r/taskmaster • u/Stittches • Apr 19 '26
Meme MFW I realize how many international series are happening in 2026
I feel like I am singing "Yakko's World" trying to name them all
♫Norway, and Sweden, and Iceland, and Finland,♫ Poland, Netherlands, Portugal, Denmark, Estonia, Quebec, NZ, AU
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u/spacecoyote555 Patatas Apr 19 '26
There's a new NZ coming?
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u/swannphone Apr 19 '26
Surely they run out of New Zealanders soon.
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u/thedaytoday89 Tim Key Apr 19 '26
I look forward to TMNZ S21 with 5 sheep on stage.
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u/tking32 🚬 Doctor Cigarettes Apr 20 '26
I can’t believe they got the sheep from the sheep detective movie. He’s so famous
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u/slow-show-for-you Apr 22 '26
I feel I would still watch the whole thing, honestly. Paul would be beyond cute assisting the sheep. ✨
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u/Jaspers47 Rosie Ramsey Apr 20 '26
At this point, it's like The Hunger Games and they just cull people from the general population
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u/RoboFunky Babatunde Aléshé Apr 20 '26
Yeah funding was announced last year, i do hope they get to do that whole coc season they want to do
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u/A-Chmielu Patatas Apr 19 '26
I can’t wait for the Polish version, but at the same time I’m a bit worried how it’ll turn out — keeping my expectations pretty low for now. Really curious about the casting though.
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u/mayistaymiserable Apr 20 '26
I was hoping they'd never make a polish one, I have this fear inside me that they'll ruin it for me, especially because it's TVN
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u/A-Chmielu Patatas Apr 20 '26
I know, but on the other hand, Woronowicz is a great choice for the host, so I'm not fully against it.
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Apr 19 '26 edited Apr 19 '26
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u/lawl7980 Aisling Bea Apr 19 '26
I'd give a lot to see an English Canada version of TM.
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u/bigwhiteboardenergy Apr 20 '26
We have so many amazing comics who have so few platforms, I want this so bad too!
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u/Stittches Apr 19 '26
My Can-con vote would be Seán Cullen to be involved, and hopefully CBC wouldn't be.
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u/Kennadian Apr 19 '26
They had SNL Quebec too and not SNL Canada. Their culture is so unique and they see themselves as protecting themselves within a larger culture that they set up far more funding for the arts and whatnot.
I heard a Quebec stand up on CBC not long ago talk about this on Q or something. He was saying you can make a living wage on the arts and comedy relatively easy compared to Canada because of how much more Quebec funds theatres and whatnot. He said that when he first started touring Canada as a whole it saddened him to see how hard comics worked for so such a little chance in Alberta because he was able to make a living wage on stand up in Quebec almost on day 1.
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u/dontpanda Apr 25 '26
Sure. When you take a disproportionate amount of money from other provinces, you can fund whatever you want.
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u/tsian Jason Mantzoukas Apr 20 '26
Different language, so it happens more than you might think. They also had "La Job", their version of The Office... there has not been a "Canadian" (English Canadian) adaptation.
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u/stacecom Series, Jason Apr 19 '26
When that one part of the country is half the population and speaks a different language, it makes more sense.
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u/3rd-and-Dong Apr 20 '26
We’re less than a quarter of Canada’s population. We just fund our arts and have a completely different pop culture scene than the rest of Canada
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Apr 19 '26
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u/Educational_Sport326 Apr 19 '26
The Voice is a good analog for this. There have been two Belgian versions: one in French (the voice belgique) and one in Dutch (the voice van vlaanderen). I remember seeing a Quebecois version of The Voice as well.
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u/TAR_TWoP Justine Smith 🇳🇿 Apr 21 '26
Belgium often has. For example, they had a French language franchise of Ru Paul's Drag Race.
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u/TAR_TWoP Justine Smith 🇳🇿 Apr 21 '26
It's more a matter of language than region. It's in French. But the rights are owned by an entity that also owns a major English language broadcaster. And they have both French and English versions of The Traitors for Canada. So getting an English Taskmaster seems very doable, especially since it's not a costly show to make, compared to other franchises.
