My Friday night tradition since the pandemic began is to watch (or in some cases rewatch) an episode of the UK TV show Taskmaster, which I swear to you, is the funniest thing ever put on television.
Also, for those of us in the US, they put the episodes up for free on YouTube (officially, not pirated), though there is a lag (they're about four seasons behind what's released in the UK). But they still have the first 11 seasons (almost they're releasing one episode each week for season 11) up and available for free.
@mmasnick have you seen the New Zealand version yet? Season 2 is one of the best in all of Taskmaster.
@MarcP i watched season one, and maybe the first episode of season 2. should watch the rest...
@mmasnick Just watched season 1, episode 1 (Melon Buffet). The show is hilarious. Thanks for the tip! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4YhsooE5xY&list=PLRWvNQVqAeWLpNL3IpUsGUdbaOiCG026u
Series 1, Episode 1 - 'Melon buffet.' | Full Episode | Taskmaster

YouTube
@carlmalamud just know you have many more episodes and seasons to go, and somehow, they keep getting better and crazier.

@mmasnick @carlmalamud oh I’ve been looking for a good one, thank you!

Also, maybe old news but Episodes (British show on Netflix) is hilarious.

@mmasnick Outstanding. Thanks for the tip! Watched the first couple of seasons somewhere last year and its a blast
@mmasnick Am still frustrated that Comedy Central couldn’t make the US series work (30 minutes an episode didn’t help) and the CW basically cancelled Taskmaster UK before an episode aired. Who do you hope they have on future seasons?
@mmasnick
💯 I find myself often watching too much Taskmaster and 8 out of 10 Cats Does Countdown.
@mmasnick OMG Taskmaster is freaking amazing. Totally agreed that it is the funniest thing ever put on television.
@mmasnick sorry no Twitter is the funniest (saddest) thing on TV right now.
You have to respect the mileage they get out of famous people being delightfully incompetent, @mmasnick. Life lessons: always look under the table.
@dreadpir8robots i mean, it is kinda designed to make everyone look somewhat incompetent sooner or later. but, still, some seem especially more incompetent than others.
The one where he took Nish Kumar to the rear of the stage for a pep talk, @mmasnick ...
@dreadpir8robots hahahahah. yes, absolutely. That was so, amazing. That moment and James Acaster and the hula hoop are perhaps my two favorite moments.
The Acaster hula hoop was a slow burn emotional roller coaster, @mmasnick. Any time I thought I couldn't like a season as much as the one before, I've been wrong.
@mmasnick You're not lying. It never fails to make me laugh and easily ranks among my favorite television shows.
@mmasnick Taskmaster during the pandemic was a tremendous treat. Seasons 7 and 14 (currently running) are my favorites, but there aren't any bad episodes. The New Zealand version is pretty good, the Norwegian one is Scandinaviansanity.

@mmasnick love Taskmaster.

I was lucky enough to have tickets to the shooting of one of the Series 7 episodes.

It was the one where Jess Knappett fell off the catwalk.

@Majik @mmasnick
Off the Knappett. 😉

@knancy @mmasnick yep.

I love how they renamed it after that.

It was actually quite a traumatic moment on the day. They downplayed it a lot on the aired episode, but she hurt herself quite a bit and they suspended filming whilst they attended to her.

Luckily she wasn't seriously injured.

@Majik @mmasnick

Oh, I didn't realize it was that bad. She played it off well.

@knancy @mmasnick she did.

There was a lot of concern on set for about half an hour whilst the paramedics checked her out.

But she bounded back onto set with enthusiasm and continued to entertain. What a trooper.

@mmasnick Taskmaster really is hilarious and I wish there were more Americans watching it. Freeform in the US showed one episode of it one time on American TV... and the promptly cancelled and more showings of it.
@mmasnick Taskmaster is great! I just watched series 14 episode 7 tonight. Their official YouTube channel posted it. I've been watching UK panel shows for years now, ever since I discovered "Would I Lie To You?".
@mmasnick this show got me through covid.
@mmasnick in case you haven’t seen - TM is franchised in other countries too. The New Zealand one (particularly Season 2) stacks up there with the best of the UK. The Norwegian one (watched with subtitles) is also quite funny. The most dramatic difference being an apparent absence of film health and safety rules, leading to some rather different approaches to the challenges….

