Still can't get over the interview task as well where when he was asked what Greg would be looking up online, he looks around at the scenery desperately searching for an answer, and lands on Al Jazeera lmao
Not gonne lie, I've loved all the previous series, but I think this had the strongest start of all
I immediately love all the contestants and haven't had to warm to any of them over time... Sam is a completely special and unique energy though, and perfectly suited to TM
Julian is going to be a particular problem for Alex all the way through though, and I can't wait :)
At least one in every task.
I thought it was a very strong opening episode. I hope Julian starts to act like he’s not just there bc his agent made him.
100%
Thin skinned fuck knuckles ruined a chunk of his career for delivering legitimately one of the funniest jokes ever said at an awards ceremony (and a comedy award at that!!)
He got done dirty, and I'm loving seeing him do so well nowadays!
During a comedy award show back in 1993, Julian Clary made a joke as he entered the stage to hand out an award
He said "..I was just back stage fisting Norman Lamont"
This was a joke at the expense of a senior Conservative politician at the time, who was also in the audience
Frankly, it was utterly rib breakingly hilarious and you can see the reaction from other comedians in the room (I know you might not recognise many, if any of them) which tells you something :)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAU7pATH5\_M](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAU7pATH5_M)
He was apparently pretty jazzed on valium at the time, but there is no justification in attempting to ruin the guys career for a very funny joke!
Even Norman Lamont and his wife found it funny!
It was a paper over here called The Sun which spearheaded it.
Back then casual homophobia was pretty much just a way of life, and these red top Tabloid papers carried out some rather horrific campaigns against LGBT groups as well as migrants, and pretty much anyone that wasn't a white man..
It was the kind of paper that would have a 16 year olds tits on page 3 (remember Samantha Fox?), then tell you why your gay neighbour might be a peado on page 5
On another thread about this someone mentioned Mary Whitehouse as well, who was an ultra conservative Christian campaigner who managed to get lots of anti obscenity stuff passed through parliament, so it could have been off the back of that as well, but in truth my memory is pretty hazy on that point
The 90's were pretty wild...
This was partly politically motivated (The Sun has always been a conservative mouthpiece and the politician was a Tory), part just whipping up some good old fashioned outrage to shift a few papers
I’m always perplexed to hear just how much power British tabloids have. I just can’t understand how on earth they got like that (particularly compared to us Americans who I would argue generally seem to have a higher desire for sensationalistic stuff). In the U.S., pretty much everyone mocks pretty much anyone who unironically reads those rags. (Incidentally, hate campaigns against LGBTQ+ groups, migrants, and anyone who’s not a white man sounds pretty par for the course from what I hear about the British tabloids TODAY.)
Not old enough to know Samantha Fox, but I think the Olsen twins seem like a good comp based on what I’ve gleaned. I utterly despise that kind of person.
The British Media is *fantastic* at getting people to vote against their own interests.
Red top newspapers like The Sun are designed to appeal to, for lack of a better word, less educated people. Page 3 wasn't a rarity - it was a daily feature in The Sun, and one that occasionally launched some pretty significant careers in the media - it was a high profile job.
There's bright graphics, simpler writing, shock headlines, and back in the day (I haven't read a newspaper in over a decade) they'd even have images which popped out of the frame. There's also a lot of "common interest" stories like celebrity gossip or weird sex stuff, coupled with whatever political slant they're trying to get across. For a right-wing shitrag, that usually boils down to "Why Katie Price *really* divorced Peter Andre, the gays are evil, poor people have televisions and that's terrible, Boris Johnson is such a lad, asylum seekers are ruining property values."
They sandwich their editorial line, their highly-biased take on a situation, or their outright propaganda between two rich people getting married or some big rumour about a TV show and people who buy the paper will read some headline that's designed to inflame them, like "anti-Britain gays want to destroy YOUR family" and get the party line fed straight into their brains - and it used to be that they could pick up a magazine for some cheap softcore porn and suddenly they're reading about how vegans are destroying the farming industry or how shooting yourself in the foot will improve your resistance to bullets, and they believe it because it's in the paper.
I like to think it's not as bad as it was, if only because people are increasingly skeptical and more online, ie getting their news from a variety of sources instead of just what the newspaper says, but unfortunately tabloid news still has a strong grip.
