The Great British Bake Off

Our guest post series continues with this entry from Annie, reviewing the British cooking competition show, The Great British Bake Off.

All sorts of things can convince me to try a new show. Sometimes it's as simple as an actor I like, other times it'll be nothing more than a funny gif I see on Tumblr. What got me watching The Great British Bake Off were three words guaranteed to pique my curiosity: nerdy Scottish hipster.

I'm referring to James Morton, one of the twelve competitors in the third series of The Great British Bake Off. He is exactly as adorable and charming as I was led to believe, but let's talk about the show itself first.

Although it's in its third series, I had not even heard of the show until I heard those three magical words. The concept is simple to anyone who has ever watched a reality show before, or really anyone who completed the second grade. The contestants compete in a series of three challenges over the course of each episode - the signature challenge, the technical challenge, and the showstopper - and by the end of the episode one person is named Star Baker and another person is sent home.

There are no prizes or immunity for winning one of the first two challenges but the judging is cumulative, so if a contestant whiffs the first two challenges and then also stumbles in the third, they're likely to be sent home. But a contestant can completely screw up in one challenge, do well in the others, and be safe.

The Great British Bake Off is hosted by Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins, a comedy team who are genuinely funny and likeable. Sue in particular has a knack for cracking a joke that will make an anxious contestant chill out, at least for a few seconds. The judges are Mary Berry, who has the greatest name ever, and Paul Hollywood, who has the second greatest name ever and is also a total silver fox. Anderson Cooper better watch his back, is all I'm saying.

One of the things I love about TGBBO, and that sets it apart from its American brethren like Top Chef and Cake Wars, is that each episode delves into the history of baking in Great Britain as it relates to the theme of each week. I also enjoy the segment where Paul and Mary discuss how each baked good should turn out if the contestants do things right and the ways it can all go wrong.

There's more education with this show and a lot less interpersonal drama - or interaction at all; the contestants are hardly ever seen talking to each other - than you see on American reality shows. But what I enjoy the most about it is that the things they are making are things that anyone who can read a recipe can make. We're not talking about enormous fondant-covered fancy cakes with moving parts and elaborate designs. These are pies and tarts and breads, oh my. Not all of it is simple stuff, but they are things that don't require tons of training and hours of backbreaking labor.

Back to James. Naturally, given the whole nerdy Scottish hipster thing, he's my favorite and I'm pleased that he's been doing well so far. He takes risks and it's been paying off for him. Unless he stumbles badly I expect him to easily make the top three or four. My other favorites are John Whaite, who did screw up in this week's episode but hopefully it'll give him the drive to do better, and Cathryn Dresser, who is hilariously both a tightly wound type A personality and a scatterbrained flake, but somehow both sides are working together to help her in this competition.

As of today, The Great British Bake Off series three has aired four episodes. If you're an American like I am, it is tragically not been picked up by BBC America yet so you have to find alternative ways to watch the episodes. Of course I'm not advocating piracy but if the choice is seeing a nerdy Scottish hipster make delicious pastries while risking a stern cease-and-desist letter from your ISP or not seeing a nerdy Scottish hipster make delicious pastries, I'll take the letter.

Fall TV 2012

As the TV Sluts regular contributors are enjoying some fun in the sun this week, we're putting up a bunch of guest posts from our friends to keep your eyeballs occupied. Here is a post from Priya, talking about how she organizes her fall tv viewing schedule. Enjoy!

It's Coming.....It's Coming!

There are a number of reasons to hate Labor Day weekend. The end of summer, the imminent acknowledgment that warm weather will soon be drifting away for the cooler temperatures of fall. ...and then there are reasons to love Labor Day weekend, the imminent cooler temperatures (goodbye, humidity) and the advent of the Fall Television Season.

