TaskMaster.Info

Obsessively documenting the international Taskmaster franchise. Warning: This site is lousy with spoilers!

Episode 1: Cross country lights

Image of the title card at the start of this episode, showing a task brief with the show title, 'Kongen Befaler', and the episode title, 'Langrennslys' ['Cross-country lights'], on a wooden desk. At the edges of the image, part of a typewriter keyboard and a stack of leather-bound books can be seen.
Air date:
04/02/2021
Original title:
Langrennslys
Title coined by:

Episode synopsis

In this episode the contestants must bring in something they have (but should not), burst all of the balloons, build a carrot tower while naming mammals, work out what a switch does, and roll objects through a pipe.

Title context

"Langrennslysene" was a phrase used by Jenny Skavlan during the 'Something you have, but should not' prize task. It's hard to translate accurately, but she appears to be referring to the high beam lights on a car, using a non-existent compound word which does not translate. 'Langrennslys' is the singular version of this word with no definite article (in Norwegian, the definite article is added as a suffix to the noun). 'Cross country lights' is an approximate translation of the compound word ('langrenn' is the Norwegian word for cross country skiing, and 'lys' means 'light(s)').

Alternate Titles

  • On Sweden's SVT Play streaming platform, this episode is titled 'Långloppsljus', which translates as 'Long race lights'. As in the original Norwegian title, this is a reference to Jenny Skavlan's submission for the 'Something you have, but should not' prize task, where she refers to turning on her high-beam lights when driving, but uses the unstranslatable compound word 'langrennslys'. In Swedish, the equivalent compound word is 'långloppsljus'. The component parts of this word are 'lång' (meaning 'long'), 'lopp' (meaning 'race'), and 'sljus' (meaning 'light'). [Translator credit: DANI]

    Assistant Intro

    With me is my faithful assistant, Olli.

    Episode stats

    Points Awarded
    69
    Disquals
    3
    Assignment Type
    Solo
    5
    100%
    Team
    0
    0%
    Special
    0
    0%
    Split
    0
    0%
    Tie-Break
    0
    0%
    Task Format
    Prize
    1
    20%
    Filmed
    3
    60%
    Homework
    0
    0%
    Live
    1
    20%
    Judgment Type
    Objective
    4
    80%
    Subjective
    1
    20%
    Combination
    0
    0%
    Unjudged
    0
    0%
    No. of Task Briefs
    Single
    5
    100%
    Multiple
    0
    0%
    Task Originality
    Original
    3
    60%
    Adapted
    2
    40%

    Subtitles

    The following episode subtitle files are available for download.