The Truth Behind TaskMaster Prizes & How Product Placement Works in Film | Q&A

Is there anything Richard doesn't enjoy on TV? Are the personal prizes on Taskmaster really given away and just what has happened to the art of sketch shows?
Another question and answer edition of The Rest Is Entertainment shining a light on those topics and more.
Twitter: @restisents
Email: [e-mail]
Producer: Neil Fearn
Executive Producers: Tony Pastor + Jack Davenport

[@Shmiguelly]

Finding out they don't keep the prizes on Taskmaster is something I really knew but having it confirmed is still a little like finding out Santa isn't real

[@CapnBadger]

Dude! Spoilers! I hadn't heard the Santa thing yet....

[@TequilaDave]

​@@CapnBadger ... you wait until you hear about the Easter Bunny! 😆

[@jaxlaxsurprise]

What if they all DO get to keep the prizes, except for Richard Osman?

[@georgesos]

Yes,I was disappointed to hear that,very cheap of them to not give away the prizes (which are purely symbolic anyway,nothing exp3nsive)

[@SirJoshuaTree]

@@georgesos Some of the prizes that are brought in can get pretty expensive and/or sentimental.

[@speedy]

4:55 for the taskmaster question

[@tiffa440]

Doing gods work!

[@cliffhomewood]

We need the Taskmaster ep they promise@@tiffa440

[@carolinalins]

God bless u

[@ryanviningtube]

Thanks

[@BeccaB529]

Thank you! And how disappointing and pointless.

[@Telruin]

The way he solved the yoga ball challenge established one of the core elements of what taskmaster is today.

[@lanjelyne661]

I do not recall it- may I have the season and episode please? 😍😜

[@carlos_hb]

@@lanjelyne661 Series 2, episode 1 the very first actual tasks he took the mat from the hill

[@funguy170]

I tried to introduce my mom and my sister to the show, but they have really short attention spans, and by the time I found a clip that showed the loophole strategy, they lost interest, and I never got the chance to explain how genius it is, because my mom would have actually loved it, but my sister wanted to change the channel to any movie that was showing on lifetime. It was one of the most disappointing moments in my life.

[@randym4077]

Until they started working so hard to close possible loopholes and punish comedians for being too clever.

[@the_doomcliff]

​@@funguy170wow, two big Ls, give it another try mate, they can't miss Taskmaster.

[@Scott_McKin]

I'd love to see an episode all about taskmaster!

[@mordicaiknode]

American here: it's absolutely true that Taskmaster & Would I Lie to You are the easy sells. In Taskmaster's case especially, as its well supported on KZbin!

[@jillkearns525]

That’s what I thought but one did both American versions fail?!

[@leeminhyung167]

@@jillkearns525I watched a video essay once on it. And they theorized on of the main issues was that they took the prize segment out. US wanted it to be within a 30 min time slot. And without the prizes, the viewer doesn’t get to know the contestant and understand how they might approach a task. Making it less entertaining

[@BeccaB529]

@@leeminhyung167And some of the US contestants were just downright filthy/vile acting.

[@mordicaiknode]

@@jillkearns525 not every localization can work! I don't have an answer for you, though much ink has been spilled on the subject.

[@NFS136]

​@@jillkearns525 A lot of it is bad casting imo. Also they had Alex as TM Assistant instead of their own, which just felt weird to me. Plus panel show format isn't familiar to the general US audience. If they try to reboot it with a new cast and have it be available on YT/streaming services, they def could reach their audience. I mean, even the fanmade TM Minnesota has a decent following.

[@JacknVictor]

That what Richard said about having a cold for a day or two being 15 episodes of a show, reminds me of one of the presenters of Catchphrase having a broken leg for what felt like years.

[@NigelConliffe]

To Richard's first comment: Victoria Coren Mitchell was obviously about 8 months pregnant for one entire run of Only Connect.

[@DerekGrubb]

What's broken with the KZbin algorithm that this is the first episode to show up in my feed, and after it's been running for two months ? I'm hooked.

[@signeaarejrgensen61]

Same😊

[@juliamcwilliam]

I agree, I watch and I subscribe to so many UK shows yet this only just showed up now

[@JenWellsted]

I think it popped up in mine this time because taskmaster was in the title

[@ch8rt]

This is it, absolutely. If the world loves Taskmaster, so does KZbin@@JenWellsted

[@petergilbert7106]

Richard Osman always seems like he is a thoroughly nice bloke. I love Marinas writing too. Just subscribed.

