Taskmaster
This show is as close as a panel show can get to perfection. The Taskmaster is the host of the show, Greg Davies (not related to Alan Davies.) His sidekick and creator of the show is the musician/comedian Alex Horne. The 5th series just ended, and it’s going strong.
The concept is every series, there are 4 contestants (comedians mostly) that compete in funny and challenging and sometimes tricky tasks judged by the host. The tasks themselves are umpired by Alex And at the end of every episode and every series, there’s a winner - who get Greg’s golden bust. All tasks are pre-recorded and performed individually, except for the last one of of every episode where they do it together onstage in front of the audience.
The first task of every episode is everyone has to bring the most X thing they own. It could be something nostalgic, valuable, or simply a gift to the Taskmaster. Hilarity ensues especially when contestants perform really badly by not understanding the premise of a challenge, or over-achieving and ending up losing. For example, they get asked to throw a potato in a golf hole surrounded by a circular rug, without touching that same rug. So you’d get have one trying to get in one go and failing, another one succeeding, a couple struggling for 30 minutes, and the last one throwing his shirt on the rug and walking to the hole. Some other tasks are just straightforward and challenging, though. Like walking a distance in the least amount of steps possible or fastest to pop a string of balloons on a fence.
This show is pure entertainment. Nobody watching it should get bored because it’s non-stop comedy, suspense, and love! Everyone on it is grateful and supportive, which makes it perfect comfort food because it’s also healthy.
PS: There’s a forthcoming US version with Reggie Watts as the Taskmaster, with Horne returning as the assistant!