r/taskmaster • u/Meghar Tout le monde gagne! • Sep 14 '26
Taskmaster NZ Taskmaster NZ - S7E01 - Stuck In A Dictator Train - Discussion
Welcome to the 7th season of Taskmaster NZ!
Tonight at 7:30 PM NZST on TVNZ2, join Taskmaster Jeremy Wells and Assistant Paul Williams as they put four brand new contestants and one former Taskmaster through their paces to win Jeremy's golden head.

This season features David Fane, Hoani Hotene, Morgana O'Reilly, Rhys Mathewson, and Rose Matafeo.
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u/holdmypringles Sep 14 '26
Reddit getting a shoutout again during this episode thanks to everyone crushing on Paul
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u/Laguna_Azure Laura Daniel 🇳🇿 Sep 14 '26
Came here to look if anyone mentioned it - Rhys calling us out about us thirsting for Paul.
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u/faa19 Mark Watson Sep 14 '26
In the first recorded task no less! I love it when Aus and NZ TM call us out.
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u/boomboomsubban Sep 14 '26
Bravo to Jeremy for his willingness to objectify Gadaffi in 2026. Too many people focus on his atrocities ignoring his chiseled face.
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u/LondonKiwi66 Sep 14 '26
Spoiler - Do not read until you have watched the episode !
Loved the Josh Thompson appearance at the end
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u/Tovetove Sep 14 '26
Taskmaster NZ is good for my sad brain
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u/bsidetracked 💀 Jean Pierre 🦴 Sep 14 '26
I was in a huge funk last week over a variety of life things and the one thing making me happy was that Taskmaster NZ was coming out that week...and then I realized I had to wait another week and it made me sadder. So happy it's finally back!
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u/jdawg06 Sep 14 '26
Has anyone noticed that, because of Jeremy's glasses and the angle he looks at the camera, you can barely see his eyes at all? It's quite disconcerting and once I realised I couldn't stop noticing it.
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u/boomboomsubban Sep 14 '26 edited Sep 14 '26
Yeah, I imagine production weren't happy about those glasses after shooting started. I wonder if they're gone by episode 3.
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u/Pupating-Antenna-36 Sep 15 '26
Yeah. And he used to be one of the few guys who could pull of clear rimmed glasses so well - it really suited him. They definitely hide his eyes and I think the top rim casts a shadow that fuels the disconcerting look.
Hate the hair too - just emphasizes his very very high forehead 😄
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u/dlrius Sep 14 '26
Yep, realised it was this, that was bugging me about his face, at the end of the episode.
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u/BoregarTheBold Nish Kumar Sep 15 '26
Yeah, I’m not thinking the new glasses are doing him any favours, especially with the studio lighting
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u/Tovetove Sep 14 '26
Also they look like such cheap plastic Kmart meta glasses! (even though I'm sure they cost him heeeaps)
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u/Happystitcher89 Sep 14 '26
Hoani with a great tactic in that last round that then semi backfired 🤣
I had no idea who Morgana was and I love her.
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u/sansabeltedcow Sep 14 '26
She looks like Bree Tomasel to me but she’s very much not like her in actuality.
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u/Fearless_Guard_552 Sep 15 '26
You should probably watch Housebound then
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u/PrincessGiallo Sep 15 '26
Holy shit! Thank you! I loved that movie and needed a reason to watch it again.
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u/Ryan_Vermouth Angella Dravid 🇳🇿 Sep 14 '26
In addition to Rose's return to Taskmaster, Rhys Mathewson is the first person to be a Taskmaster contestant after being a credited writer on the show. He was a credited writer (of the script, not tasks) in Series 6.
(A number of contestants have gotten writing credits after appearing as contestants -- Tim Key on TMUK, and then a bunch of TMNZ contestants. This episode credited Josh Thomson as a script and task writer, and Abby Howells, Ray O'Leary, and Jack Ansett as contributing writers. We also know that at least a couple people have suggested a task to Alex which was then used, later become contestants, but were not credited as writers. John Robins was one of them, but I think there might be others.)
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u/colintron Sep 14 '26
I think one of Lee Mack's kids came up with the task about describing a monster
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u/Snoo_47023 Rhys Mathewson 🇳🇿 Sep 14 '26
uuuuh is anyone else seeing jeremy's hair or is it just me
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u/apocalypsedude64 Rosalind Sep 14 '26
Yeah is there a new hairdresser on the show, and why do they hate Jeremy and Paul
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u/DangerousLack 22d ago
I think this must have been filmed while Paul was also filming New Zealand Spy because the hair is similar. Also because Rose was around.
