Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking

After a few episodes I came to wonder how much the guest judges influence the decision. Also some of the feedback they give is the same a 3rd grader would give. You would think they would have gotten some kind of coaching. Also, Evanna Lynch is a judge who is vegan, so she can't eat the bakes...make it make sense.

Regardless of my issues with the above, the show is great and brings to life some of the most iconic scenes in all of Harry Potter. I hope they make more seasons and have a run like GBBO. There is so much opportunity to explore hundreds of other avenues with this show. Maybe some better guest judges will help too lol.

Great concept lost in its own self-aggrandizing Hogwarts. A very talented and mostly likable group of chefs paying homage to Harry Potter themed challenges. Intertwined through the competition are video clips of memorable movies scenes as well as incorporation of the various movie sets in introducing challenges and judging. Given the outright magical inspiration for the show including being given a ticket to ride on the Harry Potter express train after the first challenge, the show is visually spectacular. The competition itself is well conceived, the Phelps brothers are pleasantly enthusiastic and Carla Hall is as always a thoughtful and constructive food competition judge. However, the general tone of the judging is overly melodramatic and Jozef Youssef's vainglorious persona is intolerable. Chairman Kaga was at least entertaining... not a pretentious...

The concept of a professional Harry Potter cake contest is an intriguing idea. However, this show didn't do it for me. First, too many bakers introduced frantically. You do not get to know the contestants. It would have been better to introduce these teams in single file but that would have made the show even longer. It's already way too long. The viewer gets snippets of what these teams are doing. No real engagement with the team or the process. The cakes are amazing however. They are works of art. Most of them look tasty. Complicated artistry that won't show up at a kids birthday party. I ended up fast forwarding thru a lot of the show at 45 minutes. I'd probably whip thru the show to see what the next round of cakes look like.

The first episode was torture: introducing teams in a staggered, ridiculous fashion, judging based on I don't know what, special effects and "decor" painfully overdone (especially having contestants move locations to get judged, based on nothing).

I did NOT like it, but will give it one more chance and watch the second episode. I'll update this review afterwards. Right now, it's not looking good.

Have none of these producers/show runners ever seen GBBS or The Great Pottery Throwdown? Both those shows are to be emulated as they have winning formulas that engender loyalty and popularity.

But NOOOOO! Producers think we're too stupid, don't have attention spans that can focus (apparently we're all 3 year olds) and generally have no respect for anyone. The only thing that matters is the $$$ they're hoping for.

Update: I've watched 2 more episodes and I'm done. Rating can stay the same as it hasn't gotten worse, but it also hasn't gotten appreciably better.

The worst thing is the shallowness of the interactions between the hosts, judges and contestants. GBBS and The Great Pottery Throwdown have spoiled me. Too bad they can't all just relax and let their personalities come through. The Harry Potter theme is great, the food looks fine, the contestants skills are also fine, but that's not enough to hang a baking show on.

This is a FAIL for me.

I thoroughly enjoyed this first episode. I didn't find it chaotic at all. I understood why the teams were introduced as they were. Beautifully representative works and I loved hearing everyone stories about their love and connection to the films. So great having the "Weasley Twins" as the hosts and Carla and Jozef as the judges. I thought the humor was just right - not corny or excessive. It was also great to see how laser-focused everyone was but also how supportive they were of one another. The tickets to get onto the train were an exciting element, as well. Can't wait for the rest of this season!