Let Baking be your next Binge!

Exhausted by Covid precautions? Suffering from extreme quarantine fatigue? Enjoy a good cooking show? Looking for a mood lifter? Then look no further, because your next binge-worthy show is here with nine (yes nine!) seasons easily available for your viewing pleasure on Netflix! Introducing...drum roll please! The Great British Bake Off! Or...the Great British Baking Show if you are watching in the US of A. Potato, Potahto, because no matter what name this amazing reality contest goes by, it is in fact... sheer greatness.

Long before the GBBO graced television’s airways in 2010, I had a different cooking fascination and that was with Bravo’s Top Chef. Week after week, I would anxiously await to see which chef would be commanded to “pack their knives and go,” by host Padma Lakshmi. I loved watching the competition and was always so mesmerized by the intricate and complicated dishes that the competitors would come up with. And there were certainly no lack of interesting plot lines. Top Chef definitely delivered on the drama and many contestants clearly had a lot of fun while playing up their “villain” persona.

It was a greatly enjoyable show to watch both for the talent as well as the theatrical interpersonal interactions. But it was also stressful. You can almost feel the adrenaline coursing through your own veins, while watching these chefs tear through a cramped kitchen, jostling each other for different ingredients and trying to cook some incredible meal in a too-short amount of time. Usually they are all trying to accomplish about 15 tasks at one time. Most of them are sweating profusely. Often, there is profanity. Sometimes, fingers are bloodied and have to be bandaged. And then, you get to watch the mad dash to the end, as the clock ticks down second by agonizing second. You have never seen food fly onto plates so fast as in the last few minutes of a Top Chef challenge.

Finally...there is the judging. You hold your breath as you anxiously wait and hope that your favorites performed well enough to move on through to the next round. You eagerly anticipate for the time when the obnoxious, arrogant, know-it-all gets brought to his or her knees. Sometimes your favorites would win. And sometimes, the obnoxious, arrogant, know-it-all would win. And that outcome could sometimes be disappointing enough to spoil an entire season.

So why, you may ask, am I talking so much about Top Chef, when I really came here to talk about the Great British Baking Show? And the answer is ... if you love all of the intensity of Top Chef, but you really want some extra feel-good vibes as part of your reality cooking show, then you need look no further than The Great British Baking Show.

I was first introduced to the GBBO about five years ago. It was described by a good friend as a highly entertaining show where there was “lots of tea drinking, and intense staring into ovens.” Which...I’ll admit, doesn’t exactly sound enthralling. But let me tell you, you won’t ever look at an oven the same way again. The show begins with around 12 contestants, all amateur bakers, from different parts of the UK. The key word being “amateur.” These are not people who bake professionally, although some of them are certainly talented enough to make a go of it. Each episode features a different theme, three challenges, and an elimination at the end of the episode. Seems pretty straightforward for your average cooking competition. But that, friends, is where the similarities end, because the GBBO is in a class of its own.

Often, when it comes to reality TV, the thrill for the viewer is watching the passionate meltdowns of the players. I mean, who can forget Sue Hawk’s famous “snakes and rats” speech on the last episode of Survivor Borneo? And of course, shows like the Bachelor and Bachelorette only survive year after year because of the comical level of angst (not to mention alcohol) that it forces upon its contestants.

Another hallmark of the American reality show...insufferable bragging. This was always one of my main complaints about Top Chef. Almost every chef spends their one-on-one interviews talking about their “amazing” cooking skills and how they are going to "destroy" the competition. Every contestant who goes on Survivor is “not there to make friends,” and will do “whatever it takes!” to win the million dollars. And don’t even get me started on the typical Bachelor/Bachelorette contestant who thinks way too highly about their looks, charms and/or “sparkling” personality. I realize that most of this bravado is just for show and is encouraged by producers to...once again...make the show more appealing and interesting to viewers. It’s a formula that has been tried and true and has produced so much successful American reality TV, that it seems impossible to have a reality show without massive amounts of swagger, name-calling, screaming, and dramatic cases of sabotage. But that is where the GBBO breaks all the molds (pun intended), and has completely changed the game on reality tv.

