List #98: Fourteen Things I Liked in 2021

Reading

1. Thus Was Adonis Murdered, The Shortest Way to Hades, The Sirens Sang of Murder, The Sibyl in Her Grave - by Sarah Caudwell

2. Gourmet Hound (Rec. #894)

3. The Thursday Murder Club (Rec. #898), The Man Who Died Twice - by Richard Osman

4. Moira Donegan on Twitter (@MoiraDonegan)

Watching

5. Kajillionaire (Rec. #891)

6. The Party

7. Good Timing with Jo Firestone

8. Feel Good (Rec. #890)

9. Dog House UK (Rec. #897)

10. Taskmaster NZ (Rec. #900)

11. Pretend It's a City (Rec. #885)

12. Vinny Thomas on Twitter (@vinn_ayy)

Listening

13. Victoriocity

14. Off Menu (Rec. #878)

Also I watched Knives Out for the 5th (?) time.

Addendum to List #97/Rec. #900: Taskmaster NZ, Season 1

 

What: Well, well, well, the Kiwis have come to play. This first season of the New Zealand version of the UK show starts out full blast, with all of the chaos and joy of the original. Plus, some inspired original tasks! Like "Convincingly paint the Taskmaster like a 5-year-old" and "Be as unhealthy as possible for 10 seconds."

Enjoy some clips!

You may recall that I've painstaking ranked all Taskmaster cohorts (part 1, part 2, part 3). Well, this group is right up there, and I've determined it's the new #5. 

(Now that Series Eleven is complete, I'm moving that group [Kendall, Wozniak, et al.] up to #4, which puts Series Six [Chaudhry, Tarbuck, et al.] now at #6.)

The second season of Taskmaster NZ is currently airing and is excellent. We'll get to that later.

List #97: Ranking Taskmaster Cohorts, Ultimate Countdown! The Top 5 (Part 3 of 3)

During this pandemic, I've seen lots of people discover the UK delight Taskmaster, brainchild of Alex Horne. As someone who, over the course of the past four years, has steadily made her way through every available iteration and offshoot (you realize most of these people have podcasts, right?), I say, "Welcome!"

See also: Rec. #696, Rec. #731, List #71, Rec. #858, Rec. #873, List #95


Many casts have now had the absurd and joyful Taskmaster experience, and I have thoughts on all of them.

Let's count down! See Part 1 here. See Part 2 here. 

5. Series Eleven (currently airing; ranking subject to change): Charlotte Ritchie, Jamali Maddix, Lee Mack, Mike Wozniak, Sarah Kendall

Currently airing, so who really knows, but it's already had a couple of instant-classic tasks (two words: table - salt). Not to mention the magnificence of Sarah Kendall's hair.

4. Series Six: Alice Levine, Asim Chaudhry, Liza Tarbuck, Russell Howard, Tim Vine

Earns this spot mainly for the iconic cake-sitting, but each contestant in this one is sincerely likeable in their own way. Plus, bonus! Alice Levine says, "Hey, girl" to Alex.

3. Series Seven: James Acaster, Jessica Knappett, Kerry Godliman, Phil Wang, Rhod Gilbert

Best line: "I wanted to be on the girls' team really badly." | Runner-up: "A laminator!"

2. Series Four: Hugh Dennis, Joe Lycett, Lolly Adefope, Mel Giedroyc, Noel Fielding 

Highest ratio of deliciously chaotic contestants | Fave task from this group: Hide from Alex

1. Series Five: Aisling Bea, Bob Mortimer, Mark Watson, Nish Kumar, Sally Phillips

This cast does the most enthusiastic cheering on of one another, by far. They also do some of the best stuff. "Write and perform a song for a stranger" is my favorite task, ever ever ever -- both the process and the results. Also unforgettable: The point-of-view film from Sally Phillips

[Tiny bonus: May I humbly suggest a fun add-on? For any season/series, take a drink every time someone walks into a new task space carrying a cup of tea. You'll only stay sober for the US season.] 

List #97: Ranking Taskmaster Cohorts, Ultimate Countdown! (Part 2 of 3)

During this pandemic, I've seen lots of people discover the UK delight Taskmaster, brainchild of Alex Horne. As someone who, over the course of the past four years, has steadily made her way through every available iteration and offshoot (you realize most of these people have podcasts, right?), I say, "Welcome!"

See also: Rec. #696, Rec. #731, List #71, Rec. #858, Rec. #873, List #95


Many casts have now had the absurd and joyful Taskmaster experience, and I have thoughts on all of them.

