Fridays, 8pm,
C4
It’s Taskmaster but with precocious kids!
Normally we wouldn’t bother listing a kids version of an existing show, but there are a few things that make this a bit more interesting. The Taskmaster is Rose Matafeo with Mike Wozniak as the assistant, which strikes us as being a pretty good combination, both feel like they have the right sort of demeanour for the job (although how spiky Matafeo will be with the kids remains to be seen). There’s a new Junior Taskmaster house (although if I was a kid would I like this or would I want the full-fat proper Taskmaster House experience?) and the whole thing seems to be being done in the tournament bracket style, with winners of each episode advancing to a semi-final and then final.
The Friday 8pm slot is one that C4 traditionally struggles in and Taskmaster is unusual in that it’s an entertainment show where about 60% of its viewers watch in +7 so I probably wouldn’t read too much into the overnight figures for this for now, although if it does half-a-mill plus on the night I expect everyone will be happy. For me I think there is A Bit Too Much Taskmaster These Days so I don’t know how much I’ll be watching, but still the reactions to it, and how well the target market react to it, ought to be interesting.
Let us know what you think in the comments below. There will also likely to be some chatter at #taskmasterchat in the Bother’s Bar Discord.
I do agree with the notion of “A Bit Too Much Taskmaster These Days”, but I know I am somewhat spoiled with additional watching of AU and NZ versions, and I assume you’re the same. If we’re talking about only officially UK public and audience, this is essentially just a second series, which feels like a decent addition as such.
I don’t really watch them, although I do also listen to the podcast (mainly out of routine rather than because I enjoy it to be honest, and the People’s Podcast is a no). If you’re watching in the UK, it’s 20 weeks of the year – fine if the two series you get are good, a bit of a slog if the contestants don’t quite gel. It’s been suggested that this is eight episodes – that’s over half a year!
Oh no. It’s unbearable.
Taskmaster with regular people who aren’t comedians was never going to work. Taskmaster with the worst sort of regular people – middle-class children – is just horrible.
My mother and I laughed our butts off watching this. The kids have so much sass to themselves; and it’s quite obvious at least some of them have watched the original Taskmaster and have an idea of what to expect already. One of the kids accidentally calling Wozniak “Alex” gave me a wry smile; and Rose pulling up the kid on it and pretending neither of them had any idea who is Alex was a smart touch.
I think this is one of those shows that’s always going to divide opinion — either you find the kids hilarious, or annoying, and how you feel will basically tar the entire show with that brush. To me, though it’s a similar sort of humour to RuPaul’s Drag Race — if you go into it expecting everyone to be snarky and self-righteous and don’t take it too seriously, it’s actually quite funny; and honestly, the tasks and the kid’s reactions to them are just as good as traditional Taskmaster.
I was pleasantly surprised by this. One of my main issues with the main show is I think the Greg and Alex shtich has got tired so replacing them freshens things up nicely and the kids were superb. And like the best kids shows they don’t treat the kids as kids.
470k overnight for episode 1, which is certainly in the range of what C4 can expect for the slot. It will be interesting to see how it ends up in +7.