This is a quiet week on TV, especially compared to the bonanza in theaters that is Dune: Part Twoor the ongoing fervor around Helldivers 2 (shoutout to those servers).
13.02.2024 - 21:33 / polygon.com
It’s a long, cold wait between seasons of Taskmaster, especially after an entry as stellar as series 16. Luckily, the hilarious British panel show has kept its growing international audience entertained between seasons by uploading episodes of one of its many licensed spinoff series to its YouTube channel. Taskmaster New Zealand’s first two seasons are now onthe official Taskmaster YouTube account, including the incredible season 2, which originally aired in 2021 and is one of the best seasons of any version of Taskmaster. If you consider yourself a Taskmaster fan, you owe it to yourself to check it out.
As a licensed spinoff, the show’s structure, music cues, and set design will be instantly familiar to anyone who has watched the original series. And so will the task design, which dutifully follows the excellent mold set by Alex Horne, with tasks so good it’s the only Taskmaster spinoff where the UK version has borrowed a few. Taskmaster NZ will often embrace the simpler, shorter tasks that Horne told us he prefers: Tasks as short as “Fly,” or “Time-travel,” which encourage creativity and different solutions from different contestants. But there’s also plenty of room for the more chaotic tasks: A team task where the contestants have to make a diss track about the other team is a blast, and “Construct the least appropriate wedding cake” results in hilarious carnage.
The first season of Taskmaster NZ is definitely worth watching (shout out to the hilarious Angella Dravid), but the second season of Taskmaster NZ deserves its place among the best Taskmaster series, period. The season 2 contestants are perfect, with the right mix of personality types and approaches to the contest.
The contestants hit all the notes you want from a Taskmaster cast: You have the person who does not give a shit about the show, but in a hilarious way (Urzila Carlson). You have the person who cares very deeply, but can’t seem to get anything right (David Correos). You have the person who tries extremely hard to win (Laura Daniel). You have the person who focuses all their energy on creating hilarious television, tasks be damned (Guy Montgomery). And you have an old friend of the Taskmaster who likes to push his buttons (Matt Heath). Great Taskmaster seasons spawn from the right combination of contestants, and this group has the perfect alchemy of various levels of “taking this ridiculous ordeal seriously.”
Paul Williams is a great Alex Horne substitute, bringing his own uber-dork energy to the role of the Taskmaster’s assistant. Unfortunately, Jeremy Wells is no Greg Davies, lacking the latter’s intimidating presence and often leaving the bullying of his assistant to the contestants (thankfully, Urzila is more than happy to
This is a quiet week on TV, especially compared to the bonanza in theaters that is Dune: Part Twoor the ongoing fervor around Helldivers 2 (shoutout to those servers).
Balatro, the hot new roguelike card game of the moment, has been pulled from several digital storefronts after its age rating was changed due to perceived gambling concerns. In response, publisher Playstack Games says the ratings decision is "unfounded" and vows to fight back against Balatro's removal.
As another weekend rolls around, we're back with another batch of streaming recommendations. It's a strong week for movies, with brand-new sci-fi drama Spaceman taking Adam Sandler to new dimensions on Netflix, Ridley Scott's historical epic Napoleon arriving on Apple TV Plus, and Sofia Coppola's latest film Priscilla hitting MUBI in the UK.
A number of Rockstar Games developers have criticised the company for telling employees they must return to the office full-time in April.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake developer Saber Interactive has reportedly left embattled parent company Embracer in a $500 million deal to become a privately owned company.
Insomniac Games has released a public statement in response to layoffs at the studio announced this week by parent company Sony Interactive Entertainment.
What could Apple have done with the humble automobile?
Guerrilla Games is reportedly cutting 10% of its workforce as part of wider layoffs announced on Tuesday by parent company Sony Interactive Entertainment.
After oodles of marketing blasts and previews, the Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth release date and time are nearly here, and that's pretty exciting.
PlayStation is set to lay off around 900 employees worldwide.
Publisher Bandai Namco and developer Dimps will release the fifth season of content for Dragon Ball: The Breakers on February 29, the companies announced. It will add Zamasu and Goku Black as a new double Raider tag team, among other content.
The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live has finally started airing and with it, we've reunited with everyone's favorite apocalypse survivors Rick and Michonne. The first episode centered mostly on the former, as he caught "us" up on his time in the Civic Republic Military and all his escape attempts over the years.