[@richardnewell8478]

WILTY and Taskmaster are GREAT, hello from Des Moines, IA

[@lakrids-pibe]

QI was my gateway to british panel shows. QI, Taskmaster, Mock the Week, Have I Got News for You... Would I Lie To You never did it for me.

[@imamejmg]

Fully agree!

[@anderslarsen6009]

Ad cats does countdown.

[@MorningAngel]

Same! And I'm up in Toronto, Canada!

[@fookoff9220]

Yes they are the only 2 gameshows/panel shows that haven't been ruined yet and still worth watching in my opinion.

[@kaylacobb3541]

I was at Richard’s Nashville book signing and can confirm, many people (including myself) mentioned Taskmaster 😂

[@chrisknight2631]

Correction: Donald Glover didn’t leave Community after season 7. It only ran for 6 seasons (and a movie!!). He left part-way through season 5. Chevy Chase left after season 4, but then his character died off-screen in season 5 (episode 3 - the asscrack bandit episode). During his Will-reading (episode 4) he left Troy (Glover) all his Hawthorn Wipes stock (valued at $14m) on the condition that Troy sailed around the world. Troy then left during/after the next episode, which was the Floor is Lava episode (S05E05).

[@LiveDonkeyDeadLion]

Just like Zach Braff and scrubs. What was it that Troy said? #sixseasonsandamovie (and he recently said the script is finished)

[@philw6056]

He also left him the obligatory sperm. Also shows like Community or Brooklyn99 were cancelled and later renewed for addititonal seasons by another channel. Community just shy of the 100 at 97 episodes.

[@myturningpoint]

@@LiveDonkeyDeadLion Incorrect, Zach did a full 8 seasons of Scrubs and appeared in a few episodes of Season 9 as a transitionary character as S9 was always meant to be a spin off series called Med School, but the network wanted to cash in on the Scrubs brand.

[@carelesshx]

Larry David also left Seinfeld after season 7

[@LiveDonkeyDeadLion]

@@myturningpoint I’m guessing you never saw what Troy said in Community about it

[@dmontes133]

I love Taskmaster! I live in the U.S. Thank you, KZbin!my other favorites are WILTY and Cats Does Countdown! All 3 shows are funnier and better than anything in the U.S. today!

[@Hexon66]

I think that US comedy (particularly stand-up) has largely been taken over by a faction of libertarians who idolized George Carlin, but don't *_quite_* get his edge. (Namely that while criticizing liberals, he abhorred conservatives). On the other hand, the UK has a kind of borscht-belt, friendly style of comedian who populate the panel shows. Even someone like Jimmy Carr, who gets tagged as edgy, seems rather tame, in a tittering grandma way.

[@janehopke878]

It’s just sad that our culture is so toxic that a competition show like that can’t be done in the US. The best series of Taskmaster? New Zealand Series 2. It’s the funniest, hands down.

[@LickMyLovePump11]

@@janehopke878 Good call. David-fucking-Correos!!!

[@teriannebeauchamp254]

A true story about product placement. Before they started production, the people from the film E.T. went to M & M's with the script and said they wanted to do a promotional tie in with Elliot luring E.T. out with M&M's. The guy in charge of that decision sent the script back saying it looked like a cute kids movie, but it wasn't worth it to do a promotion with them. They next approached Hersheys that had introduced Reese's Pieces to lackluster sales. They bit, Elliot lured, and sales of Reese's Pieces skyrocketed a 1000 percent. E.T. obviously the best selling movie of all time (at that point) . I have always wanted to be a fly on the wall when that guy had to explain to the board of directors why he chose not to do the product placement.

[@ianh1504]

"M&Ms already have worldwide recognition and a position of dominance in the market, theres a rate of diminishing returns and M&Ms couldnt have possibly expected such a high return. In our position it would be wasted money. Now gimme a raise."

[@Ardnasper]

I’m from Belgium (originally from Croatia), and besides WILTI and Taskmaster I adore your House of Games, Richard! ❤

[@feuilletoniste]

Richard Osman’s House of Games is truly a joy and a delight! I wish it were more easily accessible for viewing outside the UK, though.

