The Great British Bake Off 2016

[Iskaral Pust]

I just recently started watching this on Netflix, although S1 on Netflix is obviously not the actual first season of the show.  They keep referring to prior seasons and expect the audience to be familiar with the format. 

My wife finds it boring but I find it very relaxing.  The contestants all have a self-effacing middle class gentility.  It’s the mirror opposite of all other reality shows: instead of casting the trashiest embodiments of train wrecks, they sought the bland, affable likable-but-forgettable types.  There’s no-one you love to hate, no raging ego heading for a comeuppance, no friction or sparks headed for showdown, just technical mastery and creativity in a field that is familiar without being technically well known by the audience.  It’s very soothing viewing. 

[AncalagonTheBlack]

New season (10) aired last night. Our UK boarders have been slacking since no one here mentioned the new season started!

Now to brew my tea and get watching.

 

 

[HexMachina]

5 hours ago, AncalagonTheBlack said:

New season (10) aired last night. Our UK boarders have been slacking since no one here mentioned the new season started!

Now to brew my tea and get watching.

 

 

Ive not been able to get back into the series since it left BBC. I tried, just didnt work for me

[Isis]

Is Noel going to be a bit more like himself this season? I found him a bit of a weird, pale, washed out doppelganger version last time round. 

Also, Paul Hollywood is such a knob. I wish they would replace him with someone less odious.

[Fragile Bird]

I’m finally watching the current series here and I don’t think I have ever seen so much weeping from contestants. 

I think Paul and Mary had a chemistry that’s missing in this series between Paul and (I forgot her name). And speaking of missing, I miss the fact that the judge who chose the challenge always baked their challenge to show the tv audience what the professional version should look like. That was especially handy when you were unfamiliar with the baked item, either because it was a British specialty or an unusual European one.

I also noticed that whereas the original series always had 3 challenges over the 2 days, this one only has 2 challenges. Do you see a longer version in the UK that shows 3 challenges? I thought in the first few episodes there seemed to be references to another challenge that wasn’t shown, but I may have been misunderstanding some of the comments.

[Filippa Eilhart]

huh, there are definitely 3. signature and technical on day one, showstopper on day 2. which isn’t  netflix showing?

 

eta: i’m finding information from last season that technical isn’t shown on CBC but you can still watch it in full on their online platform.

Edited September 8, 2019 by Filippa Eilhart

[Mladen]

On 9/6/2019 at 6:20 PM, Fragile Bird said:

I’m finally watching the current series here and I don’t think I have ever seen so much weeping from contestants. 

I think Paul and Mary had a chemistry that’s missing in this series between Paul and (I forgot her name). And speaking of missing, I miss the fact that the judge who chose the challenge always baked their challenge to show the tv audience what the professional version should look like. That was especially handy when you were unfamiliar with the baked item, either because it was a British specialty or an unusual European one.

I also noticed that whereas the original series always had 3 challenges over the 2 days, this one only has 2 challenges. Do you see a longer version in the UK that shows 3 challenges? I thought in the first few episodes there seemed to be references to another challenge that wasn’t shown, but I may have been misunderstanding some of the comments.

I am on Season 10. I don't know whether you get some shorter version but:

1. Prue and Paul demonstrate how perfect technical should be.

2. There are 3 challenges - Signature, Technical and Showstopper.

BTW, loved the "organ" innuendos in Episode 2.  

[Fragile Bird]

36 minutes ago, Risto said:

I am on Season 10. I don't know whether you get some shorter version but:

1. Prue and Paul demonstrate how perfect technical should be.

2. There are 3 challenges - Signature, Technical and Showstopper.

BTW, loved the "organ" innuendos in Episode 2.  

We must see a shorter version. The show is one hour long, and we only see two challenges, damn it!

[Mladen]

2 minutes ago, Fragile Bird said:

We must see a shorter version. The show is one hour long, and we only see two challenges, damn it!

Strange... Our episodes are also one hour long... Three challenges in it, though. Perhaps, different edit.

[Isis]

11 hours ago, Risto said:

BTW, loved the "organ" innuendos in Episode 2.  

I usually find that type of thing unfunny or overdone but it was genuinely funny on this occasion.

I guess that Prue and Mary are quite different characters. I think that Paul acts as if he had more respect towards Mary than he does Prue, but perhaps that is because he thought Mary needed looking after or something. But we could just lose Paul and I would be fine with that. Keep Noel. I'm ambivalent about Sandy because Sandy and Noel have no chemistry either (and he is mroe entertaining in this show than she is).

[Starkess]

I'm excited that Netflix is airing this in the US in somewhat-real-time, so I don't have to constantly avoid spoilers. I've watched through episode 3 so far and am enjoying it as always. I do still miss the original cast, although I like Noel.

I just could not get over the frosted tips that Jamie had, please tell me that is not a fashion choice that is making a comeback...

Edit: Wow I just got around to watching Dairy Week and that was some bullshit. I understand that they want to generate some suspense, but either shame on the editing team for not making it clear why someone was in danger or shame on the judges for cutting someone who hadn't shown themselves to be on the bottom that week.

Edited September 22, 2019 by Starkess

[Mladen]

I have just read this amazing article about what has gone wrong with Season 10. 

