Swedish Taskmaster
I’ve written about Taskmaster before. It’s a UK TV show in which comedians complete tasks in order to please Greg Davis, the Taskmaster himself. Tasks range from all sorts of stuff, from knocking down plastic ducks to composing songs for strangers, all the way to pushing trolleys across an airport and having to eat as much watermelon as possible in a minute. Basically, it’s a crazy show and I love it. Even if I haven’t been able to watch the latest seasons.
But what surprises me more is that there are other versions of Taskmaster. Three of which are set in Scandinavia. Norway, Sweden and Denmark all have their own versions of the show, the same premise and similar ideas. Some ideas are copied straight from original Taskmaster tasks while others are brand new to the shows. They’re all interesting in their own ways.
There’s also a New Zealand version, which I only recently started to watch. However, I’ve also started watching Bäst i Test, the Swedish version, and the atmospheres are all very different. Today though, I want to look at Bäst i Test, simply because I find myself quite interested in this Taskmaster variation.
Swedish Taskmaster
Of course, you’re all going to ask how I’m understanding it. After all, I am bi-lingual but I only speak English and Greek. No Swedish at all. Well, with the mighty power of subtitles, I can enjoy international Taskmaster almost as much as if I was watching the normal show. The downside is that I have to watch the show directly, I can’t switch to whatever else it is that I’m doing, because I need to read the subtitles.
What I do like is that each version has its own little thing to make it different. Normally, you have 5 comedians vying for a golden bust. In Bäst i Test, though, there’s only 4 comedians, and a different guest contestant, which allows Bäst i Test to group up the teams nice and evenly – mostly because the guest panelist doesn’t take part in group tasks.
The personalities are great as well. We still have a strict Taskmaster, a woman called Babben, and she does have her own Swedish version of Little Alex Horne. David though is more… assistant-y. He’s still lower than the Taskmaster but his character is more competent and more referee-like rather than only being an assistant. As for the Bäst i Test taskmaster house, it’s larger but not quite as fancy. In UK Taskmaster, the house is given a theme every season, but that doesn’t seem to happen here. The studio though? It’s a much more relaxed experience, with two sofas instead of individual chairs. I’d describe it as more ‘tactile’, especially since they hold their prize tasks in their hands, and the rewards are put on a stand n front of the audience.
The studio is also used far more than the UK version. Not only is there a final task of the show which uses the studio, they actually do smaller tasks in the studio too.
Other shows to watch
I admit however that I haven’t watched the other international versions yet. Taskmaster Denmark and Taskmaster Norway both look pretty fun, although I’ll still have the problem of having to read subtitles. But I got to get through at least a season of Taskmaster New Zealand first.
And, maybe, hopefully, I’ll find a way to watch seasons 13 and 14 of UK’s Taskmaster show…