Worst Bakers in America - General Discussion

[Hellga]

Eight of the worst bakers in America enter boot camp with hopes of going from kitchen disasters to baking masters. Chefs Lorraine Pascale and Jason Smith see what they're dealing with by asking the recruits to recreate their dream desserts. Once the teams have been chosen, the recruits do their best to not get sent home by creating twelve of their own uniquely designed cookies for their "cookie feed."

The sister show to "Worst Bakers", but only in its second season.  Hopefully, more fun than what Worst Cooks have become.  I haven't had a chance to watch the first episode yet, but I will later this week.  I really liked Lorraine on a couple other shows, and I don't know who Jason Smith is...

[Gramto6]

Thanks!

[Writing Wrongs]

I watched it. My problem with these shows is that I have a hard time believing these people are that clueless. The lady who poured her batter all over the muffin pan? Come on! Most of this just seems to play to the camera. They all suck so bad, but at the last minute are able to pull out a decent dessert. Sure, whatever.

I can't stand Jason's over twangy accent and homespun phrases.

[Eliza422]

I have no idea why I subject myself to this show and the other one. It's exhausting watching these fools in the kitchen.

At least on Worst Cooks there is some leeway with cooking. Baking needs to be so exact, and is that something you can really "teach" in a few days? I don't know.

[LexieLily]

What happened to Duff? Did he peace out after the first season?

[jcbrown]

I'm only ten minutes in and there's already been way too much screeching and stupidity. It has to be producer shenanigans that these idiots decided to do things like macarons and croquembouche for their first challenge. I'd rather see actual humans, not stupid caricatures.

[snarkylady]

So bad that it's hilarious.  But based one just one episode I already prefer it to Worst Cooks. 

[HyeChaps]

All of you--pull back your hair when you are baking!!!

[Gramto6]

13 minutes ago, snarkylady said:

So bad that it's hilarious.  But based one just one episode I already prefer it to Worst Cooks. 

Yessss! Worst Cooks lost me with Harding. Though Jason grates on my nerves, I think he is producer driven and it is just a schtick.

[jcbrown]

Ugh. The loud and annoying blogger or whatever-the-hell made a cookie that she hashtagged "self love." Really?

[mlp]

Thanks for creating this forum, Helga!  I get a kick out of these Worst Cooks shows despite the ridiculous behaviors.  I've always liked Lorraine and I enjoy seeing her in a setting where she can be pretty much herself, maybe amped up a bit, without having to deal with Nancy Fuller.  I like Jason also and think he's more like his real self here, also amped up but not trying to come up with a slew of silly similes.  He's a natural on camera.  I'll bet he pinches himself a lot when he thinks about being an unknown little guy from Kentucky competing in front of Lorraine and now he's working side-by-side with her.  

The church lady reminds me a bit of Phyllis Diller - something about her laugh.  She came up with some pretty decent cookies in the end.  The surfer guy amuses me but my favorite so far is the nerdy guy who apparently isn't at all what he seems.  I wouldn't have picked him for married and sports oriented.  Juicy can go any time.  

[Irlandesa]

1 hour ago, mlp said:

I like Jason also and think he's more like his real self here, also amped up but not trying to come up with a slew of silly similes.

Yeah.  That's what I found so funny.  In "Best Bakers," the more serious show, it felt like producers were forcing him to throw a few of his sayings in there. But in this sillier show, I think he only had one "saying" throughout the whole episode.

[CrazyInAlabama]

I love this show.   However, did a lot of the contestants look familiar to anyone else?   Or do they just fit the casting stereotypes they seem to use on these shows.   The icing for the Southern Divinity cake looked disgusting.   I can't believe Lorraine had to go near that cake, let alone taste it.  Paul's donuts looked awful, and poor Jason looked like he wanted to hurl when he tasted it.   

I wonder if they unplug the smoke alarms for this show?   The peach cake looked awful, and charred. 

Edited July 17, 2019 by CrazyInAlabama

[Darian]

17 hours ago, mlp said:

 I've always liked Lorraine and I enjoy seeing her in a setting where she can be pretty much herself, maybe amped up a bit, without having to deal with Nancy Fuller.  I like Jason also and think he's more like his real self here, also amped up but not trying to come up with a slew of silly similes. 

I like Lorraine a lot, and enjoyed the dynamic between her and Duff in season one, so was disappointed that Jason replaced Duff. But, yeah, he was way more watchable to me in this. I love to bake and will watch almost anything with baking in it, so I'm sticking with this. 

[Maya]

If this was Worst Cooks, Anne would love that surfer dude. 

[rocketinu]

Still laughing at surfer dude Paul not understanding Jason saying  "oil".

[CrazyInAlabama]

This show is now airing Saturdays at 2 pm Eastern/1 pm Central.     I guess the ratings weren't good?    

[mlp]

Quote

This show is now airing Saturdays at 2 pm Eastern/1 pm Central.     I guess the ratings weren't good?   

I taped it because it was up against ANW and watched it later.  I don't know if technology allows networks to see how many households tape a show as opposed to watching it when it's on its first run.  In any event, it seems to me that they should give a show more than one chance.  Moving it to an early afternoon weekend spot pretty much guarantees it won't succeed I think.  

[LexieLily]

2 hours ago, mlp said:

I taped it because it was up against ANW and watched it later.  I don't know if technology allows networks to see how many households tape a show as opposed to watching it when it's on its first run.  In any event, it seems to me that they should give a show more than one chance.  Moving it to an early afternoon weekend spot pretty much guarantees it won't succeed I think.  

Same. I taped it to watch later because it was up against So You Think You Can Dance.

[Maverick]

 The most distressing thing about this is that it has allowed DDD to take over another entire night on Food Network.    

