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Taskmaster Australia

Taskmaster Australia is an Australian comedy panel game show first broadcast on Network 10 on 2 February 2023.[3] Based on the UK show Taskmaster created by comedian Alex Horne, it sets five comedians ridiculous tasks to complete, and judged against each other by the "Taskmaster", Tom Gleeson, accompanied by his assistant, comedian Tom Cashman.[4]

The show's first season was broadcast in early 2023. Two further series have been filmed,[5] one announced in mid-2023 and the other in 2024; both will air back-to-back — and in reverse order of filming — from 23 May 2024.[6][7]

Format

Taskmaster is a comedic panel show wherein five contestants compete in the completion of tasks set by "The Taskmaster" (Tom Gleeson) and umpired by the "Taskmaster's Assistant" (Tom Cashman). The tasks can involve physical, creative and lateral thinking skills.

Following the format of the British version, in each episode contestants compete for five prizes that they have brought in, along a theme that they are ranked against for points. Three pre-recorded tasks—completed separately by each contestant (or occasionally in teams)—are shown and judged in the studio by The Taskmaster. Tasks are filmed within the Taskmaster Retreat, with the areas including The Lounge, The Kitchen, The Lab and The Caravan. A final live task takes place in the studio. As well as winners within each episode, one contestant becomes the winner of the series and takes home a trophy modelled after The Taskmaster's head.

Cast

In the studio, other than while attempting the live task, the contestants sit on a row of chairs in alphabetical order of forename from left to right.
Key

Production

The Taskmaster franchise was conceived by Alex Horne and first televised in Britain, where Horne plays the Taskmaster's Assistant. The British version debuted in 2014.[8] Confirmation of an Australian version was announced in October 2022, to be produced by Avalon Television (the British production company) with New Zealand-based Kevin & Co. for Network 10.[1][9][10]

The pre-recorded tasks were filmed in the same house in New Zealand that Taskmaster NZ uses.[11] It is known as "The Taskmaster Retreat" in the Australian version and "The Taskmaster Ranch" in the New Zealand version. Filming took up to ten hours per day.[12]

Filming for the studio shows took place in December 2022 at the NEP Studios in Eveleigh, Sydney, New South Wales.[11][13][14] Gleeson remarked of the filming, that it was the first show he had done where "right from the very first episode, all the audience seats were sold out".[12]

Tasks for the series were written by a team,[2] which includes Sam Smith (who also writes tasks for the New Zealand version),[15] alongside Cashman,[16] with development assisted by show producer Cam Bakker, and, as with all the international adaptations, sent to show creator Alex Horne for final approval.[12] Executive producer Sarah Thornton remarked that the aim is to bring in new writers each series to "keep it fresh".[2]

In July 2023, a second series began filming for a 2024 airdate.[17][18] The cast was revealed on 10 July 2023 as Peter Helliar, Mel Buttle, Aaron Chen, Concetta Caristo, and Rhys Nicholson.[19]

Studio filming for a third series took place in the week beginning 18 March 2024.[20] The cast was confirmed as Anne Edmonds, Jenny Tian, Josh Thomas, Lloyd Langford and Wil Anderson on 21 March 2024.[5]

In May 2024, it was announced that the third filmed series would instead air as season two from May 2024. The airing of the second filmed series would air in late 2024.[6][7]

Episodes

Series 1 (2023)

The first series consists of 10 episodes and was broadcast on Network 10 starting on 2 February 2023.[21] In order of placement, the contestants were Danielle Walker, Julia Morris, Jimmy Rees, Nina Oyama and Luke McGregor.

Series 2 (2024)

Originally filmed as the third series, the second series started airing on 23 May 2024 and will consist of ten episodes.[6] The contestants are Wil Anderson, Jenny Tian, Josh Thomas and couple Anne Edmonds & Lloyd Langford.

Series 3 (2024)

Originally filmed as the second series, the third series will air following the conclusion of the second series.[7] The contestants featured this season are Peter Helliar, Mel Buttle, Aaron Chen, Concetta Caristo, and Rhys Nicholson.

Reception

Ratings

Series 1

Chortle reported that the pilot was a "strong start" for ratings, as the show was third in its timeslot.[22]

Series 2

From 28 January 2024, OzTAM ratings changed. Program viewership data will now focus on National Reach and National Total ratings instead of the 5 metro centres and overnight shares.

