For 13 seasons, The Great British Bake-Off has been the most pleasant show about stressed-out bakers improvising impossible dishes. But last year that placid veneer was broken by, among other things, a “Mexican Week,” in which contestants from the U.K. butchered one dish after another while the hosts made cringey puns. The episode earned the show some rare controversy (though it wasn’t the first time). But when it returns, viewers can rest easy that they won’t to endure British bakers messing up pico de gallo.
The Guardian recently profiled the upcoming season, and, in a bit teased out by Entertainment Weekly, producer Kieran Smith responded to the backlash the show faced last time.
“We’re not doing any national themes this year,” Smith said. “We didn’t want to offend anyone, but the world has changed and the joke fell flat.”
Episode 4 of last season’s GBBO was the main offender, not only due to the bakers’ ignorance of Mexican culture, but its use of stereotypes and bad puns, such as this one.
The juan and only Matt & Noel welcome you to Mexico Week! 🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽 #GBBO pic.twitter.com/A4aX43H5rd
— British Bake Off (@BritishBakeOff) October 4, 2022
But there were other dodgy moments throughout the season, including the time co-host Prue Leith made the bizarre remark that not “many people make spring rolls.”
What’s more, previous seasons have contained disastrous themed episodes. Season 11 contained a “Japanese Week,” in which bakers used Indian and Chinese spices for Japanese dishes, and co-host Matt Lucas referred to katsu curry as “cat poo curry.”
Though GBBO producers may vow not to indulge in cultural cringiness, there may be bigger problems afoot here. As Uproxx‘s Carrie Whitmer put it in a piece about last season:
Alas, this all seems to be a result of the series deal with Netflix. Since 2018, the series has had a deal with Netflix. New seasons air in the U.K., and the episodes are available to stream on Netflix stateside days later. A few years into the deal, and Netflix’s signature and exhausting gimmicky meme-thirsty influence is all over The Great British Bake-Off. An attempt to make the show younger and goofier has worked against it. What was once a relaxing, reliable, and already goofy time, is now a vaguely depressing and exhausting one for all involved from hosts to judges, contestants to the audience.
(Via The Guardian and EW)
