S01.E01: The Great Holiday Baking Show: Cookie Week

[sum]

The British show specifically does not use professional bakers. They are all amateurs and are not culinary students either.

I would find it extremely hard to believe that these contestants were ex-pats. So they faked all their backstories?

+1

 

The other thing that is a clear problem is that the UK production did not realize that they gave technical challenges on baking items that are not familiar to Americans. I heard a lot of echoes of my question 'what is a brandy snap?'  Look it up on wiki and the US is not listed as a place where its popular. Its UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, etc.  I was literally wondering through the whole challenge how you can bake something you've never seen with only partial instructions.  Either the one baker that had heard of it helped off camera or the recipe got supplemented with a picture off camera.

Except it's a pretty normal occurrence in UK shows as well. Paul and Mary often bring up some very exotic challenges that none of contestants have ever heard of or have an idea how to pronounce its name.

As mentioned by others, I think 6 is just too few and 4 episodes(only 40 mins shows) is too short to create the atmosphere and get familiar with everything including the contestants. On the plus side the two judges seem to have good enough chemistry from the get go and I didn't mind the hosts.

 

One more, I was surprised there was no product placements. The British show can't do it as it's on BBC. Australian one seems to do so. They shows the actual package of flour, butter and milk with logos on them. Not complaining, obviously.

Edited December 2, 2015 by sum

[NoThyme]

Mary was the only one in jeans. They all wear jeans in the British version.

The bakers had far less experience than the British bakers. Far less imaginative in their cookie flavors.

Since they aren't near their homes they had to find people who could leave for a period of time. If they continue that format it will be a different group of bakers. Mary is 80.I'm sure she wouldn't enjoy a lot of travel.

[Rickster]

I always thought a lot of the problem with the original US version was Paul's co-judge. Whatever chemistry was going on off screen, I thought she was pretty useless on the show.

[DeLurker]

Always glad to have Mary on my tv- she's a delight.  Don't know who the other judge is, but he seems ok.

 

The hosts are trying to hard, so I hope they settle down.

 

The bakers aren't quite out of central casting but...you have the "Southerner", the "New Yawker", etc...I am sure all of them can bake way better than moi, but so far I haven't seen anything I wouldn't put some of the better bakers in my family up against.  it does seem that the bakers were cast on short notice:

 

Casting Call

• Have you ever baked a cake or cookies from scratch?
• Can you turn on an oven?
• Can you leave for England tomorrow?

[Skittl1321]

I was literally wondering through the whole challenge how you can bake something you've never seen with only partial instructions.  Either the one baker that had heard of it helped off camera or the recipe got supplemented with a picture off camera.

 

This happens fairly often on the original show. They get an obscure bake that no one has ever heard of.  The season that is on Netflix, they had one where one woman had actually done a version of it for her first bake, no one else had ever heard of it and had no clue what they were supposed to be doing.  Of course, the woman who knew what it was won.

 

 

 

Really loving this show, if only because it gives me some bake-off fix in the US.  I liked the hosts better than the British ones (they drove me nuts), but I have no clue who they are. The biggest problem I have (other than the bakers not being up to par with the British ones- I figured they did mega-rush casting, so not many people could apply; who can take off a month or whatever to go overseas to film a baking show with no prize? Do they at least get a stipend?) is that it is on so late at night.  We ended up watching online. But it seems like this would have been a great "watch with the kids" show- it's making Christmas cookies, for goodness sake. Who decided to put it on so late?

One more, I was surprised there was no product placements. The British show can't do it as it's on BBC. Australian one seems to do so. They shows the actual package of flour, butter and milk with logos on them. Not complaining, obviously.

 

Oops you beat me to the explanation that unknown technical bakes happen all the time.

 

Knowing that this was filmed in the UK, I understand why there is no product placement. They'd have to fly in American products.

 

 

Also- I noticed the raspberry cake in the title credits was "fixed". The one in the British show credits is missing a raspberrry in the bottom right and it drives me crazy every time.

[Rinaldo]

The "partial instructions" for the technical are not really in the realm of randomly omitting big swathes of essential material. They're more like professional-level recipes that full-time bakers would be used to, just naming the building blocks: "combine ingredients as usual for a genoise," "make a pastry cream," "bake until done." All stuff that an experienced baker SHOULD know. And sometimes they do.

