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Taskmaster is a British game show where comedians vie for the approval of the all powerful Taskmaster by completing mundane tasks he's too lazy to do himself. The show only has two permanent members: Greg Davies  The Taskmaster himself. A giant bear of a man, magnificent and magnimonious. Contestants compete for a replica of his head, which is awarded to the player with the most overall points at the end of a season.  Greg himself is 6" 8', and a former schoolteacher before he went into comedy fulltime. He'll fully admit himself he was kind of a poo poo teacher, but you can see the former teacher in his attitude fairly regularly. Alex Horne  Otherwise known as "Little Alex Horne". The Taskmaster's tiny and pathetic assistant. Actually, Alex is quite tall, at 6" 2', and he's the brains behind the show. Which he made because he was jealous a friend did better at a comedy festival than him. Jealous roots aside, he liked the idea and ran with it. He didn't want to present himself though, since he knew the show needed someone more aloof and capricious in that role. Hence Greg. Alex and Greg are good friends in real life, but Greg has said that for some reason he's taken on the show's conceit during film, and Alex's little gestures and attempts at comedy, which he normally finds fun, just annoy him most of the time during filming. Which he makes pretty clear in the moment. Alex comes up with the games, and keeps track of them along with the score while Greg decides the winners (and losers) of more ambiguous tasks based entirely on his whimsy. Edit: Reposting "Heavy_D"'s guide to watching the show with permission. Heavy_D posted:Where can I watch it? tsob fucked around with this message at 11:28 on May 28, 2021 |
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May 28, 2021 04:34
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After some discussion in The Great British Programming Discussion it was decided to make a dedicated Taskmaster thread, as well as to make the thread a re-watch, to promote discussion of the show (and stop said discussion dominating the UK thread). The show recently started an official podcast, helmed by season 9's Ed Gamble (who is staunchly opposed to ever giving up control of the podcast, as a fan of the show as well as former contestant), and each episode of the podcast reviews one episode of the show, usually with a guest from the season. The podcast has already discussed seasons one and two, as well as season ten and eleven as they aired and just started on season three, so the watch along will just fall in line with that. As such, season three: The contestants are: Al Murry, Dave Gorman, Paul Chowdry, Rob Beckett & Sara Pascoe. Al is a stand up comedian, best known for his comic persona the pub landlord, who is an obnoxiously patriotic British stereotype. He also does some history channel style stuff, and is a bit of a war buff from what I gather. Dave is a stand up and television presenter who uses graphics and displays as a large part of his comedy, and is a big fan of traditional games so Taskmaster seems like something that'd be in his wheelhouse. Paul is, at least to me, unknown outside of this show. Rob is a guest on panel shows, but that's about all I know him from. Sara is also a frequent panel show guest, but does some television writing to, to my knowledge. If you're on the fence about Taskmaster, or have never watched it, then I recommend watching this task: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyQyBTXlpmg Which was the first (proper) task of the first episode of the show. Where things start rather sedately with Josh Widdicombe eating a watermelon normally, to establish a baseline then quickly build with Frank Skinner being a bit weird about it and Roisin Conaty completely missing the point of the task before climaxing strongly as Romesh Ranganathan and Tim Key come in like a pair of loving savages. The value of the show in any individual season is dependent on whether you like the guests or not, but it's generally agreed that even seasons with people you don't like are pretty good as a baseline and that a weak season of Taskmaster is still a strong season by most show's standards. As this is a watch-along based on the podcast, we'll just set the watch time for new discussion based on the podcast, which puts out new episodes every Thursday. So feel free to discussion episodes spoiler free after they "air" Thursdays, and try not to discuss seasons 4 through 9 at all. As the podcast has already covered seasons 1, 2, 10 and 11 though, people can watch them at their leisure and discuss them as they wish in the thread. You can't really spoil a show like Taskmaster, beyond revealing winners of individual episodes or seasons (so don't do that), but nothing in one season is going to spoil a subsequent season, so you can watch them or discuss them any time you'd like if you have a hankering for more Taskmaster between episodes. tsob fucked around with this message at 04:42 on May 28, 2021 |
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May 28, 2021 04:34
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As initial discussion, I can say that you get a taste of the contestants for this season right off the bat. Al basically tries to solve problems by throwing money at them, since he's pretty well off, Dave comes off as quite savvy and someone who loves games normally but loses himself in the moment and just goes with the first thing he thinks of, good or bad, and bless his heart, but Paul is kind of lost most of the time. Edit: Well poo poo, forgot to select a thread tag and hosed up the title with a typo. Oh well. tsob fucked around with this message at 04:54 on May 28, 2021 |
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May 28, 2021 04:37
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Humbug Scoolbus posted:Al Murray trying and failing to explain Paul Chowdry on the Taskmaster podcast is a wondrous thing.