@mmasnick https://link.medium.com/HyvdaSpaTub

Jack Bernhardt is a good follow on the Other Place for Taskmaster related content

@mmasnick If you like #TaskMaster look out for #WouldILieToYou and #8OutOfTenCats I think you’ll like them too 😂
@1505helen have definitely seen a few episodes of each!

@mmasnick @1505helen And if you folks like UK taskmaster there are a ton of really amazing ones from other countries with crowdsourced subtitles. The Scandinavian ones are some of my favourites.

https://www.reddit.com/r/panelshow/wiki/taskmaster/

taskmaster - panelshow

The best spot on Reddit to find full episodes and clips of panel shows from around the world. Come chat with your fellow panel show lovers from...

@mmasnick I love it so much that it got me hooked on other countries' versions, too. Most of what I watch these days is Taskmaster or some derivative.
@mmasnick in the interests of cultural exchange, here in the UK I've watched 12 seasons of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" in the last 2 months. Those awful people doing consistently terrible things have completely and utterly charmed me.
@mmasnick It's soo good! Have you seen series 14? The latest episode had me laughing till it hurt.
@pencilled_robin Yes! I have to say Fern makes me laugh no matter what she does.
@mmasnick
Taskmaster is amazing. It was also my first real introduction to James Acaster, who quickly became one of my favorite comedians.
@mmasnick There will never be a better TV Moment than James Acaster discovering Rhod Gilbert opening that garage, then just closing it and moving on with his awful plan.
@mmasnick Taskmaster is so so freaking great.
@jhpot @mmasnick #taskmaster is the greatest show on television and I’m *devastated* that it’s not better known over here. The dynamic between Greg and Alex is 👌🏻
@jhpot @mmasnick @andymci Are you watching the Quebec version of #Taskmaster ? I recommend any of the international ones too.
@Remsreports @mmasnick @andymci I am going to have to check it out!
@Remsreports @jhpot @mmasnick I didn’t know there was a Quebec one!
@andymci @Remsreports @jhpot @mmasnick Yep! Le Maître du Jeu. I loved it, great contestants and task attempts. Louis Morissette is the Taskmaster, and imo he does a good job of it.
@mmasnick @jhpot @andymci @pencilled_robin Louis always reminds me of Dec (from the presenters Ant and Dec in England).
The contestant Joe is crazy.
@Remsreports I'll admit I haven't watched the whole series yet, but from what I've seen so far, yeah he's utterly mad 😂

@mmasnick love Taskmaster. As an American I found it on YouTube: https://youtube.com/c/Taskmaster. Full episodes thru season 11.

Seems it’s also on Pluto.tv: https://reelgood.com/show/taskmaster-2015

Taskmaster

Well done! You've found the #Taskmaster YouTube channel for full eps, exclusives, best bits, interviews and more! New episodes Thursdays at 9pm on Channel 4 in the UK and here on YouTube the day after at 9pm GMT/BST in North America. Watch Taskmaster episodes from around the globe, as well as exclusive content, outtakes, compilations and everything in between. You can also watch episode ad-free on our streaming service, Taskmaster SuperMax+. Emmy Award nominated, and BAFTA, National Comedy Award & Broadcast Award winning Taskmaster, hosted by Greg Davies as The Taskmaster and his loyal assistant Little Alex Horne, challenges some of the funniest people in the country to use their wit, wile, and wisdom to impress The Taskmaster. Join us in this hyper-competitive and hyper-ridiculous mission to beat The Taskmaster.

YouTube
@mmasnick Regularly have tears in my eyes watching this - Greg's angry teacher demeanour is so funny.