One of my pre-premiere rituals is to write up my fall television schedule, and I always find myself contemplating if it should be organized by date or by network. Not a life and death decision, but despite the usefulness of a DVR there are still those shows that I prefer to watch live, and having a schedule doesn't hurt. Organizing the schedule by date makes it easier to keep track, but network just seems more orderly. That being said, with the addition of HBO, BBC America, and USA's endless array of addicting characters it's become a full roster.

So here's what I'm looking for this coming season:

1. The Observers Are Coming, The Observers Are Coming. With only thirteen episodes left on the Fringe wagon I'm looking forward to learning what happens to our intrepid team of investigators. Will Walter finally call Astrid by her real name? Will Olivia and Peter make it through? And how will they get rid of those crazy bald headed world-stalkers?

2. Who Killed Beckett's Mother? No really, I'm Serious Who Dunnit? Beckett and Castle becoming an item aside, I'm looking forward to an adventure filled premier that will give us one more clue in the ever continuing saga that is solving Beckett's mother's murder. And more importantly—who is going to get those two crazy sidekicks Esposito and Ryan back to being friends?

 3. HIMYM: I know there are a ton of folks out there who are ready to let this ship set sail, and I'm with you—they can only string us along so far. However, its really the only show that consistently, even when it's not up to par with Season 1 still makes me laugh my socks off. So I can't wait to see how the Barney/Robin relationship evolves and maaaayyyybe find out who the mother is.

4. Honorable Mention: The Office. Was going to give this up, until they dropped THE FINAL SEASON label on it.

What else am I watching this fall? Bones, NCIS, New Girl, Big Bang Theory, 30 Rock, Grey's Anatomy, Community, Once Upon a Time, Dr. Who, White Collar and Top Chef Masters.

As for new shows? With two biting the dust (so far) this season I'm open to checking out some that are just launching. My newbies are: Revolution, Nashville, Go On, and The Mindy Project (whose pilot I've enjoyed already.)

So there it is—my schedule for 2012—color coded and everything. What are you looking forward to this fall?

Conservatives Are From CBS, Liberals Are From the BBC

Ah, the final days of August in an election year. We’ve just finished with the Republican National Convention and I’ve avoided writing about it, even though it is a piece of television, largely because I probably won’t be able to write about the Democratic National Convention and I really feel that if we’re going to mock, er…um, talk about one party, we should do the same for the other. As such, our political content here remains relatively low.

Nevertheless, we’re about to head into a time of increased politics on television as we gear up for the election in November. So in honor of the quadrennial event, here’s a potentially probing question as we head into the full election season: Does the kind of television you watch have any relationship to your political identity?  A new article in the Washington Post suggests that perhaps it does.

One of these men influenced the other, but it's not entirely clear which is which.

Some politics on television is obviously not a novel thing. It doesn’t take much more than a cursory look to realize that The West Wing is pretty much written by liberals, for liberals whereas 24 was a neo-conservative’s dream for how the War on Terror should be fought. Likewise, that The Daily Show with John Stewart and The Colbert Report are the two shows that rank the highest amongst the ultra-left viewers shouldn’t come as a galloping shock to anybody. But what’s interesting is the shows that find themselves weirdly stuck in the electoral middle.

A&E’s Storage Wars and BBC’s Top Gear are both reality shows that feature a similar set up and are thus political brothers despite being slightly more preferred by Republicans and Democrats, respectively. Somewhat conversely, American Dad ranks only as “On-The-Fence Liberal” which may come as a surprise to fans of Seth MacFarlane’s other shows which tend to be more straight up left-wing. Also surprising (to me, anyway) was that ESPN’s college football coverage is ranked Ultra-Conservative. Given the right-wing claim that liberals vastly outnumber conservatives in American colleges, you’d think so many of them wouldn’t just stop watching all sports once they got their diplomas.

 "Can you believe amongst all our liberal arts degrees not a one of us thinks that Keynesian economics is a viable solution to modern financial problems? Crazy!"

