{"id":543927,"date":"2026-06-19T18:32:24","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T18:32:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/543927\/"},"modified":"2026-06-19T18:32:24","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T18:32:24","slug":"what-alex-horne-watches-and-listens-to-with-his-sons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/543927\/","title":{"rendered":"What Alex Horne Watches (and Listens to) With His Sons"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\n Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos: Everett Collection, Getty Images, Max Fosh via YouTube\n <\/p>\n

When Alex Horne created the U.K. game show Taskmaster<\/a> in 2009, he never imagined the show would become something whole families could enjoy together.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it started in COVID lockdown,\u201d he says. \u201cPeople were suddenly together all the time, and they wanted a program that could appeal to parents, grandparents, teenagers, and children alike. It was a bit of a surprise, but I think we\u2019ve learned that the bad language on our show is at least kind of earned sometimes, or at least playful rather than offensive. We hope.\u201d<\/p>\n

First performed as an Edinburgh Fringe one-off, where contestants included a bunch of Horne\u2019s comedian friends, Taskmaster has grown into a genuine phenomenon. When Horne and co-host Greg Davies toured the U.S. earlier this year, playing the game onstage with contestants like Seth Meyers and John Oliver, they were met by sold-out theaters filled with rabid fans, many of whom have become familiar with the show through the full episodes posted on YouTube<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With the finale of the 21st season of Taskmaster having just aired \u2014 won by Gavin & Stacey\u2019s Joanna Page, though she faced tough competition from Armando Iannucci and Kumail Nanjiani, among other contestants \u2014 the show has also just announced the roster of famous folks playing its 22nd season, set to air later this year.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s certainly keeping Horne busy, though he tries to make time for his family when possible. As we spoke for this piece, he was being driven home to meet his three sons \u2014 ages 13, 15, and 17 \u2014 so they could watch the World Cup opening ceremonies together.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Photo: Juan Luis Diaz\/Quality Sport Images\/Getty Images\n <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a slightly odd World Cup for two reasons. Well, maybe a few reasons, but FIFA is one of them. Maybe your president is one of them. But there\u2019s a lot of teams this year \u2014 it\u2019s the biggest ever one, so there\u2019s a lot of matches \u2014 and I am really excited about it, because my kids really are too.<\/p>\n

I think of my childhood in World Cups. I can remember the four World Cups when I was growing up, and so for them, this is like the biggest one ever because it\u2019s the next one, so I\u2019m excited for them. We\u2019ll watch the opening ceremony in an hour or two together; we\u2019re watching the England match at my local club. I\u2019m involved in a local football club, and they are as well, so we\u2019re all watching together.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Photo: Disney+\/Everett Collection\n <\/p>\n

I think we\u2019re a very normal family. I\u2019m one of three boys, and I\u2019ve got three boys. With my parents, we played games, we played sports, and it\u2019s pretty much the same with my kids.<\/p>\n

In the car, we listen to Hamilton, the musical. It\u2019s not as much anymore because now they\u2019ve all got AirPods in and they\u2019re listening to their own things, but there was a good year of just Hamilton, and it felt quite wholesome.<\/p>\n

For my 40th birthday, my gift from my wife was to go watch Hamilton, and everyone said we needed to listen to it first. So we listened to it and really liked it, and the kids said, \u201cWhat\u2019s that?\u201d So they listened to it and then we took them to it this Christmas, seven years later, and I have not tired of it. I imagine it\u2019s not cool anymore, since it\u2019s been around for a while, but it just ticks those boxes of \u201cParents like it, because it\u2019s vaguely educational,\u201d and \u201cWe think the music\u2019s cool, even though the kids think it\u2019s not cool, but I think secretly it is.\u201d Plus it\u2019s a good sing-along.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Photo: Andy Devonshire\/\u00a9CW\/Avalon\/UKTV \/Courtesy Everett Collection\n <\/p>\n

I should say, my kids do not watch Taskmaster. I think they would really like it, but they can\u2019t bear watching their dad. There are some situations even I don\u2019t like seeing myself in, and they don\u2019t want to see that either.<\/p>\n

They do love the world of the show, though. They come to test the tasks sometimes. They come to the house. They know everybody. But they don\u2019t watch the show. I\u2019d like to think that someday they\u2019ll find it and watch it, but I think it\u2019s sort of the same thing as keeping old ticket stubs and things, like, \u201cMaybe one day, someone will look at all these things.\u201d I just don\u2019t think they will.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Photo: Euan Cherry\/PEACOCK via Getty Images\n <\/p>\n