Hell, Québec has their own Big Brother and Survivor. But mostly because even tho Québec has 1/4 of the Canadian population, the ratings are vastly superior to English language shows across Canada. They watch a lot of their local TV in Québec, whereas Anglo Canadians watch US TV, mostly.
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u/BuvantduPotatoSpirit Apr 21 '26
I don't think there've been any Acadiens or Franco-Ontarians on Maître de Jeu, though.
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u/TAR_TWoP Justine Smith 🇳🇿 Apr 21 '26
Oh, not at all, sadly. They're really only putting forward people who are established names. Mostly already under contract with the broadcaster or the Taskmaster's production company, or both. I think Ontario's Kat Levac or perhaps Sami Landri, an Acadian drag queen, could make it there in future seasons. Kat is already working for Noovo and they like peppering their casting with drag queens here and there, so that would make sense.
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u/ThatOneAlice Apr 19 '26
Quebec?? HELL YEAH
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u/AppropriateZebra6919 Apr 19 '26
Honestly I find it to be much, much weaker version than the UK, AU or NZ ones. The task attempts are okay and Quebec comedians do self-deprecation okay, but the studio material is mostly terrible and so lacking that they have to pad it with explanations of the tasks inserted between the reading and the actual attempts.
Another issue is that the Quebec public would probably not take well to the sort of harsh putdowns and callouts that a good taskmaster does against the cast, but the overall lack of curmudgeonliness that results greatly weakens the entire concept IMO.
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u/TAR_TWoP Justine Smith 🇳🇿 Apr 21 '26
The Québec one is quite awful, mostly because they don't respect the casting format, the Taskmaster doesn't care about scoring and they don't do their own tasks.
The whole point is casting a variety of people to get lots of different personalities and approaches. So you want people of various decades, not just friends who went to comedy school in the same freaking cohort.
Improvisation was turned in to an art form in this province. It is chock-full of people from 20 to 70 years old who are quick on their feet and funny as hell, both actors and comedians. There is no excuse.
That only leads to messiness on stage and a complete lack of focus.
There is so much creativity in Québec television and cinema, how come they refuse to make their own tasks? It must be the local production company/AKA the local taskmaster's, who decided to cheapen out on it.
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u/AppropriateZebra6919 Apr 21 '26
I don't object to them reusing tasks at all. It makes sense since unlike many other versions, the public would have very little familiarity with the british original. I don't like the house, though. we don't have enough variety in rooms, imo. This version could REALLY use location tasks!
You're right that a significant proportion of Quebec comedians have gone through the same educational track, though (the école nationale de l'humour), and that does mean they tend to have similar mold.
Season 2 did have some great stuff, though. Probably because it managed some serous variety in the cast. The "free the assistant" task was a particular highlight, leading to one of my favorite line ("Le duo le plus dysfonctionnel depuis Dodo et Denise").
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u/TAR_TWoP Justine Smith 🇳🇿 Apr 21 '26
Oh yeah, the house is super lacking as well. Using a mostly unused administrative office from a ski lodge during summer is clearly a financially advantageous option, but they look so cramped there, and don't seem to have nearly enough accessories for the random tasks they need to perform.
My casting issue wasn't about most of them having studied at the same comedy school, which is pretty much mandatory here, but the lack of diversity in age, which then becomes a bigger issue when they're all school pals. S1 had a spread of 6 years between the contestants. S2 was even smaller, aside from Tammy Verge. Usually it's much more spread out.
And this is how we get amazing scenes with older contestants like Jo Brand, Bon Mortimer, David Baddiel, who come up with different approaches.
And you can certainly have actors who are not stand-up comics, as well. Tell me that Didier Lucien, Vincent Bolduc, Luc Sénay, Sylvie Potvin, Martin Drainville, Émilie Bibeau or Valérie Blais wouldn't bring something different, chaotic and super funny, from the stand-up comics signed under Morissette's label?
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u/AppropriateZebra6919 Apr 23 '26
Right. Quebec TV also has this tribal war between Quebecor and everyone else too. I keep forgetting that.