[Kromm]

For those wondering about the casting (and even the timeline)...

 

https://twitter.com/holidaybakers15

 

The show was not, could not, have been shot last spring as a few people have guessed, because of the June and July timeline on the casting callouts.  There was in fact a June 28 deadline they went past and STILL kept casting.

 

Original casting "ad":

 

 

Ones they ran in July:

 

[MelineB13]

I was sorry to see Grace go but boy was she out of her element.  

 

I don't like the host..bring back Jeff Foxworthy.  I also like the hosts of the British show and they way they say "bake". 

 

You would think they could find better contestants for this type of show..really.  I could probably make a better gingerbread house.

 

I agree, I get why they did only 6 contestants... only 4 episode "special" means they can't have 12 people starting. BUT, they could have had the TOP six contestants instead of numbers 12, 11, 6, 5, 2, and 1, because the different skill levels are so apparent. 

 

RE: the hosts, I oddly found myself longing for Tori Spelling and Dean McDermott to host. I think it would be the perfect blend of his culinary background and her holiday/theme/decorating background. If this special does well and they decide to fully bring it to the US - maybe other holiday specials - I hope they look into other hosts. The British hosts almost have a Tina Fey/Amy Pohler vibe. 

[Kromm]

I agree, I get why they did only 6 contestants... only 4 episode "special" means they can't have 12 people starting. BUT, they could have had the TOP six contestants instead of numbers 12, 11, 6, 5, 2, and 1, because the different skill levels are so apparent. 

 

RE: the hosts, I oddly found myself longing for Tori Spelling and Dean McDermott to host. I think it would be the perfect blend of his culinary background and her holiday/theme/decorating background. If this special does well and they decide to fully bring it to the US - maybe other holiday specials - I hope they look into other hosts. The British hosts almost have a Tina Fey/Amy Pohler vibe. 

A.) It's not doing well. The ratings were short of dismal in today's terms, but they weren't making it a keeper either.

B.) If it came to the US it would happen without Mary Berry. She won't go. 

C.) For some reason using comedians seems to be frowned on for US hosting gigs (other than lets say... Last Comic Standing). The Brits use comedians for those gigs (especially for their panel shows--a genre of show we don't even really HAVE in the US). Foxworthy was close but the other thing the Brits creme over is the so-called hosting "double act" (usually a pair of comedians). They're in love with the concept, and usually US producers aren't. It's an odd dichotomy.

[Grommet]

This is a pale imitation of the British original, but it's entertaining enough - and nowhere near as annoying as the Holiday Baking thing on the Food Network (why am I watching that??). I do think it would be better if the bakers themselves were better.

 

Kromm, that's an interesting point about Brits using comics as hosts while the US does not. I love Sue and Mel but I can't think of a US equivalent except maybe Amy Sedaris and someone (Dave!) but she's way too quirky, of course.

[Skittl1321]

 

is the so-called hosting "double act" (usually a pair of comedians)

Like when Tina Fey and Amy Poehler co-host the Academy Awards.

 

There's a pair of comedians I'd go for. But this show could never afford them...

[ABay]

Among the many differences, the one that really hit me was this: contestants on the original show would've calculated how much batter each snap needed for there to be 16 identical ones, and would've drawn circles on the reverse of the parchment paper.

[Dobian]

This show proves that the balance achieved on TGBBO is a fragile and delicate wonder. The producers have hewed quite closely to the form and script of the British original, but they just miss the mark. The contestants were perfectly nice, but lacked the energy and charm of the British competitors. I'm not sure if it's editing or haphazard recruiting or the natural charm of the Brits for American viewers, but this bunch was oddly flat to me. And I totally agree that as bakers most of them couldn't hold a cookie to their British counterparts. Mary had to dig deep to find something nice to say to some of these bakers.

 

Nia Vardalos and Ian Gomez also seemed out of their element and flat to me. There was a serious all-around lack of energy to the proceedings, as if the producers mistook the good feelings of the British production with a low emotional level. Here's where the absence of Mel and Sue were most felt.

