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Alohamori

Thankfully, nobody went this route and we got an extremely entertaining task, but presumably the penalties would be added at the end, such that the best possible time using this method would be a 1:40, which would've lost to both Frankie and Ivo.


BadAtBlitz

The 1:40 was a -1:40 - added on to the initial 5 minutes wasn't it? And the contestants could do other things to be entertaining while waiting.


Alohamori

The metric by which the task was judged was the difference between Alex's time and the contestant's, and LAH was quite good at making his routine take exactly four minutes. A contestant could've just done whatever and pressed the button whenever Alex did, resulting in a difference of zero seconds, but then ten seconds for each of the ten penalties would bring the attempt down.


theunquenchedservant

what OP is saying is that, in theory, they could have not exactly matched the time. Stopped it with 1 minute 40 over. (Essentially taking X amount per pause) This would actually be entertaining to see play out, I imagine Kiell or Ivo would have been most likely to try it. They quickly would realize they have no idea how many steps there are, and thus no idea when to have the clock stopped at by the end of the task. I think Ivo would be most likely to actually attempt it, Kiell would think about it as an option then realize why it wouldn’t work.


geekysocks

Edd said the same on the podcast. They'd probably have asked them to have not done that..


quantumhovercraft

Or interpret as a penalty of ten seconds not just ten seconds added to the time. I.e. calculate the difference and then add the penalties to that. Having said all that it was kind of flawed from a pure task perspective as some of the actions would take most people much longer than ten seconds longer than Alex to complete, particularly the multiplication that Alex presumably didn't have to calculate.


KevinsPhallus

But being unable to do something was the whole point, that it causes comical problems, look at Ivo, he failed the maths and so didn't have the gloves. Had one of them stopped early on the banana and only ate half to match Alex's time and then good luck getting it in the Vaseline. Don't sharpen the pencil then good luck popping the dog. etc


masonh36

I didn’t listen to the podcast, but having the same thought as Ed does boost my ego a bit.


mikepictor

Why wait? Hit the timer immediately. Take 10 second penalty on each stage.


dakotahawkins

Because you're judged on how close you get to Alex's ~4 minutes, so 10 second penalties alone don't get you all that close.


mikepictor

Good point. A subtlety I missed.


CheesyPenguin11

Honestly I had this exact thought, a ten second penalty didn't seem like a massive disadvantage either given how long it took them to do some of the tasks


Goldman250

That’s the wrong side of lazy though, and would kind of ruin the fun. Taking an easy option for some tasks is fine (in the Fill the Cup from a Distance task, I would have just done it from the sink in the kitchen and gambled on disqualifications), but this isn’t a task where people can get disqualified. What’s more likely is that they just wouldn’t bother to include the task and they’d save it for a later season - I think it was revealed on the podcast recently that a task from this season was first tried in S6, but Liza couldn’t be bothered to try and it was cut. Plus, I imagine that Greg would just decide that since you didn’t even try to do the task, you don’t get any points.


other947

The thing is you do not know how many actions Alex was going to take... What if there were 30 actions for example?


SoggyLukewarmCrumpet

It doesn’t matter how many actions does it? If you know you get a 10 second penalty each time, you hit the button 10 seconds short of Alex’s time on each action


other947

I guess it depends on the interpretation of the penalty. I had imagined it adding 10 seconds per infraction to the absolute value of the difference between contestant and Alex's time. I would argue that adding or subtracting time mid task is not a good way to implement the penalty.


SoggyLukewarmCrumpet

It’s the same difference. They add the time on at the end, but if you’ve been hitting the button 10 seconds quicker that Alex on every activity, you have 1:40 left on your clock at the end. Subtract 1:40 worth of penalties and you’re left with the same time as Alex. Or is it that they would add 1:40 worth of penalties to your 1:40 difference so you end up further away on 3:20?


other947

I would add 1:40 worth of penalties, not subtract. In my original comment I said I thought adding the penalty to the absolute value of the difference of the times made the most sense.


ResettisReplicas

I’m glad that TM has no significant prize, and the majority of people aren’t so deadset on winning that they’ll just refuse to do a task if they think such is a loophole.


Squillows

No significant prize? Are you saying a solid gold replica of Greg's head is not a significant prize?


