Bake Off: Crème de la Crème

This is a slightly different format than the other baking shows of the same name. Different judges and different hosts- one of which you may recognize as a contestant from the great British baking show/bake off, Liam.

The judges are actually professional chefs, but definitely not professional actors. For some reason their dialogue is scripted and their mannerisms and speech are over the top ridiculous, but not in a comical way- just cringe and robotic.

The hosts are a whole animal of their own. While I like Liam's personality when he's just being himself, him playing host is pretty bad to watch. The other host, Tom Allen is supposed to be an actor. He's worse than Liam (if possible) and honestly just unbearable to watch. I got a taste of him on Great British baking show holidays and thought "surely he can't be this awful, maybe some writer screwed him over?". I wish I'd been right. He is terrible and between the hosts and judges, this one is nearly unwatchable. If not for the excellent creations by the chefs, this would be trash. I can foresee it getting cancelled anyway.

I guess I enjoyed this enough as an interlude to the original, there is a lot missing. The pluses...loved seeing Liam. The judges don't bother me - they're judging professionals rather than amateurs, they should be harsher imo.

But let's be real. They should have named this Confections, Chocolate, and Sugar Work. There is very little actual baking. Where are the cakes? The bread? Other baked good? I may be misremembering, but iir, there are a couple of episodes with zero actual baking.

In any case, I'd rank this as "fine" but don't expect a version of its namesake. Other than the format, this ain't it.

The other 2 reviews here have pretty much said it all. The hosts are annoying and if i were one of the competitors, i would not be very pleasant when they make their stupid and insensitive remarks. As for the judges, they could learn a lot from Paul Hollywood and Pru; they are kind with their remarks when they judge. Benoit and Cherish are not and they are way too over the top with their attitudes. They are critical beyond belief when one factors in the time required to finish their pieces. Which leads me to another point - where the hell did they come up with the test pieces? It's like they WANT them to fail with the ridiculous requirements. I finally just skipped to the finale so as to quit torturing myself.

Taken on its own, this show is okay but I wouldn't go out of my way to watch it after seeing one series. But it really fails in comparison to the original. The format is fine, pairs of professionals competing instead of individual amateurs. The judges are okay, maybe a bit overly critical as others have noted, but don't have the chemistry of Paul and Pru or Mary. But the biggest negative is the presenters. Liam Charles is a former Great British Baking Show contestant but doesn't really use that experience to add anything here and he comes across as a bit silly. That has a lot to do with his co-presenter, Tom Allen. Allen is possibly the most annoying person I've seen on television. He manages to make nearly every bit or interaction with the contestants be about himself. And not in the least bit funny or charming way. More like a bratty kid constantly shrieking "look at me." He makes the show nearly unwatchable.

Overall it's enjoyable enough to watch. I do enjoy seeing the final desserts. That being said, there's not much more praise. The hosts are cringey as hell. Their bits are absolutely awful and pretty hard to watch. I don't find them amusing or funny in the slightest. As for the judges, they are a bit overzealous and pretentious. Their critiques aren't always constructive. I feel like if you're gonna roast someone's dessert, at least provide tangible feedback. Finally, there's not much joy like you'd expect from the Great British Bake Off. You don't really fall in love with the characters. I'm simply just watching at this point because I'm tired of watching YouTube.