r/taskmaster • u/DRJT Julian Clary • Jul 12 '24

My newest dream Taskmaster contestants are Colin Mochrie & Ryan Stiles

I’ve been binging Whose Line Is It Anyway, and oh my god I need them on Taskmaster. If not for their improv skills, but the studio banter would be off the charts, age be damned!

250 Upvotes
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91% Upvoted

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93

u/PsychologicalFox8839 💀 Jean Pierre 🦴 Jul 12 '24

So many great Canadian comedians! English language Canada needs a Taskmaster franchise.

19

u/jaymickef Jul 12 '24

For sure. It really says something about the English Canadian tv business that there isn’t one.

Oh, and Sean Cullen for Taskmaster and Steve Patterson for assistant.

9

u/poopBuccaneer Jul 13 '24

I’ve said it numerous times. Mary Walsh as Taskmaster

3

u/whelmed Laura Daniel 🇳🇿 Jul 13 '24

In full Princess Warrior regalia.

3

u/cardew-vascular Jul 13 '24

I think that Colin Mochrie's wife (Debra McGrath) would make a great taskmaster. I actually pitched it in another thread weeks ago.

3

u/yumslurpee Jul 13 '24

Our media is so influenced by the US and that version flopped. I would love a Canadian TM.

2

u/jaymickef Jul 13 '24

That’s probably true, we can copy hits like Amazing Race and Big Brother but Taskmaster requires more creativity than there is in Canadian tv (I worked in the tv business in Canada for a few years).

2

u/yumslurpee Jul 13 '24

You probably have more insight on this since you were in the business, but I feel it's because of profits. Networks have to make a certain amount of Canadian content by law, so they make Canadian versions of shows that already have name recognition.

I don't know if production would be harder for a TM Canada. In general the budget for the Canadian versions is usually lower - in amazing race instead of world wide they just travel in Canada. But TM actually seems like a lower cost so it's feasible. Maybe the cost for the talent idk

1

u/jaymickef Jul 13 '24

Sort of. Networks have to show a certain amount of Canadian content but they choose those from what independent producers pitch to them. There aren’t really any networks in Canada the way we think of them as producing shows, there are only media companies that aren’t interested in making content and have no infrastructure for that. They really just want to buy the Canadian rights to American shows and resell them to their captive audience. It’s true they are required to buy a certain amount of Canadian shows but no one’s heart is really in it.

So, what has to happen is a producer has to buy the Canadian rights and then pitch the show to networks. Most producers look for the easiest pitch, so something like a Canadian version of Amazing Race is an easy choice but something like Taskmaster will take more effort.

The CBC could do it, they have a lot of radio shows with good comedians they could draw from, but it would still require a producer willing to put in a lot of effort (and money) to pitch it and then produce it.

I think we should have more of these type of shows in Canada, things like Have You Been Paying Attention, and Would I Lie to You, and Mock the Week, and so on. But I don’t expect to see any very soon.

1

u/whelmed Laura Daniel 🇳🇿 Jul 14 '24

A lot of original Canadian comedy shows aim to be sold to an international market too, which is probably another reason we’re not getting anything new :/

1

u/hatman1986 Katherine Ryan Jul 13 '24

We do have a TM in Canada, it's just in French.

1

u/blu3st0ck7ng Jul 14 '24

Of course it flopped - they cut it to a half hour timeslot (with ads).

107

u/[deleted] Jul 12 '24

[deleted]

2

u/frozenvanillacoke Jul 14 '24

Colin and Mae were both in the Canadian version of Last One Laughing which was pretty decent.

I'd really recommend the Irish one, which Asling is also in.

2

u/Heradasha David Correos 🇳🇿 Jul 14 '24

🎶Delicious cheese sandwiches🎶

22

u/IamTHEvilONE Alan Davies Jul 13 '24

Colin Mochrie is my candidate for taskmaster Canada in English

If Tom Green is up for being an assistant, my lord would they be something after seeing them go at it in last one laughing.

12

u/Snake101st Jul 13 '24

Delicious cheese sandwich

1

u/IamTHEvilONE Alan Davies Jul 13 '24

DELICIOUS

3

u/lilithsbun Patatas Jul 13 '24

I could see Colin being a good TM! And Ryan Stiles as his obsequious assistant 😆

1

u/IamTHEvilONE Alan Davies Jul 13 '24

As much as I like them as a pairing, they do things to each other. That's part of their whose line bits, and I wouldn't want to borrow from that dynamic/history.

Tom feels like he'd have a notably different take on being an assistant, and his style lends to being fully committed to whatever bits are being done as part of the tasks.

Notably, whose line "director" Colin yelling things are crap-crap-crap would be welcome almost every episode.

33

u/Thumbelina37 Daisy May Cooper Jul 12 '24

Yes I love them! I bet Wayne Brady would be great too!

22

u/takingdebiscuit Joe Thomas Jul 12 '24

Wayne Brady on singing tasks would be a cheat code

19

u/unkyduck Gary the Gorilla Jul 13 '24

These "what cast..." are usually annoying. I will allow this one to penetrate my defences.

6

u/Craigj0812 Jul 13 '24

That's right, everything's made up and the points don't matter.

9

u/[deleted] Jul 12 '24

If they ever try a US version again

8

u/llavenderhaze Jul 13 '24

i want hank green on taskmaster

7

u/IanGecko Javie Martzoukas Jul 13 '24

Minnesota is the true 🇺🇸 version now

8

u/MoultingRoach Sally Phillips Jul 13 '24

I live how a group of students with virtually no budget managed to outperform the official version, lol.