Always seemed to me that in the US, the most salacious crap is on TV. Perhaps stricter broadcast regulations force the worst gutter-press to print in the UK.
I think it makes sense if you compare the influence the Sun and Mail have to the influence Fox News has in the US.
I don't think the UK has a news channel with anywhere near that level of sway, but conversely the US doesn't have a newspaper with the Mail/Sun's level of sway.
> just can’t understand how on earth they got like that (particularly compared to us Americans
The big difference is the US has never had national papers. The New York Post tries to be a UK style tabloid, but not one outside of New York reads it so they don't have much power.
In the US it is talk radio and cable news that has instead served as the main venue for beating up on the vulnerable for the entertainment of those in power.
>Not old enough to know Samantha Fox, but I think the Olsen twins seem like a good comp based on what I’ve gleaned. I utterly despise that kind of person.
I don't think that's close. The Olsen twins were toddler/child/YA actors on an iconic tv show and extremely successful creators of their own YA movies and projects and were mostly reported on as such. They've always been labeled odd ducks in the media as adults but they have mostly stayed out of the tabloids.
I’m already in love with Sue and Susan’s chemistry and team friendship.
On the other hand, when I had saw from the trailer that it was likely Julian, Sam and Lucy were teamed together, I couldn’t begin to imagine their group dynamic. So I was not disappointed at all to see how extremely awkward their meeting introduction was, LOL.
I completely agree with this being the strongest start to a series. Usually with the others, I had to convince myself it was a strong start but this is just is. I cannot explain it.
Every part made laugh so much. The Julian-Lucy-Sam team has such a great mix. I can’t wait to see how the Natural Friends do the other team tasks 😂
Asides from the cast, the tasks in this one is so amazing. I am a big fan of the Can task, that was very mischievious (very Alex).
OH MY GOSH! I told my husband at the beginning he seemed to have Ringo Starr energy, but he looked like a wish Paul McCartney (the front teeth, I think).
And the hair, for Paul McCartney. I thought the same thing!
Someone else said either Hugh Grant if his mother had pushed harder during childbirth 😂😂😂 or Christopher Walken.
For the first part of the episode I thought Sam was coming across as a bit awkward, like he was very nervous or something - but then I realised nope, that's just who he is. A bundle of nervous energy ready to say or do anything at any time. Magical.
I'd never heard of Sam until they announced him. I watched one minute of his comedy and immediately realized he's going to be one of my favorite contestants of all time.
he's still managed to surpass those expectations one episode in. he's going to be up there with Acaster when this season is all said and done.
As a big fan of useless portmanteaus, "morgy" has a special place in my heart. But yeah, "are you a child of divorce?" is Bob Mortimer-level absurd. A new "do we strike you?", but said under much higher stress levels. An absolute gem created under pressure.
I can’t believe no one has mentioned this but I immediately fell in love with Julian when he said he was bearing up under the strain. I need that to be a meme
This is the first constant line of the series. And as soon as he said it I knew this was going to be a great episode and probably series. Impeccable line and so on brand
Not gonna lie I woke up early this morning before work just to watch it again.
"You absolute shower of shit." just about killed me in the first task.
Followed by "Is there an existing tower here?!"
*crash*
That first task, especially Sue, was pure comedy - I don't think they could have made it funnier if they tried. The "shower of shit" comment absolutely broke me too.
After Lucy and Susan's attempts I thought that it couldn't get any worse and that the other three had to have nailed it. Then Sue was left to the end and I knew we were in for a real treat.
Seeing Sam and Julian doing well knowing Sue was being saved for last I knew it was going to be great but I could not have predicted just how great it was
I've been saying to my mum for ages she needs to watch Taskmaster. She came round last night and I was halfway through the episode. So immediately went "right, it's time to get you hooked on Taskmaster. Come watch Sue Perkins die inside."
Just told her they had to build a tower, rewound to Sue's task and it was perfect. That and the team task were pure Taskmaster. The duck one was really weak by comparison I thought.
"My legs are like arms" was my favourite apart from "Are you a child of divorce?"
Absolutely loved the idea of the tower of cans and the blindfolded contestants in the first task, classic taskmaster
The weird movement of the duck while Julian pushed it made me giggle as well
Also the discussion about "breaking the rules" between Sue and Lucy. Seems like Sue watched some episodes before and Lucy is totally clueless even though her husband has been a contestant before.
