Can the US understand Bake Off?

Judges Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry in The Great British Bake Off.

Judges Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry in The Great British Bake Off.

Published Nov 30, 2015

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London - It's no secret that American audiences covet British television - networks love to adapt US shows for the US airwaves, particularly reality competitions.

This practice has led to some gigantic hits, including American Idol (born from ITV's Pop Idol) and Dancing With The Stars (first known as BBC's Strictly Come Dancing).

However, this has also led to some spectacular failures. Remember Farmer Wants A Wife? (Probably best if you don't.)

On Monday night, ABC will make the attempt again with The Great Holiday Baking Show, a four-week competition based on BBC's insanely popular The Great British Bake Off. It will be particularly fascinating to see how ABC fares: Not only is the show arriving two years after another network failed with a similar adaptation, but the original British programme is currently enjoying a surge of popularity in the United States.

What, you haven't had anyone insist you have to watch The Great British Bake Off? Allow us to fill you in, because it's probably going to come up this festive season. Debuting in 2010, this BBC reality competition pits a group of amateur bakers against each other to make make delectable cakes, cookies, breads, biscuits and other treats. Each week, one person is voted off when the judges - food writer Mary Berry and baker Paul Hollywood - deem the desserts not quite up to their standards. There is no prize money; contestants compete simply for the pride of being named a “star baker.”

Over time, the show exploded. The most recent season finale this year garnered 13.4 million viewers, a gigantic number in the UK.

South Africa has just had its own version, showing on BBC Lifestyle.

Americans started discovering the show, as PBS aired reruns last winter and Netflix snapped up the rights to the fifth season and started streaming it in October. In the US, the programme airs under the title The Great British Baking Show; according to Vox, that's because Pillsbury owns the phrase “bake-off.”

So why are people so obsessed with this show? There are many theories. First, the camera lingers on every delicious detail of the the elaborate desserts, from “chocolate ganache surprises” to all flavours of fruit-filled mini cakes. Then there's the wry British humour invoked by the judges and hosts. (“There are two ways to make a Swiss roll: First of all, you push Roger Federer down a hill. Secondly, a lovely thing involving sponge and jam.”) Plus, it's just riveting to watch talented people work hard to create a beautiful final product.

But most importantly The Great British Bake Off is the rare reality show where everyone is wonderful. Seriously - the contestants are all delightful and humble. There's no back-stabbing or yelling or sobbing into the camera. No one shouts or gets in fights. Everyone just goes about their business and makes sweets. The show takes place in a tent set up in a gorgeous park. It's a very low-key hour of television.

“If someone is struggling to get the roof on their lavender-flavoured gingerbread house before the allotted time runs out, it's not uncommon for another contestant to jump in and help them,” Freddie Campion at GQ explained. “And as soon as someone is voted off the show, they are enveloped by the other contestants like they just found out they have two weeks to live.”

This leads to the question: Is ABC really going to have a reality show without drama? It's a risky proposition in a culture where it's deemed a necessity, especially in food-based reality contests like Hell's Kitchen and Top Chef. Yet trying to force unnecessary rudeness was one problem with CBS' “The American Baking Competition,” a “Bake Off” adaptation that bombed in summer 2013.

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As HitFix TV critic Alan Sepinwall noted, the contestants were very kind, so the judges had to crank up the drama with harsh comments - which “seem(ed) slightly out of step with the down-home sensibility of the show.”

The CBS version employed British Bake Off judge Paul Hollywood - though it turned out to be a disaster on many levels, as he had an affair with his co-judge. While ABC is borrowing Mary Berry as a judge on The Great Holiday Baking Show, the network is already plugging the friendly nature of the competition. In a preview, the only time a contestant breaks down in tears is when Berry deems her dessert “perfect.” The show is hosted by adorable Hollywood married couple Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) and Ian Gomez.

The ABC show is taking multiple aspects from Bake Off, including the three-tiered challenge set-up: On Monday's cookie-themed premiere, the bakers will compete in a signature challenge to show off family recipes; a technical bake to demonstrate technique; and a showstopper round to create a gingerbread house.

Still, it remains to be seen if the network can capture the charm that makes the original such a success. As Vox writer Libby Nelson explains, it's a rare accomplishment - especially for reality TV, generally known as humiliation central.

“Watching Bake-Off is the same kind of cathartic, ultimately comforting experience as reading a cozy mystery novel with a cup of hot chocolate. There might be some anxiety-inducing parts, but you know that in the end, it's all mostly going to work out,” Nelson writes. “Bake-Off appeals to the best parts of our nature: the parts that love dessert and hate vicarious embarrassment.”

Washington Post

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