[@thegrinderman1090]

Glad you mentioned 'I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson'. Always thought I didn't really like sketch shows until I saw that. Cried with laughter on multiple occasions. Favourite American comedy since The Simpsons.

[@m.6292]

At 10m when she speaks about product placements I suddenly imagined a film set being put on hold and stars being asked to move outa the way while they light & film the can of Coke. hehe. Glad I found this podcast, very interesting.

[@stephendonovan6773]

I've always wanted to know that about the Prize Tasks!!! :) :) :) More Taskmaster please!!

[@lewilewis3944]

I worked in film + TV back in the 90's. I was lucky enough to be part of the Spitting Image crew doing sets and props. If we had to work on a Saturday or, Dog forbid, a Sunday morning because of a late breaking story (normally a political scandal) we got to have a lucky dip from all of the junk sent in by product promoters. I once bagged a really nice Tag Heuer watch. It lasted for years. I wasn't so cool about the 48 cans of lobster bisque. This was a sketch show but the overheads were basic. Even Steve Coogan only worked for £200 a day (when he could be arsed to show up, bit of party animal back then).The sets were constructed in half an hour. Three flats (8x4 wooden boards) screwed together and a few hastily arranged props. John Major's peas were still frozen but defrosted by the lights. They cost 89p for a 1kg bag from the Coop. We did it on the cheap and it worked just fine.

[@lifesbutastumble]

I was watching old episodes of ALF a few months ago, and I learned that that show was a nightmare to make. And I always wondered why they didn't make a set similar to what was used in Spitting Image. I know the main difference is that Spitting Image was ALL puppets, whereas ALF was just one puppet with live actors alongside, but they could have followed some ideas to make the show less of a nightmare to make

[@kevinsoutham]

Great insight. The appeal of Spitting Image was the ramshackle, thrown together quality of it. The whole thing felt like it was written in an hour before the fiiming. Such a funny show. The line when Tina Turner is told the bombs are coming and she has three minutes to live and what shall we do and she replies "We can all make love" will live with me forever. The Roy Hattersley puppet was brilliant. Thank you!

[@lewilewis3944]

@@lifesbutastumble We didn't have a permanent set, you may have noticed that a lot of the sketches were close up shots? We did make a few 'large' sets, normally for the musical numbers. There was only a small team of puppeteers (two per puppet) so we'd get roped in to jig them around to the beat, they were pretty heavy. Producers, crew, runners, all have been corralled for a dance routine at some time. Loved it. Technically I qualified for Equity membership as a performer.

[@DK-tt1zt]

Richard's Marina Jekyll joke wasn't respected enough

[@TheMAU5SoundsLikThis]

100% 😂 came to the comments to pay my respects

[@janshepherd1863]

Top tier joke. 👌

[@Greaseball01]

I threw popcorn at my TV and yelled "boooooooo"

[@stuartshelley3052]

In fairness, Marina's probably heard it before. Perhaps even from Richard! 😂

[@paulfoster2984]

It was top drawer!

[@jamesdevonport]

Love how you touched on The Traitors Australia S2 casting, super frustrating 😂

[@GraySkull289]

Did they really just use the wrong picture when talking about Ghosts? Editor needs to reedit it for the UK one 😁

[@DJChrisNeon]

Came here for this comment. Richard talking about the cast behind it and we see an entirely unrelated image 🤦‍♂️

[@bobthegrinch]

There are (or were) at least 52 other Dave Gorman's in the UK.

[@JayROwen]

I read once that he's now met over 100 of them. And not just in the UK either

[@Chalks38]

Only just come across this podcast got to say it is fantastic keep up the good work

[@miketrebert7788]

Love the constant ribbing about "Emergency Podcast". Marina just will not let it go. Hilarious.

[@janshepherd1863]

Aussie here: regarding the second series of Traitors Australia, the things you say about the contestants is, I think, the main reason the show was not renewed for a 3rd season. People did literally switch off because they couldn't bear the stupidity of the faithfuls (nor the character of Sam, who became very much hated across social media). But hang in there because the ending is spectacular.

[@christianstanding]

Another Aussie here, can confirm all of this it true. Unfortunately, it seems the producers were trying to go for more of the US route using some celebrities (I use the term lightly here) when in reality, we want every day civilians. Oh, and I agree, the finale is spectacular. Whilst I hold out hope this might come back, it does need some work done. (And if we can convince the audience that this isn't the Mole. All the better.)