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u/bairy Sep 15 '26
Paul did a great joke that seemed to get missed.
When Morgana tried the vibrating pad, she said "it really took the devil out of me". Paul said "it exorcised you"
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u/RoboFunky Babatunde Aléshé Sep 14 '26 edited Sep 14 '26
For anyone wondering why the points in the live task were added in post, its cause they kept Getting confused with figuring out the scoring in studio
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Sep 14 '26
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u/SpecialistEnough1331 Sep 14 '26
If you watch the physical scoreboards during the prize task they started updating the scores immediately after each contestant performed the action rather than waiting to show Paul flipping them like in round 1. I was wondering about this too.
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u/blandusernameno42 Sep 14 '26
The live task not the prize one. I think that was what was confusing things.
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u/InternationalLaw8913 Sep 16 '26
I was at the live recording. If I recall it was because there was some confusion around scoring and cards were flipped when they shouldn't, Paul messed up the scoring.
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u/Esteban2808 Jeremy Wells 🇳🇿 Sep 14 '26
Cant wait. Great cast. Dave will be a fan favourite i think. We eating good atm with this starting and tmuk s22 at same time
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u/polywrathory Sep 14 '26
glory holes, banging pipes, and the sexual attractiveness of dictators is exactly the Taskmaster After Dark content I want to see
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u/Fukui_San86 Phil Wang Sep 14 '26
Dave, Morgana, and Rose are all dressed for middle school gym class. I hope they’re a team together.
Hopefully Alice Snedden will be able to troll Rose at some point this season to return the favor.
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u/Nabend1401 Patatas Sep 14 '26
Did Paul grow that mustache to look more like his role model, his brother Guy?
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u/Loymoat Guy Montgomery 🇳🇿 Sep 14 '26 edited Sep 14 '26
I'm glad we've moved on from the Nazi jokes. We're glazing dictators instead.
Edit: Nvm
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u/GeshtiannaSG Ania Magliano Sep 14 '26
It didn’t help that so many wore Nazi uniforms as their task costumes.
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u/MeasurementService Sep 14 '26
I hope we get a good reason for Roses' bottles of sauce
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u/IceMaiden21 Stevie Martin Sep 14 '26
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u/Esteban2808 Jeremy Wells 🇳🇿 Sep 14 '26
I was reading that article interesting she asked Alexs permission to take part
And also Chris Parker directing some eps. Hopefully means he can direct champion of champions so Josh can take part
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u/dokuromark 🕶️ Cool Ray O'Leary 🇳🇿 28d ago
My conspiracy Taskmaster brain immediately made me think this was a secret task that everybody got, where they have to either carry an object around at either all the task tapings or all the studio tapings, and Rose chose two bottles of sauce at the tasks, Dave chose his fan in the studio, and clever Rhys has a fake cast on his arm in the studio. I am probably very, very wrong.
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u/Laguna_Azure Laura Daniel 🇳🇿 Sep 14 '26
Morgana is giving me Joel energy and I love her so far - the "gloryhole?" hesitation had big "wank?" energy
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u/monaco_wedding Aisling Bea Sep 14 '26
I’m currently selling my mom’s unwanted crap on Facebook marketplace and everyone keeps messaging to ask if it’s available and then bailing, and I have fairly treatment resistant depression, so this episode feels like it was written specifically for me, lol.
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u/laluneodyssee Chloe Petts Sep 14 '26
Great cast this season, although they’ve been on a roll for a while now. Love seeing Rose again. Dave is bringing a blend of Jo Brand and David Correos energy. And Rhys is killing it !!!
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u/ScienceDancerNerd Sep 14 '26 edited Sep 15 '26
I was rooting for Rose, still am, but idk man... Rhys and Dave are so much fun though
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u/GlitterSpaceBunnies Paul Williams 🇳🇿 Sep 14 '26
Full credit to TMNZ. I personally think they’re the superior TM (ignore flair). If anyone involved in the production is lurking, my sincere gratitude to you all. It’s truly my favourite time of year when a new TMNZ season airs, your comedians are ~chefs kiss~ First ep was brilliant, so many laughs!
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u/DarrenGrey 29d ago
The task-writing on TMNZ is just so good. Really gives lots of space for the contestants to be creative. And the contestants themselves so regularly step up to the plate with funny mini drama pieces.