 

 

Bingo! Mary Berry is like the lighthouse, the port in this fog. She was the one I wanted to see and hear. Johnny Iuzzini is okay, obviously a skilled pastry chef, a competent judge and handsome to boot. I missed Paul Hollywood's teasing hints and incisive explanations for why something failed or succeeded.

 

Even the location, which I never heard disclosed, lost its charm. The tent was never grounded in its locale as thoroughly as in the British show. It could have been set up in any park. I had no real idea of when it was taped. It got dark early, so I presume it was sometime within the last few months. But a shot of a spring crocus was confusing. The beauty and charm of the setting was never exploited. Was it Americans plunked down in Britain? Who knows?

 

Overall, the idea for doing a holiday version of the Great Bake-Off is fine, but the execution failed at exactly the points where the British show soars: charming and personable bakers who actually have skills, lively hosts and two judges who are both warm and encouraging even when they're delivering bad grades. Mary was the sole saving grace for me. Even so, I'll keep watching with hope that it improves in the three remaining weeks.

 

I haven't watched yet but I'm a fan of TGBBO.  I get what you're saying about the charm of the British hosts and contestants.  It's hard not to love the good humor and stiff upper lip when one of the bakers has a bad day and says something along the order of, "Well that was quite unfortunate, wasn't it?".  I'll try and catch up with this one tonight.

 

Edit: Okay, watched it.  They really follow the original show's format down to the last detail.  I thought they pretty successfully captured the charm of the series.  I like the bakers, but there is a pretty apparent gap in the skill level from really good to pretty awful.

Edited December 3, 2015 by Dobian

[MissLulu]

My thoughts:

I think they should have started with at least 10-12 contestants and done double eliminations to get down to the finale. I just think it would have made it more exciting...

 

I also think the time slot is not great... Monday at 10 pm... many people I know that would watch are probably asleep already! 

 

Love Mary and Johnny together, cute. 

 

Nina and her hubby are ok but no Mel & Sue and trying a bit too hard to be like them imo...

 

I like that they work with home bakers but I do wonder for a U.S. audience and such a short season, maybe professional bakers? Not celeb chefs and maybe none that had been on any other competition shows... I don't know... I do think it might lose something that way so probably not.

Edited December 3, 2015 by MissLulu

[Kromm]

My thoughts:

I think they should have started with at least 10-12 contestants and done double eliminations to get down to the finale. I just think it would have made it more exciting...

No way were they gonna pay for double the amount of airfare and hotel rooms though. The moment Mary only agreed to do it in the UK they were committed to a smaller contestant pool, I'd say.

[ElleBee]

Since this is themed as a holiday baking show (as opposed to "Great American Baking Show") and it was shot in the UK, I don't understand why they couldn't pick the best few from the US and then throw in a few good UK contestants. It's not like Americans refuse to watch contestants from other countries and it would probably be interesting to see the different approaches to the same objectives.

[girlplease]

This is a pale imitation of the British original, but it's entertaining enough - and nowhere near as annoying as the Holiday Baking thing on the Food Network (why am I watching that??). I do think it would be better if the bakers themselves were better.

 

Kromm, that's an interesting point about Brits using comics as hosts while the US does not. I love Sue and Mel but I can't think of a US equivalent except maybe Amy Sedaris and someone (Dave!) but she's way too quirky, of course.

 

Oh, I would LOVE Amy Sedaris to host! That's a stroke of genius.

 

This filled the void well enough until the next season of GBBO. I find the familiar scenery and music so comforting!

[ElectricBoogaloo]

The "partial instructions" for the technical are not really in the realm of randomly omitting big swathes of essential material. They're more like professional-level recipes that full-time bakers would be used to, just naming the building blocks: "combine ingredients as usual for a genoise," "make a pastry cream," "bake until done." All stuff that an experienced baker SHOULD know. And sometimes they do.

On one of the other versions of the show, the instructions for the technical challenge consisted of a piece of paper that just had the name of the finished product at the top of the page. There have been three shows running simultaneously so I keep forgetting who did what on which show but I think it was the final technical challenge on the South African show?

The directions for technical challenges vary. Sometimes they are very precise (on the Irish version Paul Kelly specified how long the legs of icing should run down the sides) and other times they are very vague ("make the dough").