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May 28, 2021 05:12
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Where can I watch it? If you live in Her Majesty's kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the current home of Taskmaster is Channel 4, who nabbed it after Series 9 finished. You can view all series 1 through 11 on International viewer are best off visiting the official Youtube page for the show. Full episodes of the show are uploaded there for Series 1-8, 10 and 11. As for Series 9, they've just started uploading that at a rate of one a week. There's also various bonus content like outtakes, contestant interviews, compilations, and the lockdown contest "Home Tasking". The "make a snowman without any snow" task is a classic bit of Taskmaster, and it really is interesting to see the varied and creative responses to the task. Then there's Paul's attempt, which is one of the funniest moments in all of series 3
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May 28, 2021 07:57
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It's worth pointing out that Series 3 is also the last series with only one female contestant. From Series 4 onwards there would be at least two (and in series 9 the women actually outnumber the men.)
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May 28, 2021 08:27
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Dell_Zincht posted:It's worth pointing out that Series 3 is also the last series with only one female contestant. From Series 4 onwards there would be at least two (and in series 9 the women actually outnumber the men.) Not if you count Greg and Alex!  What I'm saying is we need to find a really tall woman to replace Greg.
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May 28, 2021 08:38
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Heavy_D posted:Where can I watch it? I can't believe I forgot something this elementary; teach me not to try and make threads at 4 o'clock in the morning when I just want to go to bed, I guess. Regardless, can I copy/paste this into the OP?
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May 28, 2021 11:04
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tsob posted:I can't believe I forgot something this elementary; teach me not to try and make threads at 4 o'clock in the morning when I just want to go to bed, I guess. Regardless, can I copy/paste this into the OP?
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May 28, 2021 11:20
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I just started watching it on cwtv.com it's a great show, watching the rest in YouTube Sorry: CW Seed is where I watched it nunsexmonkrock fucked around with this message at 12:12 on May 28, 2021 |
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May 28, 2021 12:07
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Glad to see a Taskmaster thread. I'm definitely in the group that randomly stumbled across Taskmaster and found it helped take away a bit of whatever loneliness or despair I was feeling during the peak of COVID lockdown. Season 3 does get unfairly shat upon, I think. It's probably the weakest of all of the TM series but it still has bright spots. Case in point: Heavy_D posted:The "make a snowman without any snow" task is a classic bit of Taskmaster, and it really is interesting to see the varied and creative responses to the task. Then there's Paul's attempt, which is one of the funniest moments in all of series 3 "Bastard's crying, innit" pops into my head, like, once a week. The entire snowman task is great with Al's Chernobyl snowman and the time lapse demise of Scoopy. Anals of History fucked around with this message at 12:59 on May 28, 2021 |
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May 28, 2021 12:46
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Anals of History posted:Season 3 does get unfairly shat upon, I think. It's probably the weakest of all of the TM series but it still has bright spots. Case in point: I don't mind series 3 at all. It's definitely not one of the standout greats but it's nowhere near as bad as 6 or 9.
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May 28, 2021 13:01
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stev posted:I don't mind series 3 at all. It's definitely not one of the standout greats but it's nowhere near as bad as 6 or 9. Woah, what's wrong with 6?
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May 28, 2021 13:26
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I’ve seen the first 8 seasons so far and 6 is absolutely the worst. The least interesting tasks, too many contestants trying to be “the crap one”, and Greg’s obvious crush on Liza Tarbuck being some of the bigger issues.
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May 28, 2021 13:51
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Dell_Zincht posted:Woah, what's wrong with 6?  This smug prick for one thing. It just wasn't a very good mix of contestants though and the tasks didn't make up for it. I usually enjoy Alice Levine but she did nothing for me in this group. The only one I remember being sort of enjoyable was Asim Chaudhry and some of Liza Tarbuck. stev fucked around with this message at 14:34 on May 28, 2021 |
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May 28, 2021 13:54
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FAQ Q: Which series should I start with? A: Season 1. Q: I want to get a friend/family member into TM which episode should I show them? A . season 1, episode 1 Q: In which order should I watch the series? A: 1,2,3,4,5, CoC, 6,7,8,9,10,Xmas,11 Pablo Bluth fucked around with this message at 14:11 on May 28, 2021 |
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May 28, 2021 14:07
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It does seem very odd to me that this thread is gonna start with season 3 based on a podcast most people probably won’t listen to
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May 28, 2021 14:27
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stev posted:
I enjoyed S6 because of Tim Vine. Liza Tarbuck was a pleasant surprise. Russell Howard I normally enjoy but yeah, he was pretty insufferable on Taskmaster. I still firmly believe the worst series is Series 10, though.