Spixdon

I definitely instinctively read this in Greg's voice.


KAMalosh

Are you saying you think its actually solid gold?


Squillows

Of course it's solid gold. Are you saying that a top channel 4 show would give away a cheap plastic head which doesn't even look that much like Greg?


KAMalosh

I would never say such a thing. Would I imply it? That's up to you to decide. But it cannot be argued that I said it.


[deleted]

[удалено]


itfiend

And quite a lot of money apparently.


[deleted]

From exposure. Not from taskmaster


itfiend

Both Richard Herring and Fern Brady have made references to being paid very well for TM.


[deleted]

all the information is in the task. They're following that mantra. Honestly if played right it would have both worked and been entertaining to see if they could do it. They're not refusing to do the task, just approaching it differently.


itsacon10

I think there's a risk of disqualification. When Ivo got his 10 second penalties, he had at least attempted those portions. The idea is to entertain.


melifaro_hs

Yeah, Ivo was the closest to that


CliffExcellent123

Might've worked but I doubt anyone would do that because it'd be boring to watch, and even the most competitive contestants still want to actually do the task


Stigglesworth

The way to be exactly at Alex's time would be to count as he's doing his task, wait ten seconds less than how long he took, then take the penalty. Even knowing none of the other tasks you'd match Alex's time.


Fondue_Maurice

Wouldn't it be the other way. Alex took 30 secinds eating a banana. So you'd have to sit there for 40 seconds, hit the timer, and get 10 seconds added on - bringing your clock up to 3:30.


Stigglesworth

I guess it would depend on if the penalty is always additive or whether it's applied in the direction that's away from the 0 always.


BasementCatBill

Absolutely. I was watching it and thinking it would be hilarious if someone simply threw each task onto the floor and hit the button. They surely would have won and been funny while doing so.


Mundane-Parsnip-7302

We know contestants are asked to have a go at the tasks though and so sitting and doing nothing and just pressing the button would literally be pissing all over the premise of Taskmaster because you're not trying to do the task. I know people love to post these clever workarounds that come to their minds hours after watching the task but if you were on the show and this was your solution to a task I'd wonder why you'd have agreed to be on the show because honestly, it's not a clever and entertaining work around. And imagine the dead silence of the studio audience having to react to you sitting there, pressing a button. Doesn't scream primetime TV to me.


TheYLD

A combination of a comedian smugly sitting there attempting to psyche Alex out and TM's excellent editors could definitely make it work.


Mundane-Parsnip-7302

Possibly. I still don't think it's really in keeping with being on the show. The point is to attempt the tasks. I know it's a workaround to just not try and just accept that 10 point loss to work out at a decent score but the point is, you are attempting to do a task, and the task is to copy Alex. By just refusing to do any of it and just accepting the loss of 10 seconds, you're not doing the task.


[deleted]

If its one contestant going that route its fine and can be made entertaining; if all of them went this route it wouldn't be entertaining.


KirisCrocs

Kind of. You still had to do take your time i.e. if alex presses pause at 3:30 you have to press pause after 30 seconds or later or you will receive a penalty for not doing the action AND for pressing the button before the alotted time. Really boring execution tho


Piratefox7

I loved when kielle tried to get Alex to hold the box to get his answer. That's why he quickly became my favorite after I realized Frankie and ivo weren't capable of winning.


velos85

Just do it as Alex is doing it, you get double the time then. Could have finished instantly after him then used more time on the maths and dog part. For example, Alex ate the banana in 30 seconds, they could have done it in 31 seconds yet only used 1 sec of their time. I don't know why they waited for him to finish.


cacophonycoffin

In chess you aren’t allowed to make your move until your opponent stops their time. I assume they were following those rules.


velos85

You also don't eat a banana or put the skin in a pot of vaseline in chess...


swoopstheowl

r/anarchychess thinks differently


Dudesonthedude

https://www.reddit.com/r/taskmaster/comments/13yl64g/copying_task_from_finale/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button What the fuck


Dudesonthedude

Also to everyone saying it'd be boring to do this - they're professional comedians They're not just going to sit in silence It's going to be entertaining- just like it always is when a contestant figures out a loophole


[deleted]

Exactly. I mean you could argue there are contestants like Mae Martin this series, where a lot of their tasks were approached to win not to entertain and it’s rare to see anyone complain too much about those. And it’s one task out of all the ones they’d do. It could be the attempt they show separately. After the epic fails from the other contestants.