[tenativelyyours]

I don't miss Paul Hollywood at all.  And find Johnny a bit of a relief with his interaction with Mary.  In fact watching her with him, I do wonder just how much she loves waiting for Paul to (allegedly) spray on the brighter silver that occasionally tops his coif.  I sat across from him on a plane and he came off as a pompous ass.  But maybe that is me because I have sat across from an odd number of celebrities and most came off as pompus asses!

 

I do kind of miss Jeff Foxworthy.  He was surprisingly able to translate the GBBO general theme into the county fair contests and church dinner aspect that came through nicely in the first US attempt.  And for me the oddness at hand here is that they have a bunch of people playing baking tourist it seems.  Somehow I cannot help that in between jaunts to taking in the changing of the guard and the Wax Museum, they also got a chance to actually bake in the big tent. 

 

ABC should have gambled for a repeat hit by pulling out more stops.  Get a sponsor to have limited ads; maybe Target and Kraft.  Get some product placement to also offset the breaks.  Get the show to as close to 50 minutes of air as possible to keep it from feeling rushed.  Also have it run during the holiday period with more than one episode a week.  Earlier at night as well.  Treat this like they did the roll out years ago of Who Wants to be a Millionaire (but without the garish game show feel of course).   Many shows are on hiatus anyway with the holidays or limited in terms of airings between now and the new year. 

 

Amy Sedaris would have been heaven.  But I am not sure how "gentle" she would be.  One thing I have come to appreciate with both the pairs of women on the original recipe, the new reboot of the Australian version and the single woman on the Irish verision is how they might irritate with the attempts at levity; they all serve as a great buffer between the stress of the competition and the dread of the judging.  As flat as the jokes can be, I sense there is some real concern and some entertaining ties between the hosts and the contestants.   

 

Mary sounds much frailer both here and the sixth season of the Great Britain edition.   As much as I love her, I do kind of wish that ABC would have taken a risk and looked for a US version.  I am finding Maggie on the Australian show rather fun after initially being put off by the feel she is a Mary Berry knock off.  I think Ina Garten would be fun or Sara Moultin.  Someone who can sincerely give the one leaving a warm hug.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Ooh, I love Sara Moulton. She is a good combination of straightforward without being mean so she would be a great judge! As with most shows, I don't really see the need to have a host on the bake off shows, but I have come to appreciate some of them for being so supportive when the bakers are having meltdowns. I like that aspect more than the puns and attempts at being funny.

[Rickster]

I wonder if the idea of "baking tourist" is that apparent to people who have not seen the UK version, since they have been careful not to indicate where the show was filmed.

I do think it would have been very odd to also use the UK hosts on this. Then it really would have seemed as if a bunch of American bakers had been parachuted into a BBC show.

[RealityCheck]

ElectricBoogaloo said:

On one of the other versions of the show, the instructions for the technical challenge consisted of a piece of paper that just had the name of the finished product at the top of the page. There have been three shows running simultaneously so I keep forgetting who did what on which show but I think it was the final technical challenge on the South African show?

I believe it was the Irish Bake Off, Pineapple Upside Down Cake, 2 hours, and the bakers could make as many cakes as they wanted to picking the best version for judging. Neil chose to bake only one cake and surprised other bakers chose to bake two.

 

I thought Jeff Foxworthy was an excellent host and I love Mel & Sue so Nia and Ian pale in comparison. After seven weeks of the Australian Bake Off, I find the new hosts pretty blah.

 

I watched the GBBO Season 2 revisited and Ian said prior to the start, he was concerned that Mel & Sue would be intrusive during the baking. But he realized during the filming he appreciated how supportive Mel & Sue were and how their humor helped to relieve the stress.

 

IMO Paul Hollywood is best male judges of the versions I have watched (British, Irish, Australian, South African). Paul H. gives specifics of what he is looking for, what caused the bake to fail, and how the baker could have avoided a problem. In all the critiques I've heard Paul H. give, I do not recall him being as brutal as Paul Kelly was during the chocolate swiss roll technical challenge. Having said that, I think Johnny I. did a good job so I wouldn't have a problem with him continuing to judge if the show is renewed.