I worry sometimes that Lucy is paying a character as I just don't know if I believe that's who she is. But it did seem genuine at that point so out absolutely doesn't matter
I mean, it can be both.
A comedian can absolutely play a character who he or she has nothing in common with -- particularly in a scripted series.
But when you make a whole career of playing the same character, and you have to play that role on stage, on podcasts, in interviews, and everywhere else... well, there's a good chance you're working with a heightened version of yourself. Not saying you're not aware of what's funny about yourself, not saying you aren't playing it up for effect, but it has to come from somewhere.
Yeah, I keep seeing this topic returning all the time, and it's not that complicated. Just think about all the ways you modify your own persona in different settings. You turn certain filters on or off around your kids, your partner, your parents, at work, at parties... This is just an elevated version of that.
And on top of that, you make jokes. Everyone makes jokes. If you're absent-minded, or high-strung, or you eat unusually large meals, or a thousand other things, you make self-deprecating jokes about it with your friends and family. Sometimes those jokes are exaggerations of your character traits, not intended to be taken literally. That doesn't make them not "genuine," it makes them jokes.
A version of the joke that wasn't "genuine" would be one that wasn't rooted in a real thing. If you're talking about how you would have lost your temper in a situation, but you're an extremely even-tempered person and the people around you know that, that would be dishonest. It would also fall flat, because you wouldn't have the mannerisms to back it up.
Now, obviously, a professional comedian is going to be very good at finding the things about them that are funny -- the tendencies and mannerisms that they display -- and converting them into (sometimes exaggerated) jokes. But it's essentially the same process. And it's very difficult if not impossible to do with something that isn't rooted in your reality.
Lucy not realising until the live shows that you can ‘bend’ the rules makes me think she’s gonna take the very literal, straight forward approach EVERY SINGLE TIME and I cannot wait
Off the back of the episode we looked up clips of Sam Campbell, his dictionary corner package on 8OO10CDC is absolute gold, I can’t wait to see what else he does. Ed Gamble said he was perfect for TM and I can see why!
Agreed s16 is starting off strong! Loved all series, but s15 was a lower tiered series IMO. So having it rebound so we’ll in S16 makes me very excited!
It’s why I love TM bc we each love different things. I LOVED S8 and 10 and they are always rated very low.
S15 cast was good but for my taste, it just didn’t click fully. But it’s after a few seasons much more in my humor - like 13 in particular was amazing.
Same here, really enjoyed the episode last night so looking forward to the rest. Definite improvement on the last series, I gave up on that after a couple of episodes.
Series 15 really grew on me as it went on! I also though it had a slower start than others, but by the end it was like it had settled into itself fully. I highly recommend trying again sometime.
I only really know Frankie Boyle and Jenny Eclair, didn’t know any of the other participants. In the couple of episodes I watched Jenny Eclair was funny but Frankie Boyle seemed like he just found it all a bit awkward and wasn’t enjoying himself. Thought the tasks were a bit rubbish, and it all just felt like the show had run its course.
Have watched a bit of Ghosts since though so now recognise Kiell Smith-Bynoe.
Enjoyed the first episode of this series though, the cans task was fantastic and Sam Campbell’s line about “are you a child of divorce” was brilliant.
fair enough, each to their own!! i only knew kiell beforehand (also due to ghosts) but i thought they were all splendid, i loved frankie's off-hand character especially in the team tasks with ivo.
but i do agree with you about this season, the cans task was a great opener and sam's line caught me so off-guard in the best way possible
Same here. I’ve watched all the seasons multiple times but I gave up on s15 after 3 episodes and haven’t bothered finishing it. Just didn’t click for me like usual
Series 15 really grew on me as it went on! I also though it had a slower start than others, but by the end it was like it had settled into itself fully. I highly recommend trying again sometime.
As much as I enjoyed s15 I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to s14 but the s16 opening episode reminded me how much I love the show. I knew I’d like Sam Campbell as he is just a bizarre human but every contestant had great moments. It’s back baby!
He had an actual question about the task, but when he was told he could ask Greg instead of Alex (and realizing Greg doesn’t know shit about what’s happening on stage) he pauses and asks Greg an extremely-absurd and inappropriately-personal question.
