Richard Osman reveals real reason he QUIT hit show after six series as he takes a swipe at C4 bosses
RICHARD Osman reveals the real reason he quit his hit show after six years as he takes a swipe at C4 bosses.
The Rest Is Entertainment is a podcast that reveals the secrets of television, movies, journalism and more.
It is hosted by TV presenter and best selling Author Richard Osman and journalist Marina Hyde.
Utilising their years of knowledge and contacts, the pair bring listeners what’s hot, and what’s not in the world of entertainment.
On the most recent episode Richard is asked a question posed by a listener about Junior Taskmaster.
Junior Taskmaster is the spin-off from Richard’s hit comedy panel show Taskmaster and the contestants are children aged between 9 and 11.
The show features Rose Matafeo as the Taskmaster and Mike Wozniak as the assistant and began airing last air.
The question asks: “We are watching Junior Taskmaster at the moment and enjoying it.
“However, it made me wonder if on shows like this with a competitive element for kids.
“Does the team have any problems dealing with the Helicopter parents..as I often hear from teachers and other people working with children that managing the parents is the worse bit.”
Richard responds by explaining that his mother was a primary school teacher for many years and that he thinks that the moment the kids are dropped off at school – the job becomes easier.
He explains: “Junior Taskmaster which is a delight…is not as competitive as the adult one.”
“The one thing with kids is that you do have to de-competitive it a bit.
He continues: “People often ask us if we would do Pointless for kids and I just think it’s quite stressful to do something with kids.
“Taskmaster can get away with it because it’s so silly and fun and kids like using their imagination.”
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- The 1% Club – Viewers of Lee Mack’s popular ITV show were left dumbfounded by a question that also left the players perplexed. The query went as follows: “Edna’s birthday is on the 6th of April and Jen’s birthday falls on the 15th of October, therefore Amir’s birthday must be the ‘X’ of January.” It turns out the conundrum links the numbers with its position in the sentence, so 6th is the sixth word and 15th is the fifteenth word. Therefore, Amir’s birthday is January 24th, corresponding to the 24th word in the sentence.
- The Chase – The ITV daytime favourite left fans scratching their heads when it threw up one of the most bizarre questions to ever grace the programme. One of the questions asked the player: “Someone with a nightshade intolerance should avoid eating what?” The options were – sweetcorn, potatoes, carrots – with Steve selecting sweetcorn but the correct answer was potatoes.
“And the show I did which was called Child Genius again it is the idea that they are children.
“It was the point of the show with that one but by and large unless it’s a kid’s game show.
“You wouldn’t do stuff for kids for the reason it can be quite stressful being on television.”
Richard goes on to explain that with his show Child Genius the children’s parents were there all the time on set.
He states: “In the end I stopped doing it. The kids were amazing on that show.
“They were just great and also by the way almost all the parents were great as well.”
He jokes: “Most of the parents were just sat there thinking what on earth have I got on my hands here”
“And some of the kids were super competitive and the parents were also competitive too and I liked hanging out with all of them.”
Taking a swipe at Channel 4, he goes on to say: “But then the show was edited in such a way to make the parents look like Helicopter parents.”
Richard explains further that some parents were edited to look like pushy parents when they were actually really sweet and he didn’t like that.
He elaborates that if you have kids on set they are incredibly well looked after and the atmosphere is a lot of fun.
One pair on set had an incredible bond but the father was portrayed more as a helicopter parent in the edit of the show.
“I don’t think the parents are a problem when you have a kids tv show.” he adds.
Concluding he explains that as long as the show is made with a bit of fun and glee then everyone feels that have had a sense of magic that day.
Earlier this year, Richard revealed 100 new episodes of his hit quiz show House of Games are on the way.
The new series comes amid the show’s huge ratings success and its 2024 National Television Award nomination.
The Rest Is Entertainment podcast is available to listen to on most Podcast apps.