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May 28, 2021 14:31
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That was the suggestion in the thread, but I don't mind changing it to be just starting at season one, if people want to start at the start. I have no problem with an excuse to re-watch the show.
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May 28, 2021 14:33
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Starting at Series 1 makes the most sense tbh. If people want to discuss the podcast as well then fair enough.
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May 28, 2021 14:37
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I'll give it a day or two for people to throw opinions in the thread, and then change the opening posts to reflect that if people want to just start with the first season.
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May 28, 2021 15:12
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I'm good with starting on any season. Because I will take any excuse to rewatch Taskmaster (also I thought Russell Howard was fine but Liza Tarbuck was awful).
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May 28, 2021 16:06
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Russell Howard and Tim Vine tried, had a bunch of very good moments and would have been a fine part of a lineup in a stronger season. Having to carry the entire show because three people didn't feel like doing the tasks was too much of an ask though and it ends up the weakest season as a result.
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May 28, 2021 17:20
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Humbug Scoolbus posted:I'm good with starting on any season. Because I will take any excuse to rewatch Taskmaster (also I thought Russell Howard was fine but Liza Tarbuck was awful). Same on any season for rewatching purposes. I was genuinely never bothered by Russell and Liza but didn't really enjoy Tim the first time around. Grew to enjoy him and Asim more on rewatches.
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May 28, 2021 17:57
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Jo Brand is the worst contestant This statement works for Taskmaster and also every other panel show drunken officeparty fucked around with this message at 19:39 on May 28, 2021 |
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May 28, 2021 19:34
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drunken officeparty posted:Jo Brand is the worst contestant She's also the only TM contestant in history to go to the toilet in the middle of a timed task.
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May 28, 2021 21:02
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drunken officeparty posted:Jo Brand is the worst contestant I actually like Jo when she talks about her experience as a psychiatric nurse and the health industry in general, since she has a more direct insight into it than most comedians. Sadly, that's quite rare, and outside that I agree that she can be very trying. She mostly falls back on either self deprecating fat jokes, jokes about how she hates her husband or "lol so random" answers, usually naming a minor celebrity for something that it's obviously not the answer to, like historical figures or what have you. tsob fucked around with this message at 21:51 on May 28, 2021 |
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May 28, 2021 21:26
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I like Jo Brand but not as a comedian. She'd make a fun aunt or neighbour.
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May 28, 2021 21:32
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Jo Brand and her complete lack of fucks was great. Season 6 was one of the weaker ones but it was always going to be hard to top the brilliance of season 5. Still enjoy it though, Tim Vine loosing the hook on that bag task is a top TM moment. Season 8 suffers the same thing because it follows 7 which is another amazing season, although Rhod does get a bit annoying despite his moments of genius. IMO season 8 is the worst, some good moments but just not a huge fan of it and one I tend to skip on a rewatch. I Like Paul Sinha but his failing just wasn't as funny as the past "worsts" like Roisin/Joe/Paul C/Nish.
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May 29, 2021 06:24
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Oh I just realised season 9 has David Baddiel in it. That dude’s become such a piece of poo poo that I’m honestly considering skipping it
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May 29, 2021 08:40
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Baddiel was fine to watch because he's basically useless. I found the season with the poo poo tag-team of Al Murray and Dave Gorman hard to take on rewatch.
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May 29, 2021 08:43
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Escobarbarian posted:Oh I just realised season 9 has David Baddiel in it. That dude’s become such a piece of poo poo that I’m honestly considering skipping it He doesn't black up, and it's clear his mind has gone a bit, making his recent actions a lot more explicable.
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May 29, 2021 08:53
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Dragonstoned posted:IMO season 8 is the worst, some good moments but just not a huge fan of it and one I tend to skip on a rewatch. I Like Paul Sinha but his failing just wasn't as funny as the past "worsts" like Roisin/Joe/Paul C/Nish. Season 8 is my least favourite as well, Ian Stirling created some genuinely uncomfortable moments with how he got during the team tasks and the rest of the cast and the tasks weren't really memorable to me either. The MGS style sneaky trainyard task is the only one that really stood out in my memory.