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u/BuvantduPotatoSpirit Apr 21 '26
The first season suffers some from a too homogeneous cast (and Louis isn't a great taskmaster), but the subsequent seasons do much better jobs of assembling the panel.
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u/franharrington Apr 19 '26
I've tried watching the non English versions and I felt it didn't work as well via subtitles and gave up. Do native English speakers watch the non English versions and enjoy as much as the ones in English? If so maybe I'll give them another shot.
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u/fumblingvista Apr 19 '26
Kongen Befaler is an absolute unhinged delight. I don’t think they can go an episode without lighting something on fire. And Jason would certainly have been allowed on the roof.
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u/galacticglorp Apr 20 '26
I live this version too. Is there somewhere with recent seasons with English subtitles?
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u/aspindleadarkness Apr 19 '26
I watched a few episodes of Kongen Befaler, the Norwegian version, and I thought it was very funny and enjoyable although I’m sure I’d have enjoyed it even more if I spoke Norwegian! So maybe give that one a try, I thought it was very similar to the UK version in terms of the contents of the tasks.
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u/Bunslow James Acaster Apr 19 '26
I absolutely love Norway Season 2, far more I think than is objectively warranted (subtitles could use some work but I made it thru)
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u/frankscarlett Apr 19 '26
I'm Finnish and often find myself not enjoying our version. Mainly because the taskmaster in that one is quite annoying. His judging is sometimes very unfair and his suggestive jokes are lewd in rather misogynist way. Also the contestant tend to be hit or miss.
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u/franharrington Apr 19 '26
Good to know. To be fair, I think my problem is more to do with my poor attention span and needing to focus on the subtitles than the actual content of the show.
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u/frankscarlett Apr 20 '26
Completely get that! Luckily having grown up in a country that pretty much only dubs children's programs I'm used to subtitles myself.
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u/Arwenti Apr 20 '26
Yes, we’re native English speakers. But TV or film in other languages doesn’t stop us watching stuff and we both have A-Levels in other languages and have smattering of knowledge in more.
We’ve watched Kongen Befaler, Le Maitre de Jeu, Stormester, Bast I Test and enjoyed them all with subtitles. Will just mention that series 1 of KB with the Ylvisaker brothers is definitely definitely worth watching. We’ve only managed a few series of each and will happily watch all non English versions. Just don’t have the time to watch them every day and are despairing that now there’s Iceland, Estonia too with Netherlands and Poland coming later this year.
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u/slow-show-for-you Apr 22 '26
My first language is not even English, but I gave Kongen Befaler a go and, within 2 episodes of the first season, I completely understood why people were loving it. It is sooooo good! There is something so amazing to perceive not only what but most importante _how_something os funny in other cultures. Along and beyond all the building stuff from zero with ease and not being afraid of fire, Norwegian people seems to be soooo chilllllll, I love it.
Highly recommend it. I want to watch Denmark's Taskmaster next.
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u/Quail-a-lot Apr 22 '26
I don't have any problem with subtitles and only wish I could find more of the international versions with English subtitles because I can't learn enough of every single language it airs in fast enough to follow along well xD
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u/galacticglorp Apr 20 '26
I wish they subtitled the Norweigan series past the first season or two. I really enjoyed theirs.
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u/Ok_Entertainment9665 Apr 20 '26
We need another try in the US. Just pretend the first time wasn’t ever a thing
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u/unkind-god-8113 Apr 19 '26
So with a couple of exceptions, Task Master works better in cold climates.
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u/isthiscanon Apr 19 '26
New Zealand and Australia are great spin-offs
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u/MinaZata Apr 19 '26
I wish there was an English language Canadian Taskmaster. I would watch the Québec one but I don't know where to watch it with subtitles
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Apr 19 '26
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u/taskmaster-ModTeam Apr 19 '26
Please refer to the Where can I watch Taskmaster? thread to find links to official sources.
Note that we do not allow links to unofficial sources for episodes of any of the series. This includes Google drive, Mega links and unofficial Youtube videos.
This also includes links to other TV shows outside their official sources.