[@jacobpaint]

I was frustrated by the idiotic reasoning of the contestants in both seasons. Sam was annoying but part of that is down to how stupid the others were and perhaps how they chose to portray him in the edit which might have made him look more smug and full of himself than he really is or just left out other balancing factors of his character. In both seasons people latch onto silly reasons to vote others out because they have absolutely no idea. In season 1 someone uttered the word murder and that was enough to seal their fate. The constant gossiping, he said, she said BS that became convincing evidence for many was painful to watch. In season 2 people gave their parting shots at who they thought the traitors were but people persisted with their own theories and even after they were proven wrong, they still couldn't process what had happened. The show puts the voting power in the hands of the most feeble-minded contestants and comes down to someone like Sam who can manipulate them until the end.

[@janshepherd1863]

Sam was active on social media and various self-aggrandising sites like LinkedIn. His family were likewise. With all of that combined, i have to conclude that what you saw on the show was very much what it appeared you got in real life.

[@Kyrelel]

I believe that The Traitors accurately reflects modern society - a large group of stupid people will always ignore facts and evidence in favour of their own beliefs ...there's even a term for it .. MAGA

[@pat.path-t1846]

So glad there are some Aussies commenting on this as we have just watched series 2, and was dying to know what you thought- we are in Scotland. The ending was such sweet justice that I almost cried, and I looked up Sam et al and as you say life imitating art and vice versa. So glad we watched it though and for thank you for your great insights- ‘it blew my mind’ in the words of a ‘famous’ psychoanalyst!😊!- not

[@alysonmarie]

Guessing this was put on my feed because of the Taskmaster association, but instantly subscribed. Found this super interesting!

[@poeiabird]

Cable shows in America, including It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, have a more British schedule with a maximum of a dozen episodes a year. Nowadays, network programs are syndicated to cable or local broadcast stations while new episodes are still airing. Once upon a time, they were syndicated after the show was no longer in production. Local stations would air an episode each weekday. The magic number of episodes was 100, which ran as five episodes a week for 20 weeks with no repeats. Most shows with fewer than 100 disappeared.

[@robovac3557]

I've said it before and I'm saying it again. That lady is delightful.

[@Jayk129]

I’m really glad the KZbin algorithm popped this into my feed I’ve thoroughly enjoyed every episode I’ve watched so far. I have a question I’d love to hear Richard’s thoughts on. I’m an American who has developed a somewhat debilitating addiction to panel shows. My question is this, why don’t panel shows work in America? Is it American audiences? Because I keep bumping into tons of people who love Taskmaster, WILTY, Cats does Countdown etc. so there’s an audience for them. Is it American comics? I’ve seen Americans like Michelle Wolf or Kristen Schaal on UK panel shows and they kill. I think it must be something with American producers because even when you have UK panel show stalwarts involved (Alex Horne on American Taskmaster, Jimmy Carr and Katherine Ryan on The Fix) the shows suck. I’d love to see some awesome and successful American panel shows and the closest we’ve ever gotten is @Midnight (but it’s new After Midnight version is only ok). If only someone could crack this mystery.

[@Furious_Thomson]

I was at the first recording of gladiators and Bradley actually told that tale of meeting his wife on the original show after about 5 hours of us being there and the 7000th break in filming…. Was a very long day

[@JayROwen]

Maybe you can answer a question for us. Did they film one episode at a time, or was it two (or three) episode simultaneously?

[@Furious_Thomson]

@@JayROwen it was one episode at a time, and more painfully, one game at a time, so you would watch them film one game for about 15 minutes, then then a good 90 mins of them taking everything for that game away and then building all the stuff for the next game, we arrived for 1pm, we left at about 8pm (which was well before it finished) because we were so bored of watching what was essentially assembling furniture

[@billywong78]

@@JayROwen we went to the semi finals, they filmed both of them together so we basically watched the first half of 2 shows. Like Furious Thomson says, it's a very long day.

[@deeplyangered480]

The product placement conversation was very interesting!

[@ncnmstuff]

Yes yes yes to a deep dive task master episode!!! Love that the show introduced me to Richard, his books and so much more. Huge WILTY fan too😀Hearing about Richard's US tour makes me think that taskmaster may be the key to world peace😍 those of us that get to watch on youtube are seriously united in the comments section😂

[@ricopags]

Please do a whole TM ep!!!