We watch The Traitors, which is a bit frustrating because it\u2019s a rival show. I can\u2019t help liking it, though, because it\u2019s brought our family together. It\u2019s brilliant.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Photo: Jonathan Olley\/MGM\/Everett Collection\n <\/p>\n

We\u2019re very good at watching movies as a family. I think the latest one we watched was Project Hail Mary. It\u2019s nice when the kids are older because you can watch 15s<\/a>. We watched Anaconda<\/a> together, which I thought was pretty bad, but I enjoyed it. We\u2019ll watch all the Marvel things.<\/p>\n

On a wet or cold day, watching a movie is when you feel like the family is together, and it\u2019s pretty good. I don\u2019t know about you over there. I imagine you\u2019re the same as us, slightly worried about the attention span of children, but my boys can absolutely still watch a movie. We\u2019ll get to the end and be like, \u201cWe did it!\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Photo: Universal\/Everett Collection\n <\/p>\n

We\u2019ve had some success showing them older movies and some not-success. My favorite movie growing up was Blues Brothers, which I watched a million times. I showed it to the kids, and they didn\u2019t like it, but they loved E.T. They loved all the Jurassic Park films. They love Indiana Jones. They don\u2019t love Star Wars, but I don\u2019t love Star Wars for some reason either.<\/p>\n

We tried Brewster\u2019s Millions. That didn\u2019t work. It\u2019s slower than we remembered. They like fast things, as that generation does. Sometimes they\u2019ll think a movie looks old and they\u2019re not interested, but sometimes that doesn\u2019t matter, like pretty much all the Tom Hanks films they love.<\/p>\n

I imagine we\u2019ll like Disclosure Day. I love that Spielberg is making movies for them to see as kids, just like he did for me.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m slightly anti\u2013going to the cinema in the summer; like, I just want to be outside, but our summer in the U.K. can be pretty grim occasionally, so we\u2019ll save it for one of those days.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Photo: Max Fosh via YouTube\n <\/p>\n

I\u2019m watching more and more YouTube with them, partly because I know it\u2019s coming, working in TV. YouTube\u2019s coming to get us, but there\u2019s good stuff there.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a guy called Max Fosh<\/a> over here who\u2019s great. People in my generation often think there\u2019s nothing good on YouTube, but there\u2019s plenty good on there. You\u2019ve just got to find it.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also Dude Perfect<\/a>, which is a good American wholesome YouTube channel, and the quality is amazing. It\u2019s brilliant.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Photo: Getty Images\n <\/p>\n

We\u2019re really good at playing games when we are on holiday. We kind of move around with newish games or what we\u2019re playing at the moment, but there\u2019s a game called Skull<\/a> that I really recommend. It\u2019s a tiny little card game.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a game called Corks<\/a>, which is based on a card game called Spoons, which is brilliant. There\u2019s a violent card game called Shithead<\/a>, which has a swear word, so the kids love it. We even play basic ones like Consequences<\/a> or charades. Old-school parlor games still work.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Photo: Murray Close\/Lionsgate\/Everett Collection\n <\/p>\n

My sons have tried to get us into Minecraft and things like that, but I can\u2019t do it. I just can\u2019t. They\u2019re massively into The Hunger Games, though, and actually my wife has really gotten into that through them.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Julia Donaldson\u2019s books are brilliant. They are just so remarkable. The kids could still probably recite the whole of The Gruffalo<\/a>. I think there should be huge credit to her, because they\u2019re just so wholesome and there\u2019s morals. It\u2019s good writing, too, and that\u2019s a special bit because I\u2019ve written a kids\u2019 book<\/a>, and my kids did not like it.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

My kids love The Phoenix<\/a>, and I think comics are brilliant for kids. With The Phoenix, which comes weekly, I think it\u2019s that it\u2019s coming through the mailbox and then it\u2019s who gets to open it. It\u2019s just a constant in their life, I suppose. It tends to just be on the kitchen table, so someone will be reading it at a mealtime. That\u2019s probably something you would frown upon in the old days, but now you just think, Brilliant! Reading! Amazing.<\/p>\n

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