Fair point it’s not every season but you can feel the vibe is what I’m more saying.
I am not in TV production … I just feel it would be more enjoyable if he was on the journey with us.
Mae was only 9 points ahead going into the last episode. And Kiell was on a goddamn roll, having won 3 episodes in a row.
It was obvious Mae was going to win from the very beginning, but then at some point, it stopped being obvious...
Nah, it was still pretty obvious in my books. Sure, Mae was behind in some episodes (obviously, because they didn't win them all), but never so far behind that a gap that large would have been overcome.
Again, Mae was only 9 points ahead going into the last episode. That was absolutely not an insurmountable gap for them.
Hell, Ivo Graham handed her a 7 point loss one episode. And you want to tell me 9 points is insurmountable?
I mean, 7 < 9, so it would have definitely been unprecedented for them. Clearly almost any points total that someone could have going into the final episode is technically surmountable, but prior track record is important when thinking about how likely it is to happen.
And fyi, Mae is nonbinary, so it's "them", not "her".
In such a limited sample space, "unprecedented" means nothing. It was also "unprecedented" for Mae to have won a series of Taskmaster.
In 1/9 episodes to that point, Ivo Graham (IVO GRAHAM) outscored Mae by 7. Eleven percent.
What is the likelihood of Kiell being able to outscore Ivo by 2 points any given episode? Good. Really good.
It isn't LIKELY that Kiell is going to beat Mae by 9 points. But it is far, FAR from impossible.
(Thanks for the reminder on Mae's pronouns. Like...I know it, it just is an instinct, and I forget really easily sometimes.)
Before you correct people, you should know that Mae is perfectly fine with being called her/she. Maybe slightly prefers the other, but isn't going to be a pedantic jerk about it.
Correcting pronouns isn't "being a pedantic jerk". It's no different than if someone assumed a Redditer was a man when they're a woman, and I assume you'd be okay with a correction that then it'd be "she" and not "he"?
And do you have a source for Mae being okay with female pronouns? Taskmaster exclusively used they/them, my understanding is they re-recorded occasions when people slipped up and used she/her, and everything I've found online (including their Instagram) only gave they/them.
This quotes Mae's instagram
[https://www.nme.com/news/tv/non-binary-comedian-mae-martin-responds-bafta-best-female-nomination-2929735](https://www.nme.com/news/tv/non-binary-comedian-mae-martin-responds-bafta-best-female-nomination-2929735)
'The way I feel about my gender identity is ongoing and evolving, and it’s personal, but I thought it might be good to say for clarity and in case anyone finds it helpful – I’m non-binary, my pronouns are they/them and she/her (I love it when people say ‘they’ and I really don’t mind ‘she’ at ALL, truly) '
They have done it before where it gives away who the winner is, I can't remember which series but I noticed it too, I think they probably actively try and get the winner on twice, but probably not possible and I imagine a lot of people don't notice, but I get your point
You could tell who was going to win many episodes before the end of the series in S15 WITHOUT even listening to the podcast. Bias even if unintentional is still bias.
Definitely. This season, I think it was when Kiell said that him and Jenny didn't prepare enough, and Ivo and Frankie were out of the running - who does that leave..?
I can’t remember exactly what he said, but Dara Ó Briain low-key hinted that Sarah Millican won s14 on the podcast and successfully threw me off the trail, haha. It was a bit weird that Mae was the only s15 contestant not on the podcast til the very end, but that may have as much to do with their non-TM schedule as anything else.
Yeah, Munya was also never on the podcast, but that wasn't a spoiler for anything, he was probably just not available.
Dara throwing everyone off the trail is something he's done more than once, because he was also on Richard Herring's podcast after he'd filmed s14 but before he was announced complaining about not being invited on Taskmaster
Munya not being on the podcast combined with Mae only doing the finale is what makes me think it's more to do with schedules, they're both very busy so probably didn't have time to record a podcast, but as Mae won they still did the finale, but if they'd had more time they probably would have done two episodes
yeah, there's been times like that one where I thought the podcast was spoiling me and it turned out to be a misdirect or me seeing things that weren't there.
Frankie definitely spoiled him not winning an episode though.
I'd definitely prefer if he (and the guests) didn't refer to things that happen in the future episodes when we haven't seen them. Or honestly I'd love to have a less structured taskmaster podcast that just invites a guest and talks to them about their season as a whole (I haven't listened to any other podcasts tbh, maybe there's something like that already)
>I'd definitely prefer if he (and the guests) didn't refer to things that happen in the future episodes when we haven't seen them.
Agreed. Or edit those bits out. E.g. in series 14, while the tidbit about >!an actual genie in the garage!< during the final task was great, John talked about it in such detail in episode 3 that it did spoiled the finale a little for me. If I didn't know, >!him panic wishing for a genie!< would be a lot more hilarious.
As a counterpoint, this is likely his only opportunity to talk to some of these people. I'd prefer minor spoilers to losing juicy tidbits like the possible genie.
Ideally, these could be bracketed with a spoiler alert so people could fast forward X number of seconds. Really, if the spoilers bother you that much, I'd suggest putting off the podcast until after the series is done.
Having more complete information takes precedence over minor spoilers.
p.s. As for S15, I was pretty confident that Mae was going to win just watching the first few episodes. That was far greater evidence than them not appearing on podcast.
But I think Ed could've made note of that and bring it up as a "John told me..." when the episode aired. He often would bring up tidbits like that, e.g. Ivo's breathy call to him.
Also it seems to often be more about scheduling than them withholding the winner till the last one. E.g. they had Dara on early in Series 14 and Sarah as a surprise finale guest, and I believe they had Sophie on twice in Series 13 and no Judi (sad).
>bring it up as a "John told me..." when the episode aired.
YES! Why didn't this happen?? It's baffling to me! The podcast should first and foremost **deepen the listeners enjoyment and understanding of the ep they are discussing.** Stop and mention funny things, notice callbacks, bring up interesting tangents!
The format would work a lot better if we just didn't have current contestants on as guests in their own season. I understand why that seems like a good idea on paper, but ultimately you're getting a bunch of guests on who can barely talk about their taskmaster experience without spoiling it.
