rionaleonhart | I Am Contractually Obligated To Play This Video, And I'm Very Very Sorry.

I know a few people following me are fellow fans of the original UK Taskmaster. If you need more Taskmaster in your life (and I certainly do), I cannot recommend the New Zealand version highly enough.

The Taskmaster NZ Taskmaster himself is no Greg Davies; the energy he brings to the show is more 'confused headteacher' than 'petty tyrant'. But my biggest concern about reproducing Taskmaster was that it would be impossible to fill the role of the Taskmaster's assistant. Alex Horne is so deeply, fascinatingly weird on Taskmaster, and so willing to do the most bizarre and humiliating things; surely nobody could replace him?

I'm pleased to report I was completely wrong. Paul Williams is absolutely perfect in Alex Horne's role; he sometimes feels more Alex than Alex does. The tasks are fantastic, too.

We've almost finished the second season of Taskmaster NZ, and I've loved every moment. Paul Williams had a fascinatingly weird dynamic with Angella Dravid in season one, and I was slightly worried that I'd miss it too much when Angella was no longer a contestant, but season two is also excellent. During the 'diss track' task, we had to pause so we could all lose it laughing for five minutes.

Riona: One significant difference between Alex Horne and NZ assistant Paul Williams is that Alex is a sexless being I struggle to ship with anyone, whereas I ship Paul with every single contestant.
Riona: It's not at all that Paul is sexy, but he has a very 'naïve young man on the verge of a sexual awakening' energy that makes me want everyone to kiss him.
RD: "teach the taskmaster's assistant how to kiss"
Riona: omg I have never wanted anything more
Riona: I'm thinking about this because I just watched the task 'take Paul on a first date, most romantic first date wins' and one of the contestants Lady-and-the-Tramp spaghetti-kissed him and it was magical.
RD: Okay that does sound good

I'm delighted that we gave the New Zealand version a chance! It's been a glorious bright spot in the stress of moving house. Malcolm in the Middle got us through packing, and Taskmaster NZ is now getting us through unpacking.

(Speaking of moving, Tem is now a member of our household! It's going to be so much easier to play weird games about murder together.)

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(Speaking of moving, Tem is now a member of our household! It's going to be so much easier to play weird games about murder together.)

I have never met Tem* but I am delighted by this news as somebody who really, really enjoys your posts regarding your combined exploits of weird games about murder. Please play all of the weird games about murder, thx! I will continue to shamelessly throw recommendations at you both! (Zodiac Trial of course being my most recent - and honestly, Divine Deception kind of fits - but there are plenty of weird murder games I've never mentioned here, such as probably the oddest combination I've ever played, Murder by Numbers, which is a visual novel style case by case mystery where you solve crimes by solving increasingly complex hanjie puzzles! Why is my steam library so weird and murder filled?)

*unless of course I have met Tem, because if you've never met someone how can you confirm that you have never actually seen them? Okay it's pretty clear we've never met due to proximity, but this was fascinating enough to throw me down a rabbit hole for a few minutes so I'm going to include it in this reply, obviously.

-timydamonkey

I'm very pleased that you enjoy our murder exploits! (Our - our fictional murder exploits. Our murder exploits in videogames.) It's a lot of fun to have Tem's company as we tear through the weird murder game genre.

Why is my steam library so weird and murder filled?

Because you have great taste, obviously.

I'm also fascinated by the 'there's no way for sure to know you haven't met Tem' question! You both live in the same country, at least, which means you're more likely to have met Tem than you are to have met most other people.

I had been hesitant about checking out other Taskmaster adaptations after the disaster of the US version, but a reaction channel I like branched out and I ended up loving the NZ version! The tasks + Paul Williams were definitely the draw for me there.

It's a shame to hear the US version is bad! But the NZ version is so good. I'm really glad to have given it a chance.

The Norwegian one was a lot of fun too, or at least appealed to my northern Canadian sensibilities for how you approach a task (i.e. with camping gear). The US one mostly suffered, I think, from the fact that they were only 21-minute episodes with no prize tasks or team tasks. A lot less time to get to know the contestants or to see them interact with Alex.

Ooho, how is the new place?

In many ways, sort of a disaster! The roof needs to be replaced, the kitchen's a building site and, owing to a moving mishap, I no longer have a bed. But we bought it and it's ours, and it's spacious enough for four adults to live comfortably, which was our biggest requirement. (It turns out the answer to 'how do you buy a house if you're a millennial?' is 'by being four people'.) I think it'll be nice here.

I um. I hope you have a bed soon? That would be nice. But congratulations on your ascent to ho-meow-nership! (There's only three people in my household and one of us is minimum wage so anything more ambitious than "rent a 1 bedroom flat that is collapsing" appears beyond us, I'm very envious). Also, I hope the kitchen... builds itself... soon too? I hear being able to cook is useful.

Congratulations on being a homeowner! Are you still London-based?

Thank you! We are indeed still in London; it's a city I'm deeply fond of, and also a great place to live if you can't drive.

I'm living in NZ and very happy to hear that people like us! They really like us!* I've only seen the clip where one contestant stole their girls which was fantastic.

*our version of Taskmaster.

We definitely like you(r version of Taskmaster)! That clip was actually what nudged us into giving the entire adaptation a go.

YES YES YES I LOVE TMNZ SO MUCH AND YOU ARE RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING :D

(i have definitely never blogged or ficced about paul williams in such a way that might lead you to conclude how i feel about him ;) )

also i was going to say house congrats/unpacking good-wishes but i got too excited about pressing send! i hope the various bumps in the moving road smooth themselves soon <3

I heart the hell out of Paul Williams and I'm delighted you feel the same! I caught myself daydreaming this morning about potential approaches to the 'first date' task. (Take him to a nice fake restaurant! Stroke his face and turn it into putting your hands around his throat, right there in the restaurant, v. romantic. Command him to kneel. Then just kiss him on the corner of the mouth and leave.)

i mean hello that concept was so arresting that it stalled my brain for a full two weeks between reading and replying o.O

I had that exact feeling about Paul - he's perfect in that role. I don't think we've watched season 2 yet so we'll have to get on that.

I do also recommend Suurmestari, the Finnish version of Taskmaster, because the Alex-equivalent Pilvi is a delight. She's much more on the deadpan 'staring into the camera like I'm on The Offie' side of things as opposed to the 'I'm happy to be humiliated' side, but I love her so much.

He's so good! And season two is delightful; it's got some excellent contestants. (Laura and David are my favourites. Laura is a very strong all-rounder; David is a disaster but goes SO HARD on every task.)

It's great to know the Finnish version is worth watching; thank you!

I Am Contractually Obligated To Play This Video, And I'm Very Very Sorry.

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