[@SeanS102]

There have been some good British sketch shows in recent years, Ellie & Natasia, Lazy Susan, a Whole Lifetime, Limmy only recently stopped making the in Scotland etc, they're certainly thinner on the ground than they used to be, but there does seem to be a slow resurgence

[@MrOtistetrax]

Limmy mastered the art of doing sketches on the cheap, because he started out making them himself for KZbin.

[@phill6859]

Demolition man had a good example of product placement, taco bell was the original restaurant they visited but pizza hut was dubbed in some markets and logos replaced.

[@AndrewJW]

Taco bell pizza Hut and KFC are all owned by the conglomerate "Yum Brands"

[@MrOtistetrax]

Taco Bell is barely really a thing in Europe. People know the brand from TV and movies, but there’s very few places you can actually eat it.

[@LiveDonkeyDeadLion]

Donald Glover left Community in season five (doing a Zach Braff), but is back for the movie #sixseasonsandamovie

[@bobtahoma]

Only here for the TM question. You know what to do next…

[@pat.path-t1846]

Dear Richard and Marina, my husband & I are big fans of you both and love HOG every night at 6pm and Marina’s bitingly funny articles in the G. To top it all I was so amused and thrilled to hear you talk about The Traitors -Aus -2nd series which we also could not believe how on earth 80% of the candidates had ever been selected for the show, and how their absolutely brainless deductive powers would ever let them work again in real life! Especially the ‘blow my mind’ catch phrase of the psychoanalyst , who proved what an absolute clueless chump she was and the clairvoyant who got 50% of the Traitors wrong-then buggered off! It had a brilliant ending though with a morale tail, which was hilarious. Thank you so much for mentioning it- it is reaching cult status in our house for being so bad and I think they actually de -commissioned series three after that! 😅x

[@BixLovesMiley]

To the episode numbers in the US: I understand the "comfort watch", but I also sometimes think that longer seasons aren't necessarily a good thing. Sometimes the focus and clarity of "we have 6/8/10 episodes, we need to get the story through" is much more helpful than "ugh how are we gonna fill 22 episodes?" I'm speaking about shows with narratives though, e.g. How I Met Your Mother. It's nice that we got more time with the characters, but in the end the last leg the story got weirdly inflated and the ending would have made more sense if it had been less runtime and less focus on Robin's and Barney's wedding in the end. (Sorry if offend anyone who really liked the ending!) Or also when you compare the earlier Lucifer seasons to the later ones - earlier with the longer seasons there is a lot more filler and unnecessary complications (season 3 anyone?!) as compared to season 4 onward when they had less episodes in a season and could focus the story better.

[@TheEnergeticPanda]

There's some Japanese comedy shows - especially the 24h no laughing challenge - which would be amazing and popular in the UK. We all know about UK media products licensed abroad but I wonder how often we do it ourselves

[@Buy_YouTube_Views_a048]

This video was incredibly thought-provoking. It sparked a lot of interesting discussions.

[@Greaseball01]

I'm choosing to believe the lawyers at Penguin are literally penguins

[@gullrock14]

Great. Calm, intelligent and entertaining!

[@darthmarticusLFC]

Interesting point about how you’d just catch an episode of friends or something and watch it, whereas now with on demand watching you don’t tend to do that.

[@WeAteYourHorse]

So glad I found this

[@spfisterer3651]

I don't understand the youtube algorithm but somehow it suggested you and I've immediately subscribed 😊

[@travisolson9413]

To me, living in the US, shows over here are all about making money. We want all the episodes we can get, because they allow the shows to make more money. And, as you pointed out, get into syndication, where some more large amounts of money can be made. Shows in England and the U.K. seem to be about the quality and the craft. I've seen great shows from across the pond that don't get stale or wear out their welcome because they are only 6-10 episodes a season and maybe 2 or 3 seasons total. Then the actors, writers, etc. go on to create something new. Over here, we will beat a dead horse until the last penny drops out of it, and that is why actors leave. They see the quality dwindling or their character has no more way to develop, and they want something new. The U.K. way is so much better for quality, but if you do get the rare show that can maintain that quality over multiple years, (The US Office was good for about 4 of them) you do have a lot of quantity to enjoy.