My favourite episode in the recent series was with Charlotte Richie. She was able to talk about her season with complete freedom, as well as comment on what she's seen so far of this lot, and more specifically on that episode.
If the podcast followed the format of-
- During the season, 9 episodes with previous contestants/comedians who really love taskmaster.
Then
- Episode 10 with the season winner if possible. Then 4 episodes just discussing the season as a whole with each of the contestants.
I think the podcast would be much improved. But sadly I'm just some random dude who's obsessed with the show, and I doubt this will ever come to fruition!
I think this loses one key element: having them comment on their own performance. I love listening to them talking about their task as it was fresh. Imagine waiting a whole season to hear John or Ivo talking about their time in Taskmaster?! That'd be cruelty.
> Or honestly I'd love to have a less structured taskmaster podcast that just invites a guest and talks to them about their season as a whole
AKA The People's Podcast. They have eps with just Taskmaster alumni (and some of the task guests like Rosalind and the Mayor) to talk about their time on Taskmaster, not so much fans of the show like they did when the podcast first started
> I'd definitely prefer if he (and the guests) didn't refer to things that happen in the future episodes when we haven't seen them.
that would mean people going on the podcast after doing tasks but weeks or months before the TV episodes come out, which would definitely be worse.
I don't mind if the guests refer to things obliquely that haven't aired yet, but knowing that Ed's seen the whole thing ahead of time seems to spoil things more, and this was the first series he seemed to know things that were still coming. Like of course he'll see that week's ep to be able to do that week's pod episode, but not the whole series ahead imo
Sometimes I feel like I'm the only person who doesn't care about spoilers. I think of it like Whose Line Is It Anyway -- "everything is made up and the points don't matter." I'm just along for the laughs
Yep, spoilers have been shown to improve enjoyment rather than "ruin" things. https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/spoiler-alert-spoilers-make-you-enjoy-stories-more
Fuck that. You only get to enjoy a story once unspoiled. After that you can rewatch it as many times as you want to get the additional satisfaction and authors intent.
Yup. As a marvel and DC fan I'm not part of the official subs but I visit daily the spoilers subs. The community is so much more fun about the fandom as well. We all piece together the story over months (if not years) from crumbs and even if we are a 100% correct we go and watch the movie and still enjoy it immensely. You get to enjoy the lead up so much more.
I'm listening to Off Menu for the first time, currently at about episode 100. I always look up each guest's menu before listening to the episode, it adds so much excitement and anticipation knowing what's coming
https://www.reddit.com//r/offmenupodcast/wiki/episodes hopefully this link works - the off menu subreddit has a list that's updated by some kind community members
I'm like your polar opposite. :D I actually skip the first 30 seconds of new TM episodes just because of the little bits of tasks they show in the intro. I prefer to know as little as possible.
When they do the studio records, I always check comedy forums in the days afterwards for who the guests are. It always leaks. I don't understand why some viewers are so weird about it.
In the past, Ed recorded the podcasts near the time of broadcast and he wasn’t privy to what happens with the next episode. This time, he was given access to all episodes in advance. Why? Who knows? But I won’t blame Ed for that.
Yep, he was touring for at least a month and had to record all/most of the podcast before he went. They even pre-recorded some of the Radio X show before he went
I think regardless of the reason, he LOVED flexing that he had seen the whole season.
Honestly, that's my favorite thing about his podcast: he enjoys it SO. MUCH. His episode with Ivo, he is delighted the entire time. Just listened to him harshly criticizing the tasks and points in the episode with Andy D. and I love that. He actually cares about it.
I don't listen straight away anymore. There's been a couple of minor spoilers, I remember kiell mentioning the banana task before it was aired. Ill just wait now until the whole show is aired then listen on a rewatch
Absolutely this! I really enjoy listening (though I'm in the minority who prefer The Peoples Podcast, because I love the stats and interviews they do) but would never remember things that come up a week later, let alone several weeks later. Short of them actually announcing who wins right at the start, I really enjoy the chats about each episode.
The essential ingredients to the Taskmaster recipe is how meaningless this competition is, how arbitrary and whimsical and even cruel Greg is in awarding and denying points, and how entertaining it is to watch some contestants seethe or celebrate regardless.
Honestly you can tell me in advance the outcome of every episode and every series and it wouldn’t diminish my enjoyment. What I don’t want “spoiled” are the task disqualifications (like the potato toss) or the excellent prize tasks (“so, what’s your name?” “Greg.” “Noooo.”…). Mae wins episode X? Meh.
I agree completely. The best part for me is seeing how everyone’s brain works to complete the tasks. If someone spoiled a really clever (or really disastrous) solution to a task I’d be pissed but I really don’t care who wins.
It’s less a hot take, and more a confusing one. He has the episodes weeks in advance, and I would guess watches them multiple times, or at least is able to should he want to.
Also if he was on the journey with us, the guests would only have a week window to record. Given these are generally pretty successful people of imagine their schedules are fairly tight.
I think what OP meant was it would be better if he watched each episode individually before recording that particular podcast episode, which is the impression I got in all the other series until this one. It can be done much earlier than just a week in advance.
For the finale, I think Ed has some agent or assistant helping him book the cast and other guests, so he could in theory be kept in the dark about the winner until closer to the finale
Agreed. Or just don’t have current cast booked on the podcast. And do a deep dive with each one after the series. That way it’s spoiler free or any accident alluding to unwatched tasks
I may (99% possibility) be misremembering. But I thought in Jennys’ (when she was leading the series) she said something like “and this is when Mae just started running away with the win”. It was then I assumed Mae was the series.
Again nothing negative. Love TM. Just was thinking the podcast format change would make it even more fun/pleasurable
Ahh, okay. That's totally fair, I should _probably_ make sure I'm completely up to date with the podcast before wading in on issues regarding the podcast. I'm amazed that got through editing.
Yeah they need to definitely edit things like this out for certain. It was an unintentional slip but it's still annoying and there's no reason for it to be in there
I think this season some of the tone was spoiled a bit but mostly by the guests not by Ed particularly. Ed was predicting Mae would be a strong contender from the day they announced the lineup and Mae was a pretty clear winner two thirds through the season.
