The Great British Baking Show

[actor61]

I watched the second episode of the new season of The Great British Baking Show on Friday night and was once again completely hypnotized. Nothing much happens. The contestants bake 3 recipes, they're judged by Mary and Paul, somebody gets Star Baker, somebody goes home, and I'm totally addicted. Maybe it's that there are no ridiculous "celebrity chefs" running around giving orders, they don't pull sheep's ball out of a mystery basket from which they're supposed to make an appetizer, they don't tell nauseating anecdotes about their dog's death, or soppy stories about Granma making brownies - they just bake, wait for the results, and then it's on to the next challenge. Paul and Mary don't go on and on when they're tasting. They take a nibble and then say something like, "It has a good bake," "Nice color", "Good crunch" or "It's raw in the middle. I think it needed another 5 minutes" or "What a shame it didn't turn out better". There's no blathering from either one of them. They taste. They comment. They move on. The show's filmed in a tent. There's no mansion in the Hamptons, loft in Manhattan, or seaside villa in Italy. It's a fuckin' tent.

 

I guess I've answered my own question. The show's good because it's about what it's about - baking. No frills, no fits, no fuss. I wish MY life were that simple.

[Zman]

I like this show too. There's something compelling about it. Watching people bake makes for good tv. I like that they don't create a lot of false and trumped up stress and tension. Nobody yells. There's enough drama in amateurs tackling complex recipes in a limited amount of time. Plans go awry. Accidents happen. http://www.ourgtn.org/uploads/monthly_06_2009/post-3788-1245007320.gif

 

There's an Australian version of the same show."The Great Australian Bake Off". I recommend it. You can stream all the episodes on dailymotion.

Edited July 10, 2016 by Zman

[MikeBiDude]

I watched the second episode of the new season of The Great British Baking Show on Friday night and was once again completely hypnotized. Nothing much happens. The contestants bake 3 recipes, they're judged by Mary and Paul, somebody gets Star Baker, somebody goes home, and I'm totally addicted. Maybe it's that there are no ridiculous "celebrity chefs" running around giving orders, they don't pull sheep's ball out of a mystery basket from which they're supposed to make an appetizer, they don't tell nauseating anecdotes about their dog's death, or soppy stories about Granma making brownies - they just bake, wait for the results, and then it's on to the next challenge. Paul and Mary don't go on and on when they're tasting. They take a nibble and then say something like, "It has a good bake," "Nice color", "Good crunch" or "It's raw in the middle. I think it needed another 5 minutes" or "What a shame it didn't turn out better". There's no blathering from either one of them. They taste. They comment. They move on. The show's filmed in a tent. There's no mansion in the Hamptons, loft in Manhattan, or seaside villa in Italy. It's a fuckin' tent.

 

I guess I've answered my own question. The show's good because it's about what it's about - baking. No frills, no fits, no fuss. I wish MY life were that simple.

It's a great show!!

[bobchitown]

I only wish Food Network would take a hard look at it and figure out that they've gone badly wrong.

[bigvalboy]

They take a nibble and then say something like, "It has a good bake," "Nice color", "Good crunch" or "It's raw in the middle. I think it needed another 5 minutes" or "What a shame it didn't turn out better". There's no blathering from either one of them. They taste. They comment. They move on. The show's filmed in a tent. There's no mansion in the Hamptons, loft in Manhattan, or seaside villa in Italy. It's a fuckin' tent.

 

Exactly...It's hilarious. They don't really say anything, except "Nice crunch" or "Nice texture" and everyone is on pins and needles, and it's a fucking tent...but I'm so hooked!

[+ azdr0710]

here's a little two-minute PBS preview and one quick scene about baking rolls or something....entire episodes also available at youtube, in addition to zman's dailymotion suggestion

 

 

[MEDIA=dailymotion]x3b0bzl[/MEDIA]

Edited July 10, 2016 by azdr0710

[marylander1940]

And this is what you'll get...

 

[Rudynate]

I've watched every episode, I love it. I even recommend it to people. Me, recommending a TV show, doesn't happen much.

[bobchitown]

I also like the saucy but intelligent asides from the hosts. There was some brouhaha about the BBC trying to get rid of them, but they make the show. "Ready...BAKE"!

 

We also can't forget baking gate when Diana was accused of sabotaging someone's baked Alaska which he then binned. She then mysteriously lost her sense of taste and smell in a post show bar brawl and had to withdraw. Such drama...

[Golem]

Apparently, she actually was injured in the bar, but it sounds like the real reason she left was the intense social media badgering she received between when that episode aired, and when the next one was filmed.

[actor61]

I only wish Food Network would take a hard look at it and figure out that they've gone badly wrong.