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u/XecoX David Correos 🇳🇿 Sep 14 '26
I love Morgana! Her juddering ad had me laughing until my vision is blurry🤣
Also anybody knows what did Greg do?
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Sep 14 '26
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u/Tovetove Sep 14 '26
So excited for the MOTAT footage
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u/thatautisticguy 🟦 🟩 🟨 🟩 🟨 Sep 14 '26
MOTAT?
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u/Kigiyuk Sep 15 '26
Rose looks like she’s having a blast! This was a very solid opener. I’m excited to see what’s next with these contestants. I wasn’t familiar with Morgana but she’s giving fun chaos monster energy.
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u/burf12345 🚬 Doctor Cigarettes Sep 14 '26
I really hope they make it quickly available on the Taskmaster International channel for people outside NZ, the simultaneous premier on the YouTube channel for the main series is a godsend.
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u/queen_naga 🦔 Hedgehog, no! ❌ Sep 14 '26
I don’t know what’s going on with the taskmaster international channel and channel 4 here but we don’t get Australia or NZ, c4 seem to have the rights but keep delaying series.
And they wonder why people resort to other methods to watch.
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u/video-kid Chain Bastard ⛓️ Sep 14 '26
They actually just put the older series of NZ and Aus up on the Channel 4 App. I agreee it's frustrating to have to wait for the new seasons though.
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Sep 14 '26 edited Sep 15 '26
[deleted]
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u/apocalypsedude64 Rosalind Sep 14 '26
Aye I'm just waiting for it to hit the usual sites before I sail the seas. Hoping to watch it this evening with me tea 😁
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25d ago
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u/taskmaster-ModTeam 25d ago
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/SubwayHero4Ever Sally Phillips Sep 14 '26
Jeremy forgot to get a haircut for this ep, eh?
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u/Pupating-Antenna-36 Sep 15 '26
Yeah. I am sad about the hair and the glasses. More so the glasses than the hair. The glasses cover his eyes or cast a shadow - it feels weird
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u/Esteban2808 Jeremy Wells 🇳🇿 Sep 15 '26
Hes been growing it all year but I havent kept up with the radio show to know why
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u/Robbro42 Stevie Martin Sep 15 '26
Just watched the episode.So happy to see Rose back as a contestant.
And just when I thought we'd seen the strangest of NZ comics, I'm introduced to Morgana.
Solid tasks, loved the pipe banging task, and a really fun live task.
Honestly I'm more excited about this than I am with the current UK series.
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u/No-River-9631 Sep 15 '26
Honestly same. Which I didn’t expect. I’ve been counting down the weeks to the UK series and just realized last week that NZ was starting but … it all comes down to the dynamic and personalities of the cast. And s7 of NZ taskmaster just feels so much more fun & lovable.
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u/ruwisc 🚬 Doctor Cigarettes Sep 15 '26
I hope Dave is more competitive the rest of the season, I liked him a lot (Hoani as well). Overall a really strong first episode
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u/caddywhompuskangaroo Paul Williams 🇳🇿 27d ago
I love this group. I love this show. I'm so happy to see Rose again. God I missed TMNZ.
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u/valdemiro Javie Martzoukas Sep 14 '26
Fantastic cast, everyone is bringing something different to the game.
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u/jackpipsam Sep 14 '26
Binge hasn't got this either >.<
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u/No_Complaint8998 Sep 15 '26
Literally cancelled my binge and put no new taskmaster as the reason
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u/StormAngel1983 Patatas Sep 15 '26
Yeah, cries in Australian. Australian Taskmaster fans have been screwed over with the new series.
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u/LemonyLime_bitters Tom Cashman 🇦🇺 Sep 14 '26
Does anyone know if we can stream this in Australia? It used to be available on Binge pretty soon after it aired in NZ but I haven’t seen any “Coming Soon” on Binge….so I think it may have also gone the way of series 22 in terms of availability here
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u/Salohacin Sep 14 '26
I'm travelling in Australia at the moment and have just been using the r / panelshow subreddit (not sure about this subs link policy)
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u/Any_Significance_248 James Acaster Sep 14 '26
You can watch it on YouTube but all the uploads aren’t from the official channel so they’ll probably be taken down soon.
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u/lonelygagger Javie Martzoukas 28d ago
Rhys is going to run away with this, isn't he?
