Most days I like to check in on the Taskmaster subreddit, not because it's good but because it's so very bad. Reddit is famously one of the worst websites of all time and incentivizes shit ass toilet posts, tired memes, references you've heard a thousand times, "DAE like the thing we all like?", "Oh my god! Our incredibly popular TV show was mentioned on TV!" etc. and r/Taskmaster is absolutely bursting at the seams with some of the worst posts of all time
But there's been a real shift in tone over the past few weeks as series 15 has been airing. Initial reactions were very positive! Many were calling it the best series yet, since nobody on Reddit knows what recency bias is. Sadly, the fool Alex Horne included a live task with "double or nothing" scoring, and one team walked away with 10 points while the other got nothing. Oh no!
The Taskmaster fandom has a real way of spiraling things out of proportion, and I knew immediately that this would be one of those times. Much like they have been swept up in the massively exaggerated narrative of "series 8 is unwatchable, Iain Stirling is such a miserable bastard and in fact nobody is having fun and you can tell everyone hates each other", the series 15 narrative is already being rewritten. Did you know? It's an absolute train wreck! The scoring is a complete mess. Greg doesn't know what the fuck he's doing. These tasks are a disaster. This cast just doesn't work. DAE miss the old days? DAE feel like Taskmaster lost something around my personal subjective nostalgia cutoff point?
But there's been a real turn over the past few days that I find genuinely reprehensible and it's why I'm making this post. The Taskmaster fandom on Reddit has long believed itself to be a very positive place full of insightful people coming together in appreciation of the greatest show ever made. Part of that is that they always praise behind-the-scenes aspects of the show, particularly the editing. r/Taskmaster loves shouting out the editors! And they're right to do so! The editing is such a huge part of the identity of Taskmaster as a show and uh oh. Turns out the editing is so bad now. Hey hey hey I heard that the old editor quit. Hey hey hey hey I bet they quit because they hated the direction the show was going. Oh hell yeah folks we've got a new scapegoat
That's right folks, I've started seeing multiple posts from multiple users throwing the editors under the bus. It turns out it's all their fault! I saw a comment today on a short outtake saying "why wasn't this included? I'm starting to think this new editor doesn't understand what makes Taskmaster funny." Holy shit dude. Rancid community
Anyway, I've been loving series 15. Reddit is wrong, as always