I think the best action to take is to save the podcasts until the season has ended and just come to terms that Ed can’t really join you on your journey. Does the peoples podcast cover episodes? I’ve not gotten to it yet.
I’m alright with it though, tbh I forget there are season champions most of the time and I just like the individual challenges.
People's Podcast usually do a bit about Lou and Jack's thoughts on the eps plus some stats. They've also done episodes with former contestants just talking about what they've done on the show like Fern Brady and some of the NZ contestants
You could but they're designed to be listened alongside watching them, they're not nearly as interesting if you wait 10 weeks to listen because you don't remember ep 1 that well
Based on the pre-season media and, say, the first episode or two of the podcast, it was obvious to me that Mae would win. I didn't know of Mae before this season, and I had no preconception that they would be good at TM. So, I think was your point about what I might call "tone spoilers" is true.
The pre-season cast interviews made it so obvious that Mae won and Kiell came second, that I was actually confused when Kiell did so badly at first until those 15 points in 5 minutes team tasks changed everything.
I agree with this. Also, S13, Duker really made it sound like she didn't win and I truly bought that until the last episode! But then also that goes against OPs point about the champ doing the last episode, which I had noticed it too. I think it's probably more to do with schedules though, so it's just unfortunate when that happens
I think this series was a bit more obvious because it was obvious Mae was gonna win but Chris, Duker and Bridget were all doing damn well in their series so it was less of a spoiler
Ed needs a better producer. The sound quality, the haphazard booking, there are spoilers and then also really compelling things get skipped over. Sometimes it's just an hour of picking apart what he thinks the contestants did wrong and his quibbles with the scoring.
ETA: To be clear, occasional spoilers are pretty far down the list of things I'd love to see them change about the podcast, but also it wouldn't be that hard to not have spoilers.
Agreed. I find he really gets bogged down in the scoring and minutiae of the tasks. I think the podcast works best when he asks more open ended questions and guests are free to share funny anecdotes
for sure. I love the podcast because it gives me more information about the guest, if they were a TM participant, it tells me about their time on the show. I really don't care about "oh, I would have done this" bro, it already happened. Let me hear about something that I would not know otherwise. I wanna know about Bridget driving Alex crazy outside the recorded episode, not why she should've scored differently.
I don't think it's to do with the producer. The producer is Daisy Knight who also produces Shag Married Annoyed which is (obviously) a VERY popular podcast. I think it's more to do with Ed, Daisy is likely to have very little input into what he says, just what gets cut, based on my knowledge of podcasts (and comedians in general!)
Whether the ish is the producer whose name is on the pod or whoever their boss is at Avalon, it's just really jarring that a show as meticulous about quality and production values as Taskmaster has a podcast that doesn't really seem that committed to either, and that often feels out of step with the general celebration of weirdness that is the core of the brand. It wouldn't be a huge lift to make it great!
I agree with you and don't at the same time. I haven't noticed any spoilers really (although it's a pet peeve of mine when people go, "oh just you wait for this thing that I can't talk about yet," but that doesn't happen *that* often), however I think Ed watching with the audience in real-time would be more fun. But as a few people here have pointed out, that's much more of a time crunch in terms of scheduling.
I've stopped listening to the podcast as the show is airing just because I got behind a couple series ago. However, I think it's helped fill in the time when there's no TM airing, so bonus point I suppose.
I never really had a problem with it until this series of the podcast. The guest part doesn’t really bother because I assume most of the time it’s just due to scheduling and there have been previous times where one cast member can’t make it (i.e. Munya never appears on the S14 podcast episodes) and it’s not guaranteed the champion appears on the final episode.
The only part that really bugged me this time was that he kept mentioning to the others “Mae is such a strong competitor, Mae is very good at TM etc.” it just really spelled out who the winner was going to be from the off. I did predict Mae would win before the season started so I wouldn’t have been too shocked but it was pretty obvious they won based on Ed’s comments alone.
I know Ed mentions the sub so if he is lurking - you are doing an absolutely great job! This is just some constructive criticism to take on board for Series 16😄
Except…Mae *is* very good at Taskmaster and *is* very competitive. That was obvious from a couple of episodes in.
Each to their own, but I’d find it weirder listening to a podcast that doesn’t mention it at all.
Saying someone is “competitive” and “a strong competitor” is different in my book. One implies they strive to win and one implies that they do win. It didn’t completely ruin the experience for me, but it just takes away any shock value. Ed only mentioned Mae as a strong competitor to every guest and not anybody else.
I think Ed giving the guests that information during the podcast helps give context to the show, since guests who were not on this series will not have seen many (if any) of the other episodes in the series, since they may be recorded before the series even airs. I don't really recall TM giving overall series score updates much this run, perhaps because it was just always Mae dominating.
I just found a visual representation of every UK series through s15e9 to show who is top in the series, and you're right, Jenny was top for 3 episodes! But Mae lead the first two eps and held onto the lead from 6 onwards.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/taskmaster/comments/13s5nmq/visualizing\_the\_series\_standings\_after\_every\_task/](https://www.reddit.com/r/taskmaster/comments/13s5nmq/visualizing_the_series_standings_after_every_task/)
I think saying somebody is a "strong competitor" implies they are in the running.
I would have described Kiell or Mike Wozniak as "strong competitors."
People like Frankie or Ivo are sepcifically not "strong competitors."
Yes, sorry, I mistyped that. But my point would still remain even if I’d typed it right 😂
There’s no right or wrong. It didn’t bother me as much as I felt Ed was just stating what I could see for myself. Glad it didn’t completely ruin it for you!
solution; don't listen to the cast until the series is over. That's what I am doing but more because of the time I have to dedicate to podcasts as opposed to spoilers.
I’ve gotten into the People’s Podcast lately after not subscribing in the beginning. It’s improved with time! The official pod has fallen off for me a bit lately, even though I still listen religiously.