 

tentativelyyours said:

Mary sounds much frailer both here and the sixth season of the Great Britain edition.   As much as I love her, I do kind of wish that ABC would have taken a risk and looked for a US version.

I think ABC is testing the waters to see how the show will fly, given how badly CBS did with their version and leveraging Mary to capture a built-in audience, which I hope worked. If this mini-series is successful enough and they decide to do a full-blown season, I can't see them flying 12 contestants to England so CBS will have to find someone else to judge because I can't see Mary wanting to fly to the US to do a full show. I do not know the industry but I don't know anyone who is of the stature in baking and/or cookbook authoring as Mary is in England. I do not think Ina would do the show because she said in an interview she does the show to promote her cookbooks and she appears too nervous even on her Barefoot Contessa shows. I do not want to see Giada on my TV screen any more than I have to, which is too much already.  But the continued success of the show will hinge on who is the judge who steps into Mary's shoes.

[Kromm]

I think ABC is testing the waters to see how the show will fly, given how badly CBS did with their version and leveraging Mary to capture a built-in audience, which I hope worked. If this mini-series is successful enough and they decide to do a full-blown season, I can't see them flying 12 contestants to England so CBS will have to find someone else to judge because I can't see Mary wanting to fly to the US to do a full show. I do not know the industry but I don't know anyone who is of the stature in baking and/or cookbook authoring as Mary is in England. I do not think Ina would do the show because she said in an interview she does the show to promote her cookbooks and she appears too nervous even on her Barefoot Contessa shows. I do not want to see Giada on my TV screen any more than I have to, which is too much already.  But the continued success of the show will hinge on who is the judge who steps into Mary's shoes.

As much as a lot of people hate her (and even as an ex-con--something that's conveniently ignored of course when she appears these days) it might be time to pull the Martha Stewart card.  Admittedly she's hardly the world's biggest authority, but of course that's why you pair her with a more serious baker as a co-judge. The point would be the publicity, and to give Martha credit she doesn't feed into the traditional reality show hard-charging negativity.  I suppose they could also try and drag Nigella Lawson across the Atlantic and try her. 

 

I guess the problem is that there isn't really a Mary Berry like figure in the US. The people with the experience tend to be pastry chefs but few of them have any warm fuzzy homey appeal.

[tenativelyyours]

I threw out Ina because she has gravitas and appears to be warm.  Martha Stewart would be fine I guess if the male judge was the warm and cuddly type to offset her brusque chill.  Though she has gotten more relaxed since her prison stint.    Giada doesn't have any sort of range for baking that I can see, she has no gravitas and a limp armed air hug while checking her hair and make up in whatever nearest reflective surface she can find is not what I see in the likes of Mary and Maggie on their respective shows.  I have no idea who the female judge is on the Irish show but she fades into the bacground.  Espeically when compared to the host of the show who comes off nicely warm, slightly irreverant and even a touch bawdy in a self-deprecating way.

 

I do think it is funny that Mary employs a slight bit of British remove on the British show (yet still comes off as sincere and happy and empathetic -- she just has a bit more no nonsense in some regards) than I've seen on the really short exposure in this with Johnny.  She seems to view it as a bit of a lark. 

 

I find Hollywood a bit too "Paul Hollywood".  I had never seen a full season of the British show, just an episode here and there on my travels, before it aired on PBS.  Now I have seen all except catching up on the latest British one (6).  I think Paul Holllywood does think he is as sexy as the silly tabloid hype tried (and did) sell.  I think Paul Hollywood does think his looks at simply knee buckling or giggle giggle clever.  And I don't.

 

I think what makes Johnny work is what makes the two hosts in this not.  Odd how that works.  But Johnny knows he is on sufferance.  He is the fill in blank name since they got Mary Berry.  Really in the end it did not matter who it was that stood next to her.  In the same way it doesn't matter who is trying to crack wise and pretty much failing in the host capacity.  So Johnny is there to make the best of it and have a bit of fun it seems to me.  Enjoy being a part of it and see what happens.  Or not.  The hosts through seem to think they are filling in that blank under "host" and trying to do it exactly the same.  But in their own way.  But exactly the same so you get who they are.  Not sure if that all makes sense.  But Johnny seems to know his role in general and they seem to be trying to fill their roles specifically. 