[luvapickle]

On 7/22/2019 at 1:59 PM, mlp said:

I taped it because it was up against ANW and watched it later.  I don't know if technology allows networks to see how many households tape a show as opposed to watching it when it's on its first run.  In any event, it seems to me that they should give a show more than one chance.  Moving it to an early afternoon weekend spot pretty much guarantees it won't succeed I think.  

Yes, they have what is known as Live +7 ratings, & Live +3 ratings. They just put up the week of July 16(which are ratings for June 24- 30). So you can't see if either baking show made it into the top 20 yet.  But usually when they move it to Saturday-regardless of the network-that is not a good sign.

[HyeChaps]

Always could count on new programs Sunday and Monday nights.  This past Monday was quite a disappointment.  There is plenty DDD without cluttering up Monday too.

[Gramto6]

Boy howdy! Did they ever make the right choice moving this show to Saturday with all the other cartoons!

Two people didn't know how to use a can opener??? Pleeze! Those cakes looked awful!

[CrazyInAlabama]

Not only did the cakes look awful, but some apparently tasted even worse.     I feel sorry for Jason and Lorraine, being offered partially cooked cake.     

The can opener fiasco was awful!   Who would think you had to tell grown people what a can opener is, and how to use it?   The one woman who was using a giant knife to open the can is lucky she was stopped before she hurt herself, or someone else.  

Edited July 28, 2019 by CrazyInAlabama

[Ms Lark]

On 7/27/2019 at 3:02 PM, Gramto6 said:

Boy howdy! Did they ever make the right choice moving this show to Saturday with all the other cartoons!

Yes indeedy! This season is particularly painful. Two things I have enjoyed: 1) Oil and Boil: The inability of everyone except Pageant Queen to understand Capt Corn Pone and they call him on it. 2) Lorraine seems to be having a ton of fun! I don't think I've seen her laugh and smile this much, ever!

I still don't understand how not being able to bake equals a palate that doesn't extend past McDonald's and/or the ability to follow simple instructions. They really dig from the bottom of the barrel for contestant choices.

The right people went home. Geek Boy strikes me as utterly incompetent in almost every aspect of life, which is sad. I'm truly surprised he has a GF. Makeup Girl is incredibly vain and disgustingly kept her makeup, which she constantly applied, all over her work area. Next out: Wakadoo Lady who flopped on the floor when she won and runs amok all other times.

Edited July 29, 2019 by Ms Lark

[needschocolate]

How do you bake a cake and have the center come out bake and the edges underdone?

[Rammchick]

Ok, I'm out.  The can opener bit and the make-up finally killed it for me.  Not that I ever thought of this as a serious show, but this group has hit an all-time low.  I'll just read here to see if there's anything worth tuning in for.

[jcbrown]

I tried to watch the second episode but it was just too stupid. I turned it off after ten minutes.

[mlp]

My DVR didn't record episode 2 for some reason but it did save episode 3 which I watched yesterday.  Good grief.  Clowns running amok in the kitchen.  Creepy and ridiculous.  And way too much focus on "Juicy" who is loud and obnoxious.  I actually feel sorry for Jason and Lorraine having to host this mess when I'm sure neither of them had any say in cast selection or production.

[LexieLily]

It sounds like I can delete the episodes from the DVR? (Since the "season" is only five episodes, I was going to record them all and then binge-watch)

[Eliza422]

I made this comment in one of the worst cook threads, but it applies here too. Just because you don't bake doesn't mean you haven't eaten cakes, cookies, etc. It's like these people are aliens barely pretending to be human. 

All of these fools have had a well-baked cake, or properly whipped meringue, or other baked goods. 

Arg, drives me nuts.

Also - If they could just turn the damn volume down on everything - the only direction they receive from TPTB is "LOUDER! SCREAM! SCREAM LOUDER!"

[CrazyInAlabama]

Down to the final two.   I'm so glad that each coach selected the person they did.  

[CrazyInAlabama]

The final result is Melody won over Chris, but they both made the most beautiful desserts.

They had to do three items each, a decorated cake, a pie, and then a pastry based one.    They both did desserts I would love to taste.     It's amazing how much they learned, and how proud they were of their progress.    I really wish the second place person would get some money also.   

[mlp]

I figured Melody for the winner right from the first episode but, at the end, I thought Chris did a better job.  Melody's macarons looked very flat and, during tasting, the judges criticized the filling.  And none of them said a word about the fact that her tower thingy was exposed.  That would never have flown on Best Bakers.  I was happy for Jason.  I like him and he does seem like a good teacher.

[Hellga]

I decided to catch up with the season, since I will be moving soon and losing everything I have on my DVR...   

Half of them were clowns there for their five minutes of fame, half actually did seem to be enthusiastic but unskilled people who wanted to learn to bake.    Melody, Chris, Drew and Mary Catherine seemed OK, and Paul, Dijonnae and Louisa were total fame whores, I didn't see a genuine move out of them.  Lannette was not quite as bad, but still not good.

Sugar cookies were a good choice for the first challenge, though, they are super easy to make.

I've never heard about the mirror glaze or seen it before, I don't believe, so that was interesting in episode 2.  Why go ballistic with food coloring two episodes in a row, though?  

I was very happy to see Louisa go home first, but I would have sent Lanette packing instead of Drew on the Blue team. 

Two episodes down, three more to go tomorrow...

[Hellga]

Finished the show... I was happy for Melody, I liked her and she was probably the most genuine one of the bunch.  Macarons are infamously tricky, since things like humidity in the air on that day and the oven quirks and even the age of the eggs could affect them, so kudos to her attempting them in a competition.  Happy with Chris being in the final on the red team, too.  Both did a good job.