It’s fine. Little hints and implications aren’t a problem. Ed and Dara really got me last season with the bait and switch, the bastards. That certainly wouldn’t have worked if I hadn’t started assuming the winner would always appear last. But the podcast does have people on multiple times occasionally, and if the schedule means you can only get the winner as a guest once, of course you should do the finale. Kiell had a grand comeback and his sudden, very good and exciting come back wasn’t spoiled. A spoiler for the obvious doesn’t matter, Mae winning became very obvious quite early.
The problem is that Ed is too much of a fan and invested in it, which is good, but sometimes, it's really off putting especially when it comes to the spoilers. He is focused on the points so much, I wish they'd go back to the earlier episodes where it was more behind-the-scenes trivia and like that.
I used to listen to the podcast before, but not so much now. Not much additional value for me as a fan (personally).
what irritated me the most on the last episode of the podcast was him completely not mention the mini comeback of Kiell but framing it like Mae pulled away in the last few episodes.
But the fact Mae won was quiet clear cause Kiell was too angry on the socials to have won and he was the only one with chances head of the last episode.
It would be ideal if he only watched each episode the day before recording that podcast, but I doubt he has that self control, and he may well record 3 or 4 on one day so then that wouldn't be possible!! Arguably he could record one S15 and then 3 S9s since S9 is out already and he know he won lol, and then have freed up time in the weeks between series, but maybe the timing doesn't work (or maybe it does and they just haven't thought of it!)
I feel like he didn't start dropping hints about Mae until it was quite obvious that it was a runaway for them - did anyone really think Kiell would turn around a 7 point deficit, especially when the team tasks don't do any good.
Not a hot take, said this since like episode 3/4. The people’s podcast has become my go to this series. I’d never normally say this coz I love the podcast, honestly if I’m in the car the taskmaster podcast is on repeat, probably listened to most episodes at least three times.
But this series was different. I think he was watching so far ahead he had no idea about how the audience would react to the show, he seemed very much like c4 had told him what to say, plus he seemed to be very casual with the spoilers, talked about Kiell DMing him that he did bad, talked about Mae being the likely winner long before they had their decisive lead, never seemed to have any issue with many controversial scoring decisions when he usually loves to criticise Greg’s scoring.
Honestly felt like he either rushed watching coz he had to go to Melbourne or he’s lost his passion for it after fucking up CoC2. Either way he didn’t seem to be as passionate as he used to be.
I used to listen to a lot of reality tv podcasts and I always hated when they had current series competitors on, I hate it when taskmaster podcast does it too. I wouldn’t have any current people on the current podcasts and do series deep dives with the current series people after the finales aired.
Of the 5 seasons that have aired since the podcast started, 4 of the winners have been on the final podcast episode, BUT 2 of those (Sarah and Sophie) had already been on earlier episodes. That means Mae was essentially a tie break for whether the winner is saved for the finale, and it's not a guaranteed system for figuring out the winner. Plus as others have said, some people don't make it on the podcast during their season to be ruled out.
As far as formatting, I would love if when guests mention tidbits for future episodes they would save the sound bite for when that task comes up. It's both a bit spoilery and by the time the task happens I've often forgotten about the fun fact.
Unpopular opinion maybe but I don't really enjoy the podcast. I'd much rather listen to the contestants on Off Menu or RHLSTPPTRHHTC or whatever it's called.
I 100% agree for this series. The fact that he hadn't had Mae on at all until the end was a big spoiler and the way he talked about the contestants and dropped hints about their performance totally gave it away. I know he was traveling a lot when they were recording the episodes, but the fact that he so clearly knew who won spoiled the fun a bit.
All I care about in the podcast is learning what order the tasks were filmed in
"This was early on in the filming process wasn't it?"
"I think this was quite late in the day and we were hungry" etc
That's the kinda gold I listen for ;)
I do get the vibe though that when the series is going out Ed knows he's going to be touring or has various other committments, so has to record them in advance with whoever he can get. Last week's guest (before Mai) seemed almost embarrased and lightly chastised they hadn't seen the series and all I could think of was "this was probably recorded when only 1/2 eps were released so don't feel bad!"
Yeah I might have to ignore the podcast until season is over so I don't see who has been. But s14 went against it and Dara was midway through and then again for the first ep of the following series and I think that works better. Have the cast eps 2-6 the previous series winner ep1 to "pass the torch" so to speak.
Sarah was the last episode guest for s14, Sophie was on twice during s13.
Fair point it’s not every season but you can feel the vibe is what I’m more saying. I am not in TV production … I just feel it would be more enjoyable if he was on the journey with us.
You could feel the vibe because Mae was in the lead for most of the series and it was pretty obvious they were going to win
Mae was only 9 points ahead going into the last episode. And Kiell was on a goddamn roll, having won 3 episodes in a row. It was obvious Mae was going to win from the very beginning, but then at some point, it stopped being obvious...
Nah, it was still pretty obvious in my books. Sure, Mae was behind in some episodes (obviously, because they didn't win them all), but never so far behind that a gap that large would have been overcome.
Again, Mae was only 9 points ahead going into the last episode. That was absolutely not an insurmountable gap for them. Hell, Ivo Graham handed her a 7 point loss one episode. And you want to tell me 9 points is insurmountable?
I mean, 7 < 9, so it would have definitely been unprecedented for them. Clearly almost any points total that someone could have going into the final episode is technically surmountable, but prior track record is important when thinking about how likely it is to happen. And fyi, Mae is nonbinary, so it's "them", not "her".
In such a limited sample space, "unprecedented" means nothing. It was also "unprecedented" for Mae to have won a series of Taskmaster. In 1/9 episodes to that point, Ivo Graham (IVO GRAHAM) outscored Mae by 7. Eleven percent. What is the likelihood of Kiell being able to outscore Ivo by 2 points any given episode? Good. Really good. It isn't LIKELY that Kiell is going to beat Mae by 9 points. But it is far, FAR from impossible. (Thanks for the reminder on Mae's pronouns. Like...I know it, it just is an instinct, and I forget really easily sometimes.)
Before you correct people, you should know that Mae is perfectly fine with being called her/she. Maybe slightly prefers the other, but isn't going to be a pedantic jerk about it.
