‘Absurd’ local remake of hit UK comedy show, Taskmaster launches on Ten
Hit UK reality show, Taskmaster will hit TV screens tonight on Ten for its debut season with an all-Australian cast.
Over the course of the ten-week series, Taskmaster, Tom Gleeson, and his sidekick Tom Cashman will set comedians Julia Morris, Luke McGregor, Jimmy Rees, Nina Oyama and Danielle Walker a series of challenges, “each more mind-bending and head-scratching than the last”, according to the show’s preview.
Partnership director of effect at Paramount ANZ, Tamar Hovagimian, said Paramount had seen a lot of interest in the Australian version of the format.
“Our partners at Mitsubishi are no strangers to Ten’s cheeky and successful comedy show, Have You Been Paying Attention? and have not only re-signed with HYBPA for a fifth year, but are rounding out their campaign with an exclusive sponsorship of Taskmaster.”
Executive producer, Sarah Thornton told Mumbrella that Taskmaster offers brands and audiences in Australia “a very different comedy offering”.
“It uses the comedy cast in a way that no other show does,” she said. “It gives you a lot more freedom in casting the five comedians… and the viewer gets to really know them.
“It frees the comedians from the studio and places them in a real-world location, which opens up possibilities for the types of comedy in a way that you just can’t get in a studio without it feeling a bit forced.”
Co-host/Taskmaster sidekick Cashman told Mumbrella that the show puts the comedians in stressful situations with the tasks at hand, “which allows their authentic self to come out”.
The cast of Taskmaster
“They are not over-thinking what they are going to say,” he commented.
“It’s silly, but in the confines of quite a lot of structure there is over-officiated silliness, which is what makes it absurd.”
While it may be “silly”, Thornton added that it is a very “family-friendly” show.
Internationally the format has had a lot of success and has now been re-produced in multiple jurisdictions including the US and New Zealand.
But while the format is from the UK, the cast and tasks are all local.
“In casting the Toms it instantly localises it” said Thornton. “All of our tasks are original and written for the Australian version. It is a solid homage for what is a great show in the UK.”
The Australian version has been produced by the same team behind the successful New Zealand version, Kevin & Co, which resulted in the Australia series being able to draw on the learnings from the New Zealand and UK version, explained Thornton.
“The format is so strong, and what works about it in the UK works about it here,” she added.
For his part, Cashman said the show allowed him to be “free to be myself and be funny in the way that I like to be funny”.
“I felt very free to have fun with it in the format that it is. I think a lot of other comedy shows are about something else – commentating for example on the news, whereas this is about them getting down and dirty.”
Thornton is looking forward to getting the show on air and seeing how audiences respond to the new offering.
“Our cast – they all bring their own audience, and the two Toms. All of those things combined make it an interesting proposition for viewers.
“Once people see how funny and fun it is as a show, that is what will draw people in,” she added
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Olivia Kruimel is the managing editor at Mumbrella. She has more than 15 years of experience in journalism, communications and marketing. Her journalism career began at Fairfax Media (now part of Nine) and includes various B2B publications such as B&T, Travel Today and ALB. As a marketer Olivia has worked for Standard Chartered and various global law firms.
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