[@EveryoneWhoUsesThisTV]

Also, Stand-up Comics can say what they want and put their work on youtube and get famous.... In a sketch show they have 'input' from studios and TV stations that is counterproductive to their work. Most of the 'input' will be based on misinterpreted demographic analysis and won't help anyone. Creatives don't want a boss... :D Panel shows are cheaper to make than sketch comedy and are effectively as popular. I vote for a Taskmaster special!

[@dmontes133]

Omg, I’m so glad I found this! Thank you!

[@mrsstrople]

In Canada we had the Baronness Von Skectch show and it was pretty funny

[@firstnamelastname4216]

I love to see people from the UK praising some of the benefits of the US TV model and not just focusing on the ways that it's worse than the UK model. The US model does produce a lot of garbage, sometimes seasons are filled with filler to hit an episode count, etc. But when everything aligns just right you can wind up with a series with hundreds of good episodes and that's really nice when it happens.

[@garethgriffiths1674]

On the issue of product placement, one of my favourite ever Korean dramas is Mother, the tragic story of a school teacher who "kidnaps" one of her pupils who has been abused by her mother and sadistic live-in boyfriend after the police are indifferent to the abuse. All very tragic. But the series was "sponsored" by the US chain Subway. So the "runaways" always ate in Subway. That to me looked like abuse.

[@FreakySquirrels]

Hi Richard, like I'm sure many people have, I've had an idea rattling around my head for a sitcom-based comedy. I've always thought it'd be hilarious and relatable, but I have literally NO idea how I'd get it out of my head and onto a screen. As someone who has brought so many good ideas to so many millions of people, can you tell us, what are the steps from concept to pilot recording and commissioning?

[@tinymouse.travel]

You could ask the clasaic question 'Are you Dave Gorman?' The person asking the question may have been one of the other Dave Gormans that Dave found in his book

[@positronicfeed]

Did you guys use a cast picture from the US version of Ghosts by mistake?

[@TV-qf1rh]

One for Richard: We are super fans of House of Games. Are the week’s episodes of House of Games recorded in one day? Are they all live? I imagine the contestants having a short break where they change their clothes for each episode.

[@CalLadyQED]

Sketch comedies are alive in the US. SNL is going strong at over 40 seasons. Studio C has a sizable following in the "family friendly" space. Jimmy Fallon and James Corden both do sketches in their late night talk shows.

[@timeveleigh1]

Re Sketch: Mad that no-one has tapped into Pappy's properly. Flatshare Slamdown is fantastic.

[@Badartist888]

If you are looking for ideas on what to discuss. I'd love to know about the pay structure on The Chase. The chasers always seem personally invested in how much money is given out and if they win or the like. My suspicion is that they don't get the money if they win but there is some kind of bonus structure. Even if they officially say there isn't.

[@FarmerJAB]

It’s just drama for TV. Best not to take it so literally. For a start, the offers are fed to the chasers - they don’t decide that stuff

[@lisahoshowsky4251]

Can I tell my funny but dumb Taskmaster related story? I found Taskmaster like 3ish years ago after the YT algorithms had been pushing the tasks on me with no context and me just being so confused. I finally found a full episode and loved it! 3 summers ago I was visiting a friend and their mom recommend me a book with glowing reviews, The Thursday Murder Club. I for some reason got it in my head that I’d find this relatively recently published book second hand. I have been searching for the last 2 years for it but I’m trash with names so I’d always kind of remember the title and the book cover but be like uhhh the author is like O something?? It took me to like three months ago to finally put two and two together and realize Taskmaster Richard Osman is author Richard Osman😅😅 anyways, never forgot the author name again while hunting for the book and I finally found it second hand on my birthday a month ago!! Love it and I’ll be getting the rest from the library like a sane person😂 I’m still mildly ashamed it took me two years of hunting for a book to realize I knew the author from one of my favourite shows😂😂

[@oneworldfamily]

Question for the show: what does it mean to be 'in the public interest'? I saw a clip of a KZbin show recently with Stephen Bartlett who thought it was to do with if something/someone has been featured on the BBC then that's defined as being in the public interest. Is that correct? Aaaaaand... discuss! Adam in Sheffield.

[@OfficialTomMason]

When you said ghosts you accidentally showed a photo of the us version

[@dmontes133]

Another reason for the number of U.S. episodes is money for the stars. Back in the 80s, a season could be 30 episodes. Now a season is 10 or so episodes.

