Watching cheerful British contestants attempt to create masterful baked goods in the shape of their favorite childhood pets or beloved vacation memories each Friday on Netflix has become a comfort-watch tradition in the States over the last few years. But for at least five years, there was a time when The Great British Bake Off – or The Great British Baking Show as it is called in the U.S. – struggled to find a home.
The show became a bona fide hit on Britain’s Channel 4 before being acquired by Netflix, where it gained global appeal due to its wholesome spirit and whimsical themes. However, as co-creator Richard McKerrow revealed to Watch in America at the Edinburgh TV Festival, getting networks to take interest in a baking competition was no easy feat.
McKerrow, who co-created the competition baking show with Anna Beattie, helped establish the three-tiered format that the series is known for today.
Netflix
“We pitched Bake Off for four or five years. We were told it would be like watching paint dry, no one was interested,” McKerrow said.
When the show first premiered on the BBC with original hosts Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood, before it moved to Channel 4, and Prue Leith replaced Mary, McKerrow admitted he wasn’t sure if Berry would work as a judge because she had not been on small screens for several years. “It was a slam dunk. The camera loved her. The lesson I learned there is…get rid of all preconceptions.”
McKerrow also said Mary helped choose Hollywood as co-judge, which contributed to the show’s massive success.
He also revealed that, through TV executive Danny Cohen, he managed to meet then-BBC Two boss Janice Hadlow, and Bake Off was commissioned as an amateur baking competition with a historical twist that is no longer part of the show today. Instead, the show relies on the banter of its cohosts, as well as segments featuring the contestants in which the people at home get to know the bakers.
Today, the series is cohosted by Noel Fielding and Alison Hammond and continues to serve as a global comfort-watch phenomenon.
The Great British Baking Show, Collection 13, New episodes each Friday, Netflix
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