S05.E02: Spice and Dessert Week

[theatremouse]

6 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I enjoy watching people bake things on this show but the weird thing about this competition is that it's judged on something completely irrelevant to baking. This isn't really a contest to see who is the best baker, it's a contest to see which baker can do the best job in a prescribed time. And time and speed aren't really criteria for good baking. You don't walk into a bakery, order a specialty cake and then demand it be perfect and ready in 2 and half hours.

I disagree. I think part of the premise of the show is the pro-judges are saying "if you have the appropriate skills to do X, it should take you no longer than Y minutes to complete". They're not saying speed = quality. They're saying if you have the competency, the time allotted should be enough. If contestants make a mistake and have to go back, sure it'll mess up their timing of the whole thing, but part of the challenge is essentially "don't make a mistake and need to go back".

The bakery analogy doesn't really work because part of the time a bakery will account for when they're saying how much time they need to make a specialty cake is not just making your one single cake order. The timing for a bakery involves making the components within the larger context of the most efficient process for everything else they're making the day you want yours ready in order to have it fully done at the time you wanted to pick it up. A bakery is never making one single cake (or order) from start to finish like one would on a competition show. But that doesn't mean there can't be some mathematical standard for "if you have this skill, you shouldn't need more time than Y".

[KnotsLanding]

The comments about the timing is interesting to me, because with this franchise one of the first things I liked was the amount of time they've gotten for the challenges. As someone who is used to shows like Chopped, I found it so refreshing they actually have time to complete the challenges. Most of the time most people can finish on time with ease which tells me the time constraints must be reasonable. It's usually when they mess up that they struggle with time.

[pasdetrois]

Quote

Also, I loathe the way Sherry chews and eats.  She sort of chomps and keeps her mouth open. 

I noticed that too. It's very off putting. She takes bites with her molars, which I think some people do to protect their veneers. (Mary Berry does it too.)

Between that, Sarita's panicked fumblings and her camera-mugging, and the horrible hosts, I'm FFing through most of it. Some of the most appealing contestants have left.

I get the distinct impression that the hosts and judges know this version of the series is a mess.

As is the case with "Project Runway," the abbreviated times screw the less talented contestants.  I don't want to watch that - I want to watch talent produce great results.

 

Edited December 28, 2019 by pasdetrois

[rhys]

22 hours ago, Inscrutable1 said:

Compressed air is great for chilling a glass of wine. Sometimes I need one while watching this version. 🙂

Ha! That's bloody brilliant and I'm firmly in the red wine camp (unless it's Prosecco or champagne!).

[Lindz]

EVERYONE'S cheesecake was RAW!! WTF?!!

[proserpina65]

On ‎12‎/‎28‎/‎2019 at 11:11 AM, pasdetrois said:

As is the case with "Project Runway," the abbreviated times screw the less talented contestants.  I don't want to watch that - I want to watch talent produce great results.

So do I, but this is a competition, and the fact that some of the contestants DO produce great results means that it is possible to do so within the time constraints.

[Deskisamess]

Annoying Spice is annoying. Her voice is making me hate this version of the show, which I just found on Hulu.

It's missing all the charm of the British version. And what's with the guy with one dangly earring? WHAM broke up in the 80's. Someone should tell him.

These American bakers are not great. Wow.

 

[Adiba]

20 hours ago, Deskisamess said:

Annoying Spice is annoying. Her voice is making me hate this version of the show, which I just found on Hulu.

It's missing all the charm of the British version. And what's with the guy with one dangly earring? WHAM broke up in the 80's. Someone should tell him.

These American bakers are not great. Wow.

 

Which is why I think this show should be done in America with American judges (not Paul)--other incarnations of this franchise do so--even the Canadian one, so why not the US one?

I think it limits contestants to those who can travel overseas for an extended period of time.