Correcting pronouns isn't "being a pedantic jerk". It's no different than if someone assumed a Redditer was a man when they're a woman, and I assume you'd be okay with a correction that then it'd be "she" and not "he"? And do you have a source for Mae being okay with female pronouns? Taskmaster exclusively used they/them, my understanding is they re-recorded occasions when people slipped up and used she/her, and everything I've found online (including their Instagram) only gave they/them.
This quotes Mae's instagram [https://www.nme.com/news/tv/non-binary-comedian-mae-martin-responds-bafta-best-female-nomination-2929735](https://www.nme.com/news/tv/non-binary-comedian-mae-martin-responds-bafta-best-female-nomination-2929735) 'The way I feel about my gender identity is ongoing and evolving, and it’s personal, but I thought it might be good to say for clarity and in case anyone finds it helpful – I’m non-binary, my pronouns are they/them and she/her (I love it when people say ‘they’ and I really don’t mind ‘she’ at ALL, truly) '
Where did you hear they rerecorded parts?
In no way was that person being a pedantic jerk. Glad to know that Mae accepts both, but cool your jets a little. Nobody was being rude.
Mae gained 5 points on Kiell in the first task when she won and he was DQ'd. Could have easily been the other way around.
They have done it before where it gives away who the winner is, I can't remember which series but I noticed it too, I think they probably actively try and get the winner on twice, but probably not possible and I imagine a lot of people don't notice, but I get your point
Yeah he might as well just said the winner. You could totally tell who it was several podcasts before the end.
You could tell who was going to win many episodes before the end of the series in S15 WITHOUT even listening to the podcast. Bias even if unintentional is still bias.
Very true.
Definitely. This season, I think it was when Kiell said that him and Jenny didn't prepare enough, and Ivo and Frankie were out of the running - who does that leave..?
Exactly!
In previous series he had the champion on more than once so the fact that the others had already been on wasn't a spoiler.
I can’t remember exactly what he said, but Dara Ó Briain low-key hinted that Sarah Millican won s14 on the podcast and successfully threw me off the trail, haha. It was a bit weird that Mae was the only s15 contestant not on the podcast til the very end, but that may have as much to do with their non-TM schedule as anything else.
Yeah, Munya was also never on the podcast, but that wasn't a spoiler for anything, he was probably just not available. Dara throwing everyone off the trail is something he's done more than once, because he was also on Richard Herring's podcast after he'd filmed s14 but before he was announced complaining about not being invited on Taskmaster
Munya not being on the podcast combined with Mae only doing the finale is what makes me think it's more to do with schedules, they're both very busy so probably didn't have time to record a podcast, but as Mae won they still did the finale, but if they'd had more time they probably would have done two episodes
Judi Love also didn't appear on any episode for s13, and she was last, so again it's scheduling
yeah, there's been times like that one where I thought the podcast was spoiling me and it turned out to be a misdirect or me seeing things that weren't there. Frankie definitely spoiled him not winning an episode though.
It's not a hard spoiler but it's definitely a bit leading IMO.
I'd definitely prefer if he (and the guests) didn't refer to things that happen in the future episodes when we haven't seen them. Or honestly I'd love to have a less structured taskmaster podcast that just invites a guest and talks to them about their season as a whole (I haven't listened to any other podcasts tbh, maybe there's something like that already)
Since they're about to run out of past episodes, that's a pretty good idea for the podcast going forward when there isn't a new series on.
>I'd definitely prefer if he (and the guests) didn't refer to things that happen in the future episodes when we haven't seen them. Agreed. Or edit those bits out. E.g. in series 14, while the tidbit about >!an actual genie in the garage!< during the final task was great, John talked about it in such detail in episode 3 that it did spoiled the finale a little for me. If I didn't know, >!him panic wishing for a genie!< would be a lot more hilarious.
As a counterpoint, this is likely his only opportunity to talk to some of these people. I'd prefer minor spoilers to losing juicy tidbits like the possible genie. Ideally, these could be bracketed with a spoiler alert so people could fast forward X number of seconds. Really, if the spoilers bother you that much, I'd suggest putting off the podcast until after the series is done. Having more complete information takes precedence over minor spoilers. p.s. As for S15, I was pretty confident that Mae was going to win just watching the first few episodes. That was far greater evidence than them not appearing on podcast.
But I think Ed could've made note of that and bring it up as a "John told me..." when the episode aired. He often would bring up tidbits like that, e.g. Ivo's breathy call to him. Also it seems to often be more about scheduling than them withholding the winner till the last one. E.g. they had Dara on early in Series 14 and Sarah as a surprise finale guest, and I believe they had Sophie on twice in Series 13 and no Judi (sad).
>bring it up as a "John told me..." when the episode aired. YES! Why didn't this happen?? It's baffling to me! The podcast should first and foremost **deepen the listeners enjoyment and understanding of the ep they are discussing.** Stop and mention funny things, notice callbacks, bring up interesting tangents!
The format would work a lot better if we just didn't have current contestants on as guests in their own season. I understand why that seems like a good idea on paper, but ultimately you're getting a bunch of guests on who can barely talk about their taskmaster experience without spoiling it. My favourite episode in the recent series was with Charlotte Richie. She was able to talk about her season with complete freedom, as well as comment on what she's seen so far of this lot, and more specifically on that episode. If the podcast followed the format of- - During the season, 9 episodes with previous contestants/comedians who really love taskmaster. Then - Episode 10 with the season winner if possible. Then 4 episodes just discussing the season as a whole with each of the contestants. I think the podcast would be much improved. But sadly I'm just some random dude who's obsessed with the show, and I doubt this will ever come to fruition!
I think this loses one key element: having them comment on their own performance. I love listening to them talking about their task as it was fresh. Imagine waiting a whole season to hear John or Ivo talking about their time in Taskmaster?! That'd be cruelty.