[zoey1996]

I wonder if the idea of "baking tourist" is that apparent to people who have not seen the UK version, since they have been careful not to indicate where the show was filmed.

I haven't seen the UK version, and I have no idea where it's filmed.  I watched the CBS version with Foxworthy, but that's the extent of what I've watched.  And before hearing of this show, I had no idea who Mary Berry was, either.

My DD and SIL are foodies, and they live in England, but they've never mentioned the UK version to me.  I'll have to ask them about it.

Enjoyed this episode.  I know they are amateurs, and it's not like I could have done better, but some efforts did seem very amateur-ish.  Still fun to watch, and I'm looking forward to seeing more episodes during this holiday season.

[vibeology]

I know she's better known in Canada, but Anna Olson is the person I'd love to see. She's basically my baking idol. Plus she gives off such a warm, caring vibe.

That assumes that the show wouldn't film in the UK again and I don't think that's a given. The US is huge and the show would have to fly everyone in and put them up somewhere no matter what. Hire a UK crew and put up the contestants and American hosts and cojudge. If focus groups rate Mary highly, the few extra expenses could still be worth it to CBS.

[backgroundnoise]

Does anyone know if the chefs know what the signature and showstopper challenges are going to be?  Do they get the week to practice like the UK version?  It seems like they don't, given the dismal results of some of the gingerbread structures.

 

I can't see a US show set up (and filmed in the US) where the contestants go home for a week in between the challenges.   Too bad, I think that is one of the things that make the British version so good--it's about pitting chefs' best efforts against each other, not trying to stress them out with twists.

[GaT]

It's amazing to me how many people liked Jeff Foxworthy as the host on the CBS show & yet he doesn't seem to be working as a host for any kind of show. I just checked his IMDB page, & the only thing he's doing is a voice in an animated film, so besides touring as a comedian, why isn't someone grabbing him? 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Does anyone know if the chefs know what the signature and showstopper challenges are going to be? Do they get the week to practice like the UK version? It seems like they don't, given the dismal results of some of the gingerbread structures

I assume that the bakers know what the signature and showstopper challenges are ahead of time so that they can plan their recipes and give production the list of ingredients they need ahead of time. I doubt they are given the week off in between episodes to practice though. Maybe they get a day off between filming each episode to practice? Or since there are only four episodes, maybe they were told all the signature/showstoppers at once and given 2-3 days to practice everything?

[sum]

IMO Paul Hollywood is best male judges of the versions I have watched (British, Irish, Australian, South African). Paul H. gives specifics of what he is looking for, what caused the bake to fail, and how the baker could have avoided a problem. In all the critiques I've heard Paul H. give, I do not recall him being as brutal as Paul Kelly was during the chocolate swiss roll technical challenge. Having said that, I think Johnny I. did a good job so I wouldn't have a problem with him continuing to judge if the show is renewed.

Exactly what I like about him. Besides this one episode, I'm watching the current Australian season. And I miss Hollywood's analytical reviews on the technical side from both shows.

 

It's amazing to me how many people liked Jeff Foxworthy as the host on the CBS show & yet he doesn't seem to be working as a host for any kind of show. I just checked his IMDB page, & the only thing he's doing is a voice in an animated film, so besides touring as a comedian, why isn't someone grabbing him?

Check out the 'Self' section on his IMDB page.

I haven't watched any of CBS episodes but I can imagine why many prefer him to the current pair.

[Kromm]

It's amazing to me how many people liked Jeff Foxworthy as the host on the CBS show & yet he doesn't seem to be working as a host for any kind of show. I just checked his IMDB page, & the only thing he's doing is a voice in an animated film, so besides touring as a comedian, why isn't someone grabbing him?

Errr. Does that Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? show suddenly not count? It's most recent season was just only like four or five months ago. Guess who hosted?

(If you guessed "a Fifth Grader" you'd be wrong!)

Edited December 5, 2015 by Kromm

[GaT]

Errr. Does that Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? show suddenly not count? 

