The Great British Bake Off: Redefining reality TV, bake by bake

The Great British Bake Off (or The Great British Baking Show for American and Canadian viewers) just finished airing its tenth season, leaving audiences around the world hungry for more laminated, glazed, and piped perfection. It took the show’s creator, Anna Beattie, [four years]( to drum up enough interest, but after finally striking a deal with BBC Two, the GBBO quickly climbed the ranks of reality TV. Now even low-performing seasons outrank popular reality shows like Big Brother, Love Island, and The Bachelor. So what combination of ingredients keeps us coming back to the tent? Let’s take apart this creation one layer at a time. On your marks, get set, bake! Note: This email names the season 10 winner. Please savor it later if you have not yet watched. 🐦 [Tweet this!]( 🌐 [View this email on the web]( [Quartz Obsession] The Great British Bake Off November 06, 2019 No soggy bottoms --------------------------------------------------------------- The Great British Bake Off (or The Great British Baking Show for American and Canadian viewers) just finished airing its tenth season, leaving audiences around the world hungry for more laminated, glazed, and piped perfection. It took the show’s creator, Anna Beattie, [four years]( to drum up enough interest, but after finally striking a deal with BBC Two, the GBBO quickly climbed the ranks of reality TV. Now even low-performing seasons outrank popular reality shows like Big Brother, Love Island, and The Bachelor. So what combination of ingredients keeps us coming back to the tent? Let’s take apart this creation one layer at a time. On your marks, get set, bake! Note: This email names the season 10 winner. Please savor it later if you have not yet watched. 🐦 [Tweet this!]( 🌐 [View this email on the web]( by the digits [10:]( Seasons, or series, in total [120:]( Total contestants in the first 10 seasons [32:]( Countries in which the GBBO format has been licensed [16+ million:]( Viewers for the Season 7 finale, the show’s highest ever [13:]( Hours a day spent shooting [8:]( Number of contestants who have won star baker at least three times 1,000+: Times Paul Hollywood has reminded us what a good crumb structure looks like origin story The little show that could, and did --------------------------------------------------------------- All of the seasons (or series, if you’re in the UK) mentioned here reference the British broadcast schedule of the show. [If you’re confused, check out this handy guide.]( In more ways than one, The Great British Bake Off has become a microcosm of the age of streaming. While the show remains thoroughly British, with Paul scoffing at American fruit pies (“[to make a good American pie, you almost have to make it British]( audiences around the world have found its universal themes addictive. The Great British Bake Off started broadcasting on BBC Two, and after becoming the most popular show on that channel, it was moved to BBC One. While airing on BBC One, it was licensed by PBS, introduced to American audiences, and continued its meteoric rise to popularity. After Season 7 aired to a record-breaking audience, [the contract negotiations]( between the BBC and Love Productions, the company that produces the show, fell apart, and it moved to Channel 4. Paul Hollywood stayed on, moving to Channel 4 where he was joined by Prue Leith, Noel Fielding, and Sandi Toksvig, but loyalty to the BBC prompted beloved presenters Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins [to leave the show]( followed shortly after [by Mary Berry](. After moving to Channel 4, the show saw a drop in viewership, but was also picked up by Netflix, where you can now watch seasons—or in Netflix terms “collections”—3-10. Sponsored by World of McIntosh This townhouse redefines experiential marketing. --------------------------------------------------------------- McIntosh creates best-in-class home stereo equipment, and they’ve outfitted a five-story townhouse in the heart of New York’s SoHo district to show (and sound) it off.[Email with QZ in the subject line for your own VIP World of McIntosh experience.]( quotable “I’m never gonna put boundaries on myself ever again. I’m never gonna say I can’t do it. I’m never gonna say ‘maybe.’ I’m never gonna say, ‘I don’t think I can.’ I can and I will.” —[Nadiya Hussain’s victory speech from Season 6]( “The real prize from this experience was making so many new friends. I know it sounds cheesy, but actually you need support, love, and friendship otherwise all this is empty.” — [David Atherton on his Season 10 win]( Netflix million-dollar question What’s so great about watching Brits bake? --------------------------------------------------------------- With low stakes ([the grand prize is an etched cake stand]( and lovable contestants, The Great British Bake Off is competitive reality television in its most positive light. The contestants support one another through successes and failures, help one another out in stressful situations, and the entire endeavor feels more like a team project than a cutthroat competition. “Their earnest exuberance and the seriousness with which they glaze a cake or shape a pizza is what carries the show,” [writes Annaliese Griffin]( in Quartz. The lighthearted innuendos and double-entendres that bring “controversy” to the show feel quaintly human-sized. While its aggressive Britishness, with cups of tea and Victoria sponges everywhere, can read like “a recruitment video for membership in some twee and cutesy new reboot of the Empire,” [according to Tom Whyman]( the rhythmic, not-too-high highs and not-too-low lows feel like an antidote to polarization and the often intractable issues of the modern world. Every problem within the small, sweet world on the screen can, and will, be solved with cake. The way we 🍰 now Every soufflé must eventually fall --------------------------------------------------------------- The latest season of the GBBO had an arguably different tone than previous seasons, with [arcane technical challenges]( [acerbic criticism from the judges]( and eliminations that [didn’t make sense to]( some fans. For the first time, it seemed that some contestants had not just not won, but had lost the competition, a dynamic that was previously inconceivable. Some critics argue that the show is [simply losing steam]( after so many seasons. Think of Season 11 as an opportunity for the GBBO to turn it all around with an amazing showstopper and re-emerge as star baker. Have a friend who would enjoy our Obsession with The Great British Bake Off? [ [Forward link to a friend](mailto:?subject=Thought you'd enjoy.