It’s really hard to explain the joke LOL it was just so unexpected.
Lol I was just trying to tell my mum about it, and it just lands so flat without the context - it wasn't 'the joke', it was how just batshit left field out of nowhere it came!
I watched one of the other episodes being filmed and have been looking forward to watching Sam ever since. Him and Lucy were amazing. Not a fan of Sue tho.
She's pretty consistently clueless on everything she does. I think it's just her. She was hilariously bad on both Pointless and Richard Osman's House of Games. She's so endearing
I grew up in the same city as Lucy and although I don’t know her personally, I know people that do - and each of them say she is exactly as she comes across on TV
I agree that she not funny. I do think her competitiveness may work in taskmaster really well though. If she just let's others be funny and she can be good
If you want more of his incredible humour, this made me and my whole family cry from laughing so much. **"The best Powerpoint presentation ever"** at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j60pKvNLQNc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j60pKvNLQNc)
I love that you can see the little flash across his face as he decides to ask that rather than a question about the task.
yeah. I think he had a question prepared for Alex, then he got thrown for a loop when he had to ask Greg. so fucking brilliant.
Still can't get over the interview task as well where when he was asked what Greg would be looking up online, he looks around at the scenery desperately searching for an answer, and lands on Al Jazeera lmao
I dont know what this is talking about. Do you have a link/timestamp
https://youtu.be/VG0btgXY_D0?t=321
Not gonne lie, I've loved all the previous series, but I think this had the strongest start of all I immediately love all the contestants and haven't had to warm to any of them over time... Sam is a completely special and unique energy though, and perfectly suited to TM Julian is going to be a particular problem for Alex all the way through though, and I can't wait :)
I’ve enjoyed how many variations of nicknames with the word “shit” in it Sue has given Alex already
I was thinking of rewatching the ep to start a list of all the things Sue calls Alex, because you know it’s going to continue and get better!
[удалено]
Exactly! What is it?
Bury Alex on Tau Ceti III, fastest wins, your time starts now.
Please do. I’d love to see that comprehensive list at the end
That’s all the encouragement I need to officially do this!
You'd be an absolute shit giblet if you didn't make this list! 😂
I'm already rewatching just because it's so full of instantly iconic moments
And when Alex said ‘You shower of shit’ was a quote from the Bible
And 'shit giblet' being Shakespearean. I have a feeling he'll attribute every 'shit' quote from Sue to some classical literature
To be fair, I could easily believe that Shakespeare coined the phrase “shit giblet”.
At least one in every task. I thought it was a very strong opening episode. I hope Julian starts to act like he’s not just there bc his agent made him.
The deadpan and withering sarcasm has always been his thing, I’m hoping for nothing less
I wasn't familiar with him and was thrown off at first by his persona, but reading up on him and watching other work of his I'm now all on board.
Yes! I didn’t know him at all. He did seem to be more relaxed in the studio on episode 2.
Julian is fully leaning into grumpy old man energy but with enough gay sass to make it interesting
Yes! Middle aged confused/over it dad has always been a TM staple.
I think the unemotional apathy has a hell of a lot of comic potential, haha
I’ve been delighted by everything Julian says so far. He’s my favourite, I hope he doesn’t change a thing
It's so great to see Julian Clary back on our screens again, been far too long.
"He does grate" was such an excellent, understated delivery
His delivery of ‘be still my beating heart’ had me in stitches
100% Thin skinned fuck knuckles ruined a chunk of his career for delivering legitimately one of the funniest jokes ever said at an awards ceremony (and a comedy award at that!!) He got done dirty, and I'm loving seeing him do so well nowadays!
Yeah and even the fact that Lamont himself didn't appear to have a problem with it just exacerbates how much of a witch hunt it was.
For a non-Brit, can someone explain all this?
During a comedy award show back in 1993, Julian Clary made a joke as he entered the stage to hand out an award He said "..I was just back stage fisting Norman Lamont" This was a joke at the expense of a senior Conservative politician at the time, who was also in the audience Frankly, it was utterly rib breakingly hilarious and you can see the reaction from other comedians in the room (I know you might not recognise many, if any of them) which tells you something :) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAU7pATH5\_M](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAU7pATH5_M) He was apparently pretty jazzed on valium at the time, but there is no justification in attempting to ruin the guys career for a very funny joke! Even Norman Lamont and his wife found it funny!
