RTP's biggest goldmine
- Maria Matos
- Oct 28, 2022
- 2 min read
RTP’s (radio televisão portuguesa) biggest show taskmaster aired for the first time on the 25th of June 2022, and since then it has garnered the attention of not only most Portuguese households (including mine) but also international households causing the show to be translated and watched outside of the country. So how has RTP 1, a channel which has never experienced this amount of success before created such a big hit?
To quote from the Guardian “ famous faces, complete nonsense and are judged for it – What’s not to love?” It is true that this article was written in regard to the Australian version of the show, but it applies just as much or even more to the Portuguese version.
One of the main reasons for the massive success of the show is it’s cast. Starting with the hosts, Nuno Markl and Vasco Palmeirim (the taskmaster himself). Not only are these two massive celebrities in Portugal (mostly thanks to their work on Radio Comercial one of the most streamed radios of the country) they are really also good friends and that is clear in the way they host. Their great chemistry and impeccable comedic timing makes way for hilarious commenting to complement the hilarious tasks.
The way the show operates in Portugal is that there are four constant celebrities who participate in every episode and a new special guest is introduced every week. The four constant celebrities are Inês Aires Pereira, Jéssica Athayde, Gilmário Vemba and Toy. Some of the special guests have included António Zambujo, Pedro Tochas, and many others. The insanity of the tasks themselves is already enough to make you laugh but the way the contestants execute them is out of this world hilarious. For example, when they had to create a fountain from scratch, or get answers to a few questions from a woman who could only speak in mandarin, etc…
So much so that countless memes and gifs have been generated by fans of the show, and everyday so many references are made such as people shouting “Ó MAAAAARRRRKKKL” at the top of their lungs all the time. Unfortunately, the first season has ended with the final episode airing on the 7th of May.
So, if you didn’t catch the show while it was on, I 100% recommend that you go back and watch all the episodes, as well as the special “best of” shows. You can binge it or you can have some breaks in between episodes, no matter how you watch it I guarantee you’ll get a good laugh out of it. But of course, with the massive success the show has garnered RTP is already planning a second season. Season 2 began recordings in the start of September, and unlike most other versions of the show, RTP has decided to keep the original cast due to the success of the first season.
Maria Matos, 10.3
Tiago Lourenço. ““Taskmaster 2”. RTP Já Escolheu Os Concorrentes.” A CAIXA QUE JÁ FOI MÁGICA, 31 Aug. 2022, acaixaquejafoimagica.pt/2022/08/31/taskmaster-2-rtp-ja-escolheu-os-concorrentes/. Accessed 22 Sept. 2022.
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