Now I've got Netflix, I can watch episodes of The Great British Baking Show (as Bake Off has sadly been renamed in the US). And I watched the first episode of the most recent series today. I think the success of each season depends a lot on the quality of the competitors. Judging by the first episode, this season is not going to be a good one. The casting seems particularly bad. There are an abnormally high number of either really annoying characters (in particular the girl who should have been sent home after the first episode) or really dull characters (like the star baker from the first episode). Where are the "normal" people? The show has been going on for a long time - has it finally lost its luster (lustre)? Changing up one of the judges might be a way to help it stick around for a few more years - and Nigella seems like a good fit. But I wonder whether this is just a short term fix for an increasingly stale-feeling show.