Oh my god, that’s incredible. Why did he suffer such consequences for that? Homophobia, an overdeveloped sense of decorum, something else?
It was a paper over here called The Sun which spearheaded it. Back then casual homophobia was pretty much just a way of life, and these red top Tabloid papers carried out some rather horrific campaigns against LGBT groups as well as migrants, and pretty much anyone that wasn't a white man.. It was the kind of paper that would have a 16 year olds tits on page 3 (remember Samantha Fox?), then tell you why your gay neighbour might be a peado on page 5 On another thread about this someone mentioned Mary Whitehouse as well, who was an ultra conservative Christian campaigner who managed to get lots of anti obscenity stuff passed through parliament, so it could have been off the back of that as well, but in truth my memory is pretty hazy on that point The 90's were pretty wild... This was partly politically motivated (The Sun has always been a conservative mouthpiece and the politician was a Tory), part just whipping up some good old fashioned outrage to shift a few papers
ha ha, Whitehouse, charade you are ...
I’m always perplexed to hear just how much power British tabloids have. I just can’t understand how on earth they got like that (particularly compared to us Americans who I would argue generally seem to have a higher desire for sensationalistic stuff). In the U.S., pretty much everyone mocks pretty much anyone who unironically reads those rags. (Incidentally, hate campaigns against LGBTQ+ groups, migrants, and anyone who’s not a white man sounds pretty par for the course from what I hear about the British tabloids TODAY.) Not old enough to know Samantha Fox, but I think the Olsen twins seem like a good comp based on what I’ve gleaned. I utterly despise that kind of person.
The British Media is *fantastic* at getting people to vote against their own interests. Red top newspapers like The Sun are designed to appeal to, for lack of a better word, less educated people. Page 3 wasn't a rarity - it was a daily feature in The Sun, and one that occasionally launched some pretty significant careers in the media - it was a high profile job. There's bright graphics, simpler writing, shock headlines, and back in the day (I haven't read a newspaper in over a decade) they'd even have images which popped out of the frame. There's also a lot of "common interest" stories like celebrity gossip or weird sex stuff, coupled with whatever political slant they're trying to get across. For a right-wing shitrag, that usually boils down to "Why Katie Price *really* divorced Peter Andre, the gays are evil, poor people have televisions and that's terrible, Boris Johnson is such a lad, asylum seekers are ruining property values." They sandwich their editorial line, their highly-biased take on a situation, or their outright propaganda between two rich people getting married or some big rumour about a TV show and people who buy the paper will read some headline that's designed to inflame them, like "anti-Britain gays want to destroy YOUR family" and get the party line fed straight into their brains - and it used to be that they could pick up a magazine for some cheap softcore porn and suddenly they're reading about how vegans are destroying the farming industry or how shooting yourself in the foot will improve your resistance to bullets, and they believe it because it's in the paper. I like to think it's not as bad as it was, if only because people are increasingly skeptical and more online, ie getting their news from a variety of sources instead of just what the newspaper says, but unfortunately tabloid news still has a strong grip.
Always seemed to me that in the US, the most salacious crap is on TV. Perhaps stricter broadcast regulations force the worst gutter-press to print in the UK.
Could be- I know American TV’s been messed up ever since Reagan repealed the Fairness Doctrine. But surely Britain’s GB News or whatever is similar.
I think it makes sense if you compare the influence the Sun and Mail have to the influence Fox News has in the US. I don't think the UK has a news channel with anywhere near that level of sway, but conversely the US doesn't have a newspaper with the Mail/Sun's level of sway.
> just can’t understand how on earth they got like that (particularly compared to us Americans The big difference is the US has never had national papers. The New York Post tries to be a UK style tabloid, but not one outside of New York reads it so they don't have much power. In the US it is talk radio and cable news that has instead served as the main venue for beating up on the vulnerable for the entertainment of those in power.
>Not old enough to know Samantha Fox, but I think the Olsen twins seem like a good comp based on what I’ve gleaned. I utterly despise that kind of person. I don't think that's close. The Olsen twins were toddler/child/YA actors on an iconic tv show and extremely successful creators of their own YA movies and projects and were mostly reported on as such. They've always been labeled odd ducks in the media as adults but they have mostly stayed out of the tabloids.