Critical reception

The Age praised that the third episode saw the series "continue to settle in nicely", largely in the style of the British version. The reviewer noted that Gleeson—"a cheerful, friendly-looking chap who has built a career on telling people they suck"—has a different Taskmaster personality to British host Greg Davies.[39]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Starkey, Adam (6 October 2022). "Australian version of 'Taskmaster' is in the works". NME. NME Networks. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  2. ^ a b c Gollasch, Grace (2 February 2023). ""Imperfectly perfect": How 10 is putting an Aussie spin on comedy game show Taskmaster". Mediaweek. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  3. ^ Knox, David (16 January 2023). "Airdate: Taskmaster". TV Tonight. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  4. ^ Laidlaw, Kyle (6 October 2022). "TOM GLEESON takes comedians to task on TASKMASTER AUSTRALIA coming to CHANNEL 10 in 2023". TV Blackbox. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  5. ^ a b Knox, David (21 March 2024). "Taskmaster Australia cast revealed". TVTonight. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  6. ^ a b c Knox, David (1 May 2024). "Returning: Taskmaster Australia". TVTonight. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  7. ^ a b c Cashman, Tom [@tomcashman1] (1 May 2024). "The cast for our next season of Taskmaster AU! First ep will be out 23 May! PLUS there's another season airing straight after this one. Lots of Taskmaster AU happening". Retrieved 1 May 2024 – via Instagram.
  8. ^ "Alex Horne and Greg Davies star in new show Taskmaster". British Comedy Guide. 19 September 2014. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
  9. ^ Frater, Patrick (5 October 2022). "Hit Comedy Format 'Taskmaster' to Be Produced in Australia by Paramount". Variety. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  10. ^ "Why Taskmaster was a hard sell..." Chortle. 9 November 2017. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
  11. ^ a b Knox, David (22 November 2022). "Audience tix: Taskmaster". TV Tonight. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  12. ^ a b c Cain, Sain (1 February 2023). "Taskmaster comes to Australia: 'I am better than Greg Davies – make that the headline!'". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  13. ^ "Taskmaster AU: Season 1". TaskmasterInfo. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  14. ^ Knox, David (13 December 2022). "First pic of Taskmaster set". TV Tonight. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
  15. ^
    • Smith, Sam [@ReelBigSmith] (31 October 2022). "Today I am very excited to be writing tasks for #TaskmasterAU and then doing warm-up for the first-ever episodes of the much longer-titled #GuyMontgomgerysGuyMontSpellingBee" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
    • Smith, Sam [@ReelBigSmith] (6 October 2022). "I wrote a bunch of exciting tasks for #TaskmasterAU and I can't wait to see what these cool cats got up to" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  16. ^ Smith, Sam [@ReelBigSmith] (1 November 2022). "Tom Cashman has been doing that and making sure our NZ ideas about Australia aren't too cringe" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  17. ^ Kelly, Vivienne (7 June 2023). "'Taskmaster Australia' Season 2 Confirmed and in Production". Variety Australia. The Brag Media. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  18. ^ Cashman, Tom (27 June 2023). "Tickets to tapings of Taskmaster Season 2 in Melbourne are available!". Retrieved 3 July 2023 – via Facebook.
  19. ^ "Taskmaster Australia Announces It's Season 2 Line-Up!". 10Play. Paramount Australia & New Zealand. 10 July 2023. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  20. ^ "Taskmaster Australia - Sydney". That's the Ticket!. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  21. ^ "Taskmaster". 10Play. Paramount Australia & New Zealand. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  22. ^ "Australia's Taskmaster gets off to a strong start". Chortle. 3 February 2023. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  23. ^ Knox, David (3 February 2023). "Tom Gleeson debuts as 10's Taskmaster against MAFS". TV Tonight. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
  24. ^ Knox, David (3 February 2023). "Thursday 2 February 2023". TV Tonight. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  25. ^ Knox, David (10 February 2023). "Thursday 9 February 2023". TV Tonight. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  26. ^ Knox, David (17 February 2023). "Thursday 16 February 2023". TV Tonight. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  27. ^ Knox, David (24 February 2023). "Thursday 23 February 2023". TV Tonight. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  28. ^ Knox, David (3 March 2023). "Thursday 2 March 2023". TV Tonight. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
  29. ^ Knox, David (10 March 2023). "Thursday 9 March 2023". TV Tonight. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
  30. ^ Knox, David (17 March 2023). "Thursday 16 March 2023". TV Tonight. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  31. ^ Knox, David (24 March 2023). "Thursday 23 March 2023". TV Tonight. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
  32. ^ Knox, David (31 March 2023). "Thursday 30 March 2023". TV Tonight. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
  33. ^ Knox, David (7 April 2023). "Thursday 6 April 2023". TV Tonight. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  34. ^ "Total TV Overnight Top 30 Programs - Thursday 23 May 2024". VOZ. 24 May 2024. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  35. ^ "Total TV Consolidated 7 Top 30 Programs - Thursday 23 May 2024". VOZ. 31 May 2024. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  36. ^ "Thursday 30 May 2024". TV Tonight. 2024-05-31. Retrieved 2024-05-31.
  37. ^ "Total TV Consolidated 7 Top 30 Programs". VOZ. Retrieved 2024-06-07.
  38. ^ "Thursday 6 June 2024". TV Tonight. 2024-06-07. Retrieved 2024-06-07.
  39. ^ "Your Week on TV". The Age. Melbourne: Nine Entertainment. 16 February 2023. ProQuest 2776404984.

External links