Taskmaster

It's almost the same format as the UK original, but shorter. Same kind of creative problem solving challenges. And Alex Horne is on hand to provide continuity. So far, so good. What's missing are the small details that make the UK show really funny and enjoyable: Reggie Watts is a big comedian, but he does not allow himself to be as outrageous as Greg Davies (the Taskmaster of the UK original series). No small part of the fun of the UK show is the banter between Davies and Horne (part bullying, part master-and-servant, part homoerotic) and the deprecating tone of the Taskmaster's judgement of the comedians' efforts - the fun in the original is the mock humiliation, willingly accepted by the contestants. I expected they'd cut that out of the US version of the show: it's not part of the culture. I guess that's exemplary of the cultural differences that make it hard to transpose UK (or Aussie) shows to the US. What's missing, is that the producers have not found anything to replace the bits that made the UK show enjoyable -but would not work for a US audience- with something else. So all we're left to contemplate are B-list comedians' goofy videos. It's watchable, but rarely will it make you burst out with laughter.

I was so looking forward to this series after 6 seasons of the brilliant UK version. I was so disappointed that I only got through the first 2 episodes, I just couldn't watch any more. The humour is stifled (the show is quite heavily censored for language which seems so counter-intuitive), the host is not as acerbic as Greg Davies, the tasks are repeats of the original show's so no surprises, for the most part the contestants just aren't as funny or quick witted, and, even creator Alex Horne looks uncomfortable reprising his role as the Taskmaster's assistant. All in all, it's lost the edginess that the original series has.

I tried so hard to like this show but I'd be very surprised to hear that it's coming back for a second series.

*EDIT*

I want to add that had I not seen the UK version first, I might have rated this show higher. But in a way, this version just goes to show how good the UK version really is.

*EDIT2*

OK, so I sat through the whole thing and it did improve somewhat, necessitating a rating increase of 1 Star.

What more can I say than I already have done in the tag line....

This is a very poor version of the original. American TV just doesn't seem to get how comedy works or what makes something funny and entertaining.

I was just left wondering what they were thinking, it lacks any substance, it's only 22 mins long, which is probably a blessing with this version compared to the UK version which has it spot on and at twice as long, still leaves you wanting more.

There is no chemistry between Reggie and Alex Horne, Alex tries his best but gets nothing back from Reggie or the contestants.

It just pales in every way compared to UK version. But I shouldn't be surprised as it seems to be a cultural thing in America to have dumbed down simplified comedy which almost has to be overly explained in order for Americans to get the joke, whereas British comedy tends to be a lot smarter and needs less explanation to get to the punchline, it's just more natural, the British have a better understanding of humour and comedy than the Americans, Americans tend not to understand British humour and comedy whereas British understand American comedy but just don't really find it that funny. Prime example was when American network wanted to do a version of Faulty Towers but they were going to do it without the Basil Faulty character.........??????? ............Exactly!!!

Or with monty python, they wanted to change all kinds of things and it wouldn't have been the same.

There are some fans of British comedy from the US but they tend to be the more clever and artistic folks, which funnily enough, by no coincidence are also creators or comedy in America which is very popular in the UK, like the Simpsons and Family Guy as just an example.

I guess if you haven't watched the UK version then you might enjoy it but if you have watched the UK version then you probably won't, you will just be disappointed and let down by it, knowing that if they had kept it more true to the original UK format it would be a lot more enjoyable to watch, as simple as having Greg Davies and Alex Horne presenting it would probably have been enough to inject the required entertainment and spark that is required, which is what it lacks in a big way. For me, the stand out of the show was Ron Funches, by a country mile, only time I really laughed was because of him, for a show that is meant to be comedy, only 2/7 personalities brought any comedy to the show!

The show is really boring and feels so dump. Not great comedians they got for it, in fact most are directly boring and cringe. Like the one which only has one word, that she think is funny some how to yell all the time.

Kinda think it's better to recast the host, find better comedians or just remove it from the history of humankind, as it's not something we should show future generations.

It's only the first season, so at the moment all tasks are complete copies/repeats of tasks from the original version. So we'll have to give it a while to see if any new tasks are made, but for now the tasks are still funny/wacky.

Reggie is no where near as good as Greg Davies. The host has to be crude, rude and a lil' be of a dictator. Reggie is a sugar coated, pg, let's not make any nasty comments, host. A good chunk of the humour is supposed to come from the banters between the host and the guests, this is completely missing.

This goes double for the guests, who again are mostly family friendly, let's all hold hands happy. We need them to take the piss out of each other and banter off each other.

So yeah, they've just taking a good, adult entertainment show, and made it a pg version with 1/3 of the banter and wit.

Just get Greg Davies to be the US host, it's not like people are tuning in because Reggie's in it. I like Reggie but he is not the man for this job.

It's also a bit odd to see blatant casual racism against the British, I thought we were in an era where we are saying no to racism.

If you want to see how Taskmaster should be done, just watch the original.