# Series you've recently watched, are now watching or have given up on **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [July 9, 2021, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108 "2021-07-09T17:50:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 364
**Author:** ![MacDoc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/macdoc/32/18696_2.png) [@MacDoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacDoc)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2025, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/7268 "2025-08-20T11:27:20Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/a7KYgNyPvVo/maxresdefault.jpg "Aftershock: Everest and the Nepal Earthquake - Trailer - Netflix") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7KYgNyPvVo) I’ve seen it before but near field on the new TV with HDR 10 it really pops. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2025, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/7269 "2025-08-20T11:55:02Z")
Finally finished **Kaos**. Now I’m sad that there isn’t a second season - things were just getting interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2025, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/7270 "2025-08-20T12:51:53Z")
> [@Scoobysnax](#): > > I just finished watching Series 19 of Taskmaster the other day. The cast was great and I was happy to see that they managed to keep Jason Mantzoukas’ craziness at a level that was enjoyable without being annoying. It was indeed a good season of the show. I also wasn’t sure about Mantzoukas, but he was a hoot. And just the right amount of mocking his American-ness. Not a lot, but enough to be fun. I like the task about the lollipop woman. This is not a term we use in America. Taskmaster lives and dies on the fun its participants are having and this one had a fun group having fun. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2025, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/7271 "2025-08-20T13:11:30Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Taskmaster lives and dies on the fun its participants are having and this one had a fun group having fun. I agree completely - I’m only halfway through but this is the most enjoyable season in a while. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2025, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/7272 "2025-08-20T13:24:57Z")
I’ve watched many Taskmaster series and am amazed at the challenges drafted by Alex Horne and his team and the creative solutions found by the contestants. I don’t think they’ve ever repeated a challenge and by now, there have been dozens of them. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2025, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/7273 "2025-08-20T14:57:45Z")
My favorite little thing in this season is that he put “punishment” envelopes under the table and so forth to serve as a warning against looking for additional clues. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2025, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/7274 "2025-08-20T15:18:59Z")
Yeah, if I were a contestant, the first thing I would do in every challenge is look around carefully (including under the tables) for the clues that point straight to the solution. They are _always_ there, and most players never find them and don’t even look. Best advice for anyone going on the show: Watch as many previous shows as you can to see how Alex sets up the challenges and provides helpful hints, usually in plain sight. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2025, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/7275 "2025-08-20T15:33:33Z")
I disagree. The best advice is to have fun and don’t look like a fool all the time. The show would be no fun at all to have professional escape room players/engineers all finding the most efficient solution to every task. I’m rewatching previous series and I think in series 6 there was a “snatch the napkin from under all these eggs”. All 5 comedians grabbed the napkin, pulled sharply, and 0 eggs were broken. Boring. Sure, there was a little tension, leading up, but ultimately it was boring. You need the insanity of “what were you thinking?” and “did you read the task?”, that’s the meat and potatoes of the thing. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2025, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/7276 "2025-08-20T15:42:18Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > I disagree. The best advice is to have fun and don’t look like a fool all the time. The show would be no fun at all to have professional escape room players/engineers all finding the most efficient solution to every task. Well, you’re right, of course. It’s much more entertaining for us if they miss all the clues and look like fools. I’m just thinking how I would do my best _not_ to look like a fool. And that’s the least of the reasons why I won’t be invited to be a contestant. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2025, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/7277 "2025-08-20T15:58:34Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Taskmaster lives and dies on the fun its participants are having and this one had a fun group having fun. Yeah and it also depends on what you watch the show for. I noticed on the Taskmaster Reddit that many, many people are in it for the tasks. They get deeply disappointed and grumble when they feel they aren’t up to snuff and of course folks differ on what that means. But personally I’m largely indifferent to tasks as tasks per se. I probably wouldn’t play a Taskmaster party game if you held a gun to my head - just not my thing. I’m in it mostly for the studio banter the tasks elicit, secondarily for the chaos of the doing of the tasks, almost not at all about the mechanics and conceptual ideas behind the tasks. Not entirely, but mostly. So I’ve enjoyed every single season to a varying degree 🙂. My least favorite (but not at all disliked) contestants tends not to be chaos goblins like Mantzoukas, but rather really focused try-hards like John Robins, Mae Martin, Lou Sanders or Dara Ó Briain. But this season had A+ banter and no egregious try-hards, so it was all good for me 😀. Even the “worst” seasons of Taskmaster shine pretty bright in my eyes. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2025, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/7278 "2025-08-20T16:33:24Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > They are _always_ there, and most players never find them and don’t even look. I get the distinct feeling some contestants have never watched the show. I’m sure they’re aware of it, but even watching a few episodes to prep yourself isn’t going to uncover all the nuances. To be clear, I’m not saying I have an issue with it, it can be entertaining, but I sometimes feel bad when it seems like people are in over their heads and/or just had no idea what they were getting themselves into. Incidentally, I didn’t realize the season was over. I was sitting here waiting for the next episode to drop while avoiding Jason Mantzoukas clips on talk shows so as not to spoil anything for myself. I guess I can start clicking on all those “Jason Mantzoukas DESTROYED the Taskmaster set” thumbnails I’ve ignoring. ---
**Author:** ![Scoobysnax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Scoobysnax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scoobysnax)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2025, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/7279 "2025-08-20T20:04:58Z")
So far I have only watch the latest series (19). From what I have read, people seem to think that it is one of the show’s best. Are there other series that you feel stand out from the rest of the pack? Eventually I will start to work my way through the backlog. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2025, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/7280 "2025-08-20T20:29:09Z")
I’m watching **Untamed** on NFLX and liking it okay. Nice to see the Yosemite scenery again. Typical memes of this sort of show, but still watchable, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2025, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/7281 "2025-08-20T20:56:29Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Nice to see the Yosemite scenery again. Any scenery with actors in it is actually British Columbia. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2025, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/7282 "2025-08-20T21:13:25Z")
> [@Scoobysnax](#): > > Are there other series that you feel stand out from the rest of the pack? I think they’re all worth watching, but which is best really depends on what sort of humor you prefer. I mean I mentioned Dara Ó Briain as one of my less favorite contestants, but I really enjoy his season (14) regardless because he’s still funny despite being a try-hard, Sarah Millican is brilliant, Munya Chawawa is quick and silly, and John Kearns and Fern Brady really hit for me. But they’re idiosyncratic. For example some fans just can’t stand Kearns’ slow, meandering manner. I can say unequivocally that my least favorite season is 10, but even that one has some good moments. I’d say just give season (series) 1 a go. The format was rougher and less formal than it would later become, but all the essential elements are they. Also it’s short - the first series was just six episodes. I’d say seasons (series) 5, 7, 13, 14 and 16 pop really well for me. But it’s all good 🙂. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2025, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/7283 "2025-08-20T21:26:16Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Any scenery with actors in it is actually British Columbia. Not surprised. I recognized the Yosemite shots, though. Actually, any pictures of wild streams, mountains and forests make me homesick for the West. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2025, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/7284 "2025-08-20T22:12:00Z")
I started Hightown on Netflix. I gave up after 6 episodes and I think I slept through quite a lot of it. Did not enjoy it at all and there was no way I was watching 3 seasons. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2025, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/7285 "2025-08-21T00:28:54Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > and by now, there have been dozens of them. Dozens! Around 80-90 tasks per season, and nearly twenty seasons. So, considering shorter early seasons and tasks not included in final edits, 1800-2000 tasks so far. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2025, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/7286 "2025-08-21T00:33:16Z")
How do they come up with new ideas? ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2025, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/7287 "2025-08-21T05:26:08Z")
Isn’t it 2 studio tasks and 3 other tasks per ep? So 5 per ep total, 50 per series from s5, but fewer eps per series before then, plus some one off specials and those joke tasks that only one person is assigned, so around say 900 total? I know this is massive nitpicking, but that’s what we do here. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108.md?page=363) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108.md?page=365)