I love all the contestants right off the bat. Everyone is already so well-defined. Poor Rose is getting a beating from Jeremy, though. I love Dave's jolly but nonchalant attitude towards everything. Hoani is a bit meek and passive-aggressive, but hilarious. Morgana's happy-go-lucky personality was probably my favorite, especially her Shank Plank presentation.
Rose working out how to play the Taskmaster theme tune by ear deserves a special kind of respect.
I love how Josh Thomson always manages to make an appearance somehow.
I gotta say though, I'm not loving Paul's mustache in the studio. I was hoping it was a joke that would get paid off.
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u/Ryan_Vermouth Angella Dravid 🇳🇿 Sep 14 '26
Dictator train or mammal groove -- where would YOU rather be stuck?
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u/Salohacin Sep 14 '26
First thing that sprung to mind was the mammal groove when I saw that title.
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u/faa19 Mark Watson Sep 15 '26
I always had a soft spot for Morgana when she was in Neighbours and I'm so glad to see she's chaotic af.
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u/Esteban2808 Jeremy Wells 🇳🇿 Sep 14 '26 edited Sep 14 '26
Solid first ep. Feel Daves going to fall into that always 5th role. Rhys is more competent than i was expecting. As far as I have been able to see this might be the first nz season without lgbt representation, and 2nd season in a row without ACC member. Not overall important stats, but stats none the less.
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u/JamieLambister Sep 14 '26
As New Zealand tax payers, they're all ACC members
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u/Esteban2808 Jeremy Wells 🇳🇿 Sep 14 '26
Not that ACC
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u/JamieLambister Sep 14 '26
(I'm still trying to work out what other ACC you're talking about)
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u/Esteban2808 Jeremy Wells 🇳🇿 Sep 14 '26
Alternative Commentary Collective. A group of comedians who original set up to provide Alternative cricket commentary about 10 years ago and still going but have now branched into other sports. Jeremy amd his friends basically an excuse to watch sport and drink. So the early seasons usually had someone from it one of Jerry's friends - Leigh, Matt, Ben, Dai, (Karen has appeared twice but wasnt officially part of it). Basically started as an offchute of radio Hauraki
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u/nja5996 Sep 14 '26
Fun fact a lot of them were on ACC before they went onto Hauraki. ACC is what brought Leigh and Jase together. Matt and Jerry started pretty much same week as ACC I think.
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u/Esteban2808 Jeremy Wells 🇳🇿 Sep 14 '26
Leigh and Jase have been working together well before ACC or Hauraki shows. Late night big breakfast, moon tv
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u/nja5996 Sep 14 '26
Yes that’s true. I should’ve been more clear.
I was meaning that it brought them together for Hauraki (ie ACC came first), first with their Saturday morning sports show and then daily Bhuja which were off the back of their work on the ACC.2
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u/TeHokioi Sep 14 '26
Are you sure? I could have sworn Bhuja was already a thing when I started listening to Hauraki, then ACC came along after
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u/nja5996 Sep 14 '26
Yep, I’ve definitely heard about it on various podcasts. But here is a written source too:
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u/colintron Sep 14 '26
another annoying task for people who know what actual notes sound like!
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u/colintron Sep 15 '26
I assume it was transposed so none of them had sharps in their names / it could fit the written task, but they only had a few pipes to choose from, and repitching the pipes would involve a lot of metalwork.
Even so, it wasn't all that close to the pitch of that particular musical sting; was it consistently sharp?
Massive props, bigger than the pipes, to Rose if she really figured it out without the clue. 'cause, like, that's not even the Taskmaster theme tune, and it wasn't in the right key in note names or pitch. Without a clue I definitely would have defaulted to the trumpetty intro theme.
If we were being as persnickety about note tunings as I am (because I'm correct), you could've done the intro theme erasing accidentals as ADABGDGAAbcbcded (slight error on the two different cs). I think that's a reasonable version. You could also pitch it down into that stupid way trumpeters have to get all the notes a whole tone out.
I enjoy music tasks! And I appreciate the editors coming up with an orchestral backing to whatever Hoani blurted out: quite often the music editors are mapping to something already sung a capella.
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u/DarrenGrey 29d ago
I'm not musical at all, but I picked up that it was the Taskmaster tune from the two that were following the note sequence (ie before Rose did her piece) so it can't be that far off.
And it's probably hard to do really well with a bunch of metal pipes in an unideal acoustic environment.
