Taskmaster NZ

I have never laughed so consistently at every episode of a season of Taskmaster as I have of season 2 of TMNZ. I'm not from NZ so I wasn't familiar with any of the people going into it but they all won me over quite easily. So many memorable and hilarious moments of absolute chaos. It is a very rare and beautiful thing for all five contestants in a series to be equally unpredictable and chaotic. Also Paul Williams as the Taskmaster assistant is absolutely delightful!

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.

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"....

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.

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.