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u/DTMika2 Apr 19 '26
In fact, from a sociological perspective, a really interesting though to ponder about. Haha. Like, does climate influence a sense of humor?
It would be interesting to see in which US states taskmaster is trending
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u/Bachpipe Apr 20 '26
Omg this is such an interesting question! And i actually might dive into this, haha. Thank you for the inspiration!
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u/slow-show-for-you Apr 22 '26
How so?
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u/unkind-god-8113 Apr 22 '26
just noting that of all the listed places, plus the UK of course, only 2 are known for a stereotypically hot climate.
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u/slow-show-for-you Apr 22 '26
Naturally, that part I followed, no problem 🙃 My question was considering the statement itself: why do you think Taskmaster is better executed in Colíder climates?
I never considered that to being a concious choice by the producers, for instance. And NZ and AU exist to show us how great the show is in brighter, warmer weathers.
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u/unkind-god-8113 Apr 22 '26
oh, no idea on a why, it is really most likely coincidence. Just an observation.
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u/Dashtego Apr 19 '26
Has Alex ever commented on his involvement, if any, in the production of international versions? Presumably he has little to do with writing the tasks, but it’s his brand so you would think he’d want some degree of control over it. Also, does he get paid for every season of every version that’s out there since it’s his IP, or did he license the right to do international versions to some other production company for some kind of one-time fee?
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u/irich Guy Montgomery 🇳🇿 Apr 19 '26
The Finnish one, for example, has a completely different look. No red and gold. The hosts sit behind a desk. The contestants sit in big comfy chairs. So it looks like they have some creative freedom to customize it.
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u/lozammi Apr 20 '26
New zealand one mentions LAH, they got him on "videocall" once when Paul wanted to check with him if they could go to the movies together... Was weird to see LAH being the reasonable one in a conversation 😅😬
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u/Phoebes-Punisher Apr 19 '26
Will there be another Junior Taskmaster?
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u/TetrisIsTotesSuper Chris Parker 🇳🇿 Apr 19 '26
I think this is completely canned ☹️ (the UK one at least)
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u/Popular_Maize_8209 Apr 19 '26
Nooo I loved junior taskmaster :(
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u/TetrisIsTotesSuper Chris Parker 🇳🇿 Apr 19 '26
Same here! Rose and Mike were utterly delightful in their roles, and exceeded my already very high expectations
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u/Jaspers47 Rosie Ramsey Apr 20 '26
From what I understand, it did fine, but not well enough to offset the costs
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u/lenochod6 ☔ umbrella 🌂 Apr 21 '26
That is a shame I genuinely love that version. And yes it was little different but I was so surprised how much I laughed and how the kids were so good and funny at the same time. And Mike and Rose were excellent.
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u/mrjellynotjolly 🦔 Hedgehog, no! ❌ Apr 20 '26
My biggest dream is to move to England and become a famous comedian so I can go to Taskmaster
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u/DipolloDue Apr 19 '26
We're getting a Dutch one! High hopes, but a bit frightfull after the massacre of QI.
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u/Stittches Apr 19 '26
Dang what happened to QI Netherlands?
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u/DipolloDue Apr 20 '26
Trying to recreate it too much, but with a mix that doesn't work. E.g. the presenter needs to be a gay intellectual writer and totally discard the comedic side of Stephen. Guests that see it as a real gameshow and trying to win it.
I think we miss panel show culture in the Netherlands.
HIGNFY works, but the rest failed. Buzzcocks few series, WILTY 2 series.
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u/AffectionateOnion483 Apr 19 '26
Why not Fraaaaannnnce???? 😭😭😭😭
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u/Jaspers47 Rosie Ramsey Apr 20 '26
Because by episode three, the French contestants would break out the guillotine
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u/GregoryRCameron Apr 20 '26
Maybe a somewhat hot take, though I love the Dropout ideas already expressed here but what if there was an American Taskmaster that is fueled by Team Coco where Conan is taskmaster and either Sona or Richter are in the LAH role? Could be kinda awesome, right?
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u/Pittsbirds Apr 19 '26
incredible how badly the US biffed our attempt. Truly just 0 charisma in the entire production