Since it's not listed on his IMDB page, I guess not.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Since it's not listed on his IMDB page, I guess not.

It's listed on his IMDB page but it's under the "self" section, not the "actor" section.

[GaT]

It's listed on his IMDB page but it's under the "self" section, not the "actor" section.

Ah, I never look in anything other than what's listed up top.

[BW Manilowe]

As much as a lot of people hate her (and even as an ex-con--something that's conveniently ignored of course when she appears these days) it might be time to pull the Martha Stewart card. Admittedly she's hardly the world's biggest authority, but of course that's why you pair her with a more serious baker as a co-judge. The point would be the publicity, and to give Martha credit she doesn't feed into the traditional reality show hard-charging negativity. I suppose they could also try and drag Nigella Lawson across the Atlantic and try her.

I guess the problem is that there isn't really a Mary Berry like figure in the US. The people with the experience tend to be pastry chefs but few of them have any warm fuzzy homey appeal.

Funny you should mention Martha Stewart. She was actually a Judge on the new "Junior" (kids/early teens) version of Chopped airing on Food Network. I think it was the ep that aired last Tuesday (Tuesday of Thanksgiving week). She was kind to the young people, including when it was her turn to explain, on behalf of all the Judges, why the young chef got chopped that round. She also explained why she thought a dish wasn't so successful--it could've used more/less seasoning, it wasn't cooked long enough, 1 non-mandatory ingredient could've been subbed for another, etc.

[PepperMonkey]

I've never really had any opinion on Nia Vardalos and/or Ian Gomez either way. I didn't see My Big Fat Greek Wedding - she may have been great in that - but the couple things in which I HAVE seen her were not that impressive to me. Serious kudos on the weight loss, but (unpopular opinion time; I have those frequently): Nia is what? over 50, for sure. The mini skirts that seemed to be so we could see and envy her "thigh gap" since her weight loss were a bit OTT. So getting that judgmental part out of the way, I didn't think they were that great as hosts and if they decide to continue the show, they need to find someone/s to whom the audience can warm.

 

Johnny I doesn't really bother me. He seemed less of a caricature than the last time I saw him, which I think was Top Chef Just Desserts.

 

Mary is always a joy. The American contestants were way more likeable than many American contestants on American reality shows, but they didn't seem to have any discernible level of skill. On TGBBO, I'm always amazed by at least one amateur baker and the things they can produce.

 

All in all, it's probably a good idea that it's only a four week show.

Edited December 6, 2015 by PepperMonkey

[BW Manilowe]

I've never really had any opinion on Nia Vardalos and/or Iam Gomez either way. I didn't see My Big Fat Greek Wedding - she may have been great in that - but the couple things in which I HAVE seen her were not that impressive to me. Serious kudos on the weight loss, but (unpopular opinion time; I have those frequently): Nia is what? over 50, for sure. The mini skirts that seemed to be so we could see and envy her "thigh gap" since her weight loss were a bit OTT. So getting that judgmental part out of the way, I didn't think they were that great as hosts and if they decide to continue the show, they need to find someone/s to whom the audience can warm.

Johnny I doesn't really bother me. He seemed less of a caricature than the last time I saw him, which I think was Top Chef Just Desserts.

Mary is always a joy. The American contestants were way more likeable than many American contestants on American reality shows, but they didn't seem to have any discernible level of skill. On TGBBO, I'm always amazed by at least one amateur baker and the things they can produce.

All in all, it's probably a good idea that it's only a four week show.

Google says Nia's 53. I just looked. And she & Ian have been married 22 years.

[rab01]

I just caught this show last night and enjoyed it. It's not quite as restful and charming as the British original but I really think that's just the lack of English accents and the commercial breaks. For some reason, a blubbery mess of a contestant bothers me less on an English show than on an American show.

 

It seems odd that it's cheaper to fly the contestants and most of the judges to England rather than use a studio in the U.S but I can understand Mary being the one nearly irreplaceable element. The closest American equivalent I can think of is Sherry Yard, who has suddenly started popping up all over Food Network but seems to have a friendly persona to go with a ton of pastry experience and awards.

 

In defense of the contestants, losing the week to practice will make anybody seem to be much less capable than their cross-Atlantic counterparts.