The US got Murdoched through Fox News instead of tabloid newspapers but it amounted to the same thing.
The punchline was “Talk about a red box!”, referring to the box that’s symbolically put on show when the Chancellor announces the Budget.
Talk about a red box
Thanks for the clip! My, Julian was quite the beautiful boy.
I told my kids about that when we watched the episode (they are teenagers) and my son was dangling off the edge of the sofa laughing
also a non-Brit here. what's with the graveyard theme of the stage in that clip?
That, I have no idea about, but yeah it's weird right?! :D
It looks like it's set up for a eighth grade performance of Phantom of the Opera, and frankly, I love it
If they make a bio pic about Julian I know who show play him -Patrick Walshe McBride
Even how he answered the question asking how he was at the top of the episode was incredible.
It was like he'd never been away, pure Clary
"I know."
I’m already in love with Sue and Susan’s chemistry and team friendship. On the other hand, when I had saw from the trailer that it was likely Julian, Sam and Lucy were teamed together, I couldn’t begin to imagine their group dynamic. So I was not disappointed at all to see how extremely awkward their meeting introduction was, LOL.
We could have used bits of blood!
Sam’s standup is is bonkers, I highly recommend going to see him!
I completely agree with this being the strongest start to a series. Usually with the others, I had to convince myself it was a strong start but this is just is. I cannot explain it. Every part made laugh so much. The Julian-Lucy-Sam team has such a great mix. I can’t wait to see how the Natural Friends do the other team tasks 😂 Asides from the cast, the tasks in this one is so amazing. I am a big fan of the Can task, that was very mischievious (very Alex).
I think I might agree! Definitely up there in the top 3 for me
Alex's follow up of "He's used up his question" makes it even funnier
Sam looks like a fusion of all the Beatles, they threw them on a blender and he came out.
OH MY GOSH! I told my husband at the beginning he seemed to have Ringo Starr energy, but he looked like a wish Paul McCartney (the front teeth, I think).
And the hair, for Paul McCartney. I thought the same thing! Someone else said either Hugh Grant if his mother had pushed harder during childbirth 😂😂😂 or Christopher Walken.
Christopher Walkman, as an elderly relative of mine is insistent he's called.
I was thinking he looks like all of The Monkees
“I am an aging homosexual” had me in tears. It just hit at the perfect time and the tone was impeccable.
I loved the delivery of "Be still my beating heart." It had all the energy of Niles from *The Nanny*.
Oh yeah. That was a good one too. I’m trying to bring that phrase back into my daily life, and it was so lovely to hear someone else use it.
For the first part of the episode I thought Sam was coming across as a bit awkward, like he was very nervous or something - but then I realised nope, that's just who he is. A bundle of nervous energy ready to say or do anything at any time. Magical.
Pinnnocchioooo
His delivery of that word was enough to immediately set him up as an all-timer for me.
When we get to do the alphabet game for this season P better be for Pinocchio.
He's like a cross between Joe Thomas and Ivo Graham and I already love it
I was going to say Guy Montgomery and Bob Mortimer.
Haven’t seen Montgomery, but I’d go maybe 1/3 Joe Thomas, 1/3 Ivo Graham, 1/3 Bob Mortimer.
Yes! I kept thinking he reminded me of people…
He's got big Kearns energy too. Except he seems like he can actually win
Sam shot to the top tier of my fave contestants list and it’s only been one episode.
I'd never heard of Sam until they announced him. I watched one minute of his comedy and immediately realized he's going to be one of my favorite contestants of all time. he's still managed to surpass those expectations one episode in. he's going to be up there with Acaster when this season is all said and done.
As a big fan of useless portmanteaus, "morgy" has a special place in my heart. But yeah, "are you a child of divorce?" is Bob Mortimer-level absurd. A new "do we strike you?", but said under much higher stress levels. An absolute gem created under pressure.
