Welcome to staying thankful for The Great British Baking Show! In the tent this week at The Game of Nerds, we’re appreciating all of the not-so-simple baking challenges that take place across the pond in England. The Great British Bake Show is a series that this author has been watching for years and years. For those who haven’t heard of it before, it’s a baking competition program that’s filmed in England. 12 amateur bakers are chosen from hundreds of applicants across the United Kingdom. These 12 bakers then compete in weekly challenges that determine if they will stay in the tent, or not (the tent is a huge white tent that the competition is filmed and takes place in!).

This Thanksgiving season, this author is choosing to give thanks to one of the shows that will always put a smile on her face!

ON YOUR MARKS, GET SET, BAKE!

The show is hosted by the wonderful Alison Hammond, and the iconic Noel Fielding. These English comedians talk to the contestants throughout the baking process, bringing laughter and joy to the tent. The competition is judged by Paul Hollywood, the Bread King, and Dame Prue Leith, an incredibly well-known restauranteur and cookery writer. These four conduct The Great British Baking Show together—Paul and Prue are the strict, and sometimes harsh, judges who all of the contestants want to impress. Alison and Noel defuse tensions in the tent (because at the end of the day, this is a baking competition, and it can get stressful for the bakers!) and work hard to show the lightness and happiness inside each baker.

The Great British Baking Show may be a competition, but it’s also a comfort show for some many that watch it. Audiences root for their favorite baker, but also just enjoy the simplicity of watching these contestants act with politeness and friendship. Everyone in that tent may want to win, but they do it with kindness and class.

WIN OR LOSE, WE’RE ALL JUST HAPPY TO BE HERE

One of the most unique elements of this baking competition is that there is no prize! Winners of The Great British Baking Show earn a cake stand that is engraved with the title of the show and year of competition, a lovely bouquet of flowers, and that is it! There is no cash prize, no given cheque, not even a gift card to one’s favorite baking dish-ware supply store. The prize of winning GBBS (Great British Baking Show) is the experience, and bragging rights. Now, because GBBS is such a well known baking competition in Europe, America, Canada, Australia, and several other places, the winner of The Great British Baking Show becomes pretty well known. Winners sometimes get offered to be on Television programs, are sent cookbook deals, and can enjoy overall career opportunities!

Watching it as an audience member, you can tell that The Great British Baking Show really is just a group of wholesome people working hard to showcase their talents. Unlike some of the things we see in American competition programs or reality-TV, there is rarely ever any fighting, arguing, or backstabbing. The contestants on GBBS want to win, but they will also help a neighbor with plating, decorating, or even sharing ingredients. It’s honestly what makes The Great British Baking Show so comforting. The audience sometimes forgets that this show is a competition, and that there is only one winner. We get absorbed into an environment of friendliness, encouragement, and baking innuendos.

“THE JUDGES ARE LOOKING FOR . . . “

The Great British Baking Show consists of three-baking rounds per episode. First, the contestants have to submit a ‘signature’, a challenge that lets the bakers show off their best baking talents with few restrictions. Next is the ‘technical’. Here, the bakers are tested on their skills by following barebones recipes with few instructions, and this is a challenge judged blind by Prue and Paul (meaning, that they do not know which baker submitted what). The final challenge is a ‘showstopper’, where the contestants have to submit an impressive bake that follows the judges instructions—this is their last chance to present their best work in the episode. Once all these rounds are completed, Paul and Prue then deliberate which contestant is named “Star Baker”; a baker who exceeded expectations in that week. In sad news, the judges also must decide which baker has to be sent home, and will not be returning to the tent.

This process of The Great British Baking Show is fun to watch, makes audiences smile and laugh, but most importantly, shows off the amazing talents of home bakers. This Thanksgiving season, give into the comfort of the holidays and watch some extraordinary bakers present their hard work. Maybe even attempt to make one of the technicals! The Great British Baking Show surely gives audiences an appreciation for good flavors, good friends, and good baking.

The Great British Baking Show and its newest season is currently streaming on Netflix.