Right this moment, the Nice American Baking Present is ready to make its triumphant comeback to the Roku Channel. It’s been an extended and tough street for the collection, which aired for 5 seasons on ABC — a reality you in all probability don’t keep in mind, as a result of the collection was so unremarkable, and likewise as a result of one among its judges was an alleged creep. However this newest tackle GABS (as I’ll be calling it) has actual potential to lastly succeed, thanks largely to the truth that it’s, lastly, identical to the Nice British Bake Off.
The obvious distinction between this new season of GABS and GBBO is the hosts. Instead of Noel Fielding and new British co-host Alison Hammond, actress Ellie Kemper and comic Zach Cherry are accountable for internet hosting duties. Their stunts and antics are, as with the British model, objectively corny, however they do deliver a component of healthful allure to the collection. In any other case, the tent is similar; the format for the challenges is essentially the identical; and the judges are the identical.
These judges, Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith, are as they all the time are, the previous doling out handshakes and the latter making pearl-clutching feedback about what number of energy have to be on this cookie bar or that cake. The present’s 9 contestants even have that very same quirky, likable vibe that made GBBO such a smash. There aren’t any large personalities right here, only a bunch of competent bakers who’re form to one another and perpetually nervous about their very own bakes. It’s that mixture of endearing and humble that makes for a fantastic Bake Off contestant, and this season’s forged has that in abundance.
There may be, nonetheless, a concerted effort to make the present “American,” particularly with regard to the bakes themselves. As a substitute of steamed puddings and crumbly biscuits, the contestants are tasked with baking cookie bars, babka and, for some cause, burgers, throughout the six new episodes. On a technical stage, these bakers are simply as gifted as their British counterparts, and since the bakes are extra acquainted to the stateside viewer, you may end up heading to the kitchen to recreate one thing you’ve simply seen in a showstopper problem.
Spiritually, although, GABS works as a result of it’s so strikingly just like the present that impressed it, managing to copy the GBBO magic with out feeling like an inferior knock-off. The Nice British Bake Off shouldn’t be a format that wants tinkering or tampering. It succeeds as a result of its mixture of gorgeous baked items and relatable personalities sucks you in organically, with out resorting to gimmicks or tips. A number of the challenges on GABS are, arguably, nonetheless just a little too robust — who could make nice macarons in an hour and a half? — however that simply provides a dose of drama to a present that may typically be a bit quiet, particularly in comparison with the unhinged American actuality collection that many people are used to.
And possibly it’s as a result of Paul and Prue are each there, or possibly it’s as a result of the newest season of GBBO was so disappointing, however in these six episodes, GABS represents a return to Bake Off’s roots, one thing that alerts hope for the present’s future basically, regardless of which continent is being represented. Clearly, the executives at Roku Channel agree: the brand new present has already been renewed for a second season, together with one other vacation particular starring an all-celebrity forged.
Actually, all we’re lacking with the American model is the chance to be taught just a few enjoyable details about Wales and Scotland and all these charming British accents. And whereas it’s unusual to really feel optimistic a couple of tv collection in 2023, particularly within the midst of a writers strike, the rebooted Nice American Baking Present may truly be the beginning of one thing that sticks.
