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Having now binge-watched all seven seasons of The Great British Bake-Off, S2 and S3 of the Australian, 1x01 and 02 of the Irish, most of the Great Holiday / American Baking Show and half of S1 of the South African, I feel somewhat qualified to rank the various English-speaking versions and make some observations about which ones are definitely worth watching, which are just OK, and which ones you might as well give a miss.
First, though, I want to talk about what makes the original Bake-Off and its derivatives special in the first place. ( Feel free to skip this bit if you already know )
Anyway, here's my personal ranking of the various Bake-Off shows I've watched so far:
( GBBO and its spin-offs rated from 'bleh' to 'YEAH', with accompanying reasons )
* * *
There is much more that could be said, especially about my favorite contestants and bakes over the seasons, but I wouldn't want to spoil the fun for those who have yet to watch and enjoy the delights of Custardgate, Selasi's unflappable cool, or the Amazing Bread Lion for themselves. (I can totally be induced to burble about those things in comments, though, if you're a fellow fan.)
First, though, I want to talk about what makes the original Bake-Off and its derivatives special in the first place. ( Feel free to skip this bit if you already know )
Anyway, here's my personal ranking of the various Bake-Off shows I've watched so far:
( GBBO and its spin-offs rated from 'bleh' to 'YEAH', with accompanying reasons )
* * *
There is much more that could be said, especially about my favorite contestants and bakes over the seasons, but I wouldn't want to spoil the fun for those who have yet to watch and enjoy the delights of Custardgate, Selasi's unflappable cool, or the Amazing Bread Lion for themselves. (I can totally be induced to burble about those things in comments, though, if you're a fellow fan.)
