex Horne, if you are paying attention, I know that this is your baby, perhaps your best creation (most successful to date), but if you want it to grow, you have to let go a little, invite others to play with it and make it theirs: that will make it even more successful. What you are trying to do is the opposite of big brother, it can't be that formulaic, you need to make room for creativity and innovation.

I watched the full NZ series as a UK version fan. Identical format, mixed bag of episodes with some hilarious moments. Paul the assistant was brilliant but the taskmaster was a little too relaxed (compared to Greg Davies). The women comedians were great v.fun. Cool set, props and space. I hope there's a next series.