Taskmaster NZ

This pales in comparison to the brilliant UK version. I'm afraid Jeremy doesn't translate well as the Taskmaster - a bit dull and not sneering enough. Paul Williams was a pleasant surprise as the Taskmaster assistant.

Leigh Hart has a few genuine laugh out loud moments. The rest of the contestants were hit and miss except for Guy Williams who was all miss.

I have no idea what algorithm I stumbled onto as a New Yorker that led me to finding this random show from New Zealand, but this has been one of the best things on the internet in awhile. Everything is just so much fun, and everyone is excited to do these stupid little tasks and it's just such a great time. I'm only on season 3 and so far my favorites have been Angela and Chris. Pretty much anyone who shows Paul some love is the best in my book. I don't know if I want to start watching a different version of the show. I fell in love with the accents and I think that's part of what I find so charming about it. I And of course, nobody can replace Paul <3.

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.

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.

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"....