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29d ago
[deleted]
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u/colintron 29d ago
The notes as named were not the frequencies that came out. The whole thing was transposed to be around Es and Bs, which are easier to start words with on the task text than Cs and Gs and G sharps.
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29d ago
[deleted]
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u/colintron 28d ago
yeah. I have perfect pitch; to hear notes misnamed is like someone insisting red is blue. I know it's common practice given various instruments.
Transposition also happened on the xylophone bagpipes task in the UK.
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u/captbollocks Celia Pacquola 🇦🇺 5d ago
I was waiting to finish Taskmaster UK S22 before starting this TM NZ S7 run but after 6 episodes, i found the latest UK season missing that cast synergy and energy.
After watching this season opener on the back of UK S22E06, the atmosphere is way more electric here and it's clear the cast are massive fans of the show and were eager to get involved!
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Sep 14 '26
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u/eat_it_up_worms_hero Guy Montgomery 🇳🇿 Sep 15 '26
Each to their own, I thought it was great (after the majesty of season 5, I found 6 to be a little limp at times), and was more consistently amused and entertained than I have been with the first 2 eps of UK S22.
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Sep 15 '26
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u/eat_it_up_worms_hero Guy Montgomery 🇳🇿 Sep 15 '26
Oh me too, it's been good, but comparatively I found this ep more of a chuckle.
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u/Le_stam Sep 15 '26
Stupid question maybe but do you mean of the NZ openers? I didn't really like the sixth series but after watching this I'm considering that I've might just been very spoiled by the fifth. I agree on Morgana though.
Having Rose "return" sounds great on paper. But it built up some expectation she couldn't deliver for me at least in this episode. Also felt a bit weird seeing her interact with a different taskmaster.
Anyway, things usually gets better.
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Sep 15 '26
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u/Pupating-Antenna-36 Sep 15 '26
Partway through it I began wondering if I was suffering TM-fatigue but went back and watched some old episodes and it's very much a cast dynamic thing. But I liked the music task and the live task in the end. I am also not vibing with this cast. Just like I am not vibing with the TM-UK cast this season. Individually they seem like nice people. But I don't know... something is off
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Sep 15 '26
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u/charwf91 Sep 15 '26
If you type taskmaster NZ into YouTube there's quite a few uploads of episode one
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u/taskmaster-ModTeam Sep 15 '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.
1
Sep 15 '26
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u/taskmaster-ModTeam Sep 15 '26
Sorry, your post/comment has been removed for violating Rule 1 - Be nice:
Negative opinions are fine, but please keep it respectful and constructive. We do not allow negative posts like worst contestants, tasks, least liked/wanted, etc...
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Sep 14 '26
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u/taskmaster-ModTeam Sep 14 '26
Sorry, your post/comment has been removed for violating Rule 1 - Be nice:
Negative opinions are fine, but please keep it respectful and constructive. We do not allow negative posts like worst contestants, tasks, least liked/wanted, etc...
- Do not attack others, their work or appearance including fellow members of the sub, comedians and celebrities.
- No harassment.
- No sexist, homophobic, biphobic, transphobic, racist, fat phobic, ableist, objectifying, or body shaming posts of any kind.
- No sexual comments directed at contestants including sexual fanfic/shipping.
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u/Hazlet95 Sep 14 '26
I'm gonna need to see some eps with this cast but I don't get Dave's clueless attitude or whatever that is he has with him in the studio. Is it some kind of bit?
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u/Fen_Misting Tofiga Fepulea’i 🇳🇿 Sep 14 '26
It's a fan.
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u/Hazlet95 Sep 14 '26
I’m not from NZ I don’t get the humor. I loved to’figa or however you spell on first watch but I would characterize both of their initial attempts to be similar. Dave seems so earnest in studio which made me not like the gap a bit
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u/EquivalentZebra4517 Sep 14 '26
Yeah, I’ll join you in getting downvoted but I don’t find the combined clueless / don’t give a fuck contestants amusing very often, especially when it is the extent of their persona. In small doses it can be funny but it seemed to be every time he was on screen.
Thought this was a really slow start. For a first task the grape task didn’t have much payoff aside from Morgana but the next two tasks were much better. Final task was fine but thought the masks were by far the best part. And again, I’m not sure what he was going for, but Dave’s T shape did nothing for me.



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u/Meghar Tout le monde gagne! 23d ago
episode 1
episode 2
episode 3
episode 4