Because the contestants of this show are shockingly genuine. They are just your average, every-day sort of person. Their jobs range from gardeners, to engineers, to teachers, to stay-at-home moms (and dads too!) Musicians, actresses and Instagram influencers trying to jump-start a career, are nowhere to be found on this show. All (and I truly mean all) of the bakers are extremely humble about their baking skills. In fact, most of them are charmingly self-deprecating. They are always floored every time they make it through another round, and endearingly overjoyed whenever they get any kind of positive feedback from the judges. There is zero bragging and very little personal drama on this show. I know that may seem hard to believe, but far from rendering the show uninteresting, it only draws the viewer in more.

The bakers all genuinely like one another. They help each other out whenever time allows. The judges, Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry are, for the most part, complementary and kind in their assessments. Sometimes they have to deliver hard truths about the quality of the bakes, but there is no unnecessary malice in their judging. Gordon Ramsey, I'm looking at you!

Hosts Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc (eventually replaced by Noel Fielding and Sandy Toksvig), spend their time wandering the tent as the comedic relief, ready to swoop down on any baker that seems to be overly stressed and ease their tension with some well-timed silliness. Their infectiously positive, quirky personalities inject a lightness into the show that is difficult to describe. Their jokes are corny, and they will shamelessly wield the pun as their main tool of comedy, but somehow it all works.

Every elimination round results in plenty of tears and a multitude of hugs from the judges, Mel and Sue and all of the bakers. While there is an obvious sense of relief from the bakers who survived elimination, there is also sincere sadness at having to say goodbye to one of the competitors. Reality shows aren’t usually known for their ability to draw out tears (unless it is tears of laughter from the absurdity of some situation,) but I am not ashamed to admit that I get quite misty eyed on a regular basis from watching this show.

It is rather a sad state of affairs that so much of our entertainment comes at the expense of others. I will be the first person to lament the existence of the tabloid magazine and the salacious gossip that permeates our society. But, I will also admit to clicking on that article that is dishing the dirt about the most recent celebrity breakup. There is a certain allure to feeling like you have the “inside track” on someone’s personal life, and reality TV has really capitalized on this emotion and has amplified it even more with manufactured drama. And perhaps, this is the single reason why everyone should watch the GBBO. Because, in a way, it brings back our humanity. We can get just as much enjoyment out of watching normal, kind-hearted people bake a tray of cookies as we can out of watching spiteful and overly exaggerated “fights” play out across our screens. We don’t need villains to make us want to root for the heroes. Everyone can be likable, to the point where you are always a little disappointed whenever anyone gets eliminated. And in that way, the finale of every Great British Baking Show is always a deeply satisfying and poignant event. Because now you have emotionally bonded with these people on a deeper level than them just being the foil for the token jerk of the show. You know their quirks, their habits, their emotions, and while you still have your favorites, you can’t help but be happy for the winner regardless of who he/she is.

Did I mention that on top of all the wonderful, sappy feel-goodness of this show, you actually get to see some pretty quality baking? You get to learn fun British baking terms such as sponges (cakes), biscuits (cookies), and clingfilm (Saran Wrap). Not to mention delightful phrases such as the greatly feared “soggy bottom,” and Mary Berry’s go to phrase when she is particularly excited about a new bake, “scrummy.” You will also get to witness a charming array of UK accents from a diverse group of individuals of all ages. And in all the baking frenzy, you just might find yourself a little inspired to do some baking of your own. I may or may not have splurged on a rather expensive standing mixer during Amazon Prime Day last year, but that is neither here nor there.

So, my recommendation? Allow yourself to get drawn into a little baking goodness. There will always be plenty of time to watch other people backstab one another and have eye-popping meltdowns. There are so many shows out there that, while entertaining, too closely mirror the horror and tragedy of our own real world. And there are a lot of feel-good fictional shows that so often seem too good to be true. The Great British Baking show is the best of all worlds; an honest to goodness feel-good show that is based on real people, and delivers quality entertainment. You will still feel that adrenaline as the clock ticks down and some poor, unfortunate soul is still having to frost a warm cake (shudder). You will still experience the heartbreak as you witness a painstakingly crafted biscuit tower break into pieces at the last second. But prepare for your heart to be sincerely warmed by the friendships, generosity, kindness and laughter that make up the unique spirit of this show. So, come on now! "On your marks, get set, BAKE!"