Taskmaster moves to new US home after early cancellation
The BAFTA-winning series had a troubled debut across the pond.
Quirky gameshow Taskmaster has moved to a different US broadcaster after being pulled from schedules last week.
The series has been a runaway hit here in the UK, seeing Greg Davies and his underling Alex Horne issue strange challenges to celebrity contestants.
Off the back of this success, US broadcaster The CW added the show to its summer line-up of programming, purchasing the rights to air the show's eighth series.
While television critics across the pond were quick to pile on praise, it didn't translate to viewership as only 220,000 people tuned in to watch the Taskmaster premiere earlier this month.
As a result, The CW pulled the zany series after just one episode, replacing it with repeats of fantasy drama Supernatural, which ultimately scored the same rating as Taskmaster had posted the week before.
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As had been speculated, the show will now move to CW Seed, a streaming service operated by the broadcaster, where all 10 episodes of the eighth series are now available to watch.
Some fans have noted that while many of the contestants are famous to UK viewers, they will be unknown to large swathes of the American public, which could be one reason for the show's underwhelming debut.
Series eight saw Love Island narrator Iain Stirling, Inbetweeners star Joe Thomas, stand-up comedian Lou Thomas, The Chase quiz expert Paul Sinha and Peter Kay's Car Share actress Siân Gibson competing for the Taskmaster trophy.
After amassing a cult following on UKTV channel Dave, Taskmaster was recently acquired by Channel 4, where it will air its 10th series later this year.
Greg Davies assured fans that the series won't be altered during the jump between broadcasters, in an exclusive interview with RadioTimes.com in February.
He said: "It’ll be very much the same show is our plan with Taskmaster, because people seem to like the show and we like doing it the way it is.
“So I think you’ll barely notice a difference, other than I will be just that little bit older and fatter… and angrier!”
The upcoming 10th series of Taskmaster's line-up will feature This Country's Daisy May Cooper, Benidorm's Johnny Vegas, The IT Crowd's Katherine Parkinson, stand-up comedian Mawaan Rizwan and podcaster Richard Herring.
Taskmaster returns on Channel 4 later this year. If you're looking for something else to watch, check out our TV Guide.