I liked the premise of GBBO. I liked the quirkiness, I enjoyed them being friends and not competitors. The people in the tent were not part of some Darwinian experiment these shows tend to be. It's about cakes and bread and desserts, those fluffy things. TGBBO was escapist among the reality competition shows. There were no tragic stories about people finding their peace in the kitchen. Just some John and Jane Does who are really great at baking but who can make mistakes. We, the audience, would even learn a thing or two of what can actually go wrong in the kitchen. 

I really agree with the article and I really wish we could get back to the "great" in GBBO

[Isis]

It's been a week and I'm still not over the bullshit decision of offing two contestants who didn't deserve to go last week.

I read the Guardian piece this morning. (Amazing is an exaggeration!). The only not obvious point it made was 'it's not Masterchef'. These aren't professional bakers. They are amateurs. 

It's sad because I feel like this season works much better than last season. It's funnier and less awkward. 

But they've ruined it with last week's decision.

[Mladen]

4 hours ago, Isis said:

read the Guardian piece this morning. (Amazing is an exaggeration!). The only not obvious point it made was 'it's not Masterchef'. These aren't professional bakers. They are amateurs. 

Well, I thought it was nicely written and it did point out what has been happening with GBBO. Yeah, perhaps it is not amazing, but I felt it was on the point.

I have watched 10th season of US Masterchef this summer. And it was absurd. From the narrative like it was an Oscar night to challenges and pressures. I was cheering for a Harvard grad because he had some amazing ideas but he found his inspiration in Beer Pong while the other contender found her inspiration in dead mother. Guess who won?

 

[john]

Helena being booted was insane. How do you cut someone who won one of the challenges?  And that giant squid thing was incredible.  And they said it was incredible too.  I can pretty much guess every week who’s going from how they talk about them (don’t always agree since often things that Paul and Prue say look “elegant” looks like shit to me).  But I would never have guessed Helena would go because she won one of the fucking challenges!

[Isis]

On 10/3/2019 at 10:34 PM, Risto said:

I have watched 10th season of US Masterchef this summer. And it was absurd. From the narrative like it was an Oscar night to challenges and pressures. I was cheering for a Harvard grad because he had some amazing ideas but he found his inspiration in Beer Pong while the other contender found her inspiration in dead mother. Guess who won?

 

We have tried both the Australian and the US Masterchef and they are both massively inferior to the original. The Australian because it drags on FOREVER and became tedious. The US one seems almost uninterested in cooking and more interested in the personal lives of the contestants and, even worse, creating fake drama between contestants. It's pathetic. We gave them up after a season. 

The best thing about the original is watching the chefs learn and improve, it's ALL about their relationship with food. You don't even hear anything about their personal lives unless they get to the final! 

/hihack (actually watching Celebrity Masterchef right now)

[HexMachina]

9 hours ago, Isis said:

We have tried both the Australian and the US Masterchef and they are both massively inferior to the original. The Australian because it drags on FOREVER and became tedious. The US one seems almost uninterested in cooking and more interested in the personal lives of the contestants and, even worse, creating fake drama between contestants. It's pathetic. We gave them up after a season. 

The best thing about the original is watching the chefs learn and improve, it's ALL about their relationship with food. You don't even hear anything about their personal lives unless they get to the final! 

/hihack (actually watching Celebrity Masterchef right now)

Havent watched Masterchef in years but i did love the UK version at least (i watched around 2007-2014). I really enjoyed when they got to the quarter/semi-finals and started doing challenges like catering for the army or film crews etc. The Australian version, as you said, seemed to drag on forever with contestants coming and going in an unstructured fashion. Never watched the U.S version, their competition shows are always overly scripted and dramatised for my taste.

[Isis]

14 hours ago, HelenaExMachina said:

Havent watched Masterchef in years but i did love the UK version at least (i watched around 2007-2014). I really enjoyed when they got to the quarter/semi-finals and started doing challenges like catering for the army or film crews etc. The Australian version, as you said, seemed to drag on forever with contestants coming and going in an unstructured fashion. Never watched the U.S version, their competition shows are always overly scripted and dramatised for my taste.

The US one is a bit like Big Brother (back in the first couple of seasons - where it was mildly interesting to watch) where people form little factions and gang up on each other, but with lots of Gordon Ramsey shouting and sneering at people. There's really not that much attention given to the cooking. Sad.

The UK one actually came to my workplace but I think I was on leave or something or maybe just avoided it out of anti-socialness.

[Starkess]

I haven't read the Guardian article, but I agree this season is a bit off. I'm still enjoying the baking and the contestants, but I am NOT enjoying the judging and the editing. It seems like the judging is only based on the showstopper--why even bother with a technical round when they just completely ignore it? Honestly it feels like they're just choosing who goes home based on who they want to stick around. Maybe that's not the case, but if there have been good reasons for the judging decisions, they haven't been showing them, which is annoying to watch. I don't need or want vague judging soundbites throughout the show so that I can be shocked with who goes home.

[Isis]

I'm still feeling sad about this series because it's actually been the funniest one in ages and has been good 'fun' generally. But I am still annoyed by the judging decisions. What I found particularly annoying in the last episode was Paul Hollywood talking about who might be leaving - in this kind of vague hand-wavy way, as if somebody else was going to be making that decision and he wasn't involved in it. Weird.