Where the food network went wrong is that it's not about food anymore. It's about contests and personalities. They've created so many star chefs with their own shows that it's gotten way out of hand. I'm pretty sick of all of them. I used to love Ina Garten but she became so precious as the years went on. "How bad can that be?" "Don't have any fun until I get back." "It's not a barbecue until the Fire Department arrives." Giada drives me fuckin nuts. I couldn't afford half the ingredients she recommends and when she gives a birthday party around her pool overlooking Los Angeles and tells me how to keep the gelato cold, I just want to choke her. Martha Stewart is also an entitled bitch (I watch her cooking and baking shows on Create) but her stuff is doable and the ingredients are reasonable. I made her blackberry buckle once for a dinner party and it was out of this world.

 

There was a terrific article in the L.A. Times Food Section many years ago about Rachel Ray. The author wrote about how Ray's gimmick was that she would teach us how to make "healthful" meals in 30 minutes and then proceeded to concoct a carbonara that began with fried bacon to which she added butter, then her fuckin' EVOO, then heavy cream, then cooked pasta, then grated parmesan. The writer said he prepared the recipe exactly as she instructed and it took nearly 50 minutes not 30 (I can't remember why), and when he added up the calories, it nearly gave him cardiac arrest. So much for quick and healthful.

 

In general, I think the British "cookery programs" are better than the American because they stick to cookery. Even Nigella Lawson in her excessive way kept to the basics and her stuff turns out well every time I make it. I have her recipe for lemon pasta and it's a perfect meal, and her recipes for angel food cake and cherry trifle can't be bettered. At Christmas, I do her ham and it is always a hit (gambon? I think that's the British term for it.)

 

I kind of like Lidia what's-her-name too, and America's Test Kitchen can be useful. That's probably the show that comes closest to the English model; it's simply about the preparation of recipes and that's all I want.

[rvwnsd]

Where the food network went wrong is that it's not about food anymore. It's about contests and personalities....

 

I feel the same way about HGTV. I loved to hate the "real estate experts" on the original "Designed to Sell," loved "House Hunters," and never missed "Design on a Dime." That made dreck like "Designstar" tolerable. However, it is now too much to bear. The "Income Property" guy would have to go shirtless to get me back at this point.

 

Rachael Ray... [and] her fuckin' EVOO...

 

That woman makes my skin crawl. Don't even get me started on "EVOO."

[+ azdr0710]

That woman makes my skin crawl. Don't even get me started on "EVOO."

 

had to look "EVOO" up

 

http://www.rachaelray.com/2009/05/what-makes-evoo-evoo

[LivingnLA]

Haha. This topic--American cooking shows vs. British cooking shows--has come up more than once over the years at dinner parties. One of my favorite ways to explore this has been to compare and contrast Gordon Ramsey's American shows versus his British originals. Here's a decent write-up and discussion about how American and British cultural expectations and norms are largely responsible for the variance.

 

http://web.archive.org/web/20071024011039/http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/tv/la-et-kitchen19sep19,1,6452711.story?coll=la-entnews-tv

 

http://ask.metafilter.com/193719/kitchen-nightmares-UK-and-US-version-why-is-there-such-a-huge-difference-in-quality

[BasketBaller]

Where the food network went wrong is that it's not about food anymore. It's about contests and personalities. .

 

Ugh the contests/cooking game shows, I hate them. I used to enjoy Iron Chef, and don't mind Chopped usually (unless we're given a sob story about how much this or that chef needs the money.) But they can keep the others. Worst are the cake decorating shows.

Edited July 11, 2016 by BasketBaller

[bobchitown]

On HGTV the good shows are all gone. Loved designing for the sexes, and there was one where they copied an expensive design for a fraction of the cost. I do still watch House Hunters International but mostly for the locations.

 

British cookery shows can also be over the top but still fun. Loved the two fat ladies since they actually cooked. What a novel idea.

[Zman]

 

“The Great British Bake Off,” a hit reality TV show that has been hailed as a cheery avatar of multicultural, biscuit-loving modern Britain, has been torn apart...

[amused1]

Loathe Bobby Flay. Giada reminds me of an extra from a vampire TV show. Rachel? Wretched. Arron, annoyingly biased.

 

I admit to occasionally enjoying Chopped until the sob stories come out before the appetizer round is done. Oh, and the rather elastic application of standards and rules applied by the judges. I do like the actual cooking challenge aspect of the show.

[dlee02]

I'm sad about the direction GBBO is heading, been a fan since it first started. Guess will just have to enjoy this last season before all the changes. Bummer they can't get their act together... It won't be the same without Mel and Sue.

 

My all time favorite cooking competition show by far is Top Chef. Just enough drama but the focus is still on the food. Still remember catching the first season by chance and was hooked instantly. Unfortunately none of my roommates (in grad school at the time) were interested (if they were home it was only ESPN), so I had to DVR it and watch it when no one was home.