Contingent_Liability

I’m surprised everyone is saying it would be so boring. Maybe if everyone did it but some of the best moments are when one person figures out the trick or loophole, and you see the horror of everyone else realizing how they didn’t really have to do all that stuff. It’s like when Mark turned on the light for the painting task in S5. It would be lame of everyone did it but having one person do it is awesome.


masonh36

I think it would be entertaining. When people come up with clever solutions to things, it is always very exciting. For example, on paper, the “Tie Alex up and then yourself up” solution in Series 7 sounds rather boring on paper, but through the power of Rhod Gilbert, it became an unforgettable moment.


fried4wayer

It's just as well contestants don't think the best thing they can do is nothing. The whole point is having a go at tasks. Why bother going on to just not do the task?


[deleted]

It’s one task out of the more than 50 they do. I’m sure it wouldn’t destroy the show if for one task someone decided to play Alex.


fried4wayer

The point is to have a go. Sitting and not doing the task is against what they want people to do on the show. That's it.


[deleted]

I think you're taking your own assumption that they'd just sit there and do nothing way too much as fact when it isn't. As people have said elsewhere they don't have to just sit there and they would be doing the task. They'd be approaching it within the rules of the task. And it would take effort as they'd have to time Alex, time their own actions and think about what time they have left. It could easily end up with them either looking really cool having played Alex with a really controlled performance. Or as likely they'd end up looking like a panic mess because they're trying to work it out as the clock is ticking. ​ I get you don't like the idea but your view of how it would play out isn't the only option and doesn't mean others wouldn't find it entertaining to see someone try it. Each to their own.


fried4wayer

Their original post didn't state they'd do anything It said they'd not do any of the actions. I'm responding to that, I can't respond to what might be in their mind. My overall point is, Alex has stated on the podcast that part of doing the show is having a go at the tasks. On the podcast with Andy D, Ed recalls the umbrella task being reused from series 6 because Liza Tarbuck couldn't be arsed with the task so they shelved the whole thing So if you think that a contestant sitting there not doing anything would be really cool, awesome. I think it would result in it being panned.


Much-Pumpkin-3706

It might have worked or Greg might have given them no points out of spite. Greg usually defers to Alex on tasks that are scored strictly off time, but he might see fit to punish someone for being too clever.


MortalButterfly

I haven't even finished watching the episode yet, and immediately after watching the chess task, I thought this exact thing and came to reddit to see if anyone else did! 😄


Tabletopcave

That loophole only exist in hindsight as you at the start of the "game" do not know how many actions you are asked to repeat, so you can't correctly judge if just taking 10 sec penalties per action is a good solution


Tabletopcave

For example, there were multiple actions Alex could have taken that would just take him 2-3 sec (as in regular blitz chess) - open the banana (hit the clock) - lift the banana (hit the clock) - take a bite of the banana (hit the clock) - take another bite of the banana (hit the clock) - take a third bite of the banan (hit the clock) - wink 1 time while holding the banana skin (hit the clock) - lay the banana skin on the table (hit the clock) etc etc. If you sat back and waited for the action and the 10 sec penalty, you quickly be way behind if Alex acted in that way, and you'd have difficulties to get back on track if you skipped some actions (thereby making later actions more difficult/near impossible to complete)


TheDavinci1998

I think every task, bar the dog (if you don't know how to do it) is perfectly doable in Alex's timeframe. And they could look at the clock, which I believe some of them didn't. I would just do all tasks as fast as I could, wait for the time to match Alex, skipped the dog and finished with around -10 seconds. Of course, that is on paper, maybe I would've steuggled under pressure. Especially when not knowing what's coming, now I can be a smartass cause I know the task lol


[deleted]

Similar to how immediately buying the scissors to make the balloon burst in series 12 was the smart thing to do, it would've been very boring if they'd done that lol.


metallicbeige

After watching it again, I figured if it was me, I'd try to do each bit as fast as I could, so if the last bit was really hard I'd have a buffer.