[@BobbyManford]

Richard Osman is a genius

[@Hexon66]

Personally, I prefer the shorter seasons. As an American, I can't honestly name a show with 200+ episodes that would have sustained throughout. But then again, I never got into the types like NCIS and Law & Order, for the same reason Line of Duty doesn't quite land for me, either. But the premium channels use a slightly shorter model, which is why you the The Sopranos, 86 episodes over 6/7 seasons. Breaking Bad, 62. Even better was the old rotating NBC Mystery Movie, which had Columbo, McCloud, etc. Columbo only had 45 original episodes, over what they called 8 seasons or so. IMO, still the best program made anywhere, ever.

[@CanadianPenguin_]

2:59 I'm suprised you showed the American Ghost over the the BBC Ghost which came first and is better

[@amg4098]

In relation to product placement, I was living in China when Iron Man 3 was released, and I got to watch scenes that were specifically for the Chinese market. One obvious product placement was when a Chinese actor was drinking a branded milk, to which the audience in the cinema burst out laughing, which I think was due to being too out of place.

[@hannahk1306]

The one thing they didn't touch upon in the discussion about US versus UK television was the episode length. In the UK (particularly with BBC programmes) you'll get a full hour in depth episode; whereas in the US the episodes are often only 20 minutes so they barely have time to introduce the plot before they're resolving it again. This means that you often don't actually get more content in US programmes, but you need more ideas. The contast is most notable in US remakes where they'll have similar storylines, but the US version is forced to be faster paced so by the time they get to the end of the first series they've usually covered the plot from a couple of UK series. However, when you examine the individual storylines, they've often had to skim over them or cut parts out or shortern parts just to fit it in an episode. Personally, I'd rather fewer well-written episodes than lots of banal ones. Having said that, I'd like to see UK series be closer to 12 episodes in length because 6 episodes can sometimes cause the overarching storylines to suffer the same fate as the US storylines have on a per episode basis.

[@michaelnaylor-hodgkinson991]

When I watch TV I can now tell what is off the cuff and what isn't. I know why it has to be so but then when something incredible and unscripted comes along, it is just golden. So, why do really popular shows still claim to be entirely unscripted?

[@16ozClawHammer]

28:41 How was 'was it Marina Jekyll?' brushed over so quickly?!

[@ericadavenport2039]

It's cute how Richard pronounced "adidas". 😊

[@michaelbyrne8238]

Sketch shows are hard to do originally. The last good one was WKUK to do some really good original content. And they did a very much monty python and kids in the hall style where all male troupe did female characters as well.

[@Dskrib]

I’d like to think Wang is tied up somewhere sorting recyclables at the Taskmaster’s house, after giving himself away as a human gift

[@Dbiagio914]

I just learned about taskmaster but I tried to watch but the first episode killed it for me. Dont know if later episodes changes but at end first one say have one task on stage live say it a tie but have the hide and seek tie breaker recorder already.

[@calvinthegreat69]

I've been giving the same kind of recommendation for I Think You Should Leave for a couple years. You'll know if you are out pretty quick but if you arent there's a good chance you'll be like me and never stop quoting it.

[@jymbeau3633]

Who are the people that flash up at about 3:00? Could you not have put up that actual cast of ghosts?

[@nordlyselsker]

It's the cast of the US version of Ghosts. I don't know why they didn't go with the cast of the show they are actually talking about.

[@anonymes2884]

I'd assume they farm out the editing (as many KZbin channels do) and the editor, possibly not from the UK, didn't know the show so likely just used whatever came up when they googled "Ghosts TV show" (for whatever reason doing that for "Horrible Histories" - which _also_ has a US version - comes up with the UK original but not "Ghosts").

[@ClaireWW]

Also I can't believe after talking about things that drive you bonkers you called it an asterix.

[@djrizla420]

Hold on! Did Richard just casually mention his brother is the bass player for Suede?? Am I the only one that didn’t know this? I’m not a follower of Suede, so had to check Wikipedia and there he is, Mat Osman, Richard’s older brother, by three years. You learn something new every day.

[@tomwilko7841]

Yeah he talks about it all the time...he's even in a couple of suede documentaries

[@Dave062YT]

My brother wears a lot of suede too but I don't bang on about it !