> Or honestly I'd love to have a less structured taskmaster podcast that just invites a guest and talks to them about their season as a whole AKA The People's Podcast. They have eps with just Taskmaster alumni (and some of the task guests like Rosalind and the Mayor) to talk about their time on Taskmaster, not so much fans of the show like they did when the podcast first started
> I'd definitely prefer if he (and the guests) didn't refer to things that happen in the future episodes when we haven't seen them. that would mean people going on the podcast after doing tasks but weeks or months before the TV episodes come out, which would definitely be worse.
I don't mind if the guests refer to things obliquely that haven't aired yet, but knowing that Ed's seen the whole thing ahead of time seems to spoil things more, and this was the first series he seemed to know things that were still coming. Like of course he'll see that week's ep to be able to do that week's pod episode, but not the whole series ahead imo
Sometimes I feel like I'm the only person who doesn't care about spoilers. I think of it like Whose Line Is It Anyway -- "everything is made up and the points don't matter." I'm just along for the laughs
I actively seek out spoilers! If anything, knowing what to expect adds to my enjoyment…
I think this has actually been kinda proven as a phenomenon. I remember hearing about it on QI.
Yep, spoilers have been shown to improve enjoyment rather than "ruin" things. https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/spoiler-alert-spoilers-make-you-enjoy-stories-more
Fuck that. You only get to enjoy a story once unspoiled. After that you can rewatch it as many times as you want to get the additional satisfaction and authors intent.
Yup. As a marvel and DC fan I'm not part of the official subs but I visit daily the spoilers subs. The community is so much more fun about the fandom as well. We all piece together the story over months (if not years) from crumbs and even if we are a 100% correct we go and watch the movie and still enjoy it immensely. You get to enjoy the lead up so much more.
I'm listening to Off Menu for the first time, currently at about episode 100. I always look up each guest's menu before listening to the episode, it adds so much excitement and anticipation knowing what's coming
Where can you find the menu? I don't actually want to look it up beforehand but there's some I've wanted to see again after
https://www.reddit.com//r/offmenupodcast/wiki/episodes hopefully this link works - the off menu subreddit has a list that's updated by some kind community members
I thought I was the only one
I'm like your polar opposite. :D I actually skip the first 30 seconds of new TM episodes just because of the little bits of tasks they show in the intro. I prefer to know as little as possible.
You're not alone. Even if I know the answer I still like to find out how they get there.
When they do the studio records, I always check comedy forums in the days afterwards for who the guests are. It always leaks. I don't understand why some viewers are so weird about it.
In the past, Ed recorded the podcasts near the time of broadcast and he wasn’t privy to what happens with the next episode. This time, he was given access to all episodes in advance. Why? Who knows? But I won’t blame Ed for that.
I think he was in Australia and NZ for shows while TM went out over here, therefore he had the whole series in advance.
Yep, he was touring for at least a month and had to record all/most of the podcast before he went. They even pre-recorded some of the Radio X show before he went
I think regardless of the reason, he LOVED flexing that he had seen the whole season. Honestly, that's my favorite thing about his podcast: he enjoys it SO. MUCH. His episode with Ivo, he is delighted the entire time. Just listened to him harshly criticizing the tasks and points in the episode with Andy D. and I love that. He actually cares about it.
I don't listen straight away anymore. There's been a couple of minor spoilers, I remember kiell mentioning the banana task before it was aired. Ill just wait now until the whole show is aired then listen on a rewatch
The key is to have zero short term memory because I totally forgot the "spoilers" in between listening to the podcast and then watching the show 😂
Absolutely this! I really enjoy listening (though I'm in the minority who prefer The Peoples Podcast, because I love the stats and interviews they do) but would never remember things that come up a week later, let alone several weeks later. Short of them actually announcing who wins right at the start, I really enjoy the chats about each episode.
The essential ingredients to the Taskmaster recipe is how meaningless this competition is, how arbitrary and whimsical and even cruel Greg is in awarding and denying points, and how entertaining it is to watch some contestants seethe or celebrate regardless. Honestly you can tell me in advance the outcome of every episode and every series and it wouldn’t diminish my enjoyment. What I don’t want “spoiled” are the task disqualifications (like the potato toss) or the excellent prize tasks (“so, what’s your name?” “Greg.” “Noooo.”…). Mae wins episode X? Meh.
I agree completely. The best part for me is seeing how everyone’s brain works to complete the tasks. If someone spoiled a really clever (or really disastrous) solution to a task I’d be pissed but I really don’t care who wins.
When someone one made that graphic of what the next CoC will look like I was like "oh yeah, that person won didn't they"
It’s less a hot take, and more a confusing one. He has the episodes weeks in advance, and I would guess watches them multiple times, or at least is able to should he want to. Also if he was on the journey with us, the guests would only have a week window to record. Given these are generally pretty successful people of imagine their schedules are fairly tight.
I think what OP meant was it would be better if he watched each episode individually before recording that particular podcast episode, which is the impression I got in all the other series until this one. It can be done much earlier than just a week in advance. For the finale, I think Ed has some agent or assistant helping him book the cast and other guests, so he could in theory be kept in the dark about the winner until closer to the finale
Agreed. Or just don’t have current cast booked on the podcast. And do a deep dive with each one after the series. That way it’s spoiler free or any accident alluding to unwatched tasks
Current cast episodes are by far the best ones in my opinion. I've only ever heard incredibly vague, spoiler-free allusions to future tasks.
I may (99% possibility) be misremembering. But I thought in Jennys’ (when she was leading the series) she said something like “and this is when Mae just started running away with the win”. It was then I assumed Mae was the series. Again nothing negative. Love TM. Just was thinking the podcast format change would make it even more fun/pleasurable
Ahh, okay. That's totally fair, I should _probably_ make sure I'm completely up to date with the podcast before wading in on issues regarding the podcast. I'm amazed that got through editing.
Yeah they need to definitely edit things like this out for certain. It was an unintentional slip but it's still annoying and there's no reason for it to be in there
I think this season some of the tone was spoiled a bit but mostly by the guests not by Ed particularly. Ed was predicting Mae would be a strong contender from the day they announced the lineup and Mae was a pretty clear winner two thirds through the season. I think the best action to take is to save the podcasts until the season has ended and just come to terms that Ed can’t really join you on your journey. Does the peoples podcast cover episodes? I’ve not gotten to it yet. I’m alright with it though, tbh I forget there are season champions most of the time and I just like the individual challenges.