The reality, I suspect, is that most shows are comfortably in the political center in terms of viewership, for the simple reason that most shows want (and need) to garner as large of an audience as possible in order to stay on the air. None of the shows that are covered in the WaPo article have any particular political bent, so the only information we can really glean is that people tend to watch a lot of mainstream shows on well-established networks.  Candidates may be tempted to mine these data for some kind of insight (President Obama not too long ago remarked that Omar from The Wire was one of his favorite television characters), but to breathe too much into them is obviously going to be folly to pretty much everyone who isn’t a marketing director looking for a big name endorsement.

Just a quick post on this hot and humid Friday to announce some news...

MTV cancels Jersey Shore. 

 I think I speak for all of America when I say, THANK THE LORD.

Next week, all of TV Sluts' regular contributors will be on vacation--that's right, we're all going to Las Vegas along with some other friends for a week of fun in the sun and debauchery. I am sure there will also be some television watching in there (hey, it's us), but posts will be probably be on the thin side. Though I have been meaning to post about BBC America's Copper, Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, and So You Think You Can Dance...but no promises as to whether it will actually happen. It's a vacation after all!

In the meantime, if anybody wants to send a guest post my way feel free!

Dammit, Joss!

Words cannot express the wonder and delight I feel at this moment... Joss Whedon To Write, Direct 'S.H.I.E.L.D.' TV Pilot.

And yet, my heart quakes with fear... What if this is another Firefly - an awesome show that will get scuppered after only a few episodes, leaving us forever wanting more? Or another Dollhouse - an amazing premise ruined by TV execs and foisted on a somnambulant public? I'VE BEEN HURT SO MANY TIMES.

*deep breath* Calm down, Sri, it's going to be okay. I will now comfort myself with news of the second installment of Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-long Blog. Also, this picture of Felicia Day.

Dance Moms Are Evil

When I was younger, my parents were supportive of my extracurricular activities... as long as they didn't interfere with school. Sometimes that was frustrating, because I wanted to do what I wanted to do. I often wished that my parents were the dedicated, band booster, forensics coach, dance mom types. 

Dear little Sri - count your freaking blessings.

The most terrifying thing on television.

The Dance Moms on Lifetime make the women on Toddlers and Tiaras look like Carol Brady. They fight like cats in a sack, jockeying for position while trying to seem like they're above such petty concerns. What's worse is they hide behind their children, swearing up one side and down the other, "I'm just doing what's best for my daughter."

The hell did you just say?

It doesn't start or stop with the moms, however. The dance coach of the company, Abby, is a vindictive horror. She never hesitates to set her students against their mothers, each others, and themselves. Once, she told a 10-year old girl who lost first place by one point that what she did was: "Great. But not good enough."

To add another level of wrongness, there is a fierce competition between the two dance companies - Abby Lee and Candy Apple. I took dance when I was a kid, and my dance teachers were kind women who emphasized learning and fun. By contrast, to call the coaches at Abby Lee and Candy Apple "harpies" would be an insult to the winged monster community.

The final twist of the knife is the earnestness and innocence of the dancers themselves. You can tell by the wide-eyed looks on their overly made-up faces that they are but pawns in these women's sickening game. I realize that I'm usually much kinder in my reviews, even to other reality TV shows, but honestly.... these Dance Moms need to be stopped.

Run, girls. RUN!

My Cat From Hell

I am not a cat person.

Let's just establish that right here at the beginning. It's not that I hate them (though I like to joke around that I do), they just aren't the pet for me. I prefer dogs: lovable, goofy, affectionate, jelly-belly dogs. Preferably beagles. So nobody was more surprised than me when I got addicted to a show on Animal Planet called My Cat From Hell.

Jackson Galaxy is a rocker. You can tell because he has weird facial hair and lots of tattoos! Also, he drives a pink car. But he is also a cat behaviorist and with the help of a camera crew and millions of corporate dollars, he travels the country helping train cats and their owners (mostly their owners) to resolve disastrous cat-related situations.