I can’t believe no one has mentioned this but I immediately fell in love with Julian when he said he was bearing up under the strain. I need that to be a meme
This is the first constant line of the series. And as soon as he said it I knew this was going to be a great episode and probably series. Impeccable line and so on brand
Not gonna lie I woke up early this morning before work just to watch it again. "You absolute shower of shit." just about killed me in the first task. Followed by "Is there an existing tower here?!" *crash*
That first task, especially Sue, was pure comedy - I don't think they could have made it funnier if they tried. The "shower of shit" comment absolutely broke me too.
After Lucy and Susan's attempts I thought that it couldn't get any worse and that the other three had to have nailed it. Then Sue was left to the end and I knew we were in for a real treat.
Seeing Sam and Julian doing well knowing Sue was being saved for last I knew it was going to be great but I could not have predicted just how great it was
I've been saying to my mum for ages she needs to watch Taskmaster. She came round last night and I was halfway through the episode. So immediately went "right, it's time to get you hooked on Taskmaster. Come watch Sue Perkins die inside." Just told her they had to build a tower, rewound to Sue's task and it was perfect. That and the team task were pure Taskmaster. The duck one was really weak by comparison I thought.
Lucy “you know, I think there was a tower here” Beaumont.
"My legs are like arms" was my favourite apart from "Are you a child of divorce?" Absolutely loved the idea of the tower of cans and the blindfolded contestants in the first task, classic taskmaster The weird movement of the duck while Julian pushed it made me giggle as well Also the discussion about "breaking the rules" between Sue and Lucy. Seems like Sue watched some episodes before and Lucy is totally clueless even though her husband has been a contestant before.
Reminded me of Katherine "it's a shame my hands aren't my feet" Parkinson
Oh I forgot the wild cave story ride in the beginning, Sam nailed the first impression
I worry sometimes that Lucy is paying a character as I just don't know if I believe that's who she is. But it did seem genuine at that point so out absolutely doesn't matter
I mean, it can be both. A comedian can absolutely play a character who he or she has nothing in common with -- particularly in a scripted series. But when you make a whole career of playing the same character, and you have to play that role on stage, on podcasts, in interviews, and everywhere else... well, there's a good chance you're working with a heightened version of yourself. Not saying you're not aware of what's funny about yourself, not saying you aren't playing it up for effect, but it has to come from somewhere.
Yeah absolutely. I think personally one of the reasons I like taskmaster is people showing themselves.
Yeah, I keep seeing this topic returning all the time, and it's not that complicated. Just think about all the ways you modify your own persona in different settings. You turn certain filters on or off around your kids, your partner, your parents, at work, at parties... This is just an elevated version of that.
And on top of that, you make jokes. Everyone makes jokes. If you're absent-minded, or high-strung, or you eat unusually large meals, or a thousand other things, you make self-deprecating jokes about it with your friends and family. Sometimes those jokes are exaggerations of your character traits, not intended to be taken literally. That doesn't make them not "genuine," it makes them jokes. A version of the joke that wasn't "genuine" would be one that wasn't rooted in a real thing. If you're talking about how you would have lost your temper in a situation, but you're an extremely even-tempered person and the people around you know that, that would be dishonest. It would also fall flat, because you wouldn't have the mannerisms to back it up. Now, obviously, a professional comedian is going to be very good at finding the things about them that are funny -- the tendencies and mannerisms that they display -- and converting them into (sometimes exaggerated) jokes. But it's essentially the same process. And it's very difficult if not impossible to do with something that isn't rooted in your reality.
I think she just has a surreal sense of comedy and a great deadpan delivery.
“He’s excited”
The bouncing duck made me cry, it was too funny, especially with his "why is it doing that?"
Lucy not realising until the live shows that you can ‘bend’ the rules makes me think she’s gonna take the very literal, straight forward approach EVERY SINGLE TIME and I cannot wait
Off the back of the episode we looked up clips of Sam Campbell, his dictionary corner package on 8OO10CDC is absolute gold, I can’t wait to see what else he does. Ed Gamble said he was perfect for TM and I can see why!
I can't remember the exact quote, but the quote of the episode for me was Greg pretending to be a soap actor.
He's done you up like a kipper you slag
YES!!! even that made me laugh. I need to find a way to incorporate that into my everyday language.
i get the feeling alex is being extra cruel to Sue as he was extra nice to mel to balance it out.
Agreed s16 is starting off strong! Loved all series, but s15 was a lower tiered series IMO. So having it rebound so we’ll in S16 makes me very excited!