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May 29, 2021 09:03
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There were some interesting little inner perspectives from the podcast with Al Murray. It was nice to hear how much he enjoyed it, and how he wished he'd been on a later series so he could have got more episodes. He also explained how on a few occasions he began worrying about his interpretation of a task, and defending what Dave Gorman had been up to as a pre-emptive move, to shore up his own attempt. Will be interesting to rewatch the rest of the episodes, and see how much of that chumminess really might be him playing the game...
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May 29, 2021 10:36
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Re-Wactch
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May 29, 2021 11:02
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Escobarbarian posted:Oh I just realised season 9 has David Baddiel in it. That dude’s become such a piece of poo poo that I’m honestly considering skipping it Honestly it's great to see how much of a dumbass he is and enjoy the delicious schadenfreude at his expense.
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May 29, 2021 16:13
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If the right schedule is to watch the episode the day before the new podcast, then tomorrow is Taskmaster Day. S03E02: The Dong and the Gong, featuring...
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Jun 1, 2021 23:03
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I’ve been learning Morse lately for my amateur radio studies, so I’ll look at those loving balloons closely this time.
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Jun 1, 2021 23:42
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Heavy_D posted:If the right schedule is to watch the episode the day before the new podcast, then tomorrow is Taskmaster Day. I was kind of hoping by keeping quiet for a few days while I was mostly busy with other stuff that there'd be a bit more consensus built up over whether to start a re-watch with season 3 or season 1. As is, there's only been a few replies on it and the consensus is basically "I'm good with whatever". In which case, a re-watch starting at the start is probably for the best since as someone else pointed out, most people probably aren't going to give a poo poo about the podcast anyway. So I'll probably close this thread, and start a new one with a season 1 re-watch. Which will, by complete coincidence, give me a chance to erase the stupid typo I made in the title of this thread. The only question remaining being whether it's better to interrupt said re-watch for new seasons and so to schedule the "new" episodes to be the same day/time as the new episodes drop on Channel 4. Which is currently set for 9pm on Thursday, and will presumably not change when the new season starts at some point in the next few months. Or would it be better to just go through them all in order, leaving actually new episodes to be discussed in the UK thread and setting a more convenient time, like Mondays or Fridays, that everyone can sync to easily as the start/end of a work week? I'll do it tomorrow either way, and by default probably just plump to make it a Friday thing ignoring the newer seasons until we get to them since interrupting for new seasons is kind of weird and confusing schedule wise, but I'm open to opinions or suggestions.
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Jun 2, 2021 21:54
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Fair enough, probably makes sense. I'll post my S03E02 thoughts anyway, then I can copy-paste them into the new thread in 12 episodes time! My feeling is it's a pretty classic slate of tasks, yet the episode ends up a bit less than the sum of its parts. The prize task category seems incredibly susceptible to dull-as-ditch-water submissions, and it's only really the contestants that try to subvert it that are enjoyable. Al's more metaphorical interpretation of "heaviest" was clever, and I really enjoyed Sara playing for laughs with her obviously BS story (a bit like Mike's smashed glass sculpture in series 11). For all the good it did her, last place, one point. First house task contains the two highest points of the episode - Al's gong and Rob's pressure washer. End of series spoiler: This episode is also where Rob really starts to look like the series champion - this task helps a lot, and he also picks up a ton of confidence in the studio. He completely botches the live task (which was to me like the prize task - nothing entertaining in the successes) - and yet it doesn't matter, he wins the episode anyway. I believe this episode marks the first "mystery task" in the series (if you don't count Taskmaster Squash) - it's a formula that they use with variations in later series, usually still as a team task. I like how most of the clues are just vague enough that your first guess might not be right - "look at the phone"/"look behind the picture". It's also a classic bit of Alex frustrating the contestants, both teams are so annoyed to discover Alex has just been holding the key the whole time. Even second time round it's funny to watch. Funniest bit of the balloon task is seeing Dave already holding his face in embarrassment, while Greg revels in putting on an air of disbelief that anyone would just launch into the task without preparing. Classic Taskmaster gag, still funny. This task has been popular in the foreign remakes of Taskmaster, some of which featured much better performances than this lot if I'm honest. None of the remakes carried the morse code part over, which is understandable as it's pretty esoteric. Al contemplated it for a second, but couldn't do anything with the idea, and I find it pretty surprising that they even managed to get that much mileage out of it.
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Jun 2, 2021 22:31
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