ronnie_suburban wrote:As for Canada, the first season is from 2017 and from what I've seen so far, the skill level of the bakers appears to be decidedly lower than that of the participants in the British version. I'm not sure the contestants were chosen very well.
There are trade-offs with the series 'airing' via youtube. Watching in standard definition is a step down
(an HD version does not appear to be available) but I can increase the playback speed. I've been watching at 1.5x, so I can get through the episodes 25% faster!
Season 1 of Canada never really got off the ground. I got the sense that more attention was paid to casting the various contestant slots than to the actual talent of the contestants. The final four were all fine bakers but none gave me the sense that they would have gone very far in the British version of the show.
Season 2 was a complete turn-around from Season 1. A handful of the bakers appeared to be immensely talented. They turned out great looking bakes that were lauded by the judges. All the episodes were entertaining. The final few were especially enjoyable and well worth the time they required to watch (even if I'd watched at 1x speed
).
I've only watched a couple of episodes of Season 3 but so far, it appears to resemble Season 1 a lot more than Season 2. The first few episodes had me wondering how some of these people even made it onto the show, unless their baking ability wasn't considered at all.
On top of that, in what seems endemic of Reality TV, by Season 3, both original hosts are gone, as is one of the judges. So, 3/4 of the 'talent' has turned over. The two new hosts, probably well-known and well-liked Canadian TV personalities, are a major step down, especially considering previous host Dan Levy's departure (clearly, he went on to much greater success). The new hosts just seem to be trying way too hard and it's pretty darned painful to watch them. I suppose I'm not alone in that opinion because reading ahead a bit, I see that they were both replaced after their one-season stint.
Season 3's new judge -- Kyla Kennaley -- appears to be taking a very subordinate role to Bruno (even more than Rochelle ever did) but that seems fairly understandable, given that she's essentially boarding a moving train.
Looking forward to zipping my way through these seasons. For me, at the end of the day, what ultimately makes these shows worth watching is seeing actual talent on display and watching that talent improve along the way. In that respect, I hope Season 3 and whatever follows it, are more like Season 2 than Season 1.
=R=
Same planet, different world