&body=Read this Quartz Obsession email – to the email – Netflix pop quiz Which baked beast has not made an appearance on the show? A meringue giraffeA cake krakenA biscuit dragonA chocolate peacock Correct. Incorrect. If your inbox doesn’t support this quiz, find the solution at bottom of email. department of jargon GBBO versus GBBS --------------------------------------------------------------- Pillsbury and trademark law are behind the slightly confusing naming conventions the show has to follow. UK audiences have The Great British Bake Off, while American audiences are watching The Great British Baking Show. The trademarked [Pillsbury Bake-Off]( [competition started in 1949]( to celebrate the company’s 80th anniversary—conflicted with the British baking competition’s title, and the [company wasn’t willing to come to an agreement]( or allow the show to use “Bake Off” in the title. brief history [1720s:]( Pork pies are introduced as cheap and filling food in Great Britain. [1784:]( The earliest reference to the stroopwafel is made. [1890:]( Tennis cakes are popularized in the UK. [1914:]( Soldiers in World War I are fed donuts to keep up their morale. [2010:]( The Great British Bake Off premieres on BBC Two, with Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry as judges, and Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc as hosts. [2014:]( A rapidly growing success, GBBO moves to BBC One and comes to American audiences as The Great British Baking Show via PBS. [2014:]( #Bingate rocks the GBBO audience. [2016:]( The show tops out with 16 million viewers. [2017:]( Channel 4 takes over production, with Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith as judges, and Noel Fielding and Sandi Toksvig as hosts. [2018:]( The Great British Baking Show is introduced to streaming audiences via Netflix (but is released week-over-week instead of in a binge-able format). fun fact! Every episode has been illustrated by the same artist, [Tom Hovey]( whose [designs are based purely on the bakers’ aspirational descriptions](. this one weird trick! The Hollywood handshake --------------------------------------------------------------- Paul Hollywood, the one remaining original cast member, is known for his intimidating presence, harsh judgments, love of Chelsea buns, and for the Hollywood Handshake, an honor he bestows at random to a baker who particularly impresses. Not everyone loves the gesture, though. Scott Bryan, a reporter at BuzzFeed, [tallied the number of Hollywood Handshakes per season]( and found a shocking increase in the past few. “I think I really started hating the handshake because it represents an inflection point for the series, one where Paul was no longer balanced out by former co-judge Mary Berry,” [writes Brian Moylan at Vulture](. “With Mary Berry no longer around to temper his attitude, Paul has been increasingly free to run roughshod over everything, smearing the judging with his own puffed-chest bravado.” watch this! Mighty origins --------------------------------------------------------------- Before Noel Fielding’s tenure on The Great British Bake Off, he was known for the dark sketch comedy The Mighty Boosh. His characters, like a creepy merman named Old Gregg and a fawning would-be pop star called Vince Noir, have a cult classic feel to them. While his move to The Great British Bake Off may have been a hard pivot, Noel and Sandy’s schtick has introduced a surrealist, off-the-wall sense of humor that feels very true to form. take me down this 🐰 hole! #justiceforlain --------------------------------------------------------------- In 2014 the hashtag #Bingate trended on Twitter when, rather than presenting a melted cake to the judges, a contestant named Iain threw his baked Alaska in the trash and presented the bin. What seemed like a relatively small moment in reality TV history went viral, because it was unclear whether or not another contestant had caused the accident by leaving Iain’s ice cream out while re-arranging the freezer. [PBS explains the show’s most infamous controversy]( in hilarious detail. Netflix poll What's the best British baking adjective to introduce into daily conversation? [Click here to vote]( ClaggyStodgyScrummyI’m in it for the bakery, not the banter. 💬let's talk! In yesterday’s poll about [crossword puzzles]( 57% of you said they’re your favorite newspaper puzzle, while 24% said sudoku, and just 6% said the Jumble. 📧 V.C. writes: “You should have mentioned [Margaret Farrar]( in this Obsession. She was the first editor of crosswords for NYT and she is the one who made it the [gold standard it is today](. She is the one who came up with the conventions that are used in the American Crosswords; like the puzzle being symmetric, puzzle has to flow etc etc.” 📧 Ilze writes: “Can’t believe you folks did an entire feature on Crossword Puzzles & you didn’t even mention the [Times Literary Supplement’s puzzle](. My mother has had a subscription to the TLS for as long as I can remember, & their puzzles are in a league of their own.” 🤔 [What did you think of today’s email?](mailto:obsession%2Bfeedback@qz.com?cc=&subject=Thoughts%20about%20The%20Great%20British%20Bake%20Off&body=) 💡 [What should we obsess over next?](mailto:obsession%2Bideas@qz.com?cc=&subject=Obsess%20over%20this%20next.&body=) [🎲 Show me a random Obsession]( Today’s email was written by [Kait Hoehne]( edited by [Annaliese Griffin]( and produced by [Tori Smith](. The correct answer to the quiz is A meringue giraffe. Enjoying the Quartz Obsession? [Send this link]( to a friend! Want to advertise in the Quartz Obsession? Send us an email at ads@qz.com. Not enjoying it? No worries. [Click here]( to unsubscribe. Quartz | 675 Avenue of the Americas, 4th Fl | New York, NY 10011 | United States [Share this email](