Let's count down! See Part 1 here and Part 3 here.

9. Series Two: Doc Brown, Joe Wilkinson, Jon Richardson, Katherine Ryan, Richard Osman

Several instant-classic moments in this one: impress a mayor, Lord Greg Davies, the potato golf heartbreak ...

8. Series Eight: Iain Stirling, Joe Thomas, Lou Sanders, Paul Sinha, Sian Gibson

Lou Sanders was made for this show.

7. Champion of Champions (aired between Series Five and Six): Bob Mortimer, Josh Widdicombe, Katherine Ryan, Noel Fielding, Rob Beckett

Highlight from this two-parter: Katherine makes a mess in episode 2

6. Series One: Frank Sinner, Josh Widdicombe, Roisin Conaty, Romesh Ranganathan, Tim Key

The very first series/season! A very strong start!

List #97: Ranking Taskmaster Cohorts, Ultimate Countdown! (Part 1 of 3)

During this pandemic, I've seen lots of people discover the UK delight Taskmaster, brainchild of Alex Horne. As someone who, over the course of the past four years, has steadily made her way through every available iteration and offshoot (you realize most of these people have podcasts, right?), I say, "Welcome!"

See also: Rec. #696, Rec. #731, List #71, Rec. #858, Rec. #873, List #95

Many casts have now had the absurd and joyful Taskmaster experience, and I have thoughts on all of them. 

Let's count down! We're starting from the weakest series/seasons, but even those are great! See Part 2 here and Part 3 here. Top 5 are coming on Thursday.

14. New Year Treat (aired between Series* Ten and Eleven): John Hannah, Krishnan Guru-Murthy, Nicole Coughlan, Rylan Clark-Neal, Shirley Ballas

Perfectly fine, but just one episode.

13. Series* Ten: Daisy May Cooper, Johnny Vegas, Katherine Parkinson, Mawaan Rizwan, Richard Herring

Filmed during the pandemic. Thank the gods for the raucous laughter of Daisy May Cooper and Johnny Vegas.

12. Series Three: Al Murray, Dave Gorman, Paul Chowdhry, Rob Beckett, Sara Pascoe 

Very fond of Chowdhry, Beckett, Pascoe. Can't stand Murray or Gorman.

11. U.S. Version (season 1 and only): Dillon Francis, Freddie Highmore, Kate Berlant, Lisa Lampanelli, Ron Funches

Look, they tried. Not nearly as bad as you've heard!

10. Series Nine: David Baddiel, Ed Gamble, Jo Brand, Katy Wix, Rose Matafeo

A very solid run! Especially considering that Baddiel and Brand could not have cared less, Gamble and Matafeo maybe cared too much, and Wix had to be subbed two episodes because of a health issue.

*Reminder that "Series" in UK = "Season" in US

List #96: Things to Read from 2020 that You Might Have Missed While Sitting in the Abyss

Convenience Store Woman, Sayaka Murata

I probably shouldn't remark on how relatable I found this.

Culture Warlords, Talia Lavin (see also List #93)

Lavin catfishes white supremacists.

Giant Days (the end), John Allison and Max Sarin (see also Rec. #711)

The much-beloved long-running series finally winds up as our heroines graduate.

Gravity Is the Thing, Jaclyn Moriarty (see also Rec. #235)

Kind of a cheat (published in 2019), but at least the paperback edition was published this year.

Hiding in Plain Sight, Sarah Kendzior (see also List #93)

It's no surprise that Kendzior, who has been consistently right about our broken democracy for more than four years, has another book where she's right a lot. But, bonus, it's also very beautifully written!

I Like to Watch, Emily Nussbaum (see also List #93)

TV! She like to watch TV!

Nothing Is Wrong and Here Is Why, Alexandra Petri (see also List #93)

If you're going to reflect back on the past four years, this is definitely the way to do it.

Solutions and Other Problems, Allie Brosh (see also Rec. #801)

Brosh breaks our hearts all over again.

Trick Mirror, Jia Tolentino (see also List #93)

Essays on the way we live now.

Also, I'd like to state for the record that my List #66 (aka "Follow These Women on Twitter") pretty much became my List #93 (aka "These Women Have Books Now"). 

So I clearly have my finger on the pulse of ... something. And it'd be great if someone would be into paying me for that.

Streaming Suggestion of the Week #36: Travel Man

Stream what: In the UK series Travel Man: 48 Hours in ..., Richard Ayoade goes on some mini-breaks with other funny British people. To give you a taste, the first four episodes are Barcelona, Istanbul, Iceland, and Marrakesh.