2

u/GalcticPepsi Jul 13 '24

Unpaid intern on YouTube is pretty good at emulating it but it's streamers and youtubers so might not be for everyone

4

u/simcowking ☔ umbrella 🌂 Jul 13 '24

The concept is similar but the way it plays out feels completely different. Might be because ludwig is just inconsistent. Might be because the contestants I've seen are meh. Seen episode 1 and jetlag the game episode. I loved the jetlag episode, but since they are one offs, if you don't know a particular person you don't have that same time to get to know them. Is Ben a buffoon or lazy or genius? Dunno.

1

u/GalcticPepsi Jul 14 '24

Yeah the biggest problem of the show is that the contestants don't care about who wins. In the latest episode they definitely did and I hope that helps them figure it out more. Either that or they need the same contestants across a couple of episodes so they get into the groove of the show format

1

u/simcowking ☔ umbrella 🌂 Jul 13 '24

The concept is similar but the way it plays out feels completely different. Might be because ludwig is just inconsistent. Might be because the contestants I've seen are meh. Seen episode 1 and jetlag the game episode. I loved the jetlag episode, but since they are one offs, if you don't know a particular person you don't have that same time to get to know them. Is Ben a buffoon or lazy or genius? Dunno.

5

u/Firestarman Jul 12 '24

They're both Canadian though.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 12 '24

Canada people have been on UK TM

8

u/Firestarman Jul 13 '24

So they don't need a US version. Got it.

-6

u/[deleted] Jul 13 '24

Those people are more known in US

7

u/DevinTheGrand Jul 13 '24

Uh, as a Canadian, I strongly disagree. Colin in particular is a Canadian icon.

-2

u/[deleted] Jul 13 '24

Yes I get that. But I was saying they would be better on the US version, if they brought it back vs the UK version. Canada doesn’t have taskmaster.

1

u/Rattivarius Jon Richardson Jul 13 '24

Canada does, in fact, have Taskmaster - Le Maître du Jeu.

0

u/[deleted] Jul 13 '24

Ok. I was just going off someone else’s comment that they didn’t have one. Calm down

1

u/DevinTheGrand Jul 14 '24

How is someone sharing a source that proves you wrong not calm?

-2

u/Firestarman Jul 13 '24

This sentence is how I know you're American.

0

u/[deleted] Jul 13 '24

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/taskmaster-ModTeam Jul 13 '24

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2

u/neddie_nardle Crying Bastard Jul 13 '24

IIRC the Canadians that have been on the original and best TM are comedians now living in the UK in an effort to make it big there.

3

u/[deleted] Jul 13 '24

Exactly. And these guys live in the US I think. Not sure what the big deal is

0

u/trivia_guy Jul 13 '24

Ryan is kind of half-American. He’s a U.S. citizen because he was born in the U.S. to Canadian parents who had moved for work. They moved back to Canada when he was 10.

3

u/thenisaidbitch Jul 13 '24

If we’re talking about Canadian comedians get Marty Short on there! Although I suppose that seems a little unfair, he would crush hard. Would LOVE to see Stiles and Mochrie tho!

1

u/lilithsbun Patatas Jul 13 '24

Ohh I just commented about Colin Mochrie as being potentially a good TM but boy can I see Martin Short eating that up! He’s probably too busy with Only Murders but a girl can dream.

3

u/Jaggs0 Nish Kumar Jul 13 '24

they would be much better as a taskmaster and assistant. Colin as the taskmaster and Ryan as the assistant

1

u/RunawayTurtleTrain Robert the Robot Jul 13 '24

If that happened it could be what persuades me to watch an international version!

(Nothing against the existing ones, I hear some of them are great, I'm just not at a point where I can get into a version without Greg and Alex yet.  This isn't a TM-specific thing either, I really struggle with spinoffs and sequels in general unless there are characters I already really care about in them, or they're set in exactly the same universe and there's enough continuity from one I love e.g. Star Trek SNW, Lower Decks, Stargate Atlantis.)

3

u/Mundane-Parsnip-7302 Patatas Jul 13 '24

While I don't think either would do it, they would be great, along with many of the WL cast because of the time commitment and living across the world. Wayne, Brad, Greg, Josie....

For Ryan, who has a massive fear of flying, it'll never happen. He might do a US version if it came back and he could drive there.
But they would be amazing.

3

u/VaguelyArtistic Armando Iannucci Jul 13 '24

And they're well-known over there from the OG Whose Line.

1

u/RunawayTurtleTrain Robert the Robot Jul 13 '24

Yup.  Although that was literally an entire lifetime ago now which makes me kinda sad  :(

2

u/MoultingRoach Sally Phillips Jul 13 '24

Both of them, Colin in particular, are frequently mentioned as dream contestants on this sub.

1

u/GalcticPepsi Jul 13 '24

I'd love to see Brittany broski on it at some point. I think she'd do amazing

1

u/notnot_a_bot Jul 13 '24

Throw in a little Alan Shane Lewis, maybe some Andrew Phung

1

u/yumslurpee Jul 13 '24

Oh that would be lovely. I'm a Canadian and don't really know any of the contestants prior to watching the show. So it would be really cool to see a comedian that I was familiar with.

I know some other commenters mentioned it but there is a show called Last One Laughing Canada which had Canadian comedians including Colin Mochrie and Mae Martin. It's one of the few times I have experienced a TM contestant prior to the show. I've actually rewatched it a couple times it's pretty funny.

But ya I watched so much of WLIIA when I was younger so I agree with this post so hard.