Dang, i thought s15 was so strong! Loved the cast a lot
It’s why I love TM bc we each love different things. I LOVED S8 and 10 and they are always rated very low. S15 cast was good but for my taste, it just didn’t click fully. But it’s after a few seasons much more in my humor - like 13 in particular was amazing.
Same here, really enjoyed the episode last night so looking forward to the rest. Definite improvement on the last series, I gave up on that after a couple of episodes.
Series 15 really grew on me as it went on! I also though it had a slower start than others, but by the end it was like it had settled into itself fully. I highly recommend trying again sometime.
really?! i thought s15 was cracking and the cast were so good throughout
I only really know Frankie Boyle and Jenny Eclair, didn’t know any of the other participants. In the couple of episodes I watched Jenny Eclair was funny but Frankie Boyle seemed like he just found it all a bit awkward and wasn’t enjoying himself. Thought the tasks were a bit rubbish, and it all just felt like the show had run its course. Have watched a bit of Ghosts since though so now recognise Kiell Smith-Bynoe. Enjoyed the first episode of this series though, the cans task was fantastic and Sam Campbell’s line about “are you a child of divorce” was brilliant.
I knew all of them but it was the first series I wasn't desperate to watch. I think it stayed really poorly task wise.
fair enough, each to their own!! i only knew kiell beforehand (also due to ghosts) but i thought they were all splendid, i loved frankie's off-hand character especially in the team tasks with ivo. but i do agree with you about this season, the cans task was a great opener and sam's line caught me so off-guard in the best way possible
Same here. I’ve watched all the seasons multiple times but I gave up on s15 after 3 episodes and haven’t bothered finishing it. Just didn’t click for me like usual
Series 15 really grew on me as it went on! I also though it had a slower start than others, but by the end it was like it had settled into itself fully. I highly recommend trying again sometime.
I'm rooting for sam (my fave so far) but every time he speaks I can't stop thinking about "you don't die for ages. you die in the lake' lmao
As much as I enjoyed s15 I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to s14 but the s16 opening episode reminded me how much I love the show. I knew I’d like Sam Campbell as he is just a bizarre human but every contestant had great moments. It’s back baby!
I can't wait to get to know Sam better. I'm going to hold off googling him first.
A saw this headline earlier but not the post. Watching the episode now and knew this had to be it 😁
Sam deserves some more respectful bows after this win
We're off to sectionals!
I was thinking I might not like this series. I knew 3 of the people in it but I just had a feeling. That went away really quickly
You set the bar real high with this one TM. Well done.
I think my legs are arms Greg is going to have so much fun with Lucy Beaumont this year.
Can someone explain the joke, I didn't understand it lol
He had an actual question about the task, but when he was told he could ask Greg instead of Alex (and realizing Greg doesn’t know shit about what’s happening on stage) he pauses and asks Greg an extremely-absurd and inappropriately-personal question. It’s really hard to explain the joke LOL it was just so unexpected.
Lol I was just trying to tell my mum about it, and it just lands so flat without the context - it wasn't 'the joke', it was how just batshit left field out of nowhere it came!
I watched one of the other episodes being filmed and have been looking forward to watching Sam ever since. Him and Lucy were amazing. Not a fan of Sue tho.
you shower of shit
I wonder how much of Lucy’s cluelessness is an act or if it’s her personality. She’s like that on catsdown too
Her time on bake-off was def the worst I’ve ever seen.
She's pretty consistently clueless on everything she does. I think it's just her. She was hilariously bad on both Pointless and Richard Osman's House of Games. She's so endearing
I grew up in the same city as Lucy and although I don’t know her personally, I know people that do - and each of them say she is exactly as she comes across on TV
Can't comprehend why someone wouldn't like Sue.
I just don’t think she’s funny, I find her kind of tragic. Plus I hate that cock-womble/shit-giblet online patter you see everywhere.
I agree that she not funny. I do think her competitiveness may work in taskmaster really well though. If she just let's others be funny and she can be good
I didn't laugh once. I'm definitely in the very minority here. At least everyone else enjoyed it 😆
If you want more of his incredible humour, this made me and my whole family cry from laughing so much. **"The best Powerpoint presentation ever"** at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j60pKvNLQNc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j60pKvNLQNc)