[@mehblahmehblah]

13:20 he misses out the favourite: Sticky Back Plastic! (Sellotape)

[@Kinglink]

I was worried that the TaskMaster Prizes were Product placement... finally watched this, and glad I was just terrified of nothing. Yeah I am not surprised they don't keep the random collection of junk. But looking forward to the emergency podcasts.

[@mcculloch29]

Regarding product placement on the BBC, at least two new daytime/early evening quiz shows have had visual “identify the product by its logo” questions throughout the show. The names escape me, but one was fronted by Alan Carr and one by Roman Kemp. How was that allowed? I asked on Twitter, but nobody answered.

[@mindofmyown8597]

you should really announce on the podcast that its possible you view it on youtube, I just stumbed upon this randomly

[@danabc322]

I’d really love to know if the celebrities get to keep the prizes won in house of games? It would settle a long running argument in my household!

[@danabc322]

@@Est-os9yc I assumed they didn’t keep the prizes as they give away the same set of prizes every week, so I assumed the winner would just be presented with their choice and then it would be put back into the rotation. Where are they getting so many fondue sets?!

[@fingersfinesilver]

I love your podcast and both of you - and WILTY and Taskmaster are favourite shows in the Czech Republic. When are they going to get rid of that "coming up" and "you've just seen" to fill the programme? I've just seen the lovely Susan Calman's travel show. That tactic makes me want to switch off.

[@dryster123]

On local TV news in Canada, they must use puns, I think it is in their contracts....

[@shaunhouse8469]

I'd say that one (24 minute) episode of a sketch show takes longer to write than a 6 episode series of a sitcom. I think better than having a question from Dave Gorman, king of powerpoint comedy, would be a question from one of the other Dave Gormans that appear in the Are You Dave Gorman? special. I think Marina could be on a forever rabbit hole with the rules around TV networks in the UK. Channel 4 isn't publicly funded either is it? Channel 4 is publicly owned. Aren't you looking at why American Network TV have 20-26 episode blocks v British TV having 6 , 13 or shorter episode blocks from the wrong end. You don't have a room full of writers, so you get 24 episodes a year - but because you're commissioned to fill a schedule for half a year you need a room full of writers to make enough scripts to fill a half year of TV

[@xorsyst1]

Sketch comedy still exists on radio thankfully, as the economics there are much easier :)

[@The2follow]

Seemed at one time that a lot of the BBC News reporters wore North Face jackets

[@paulstanley7292]

"Don't spoil it" 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@sl1msn1per]

Loved the episode, but the audio levels are a bit blow - please bring them up a bit!

[@raymondg7565]

Taskmaster in the best show out there.

[@jakereynolds8897]

I honestly think one of the funniest prizes on the show was Joe Wilkinsons wedding certificate

[@jontallon73]

Puns, he's talking about Bargain Hunt

[@mtty1988]

Is it true or a a big QI Claxon that we have 6 1/2 hour Epps a series as of the length of tape

[@cLeodnine]

Yorkshire Tea is the best ❤

[@Gideonsmythe]

Re sketch shows. Last genuinely clever and funny one was Big Train.

[@Hexon66]

Loved Big Train. Ruined workplace w@nking for everyone, though.😉

[@Gideonsmythe]

@@Hexon66😂😂😂

[@Gideonsmythe]

​@@Hexon66 Tenuous claim to fame. I once helped Big Train's Kevin Eldon find his girlfriend at a festival. He's a really lovely chatty guy, he even did his Evil Physiologist walk for me.

[@josepho7083]

I didnt know Pinocchio was a women. Wow...life changing on why she was created

[@lakrids-pibe]

I wish the next James Bond uses Uber as his only transportation. And he's not wearing a wristwatch. Hans watches the clock on his smartphone, which are changing burner phones of no particular brand.

[@Greaseball01]

Here's my pitch - the Uber is an AI car (kind of like the one in that Pierce Brosnan one that he can drive with his phone) and it has a name and says stuff and this is how we reboot the Herbie franchise.

[@feuilletoniste]

I would enjoy a Bond film in which a good chunk of the action takes place in an environment where fast cars or other high tech vehicles are impractical, illegal, or otherwise horribly out of place. So the audience would get to enjoy montage scenes of an increasingly frustrated 007 pursuing his target via tram, bicycle, and eventually horse and buggy 😂

[@Greaseball01]

@@feuilletoniste it's just occurred to me doesn't this happen in Johnny English?