The Fifth Season of this show is coming out on Friday on Netflix, so I feel I should state the following:

This show is the pinnacle of television.

It’s got drama. It’s got tension. It’s got personalities. It’s got frosting. It’s got accents and funny clothes.

I’m not the biggest fan of reality television or cooking shows, but I cannot stop watching this series. It’s like they’re beaming delicious cupcakes through the television into my eyemouths and I just want to consume more and more of them. Sorry for that image, but this show is an Eldritch abomination that just happens to be made of sweetness and light.

What’s amazing is how the show feels simultaneously like a competition, an educational program, a human drama, a comedy, and a showcase of deliciousness. A lot of credit has to go to Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins, who present the show so well with just a touch of sophistication, and Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood, the judges, who come off as just the right blend of helpful and devastating. Sadly, everyone but Paul left after Season 7 (which is 4 on Netflix). The main thing that makes this more enjoyable for me is that it doesn’t have as many of those long, pregnant advertisement-centric pauses that most cooking competitions do. They still do the suspense parts, but they’re shorter and that means there’s more of the rest of the show. The amount of stuff they cram into an hour is impressive.

Honestly, I’m not a fan of these kinds of shows, but damn this one is fun to watch and, since it’s British, you feel like you’re better than everyone else while watching it, even if you’re drinking beer on the couch in your underwear.

Whatever. Just watch the damn thing.

If you want to check out some more by the Joker on the Sofa, check out the 100 Greatest TV Episodes of All Time or the Joker on the Sofa Reviews. 

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