I like TV shows that I call gentle competition shows. It started with the OG Great British Baking Show or whatever it was called when Mel and Sue were hosting it. I adored them because they had an obvious synergy (you can’t fake it, and they had been friends for decades), and the format was fresh and new at the time. I really loved that they would cuss or start mentioning brand names whenver a competitor was having a bad moment (melting down, crying, etc.) so that it could not be used in the show. I loved that bit of information when I read it (they were protecting the competitors), and I was so upset when they were fucked over by…the BBC? Is that who owns the show?
I hated the new people and never watched the show again. Luckily for me, the show spawned a spate of imitators, a few that were good, but most of them were middling to utter horseshit. Why? I’ll get to that in a second.
I like the gentle competition shows because they showcase creativity in a way that is competitive, but not cutthroat. I prefer when they highlight the creative art itself and not just throw around tired old jokes and try to make the task outrageous.
One of my favorite of these shows is Blown Away, which is about glass art. In the last season, though, they made a few big changes that made me lift an eyebrow. They got rid of the host who I lked a great deal and replaced him with Hunter March, who used to host Sugar Rush (another one of these shows. This probably means that game isn’t coming back).
Here’s the thing. I love Hunter March. I think he is one of the better hosts of these kind of shows, even though some of the things he says is cringy. I don’t blame him because I’m sure it’s the scriptwriters’ fault.
Side note: That is one of my big criticisms about these shows. The humor is way too forced. I don’t need slapdash and five jokes a second. I would rather they just CTFO and let the contestants do their thing in relative peace. I know that’s not good TV, but it would do more for my nerves and my brain. I also don’t understand why they often have a comedian as the host, but I have accepted that this is just the way it’ll be.
The other thing I didn’t like about the last season of Blown Away was that they placed an emphasis on making everything bigger, grander, and more explosive (metaphorically). They went more for the wow factor and less about the actual art (which I think is why they got rid of the last host). It felt rather shallow and didn’t have the same heft as it did in the previous seasons. It’s not Taylor’s fault as he’s as good as he ever is. Katherine Gray, the head judge is phenomenal. It’s just felt that the powers-that-be were more focused on the numbers rather than the show itself.
I’m at the point, however, in that I’m a bit fatigued on these shows. Or rather, on the not-so-good versions of this format.
I’m writing about it because of the latest iteration, Blue Ribbon Baking Championship; I have included the trailer above. I saw it in my Netflix front page, and in the past, I would have immediately clicked on it. This time, however, I paused and rolled my eyes. Internally, but I did it. Why? Well, first of all, the concept has been done to death in the food field. I can’t tell you how many of the gentle competition cooking shows I’ve watched (or at least tried to watch). Not to mention the other ones that follow the same formula.
This is my issue with the formula. Let me tell you what it is to begin with. There are 10 competitors (or however many. I think there were eight in this one). Every day has a theme for the competitions. There are usually 3 competitions per episode. The person that wins the first or second gets some kind of prize for the second or third. A competitor gets cut every episode until we reach the last three/two people.
There are highly-contrived competitions, of course, for each day. There are specific categories per episode, and then different themes per day. Then, each competition gets judged. Usually, they will choose the best three of the competition before choosing the best. Then, at the end of each episode, they will send someone home. Usually, they will say who are the bottom two and then choose. In some, they make the bottom two do another quick competition and judge them on it.
There is very little groundbreaking about these shows. I am not expecting anything huge or wild. I just want something comforting and comfortable. However. I am getting tired of them. For whatever reason, the current one is just not hitting right for me. The main gist is that the bakers are all blue ribbon winners in state fair competitions and such. I live in a state in which the State Fair is huge. But it’s just…I don’t know. Something about it is just not clicking with me.
The first reason is that the host, Jason Biggs so blah. He’s not bad, but he’s not good, either. He’s not memorable in any way, and the writing for him is on the cringe side. The head judge is Sandra Lee, and I will fully admit that she is not my bag at all.
Another complaint I have about the shows in general and specifically for this show is the need to always say something positive and something negative about each entry. Even if they really love something, they are contractually obligated to throw in something negative. (That’s a joke, but not really.) For whatever reason, it has been especially bado n this show. The judges will rattle off several things wrong with an entry in quick succession and half of it seems very nitpicky.
I don’t know why some of the shows click with me and some don’t. Sometimes, it’s the combination of host and judges. Sometimes, it’s the different competitions. Sometimes, it’s just something I can’t put my finger on it. I will say that this iteration just feels tired and old. They give out ribbons every day blue for the best and the other two, which is different, but it feels like too little, too late. I started watching it several days ago. Normally, I would just blast through the series as there aren’t that many episodes. There are only eight in this case, but I’m stuck on episode four.
I will probably finish it at some point, but there is no heart to it for me. It’s not the contestants. They are all lovely people. It’s not the subject, though I will admit I thought it was a bit twee (stretching too thin, as it were). It just feels like it doesn’t have any heart to it. It’s too formulaic, which I know is rich, coming from me. The main reason I watch these shows is because it1’s formulaic and comforting. However, there has to be some glimmer of innovation, some spark of creativity. This show just doesn’t have it, unfortunately. I think this well is pretty dry.