The American Baking Competition on CBS
I love to cook. A lot. I’ve made Cheez-it’s from scratch. (Gluten free, no less. And they taste good.) I’ve also made yogurt, bread, pasta, coffee creamer, and french onion chip dip the way they did back in the frontier days (ok, maybe they didn’t have those last two out on the prairie). On the right is a collage of recipes I’ve tried recently. Mildly impressive for someone who never went to culinary school, right?
So when my husband and I tuned into CBS’s new show about baking, I was little cocky. I assumed that if I could make pasta from flour, eggs. and water without a recipe, I wouldn’t be daunted by any of the tasks the contestants had to do–since none of them are professionals, either.
Oh, I was wrong.
The things these people are asked to bake a ridiculous. This past week, they made marshmallows, graham crackers, and macrons from scratch. And not only did everything have to taste good, it had to look good.
With any good reality show, the contestants make or break the viewing experience. Of course, there’s one abrasive guy everyone completely hates. Most are somewhere in the middle. And then there’s the host Jeff Foxworthy and contestant Francie, who are both redneck in a way that makes me (a born-and-bred Yankee) want to move to the South. But even if I want to Francie a hug just about every time she opens her mouth, nothing would convince me to try her chocolate peanut butter bacon pie.
Does Someone Have to Go?
In my opinion, this reality show left something to be desired. The concept of the show is that the bosses put the power in the employees’ hands, allowing them to decide if someone should be fired, demoted, or put on probation. So, basically, you get to watch co-workers gripe about each other on TV for an hour…as if you don’t already do that in your real life every time you get cornered in the break room.
What made it worse was that–after a very boring hour–Fox didn’t resolve the episode. We had to wait until next week to find out who got fired…except we weren’t interested enough to tune in next week.
Mistresses
I’m a church girl. I know that anything coming out of Hollywood isn’t going to fit within my personal value system, and that doesn’t keep me from enjoying most shows. But I just don’t do marital infidelity–fictional or otherwise. I watched exactly 2.5 minutes of this show before I turned it off. I wouldn’t judge anyone who enjoys this show as I realize most people can separate fantasy from reality a bit better than I can. This just wasn’t the show for me.
Brooklyn DA
I’m not a big fan of crime shows. So a reality crime show done documentary-style isn’t my thing. If you like either one, though, this might be the summer show for you.
So have any Summer TV shows made your to-watch list? Do you want to eat chocolate peanut butter bacon pie? Enjoy shows about affairs? Any other pilots you’re anxious to try out?