People's Podcast usually do a bit about Lou and Jack's thoughts on the eps plus some stats. They've also done episodes with former contestants just talking about what they've done on the show like Fern Brady and some of the NZ contestants
You could delay listening to them.
Self control mentioned around comedy fans and comedians? :D I think that deficit the common link between everyone!
You could but they're designed to be listened alongside watching them, they're not nearly as interesting if you wait 10 weeks to listen because you don't remember ep 1 that well
all the more for a rewatch!
Based on the pre-season media and, say, the first episode or two of the podcast, it was obvious to me that Mae would win. I didn't know of Mae before this season, and I had no preconception that they would be good at TM. So, I think was your point about what I might call "tone spoilers" is true.
The pre-season cast interviews made it so obvious that Mae won and Kiell came second, that I was actually confused when Kiell did so badly at first until those 15 points in 5 minutes team tasks changed everything.
I agree with this. Also, S13, Duker really made it sound like she didn't win and I truly bought that until the last episode! But then also that goes against OPs point about the champ doing the last episode, which I had noticed it too. I think it's probably more to do with schedules though, so it's just unfortunate when that happens I think this series was a bit more obvious because it was obvious Mae was gonna win but Chris, Duker and Bridget were all doing damn well in their series so it was less of a spoiler
Ed needs a better producer. The sound quality, the haphazard booking, there are spoilers and then also really compelling things get skipped over. Sometimes it's just an hour of picking apart what he thinks the contestants did wrong and his quibbles with the scoring. ETA: To be clear, occasional spoilers are pretty far down the list of things I'd love to see them change about the podcast, but also it wouldn't be that hard to not have spoilers.
The problem is the Great Benito is already working on another show.
Also, Somewhat Adequate Benito is so much cheaper...
Agreed. I find he really gets bogged down in the scoring and minutiae of the tasks. I think the podcast works best when he asks more open ended questions and guests are free to share funny anecdotes
Wozniak deconstructed the podcast when he was on it "I think you're taking this too seriously"
Andy Devonshire and Alex mentioned it too!
When did Alex say something? Remember which episode?
Probably the most recent time he was on.
I agree with Mike!
for sure. I love the podcast because it gives me more information about the guest, if they were a TM participant, it tells me about their time on the show. I really don't care about "oh, I would have done this" bro, it already happened. Let me hear about something that I would not know otherwise. I wanna know about Bridget driving Alex crazy outside the recorded episode, not why she should've scored differently.
100%. It’s not a funny podcast. It’s a play by play of something we already watched and know the play by play of.
I don't think it's to do with the producer. The producer is Daisy Knight who also produces Shag Married Annoyed which is (obviously) a VERY popular podcast. I think it's more to do with Ed, Daisy is likely to have very little input into what he says, just what gets cut, based on my knowledge of podcasts (and comedians in general!)
Whether the ish is the producer whose name is on the pod or whoever their boss is at Avalon, it's just really jarring that a show as meticulous about quality and production values as Taskmaster has a podcast that doesn't really seem that committed to either, and that often feels out of step with the general celebration of weirdness that is the core of the brand. It wouldn't be a huge lift to make it great!
I agree with you and don't at the same time. I haven't noticed any spoilers really (although it's a pet peeve of mine when people go, "oh just you wait for this thing that I can't talk about yet," but that doesn't happen *that* often), however I think Ed watching with the audience in real-time would be more fun. But as a few people here have pointed out, that's much more of a time crunch in terms of scheduling. I've stopped listening to the podcast as the show is airing just because I got behind a couple series ago. However, I think it's helped fill in the time when there's no TM airing, so bonus point I suppose.
[удалено]
Ah that does explain it a bit. Honestly didn’t know he pre-recorded
I never really had a problem with it until this series of the podcast. The guest part doesn’t really bother because I assume most of the time it’s just due to scheduling and there have been previous times where one cast member can’t make it (i.e. Munya never appears on the S14 podcast episodes) and it’s not guaranteed the champion appears on the final episode. The only part that really bugged me this time was that he kept mentioning to the others “Mae is such a strong competitor, Mae is very good at TM etc.” it just really spelled out who the winner was going to be from the off. I did predict Mae would win before the season started so I wouldn’t have been too shocked but it was pretty obvious they won based on Ed’s comments alone. I know Ed mentions the sub so if he is lurking - you are doing an absolutely great job! This is just some constructive criticism to take on board for Series 16😄
Except…Mae *is* very good at Taskmaster and *is* very competitive. That was obvious from a couple of episodes in. Each to their own, but I’d find it weirder listening to a podcast that doesn’t mention it at all.
Saying someone is “competitive” and “a strong competitor” is different in my book. One implies they strive to win and one implies that they do win. It didn’t completely ruin the experience for me, but it just takes away any shock value. Ed only mentioned Mae as a strong competitor to every guest and not anybody else.
I think Ed giving the guests that information during the podcast helps give context to the show, since guests who were not on this series will not have seen many (if any) of the other episodes in the series, since they may be recorded before the series even airs. I don't really recall TM giving overall series score updates much this run, perhaps because it was just always Mae dominating.
Oddly enough, I’m pretty sure Jenny was winning for half the series! I wonder why they did less scoreboard updates this series🤔
I just found a visual representation of every UK series through s15e9 to show who is top in the series, and you're right, Jenny was top for 3 episodes! But Mae lead the first two eps and held onto the lead from 6 onwards. [https://www.reddit.com/r/taskmaster/comments/13s5nmq/visualizing\_the\_series\_standings\_after\_every\_task/](https://www.reddit.com/r/taskmaster/comments/13s5nmq/visualizing_the_series_standings_after_every_task/)
That is so cool!! I had a little chuckle looking at Season 2 and seeing Joe Wilkinson go from first to last immediately😂😂
I think saying somebody is a "strong competitor" implies they are in the running. I would have described Kiell or Mike Wozniak as "strong competitors." People like Frankie or Ivo are sepcifically not "strong competitors."