Stream why: Remember traveling?

Stream where: Seven seasons on Hulu


Connections to previous Wreckage: Travel Man was Rec. #396 and was also mentioned in Rec. #592, Rec. #814, and List #95.

List #95: Pop Culture Wish List, part 8

While we're in the zone of fulfilling my pop culture requests, I would like to put forward some additional items for consideration.

See Part 1 here.
See Part 2 here.
See Part 3 here.
See Part 4 here.
See Part 5 here.
See Part 6 here.
See Part 7 here.

Item 15: A Nish Kumar comedy tour that also incorporates his singing and guitar talents

Nish Kumar is very funny! He has an amazing bit about the drummer for Coldplay that I have tried to recreate, verbatim, for several of my friends.

One particular episode of Taskmaster revealed that he is also a talented musician! Do both! Both is good!

Item 16: Dan Levy as host of The Great Canadian Baking Show

Wait a minute ... this happened! I just really, really, really need those two seasons to be somewhere I can easily (and legally) access them. It seems like such a good fit for Dan Levy, whom I adore.


 

List #95: Pop Culture Wish List, part 7

While we're in the zone of fulfilling my pop culture requests, I would like to put forward some additional items for consideration.

See Part 1 here.
See Part 2 here.
See Part 3 here.
See Part 4 here.
See Part 5 here.

See Part 6 here.

Item 13: The Psmith stories transposed to contemporary NYC and starring Natasha Lyonne

P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves stories are iconic and the recent series adaptation of the Blandings stories is quite good fun (Rec. #379, Rec. #431). The Psmith stories, however, are largely an untapped resource frankly crying out for a modern take. Example: Psmith, Journalist (Rec. #289).

And who better to be unruffled, game for anything, and quick with a sardonic takedown than Natasha Lyonne? Dooooo iiiiiiiit.

Item 14: A book from Kashana Cauley

Kashana Cauley has written so much, in so many places! (New York Times! Rolling Stone! The Believer! Slate!) The time has come for a book, please. A collection of essays? All the cool Twitter people are doing it!

And Cauley is indeed a cool Twitter person. See: List #66, Rec. #662.

List #95: Pop Culture Wish List, part 5

While we're in the zone of fulfilling my pop culture requests, I would like to put forward some additional items for consideration.

See Part 1 here.
See Part 2 here.
See Part 3 here.
See Part 4 here.

Item 9: A remake of You Can't Take It With You directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu

The film Birdman had its flaws (I would have appreciated a content warning about the attempted rape scene!), but one thing it did well was show that director Alejandro González Iñárritu would be able to direct farce. People in general aren't good at directing screwball anymore, so that was an exciting discovery!

You Can't Take It With You is just begging for a modern remake. I'm thinking along the lines of Awkwafina, Maria Bamford, Susan Blackwell, Ana de Armas, William Jackson Harper, Aasif Mandvi, Melissa McCarthy, Lee Pace, Maya Rudolph ...

Connections to previous Wreckage: I extolled the wonders of screwball comedy in a three part series.

Item 10: A new book from Kira Henehan

I loved Orion You Came and You Took All My Marbles (Rec. #195, QfFC #75). I would very much like another novel by Kira Henehan, please.

List #95: Pop Culture Wish List, part 4

While we're in the zone of fulfilling my pop culture requests, I would like to put forward some additional items for consideration.

See Part 1 here.

See Part 2 here.

See Part 3 here.

Item 7: A TV series from EGG Comedy

Comedy duo EGG (Anna Leong Brophy and Emily Lloyd-Saini) are extremely talented sketch writers and performers. (I saw them in Edinburgh in 2018! See Rec. #749.)

They've had scripts in development, and I'd love to see them and their work on my TV screen.

Item 8: A Katie Presley podcast

Writer Katie Presley is sometimes a panelist on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour (see also List #92), and she has a lot of Very Good Opinions (see Rec. #673), and I would like her also to have her own podcast so I can hear her thoughts on more things.

That is all.

List #95: Pop Culture Wish List, part 3

While we're in the zone of fulfilling my pop culture requests, I would like to put forward some additional items for consideration.

See Part 1 here. See Part 2 here.

Item 5: A musical about the life of James Baldwin

In the life story of novelist-poet-playwright-essayist-activist James Baldwin, we've got a fraught upbringing and teenage ministry and life in Paris. We've got Richard Avedon, Sidney Poitier, and Marlon Brando. We have queer life and Black life and French life. We've got civil rights activism and even FBI surveillance.