[edjames]

Sadly gone but not forgotten...THE TWO FAT LADIES RULE!

Clarissa Dickson Wright and Jennifer Paterson were great.

 

The Great british Baking Show has moved networks in the UK and will no longer be broadcast on the BBC. The host(essex) Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc have exited the show. news reports say they quit. no world on wether this is contract related or not. they may have exclusive contracts with the BBC. No word on Paul or Mary remaining as judges.

 

MSN reports:

 

It's a sad day in the Great British Baking Show tent. Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc, two of the popular baking competition's hosts, announced their departure in light of the show's move from its home on the BBC to Channel 4 for its next season in 2017.

 

After a bidding war -- in which the BBC was said to offer £15 million (nearly $20 million) per year to keep the show on its commercial-free network -- the broadcasting corporation ultimately lost out to Channel 4, when the production company behind the show, Love Productions, rejected any offers below £25 million annually, the BBC reported. With the news of the move, the hosts announced on Monday they had opted to not renew their contracts for GBBS, which is known as the Great British Bake Off in the U.K. And with the help of a pun or two, they explained in a joint statement why they won't follow the show to Channel 4.

 

"We've had the most amazing time on Bake Off, and have loved seeing it rise and rise like a pair of yeasted Latvian baps," said Perkins and Giedroyc in a statement published by the BBC. "We're not going with the dough. We wish all the future bakers every success."

[actor61]

Sadly gone but not forgotten...THE TWO FAT LADIES RULE!

Clarissa Dickson Wright and Jennifer Paterson were great.

 

The Great british Baking Show has moved networks in the UK and will no longer be broadcast on the BBC. The host(essex) Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc have exited the show. news reports say they quit. no world on wether this is contract related or not. they may have exclusive contracts with the BBC. No word on Paul or Mary remaining as judges.

 

MSN reports:

 

It's a sad day in the Great British Baking Show tent. Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc, two of the popular baking competition's hosts, announced their departure in light of the show's move from its home on the BBC to Channel 4 for its next season in 2017.

 

After a bidding war -- in which the BBC was said to offer £15 million (nearly $20 million) per year to keep the show on its commercial-free network -- the broadcasting corporation ultimately lost out to Channel 4, when the production company behind the show, Love Productions, rejected any offers below £25 million annually, the BBC reported. With the news of the move, the hosts announced on Monday they had opted to not renew their contracts for GBBS, which is known as the Great British Bake Off in the U.K. And with the help of a pun or two, they explained in a joint statement why they won't follow the show to Channel 4.

 

"We've had the most amazing time on Bake Off, and have loved seeing it rise and rise like a pair of yeasted Latvian baps," said Perkins and Giedroyc in a statement published by the BBC. "We're not going with the dough. We wish all the future bakers every success."

As always, something good gets commercialized and becomes something bad. I'm dreading what Chanel 4 will do with it.

[MikeBiDude]

As always, something good gets commercialized and becomes something bad. I'm dreading what Chanel 4 will do with it.

Agree, doesn't strike me as a positive move

[Racketjock]

As a former trained chef, I am admittedly critical when it comes to the cooking shows. I detest the false competitions and drama which is demeaning and designed to drive ratings. I won't say there is plenty of drama that happens in a restaurant kitchen, but that isn't what is being presented. I actually like, or in some ways used to like, Ina Garten and Tyler Florence's shows. I admire that they would talk about the food, where it came from, differentiated what made them good, and were somewhat relatable, though I am not a millionaire with a beautiful house in the Hamptons or Mill Valley. I appreciated that they made good food, shared some solid recipes, and they were easy to watch. You can't quite find that today at all on the network.

 

As for HGTV, I really miss shows about gardening which seem to be a thing of the past, and there is far too much focus now on flipping a house and very little on actual design and what goes into it. I was a big fan of those that actually showed someone making something like Design on a Dime or those that walked you through a process where Candice Olsen was a favorite. I like the eye candy of the guys just as much, but they rarely break a sweat, never take their shirts off, and are careful to keep their assess covered. Where's the fun in that?

[bobchitown]

It won't be the same without Mel and Sue. If it is also without Paul and Mary it simply won't be.

 

That having been said, I adore Grand Designs, a long running Channel 4 show, so I'm holding out hope that they won't totally mess this up.

 

Still, no more "Ready, BAKE". Sigh

 

Does anyone know where I can get one of those magic ovens where the door slides away? Must have one!

[+ Eric Hassan]

Sadly gone but not forgotten...THE TWO FAT LADIES RULE!

Clarissa Dickson Wright and Jennifer Paterson were great.

 

 

I love the 2 fat ladies!!