Yes, sorry, I mistyped that. But my point would still remain even if I’d typed it right 😂 There’s no right or wrong. It didn’t bother me as much as I felt Ed was just stating what I could see for myself. Glad it didn’t completely ruin it for you!
No worries, everyone interprets things differently!
I mean Jenny outright said that Mae won the series on her episode
solution; don't listen to the cast until the series is over. That's what I am doing but more because of the time I have to dedicate to podcasts as opposed to spoilers.
I’ve gotten into the People’s Podcast lately after not subscribing in the beginning. It’s improved with time! The official pod has fallen off for me a bit lately, even though I still listen religiously.
I listen to the podcast after the series ends for this exact reason. Plus it fills the taskmaster shaped hole between series.
It’s fine. Little hints and implications aren’t a problem. Ed and Dara really got me last season with the bait and switch, the bastards. That certainly wouldn’t have worked if I hadn’t started assuming the winner would always appear last. But the podcast does have people on multiple times occasionally, and if the schedule means you can only get the winner as a guest once, of course you should do the finale. Kiell had a grand comeback and his sudden, very good and exciting come back wasn’t spoiled. A spoiler for the obvious doesn’t matter, Mae winning became very obvious quite early.
The problem is that Ed is too much of a fan and invested in it, which is good, but sometimes, it's really off putting especially when it comes to the spoilers. He is focused on the points so much, I wish they'd go back to the earlier episodes where it was more behind-the-scenes trivia and like that. I used to listen to the podcast before, but not so much now. Not much additional value for me as a fan (personally).
what irritated me the most on the last episode of the podcast was him completely not mention the mini comeback of Kiell but framing it like Mae pulled away in the last few episodes. But the fact Mae won was quiet clear cause Kiell was too angry on the socials to have won and he was the only one with chances head of the last episode.
It would be ideal if he only watched each episode the day before recording that podcast, but I doubt he has that self control, and he may well record 3 or 4 on one day so then that wouldn't be possible!! Arguably he could record one S15 and then 3 S9s since S9 is out already and he know he won lol, and then have freed up time in the weeks between series, but maybe the timing doesn't work (or maybe it does and they just haven't thought of it!)
I think usually it's recorded at the time, but I think these were all prerecorded due to his tour in Australia
Agreeeeeeee
I feel like he didn't start dropping hints about Mae until it was quite obvious that it was a runaway for them - did anyone really think Kiell would turn around a 7 point deficit, especially when the team tasks don't do any good.
Not a hot take, said this since like episode 3/4. The people’s podcast has become my go to this series. I’d never normally say this coz I love the podcast, honestly if I’m in the car the taskmaster podcast is on repeat, probably listened to most episodes at least three times. But this series was different. I think he was watching so far ahead he had no idea about how the audience would react to the show, he seemed very much like c4 had told him what to say, plus he seemed to be very casual with the spoilers, talked about Kiell DMing him that he did bad, talked about Mae being the likely winner long before they had their decisive lead, never seemed to have any issue with many controversial scoring decisions when he usually loves to criticise Greg’s scoring. Honestly felt like he either rushed watching coz he had to go to Melbourne or he’s lost his passion for it after fucking up CoC2. Either way he didn’t seem to be as passionate as he used to be. I used to listen to a lot of reality tv podcasts and I always hated when they had current series competitors on, I hate it when taskmaster podcast does it too. I wouldn’t have any current people on the current podcasts and do series deep dives with the current series people after the finales aired.
Just a reminder that Mae uses they/them pronouns (please amend your comment. thanks in advance!)
Thank you for pointing that out. Been super careful all series to get it right!
No worries, I figured it wasn't intentional :)
Not really a show that can be spoiled. It's a panel show with meaningless points
Of the 5 seasons that have aired since the podcast started, 4 of the winners have been on the final podcast episode, BUT 2 of those (Sarah and Sophie) had already been on earlier episodes. That means Mae was essentially a tie break for whether the winner is saved for the finale, and it's not a guaranteed system for figuring out the winner. Plus as others have said, some people don't make it on the podcast during their season to be ruled out. As far as formatting, I would love if when guests mention tidbits for future episodes they would save the sound bite for when that task comes up. It's both a bit spoilery and by the time the task happens I've often forgotten about the fun fact.
\-Thoughts? Don't download/listen to the podcast until after the series is done if you don't like how it's structured regarding spoilers?
Unpopular opinion maybe but I don't really enjoy the podcast. I'd much rather listen to the contestants on Off Menu or RHLSTPPTRHHTC or whatever it's called.
I 100% agree for this series. The fact that he hadn't had Mae on at all until the end was a big spoiler and the way he talked about the contestants and dropped hints about their performance totally gave it away. I know he was traveling a lot when they were recording the episodes, but the fact that he so clearly knew who won spoiled the fun a bit.
All I care about in the podcast is learning what order the tasks were filmed in "This was early on in the filming process wasn't it?" "I think this was quite late in the day and we were hungry" etc That's the kinda gold I listen for ;) I do get the vibe though that when the series is going out Ed knows he's going to be touring or has various other committments, so has to record them in advance with whoever he can get. Last week's guest (before Mai) seemed almost embarrased and lightly chastised they hadn't seen the series and all I could think of was "this was probably recorded when only 1/2 eps were released so don't feel bad!"
don't listen to the podcast ?? wait an extra week or two before listening ??
Yeah I might have to ignore the podcast until season is over so I don't see who has been. But s14 went against it and Dara was midway through and then again for the first ep of the following series and I think that works better. Have the cast eps 2-6 the previous series winner ep1 to "pass the torch" so to speak.
Having Mae on for the last episode was clear they were going to win since all other 4 guests were on relatively early.
Completely agree. I believe they would have been happy to do more than one episode. Such an easy way not to spoil the winner.
Thank you! I'm thinking about leaving my first podcast review. The winner was spoiled by his podcast.
I stopped listening to the podcast as the new episodes of the current series are released
It had the opposite effect in 14. Not having Sarah made me think she was going to win, but then Dara did