We also have music. Jazz in France with Nina Simone, Miles Davis, Ray Charles, and Josephine Baker.

In 2016, Meshell Ndegeocello created a musical/theatrical tribute to Baldwin (Can I Get a Witness?), but I'm thinking something less ... churchy.

Connections to previous Wreckage: Rec. #23 and Quote for These Times #2

Item 6: Helen Zaltzman as host of The Great British Bake Off

With Sandi Toksvig departing as co-host of the current iteration of The Great British Bake Off, it's very fun to imagine new possibilities. Helen Zaltzman would be great! She is an adept podcast host (List #92 and Rec. #773) and could definitely transition to wacky banter with Noel Fielding.

Zaltzman herself is willing (see above)!

List #95: Pop Culture Wish List, part 2

While we're in the zone of fulfilling my pop culture requests, I would like to put forward some additional items for consideration.

See Part 1 here.

Item 3: An adaptation of To Say Nothing of the Dog by Tarsem Singh

To Say Nothing of the Dog, by Connie Willis, is perhaps my favorite book of all time (Rec. #100). I have hand-picked Tarsem Singh for an adaptation based on his direction of the insanely beautiful and surreal The Fall (Rec. #49).

Someone else might try to make To Say of the Dog twee. It is not twee. It is epic and deserves to be treated as such.

Item 4: New original songs from Nellie McKay

I adore singer-songwriter/activist Nellie McKay (Rec. #608, Rec. #667, Rec. #695, Rec. #777), and I was lucky enough to see her perform last year.

For the past decade or so, she's mainly been doing collections of nostalgic covers, which are great! But I long for the creative highs of her early original albums, like Get Away from Me (Rec. #206), Pretty Little Head (Rec. #320), and Obligatory Villagers. More, please.

List #95: Pop Culture Wish List, part 1

The success of Knives Out means that Rian Johnson is going to make more Benoit Blanc content. This is good! I approve.

Several female writers whose work I follow closely have new books (see List #93). This is also excellent!

Parasite was the surprise winner of the Best Picture award at the Oscars last night. Good job, everyone!


While we're in the zone of fulfilling my pop culture requests, I would like to put forward some additional items for consideration.

This list will likely occupy us for a few weeks, at least.

Item 1: Richard Ayoade and Aisling Bea in a romantic comedy

Last year was a big one for Aisling Bea! She mainstreamed it alongside Paul Rudd in a Netflix series and, more delightfully, created and starred in her own brilliant show (Rec. #831). Richard Ayoade is a perennial favorite of mine (List #63).

They've demonstrated ample chemistry together in an episode of Ayoade's Travel Man series (Rec. #396). More of that, please!

Item 2: Sled Dog stories from Blair Braverman as a series of children's books

The content for this one pretty much already exists as Twitter threads. It just needs a publishing deal!

Dogsledder Blair Braverman is already a published author, and she puts her words to excellent use when sharing tales of puppies learning to run, field trips off the farm, and messages from the pack. See Rec. #609 for direct links to even more examples of Sled Dog Story Time, and get ready to Feel Things.

List #94: Best of 2019

The Allusionist: Best Language About Language, Rec. #855

The Art of Process: Best Art About Art, Rec. #863

Be Prepared: Best Reason to Stay Indoors, Rec. #851

Come From Away: Best Reminder That Not All of Humanity Is Terrible, Rec. #852

 
David Tennant Does a Podcast With ...: Best Listener, Rec. #847

The Guardian Blind Date: Best Vicarious Dating, Rec. #865

Knives Out: Best Time at the Movie Theater, Rec. #856

Nothing Like a Dame / Tea with the Dames: Best Overheard Conversations, Rec. #860

Alexandra Petri: Best Way to Reflect on the Year, Rec. #866

"Quite Good, Considering [Rosalind's a Nightmare]": Best Earworm, Rec. #858

Russian Doll: Best Worst Day, Rec. #846

Simone (The Good Place): Best Outfit for Any Situation, Rec. #854 

Superstore: Best Season-5-and-Going-Strong, Rec. #848

This Way Up: Best Depictions of Relatable Human Emotions, Rec. #862

Three Identical Strangers: Best Ripped-from-the-Headlines, Rec. #864

Alie Ward: Best Campaign Promise, Rec. #859

Wine Country: Best New Endless Rewatch Potential, Rec. #850