Aww, isn't he adorbs?

Some cats attack one or more of their owners. Others run out of the front door anytime it is opened. Some lie in wait for unsuspecting human victims, or attack other cats and dogs in the house. And then there is the pee--on the floor, on the bed, on the clothes. Pretty much anywhere you can think of it, these cats will pee there. But the point is that they are all acting out, sometimes violently, and the effects are more than just some scratched arms and ruined clothes. People's relationships with each other are impacted by the cat's behavior and when things are starting to fall apart--here comes Jackson to save the day!

What I really liked about the show is that Jackson makes it clear that the cats are not acting a certain way because they are crazy or even ill-treated, it's because the humans usually lack a fundamental understanding of cats' instincts. Cats are made to hunt and kill things. That's basically it. Your average house cat may be "domesticated," but you can't breed out instinct. They want to hunt, to pounce, to mark their territory, and to feel that the home is theirs. And it's when these instincts are not given appropriate outlets that cats...well, turn on you. WITH CLAWS.

 AHHHH! Why, Fluffy, whyyyyy?

Jackson visits a home three times: first to diagnose the problem and suggest ways that the humans can alter their behavior and interaction with the cat. The humans need to change and then the cat will follow is basically the theme. Then Jackson returns a few weeks later to check in on their progress. He will usually make a few more suggestions and assign more "homework," and then come back again a few weeks later to check in one final time. And darn it if the cats don't respond.

At the end of the day, the cats aren't evil* and aren't acting out for no reason, it's because the humans haven't adjusted their behavior to what the cats need. And sometimes it comes down to something as simple as playing with the cat every day with a certain type of toy so they get an outlet for their hunting instinct (prey and play). Sure, some cats are more aggressive than others, but there are tricks like rearranging the furniture or investing in certain products that can help the problem. 

As someone who has had little long-term interaction with cats, I find My Cat From Hell fascinating. And Jackson is a really nice, funny person (and NOT your typical reality over the top character) who genuinely loves cats and their owners. Or as he likes to say "human guardians." Or as the cats like to say, "human servants."



*debatable.

Mastering the Art of Happy Little Cloud Gardens

I’m not sure if the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) has suddenly been re-staffed by a bunch of hipsters or something, but keen internet observers may have noticed over the past few weeks a series of new videos that… ahem… re-examine some old television favorites.

Have you ever wondered what a Julia Child demo track might sound like or what kind of tunes could be spun from Bob Ross’s “happy little clouds”? Well, my friends feast your ears upon these:

 

Warning: watching all three may cause uncontrolled nostalgia and a desire to contribute to a local broadcasting system supported by “viewers like you.”

 

Watching these videos reminded me of exactly how large a role PBS played for me when I was a kid. My family eventually did get cable, but for a long time we only had whatever we could pick up with a pair of bunny ears. This meant that a lot of the television I watched as a kid was publically-funded and produced largely through government grants and private donations.

For a while now, I’ve mocked the Republican talking points about how Democrats want support for programs like PBS because it’s part of a plan to indoctrinate young people into a more left-leaning school of thought. The thing is I’m not so sure that the GOP isn’t completely off track; they just seem to have missed a really critical step. Watching Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood didn’t turn a young Clovis into a liberal, but it did encourage me to use my imagination, to explore the world around me and to not be so afraid of people or information that was new or different that I wouldn’t go looking for it in the first place.  

The only ideology that public broadcasting promotes is a deeper understanding of the world through learning about new things. If it just so happens that learning about new perspectives and gathering new information about the universe causes young people to question things more directly, which in turn may lead to an examination of their political beliefs, well perhaps the political parties that seek to defund those structures should engage in those same acts themselves to understand why that happens.

Meanwhile, the Summer of Nostalgia races toward a close, but not before we all get the chance to see Julia Child’s dance mix on the virtues of roasted potatoes. We all win.