Gentleman Seeking Boredom

Published: Oct. 23, 2020, 11:42 p.m.

You can find soothing boredom with The Great British Bakeoff ---------------------- Maybe you need a break from the election… and the covid.  Might I suggest… The Great British Bake-Off? It’s on Netflix The Grand-daddy of the cooking contests… is so pleasant… so pastoral… and so soothing … it’s like a warm glass of milk … sipped in a warm bath… in front of a crackling fire. The formula is simple.  Inside a giant tent on the lawn of a magnificent estate… Every day bakers .. are challenged to whip up dreamy confections... and impress the judges.  With a scoop of sincerity and a dash of wit… the judges encourage and reassure with none of the snark you see on American cooking shows. And you find yourself rooting for every one of the contestants succeed.    During the rare spectacular failure…. when the muffins stick to the pan… or a layer cake topples over… the judges offer … hugs.   Hugs! By season’s end… one lucky confectioner is crowned as champion.  But there’s no crown.  There’s no cash prize.  There’s no promise of a job.  The best baker on the Great British Bake-Off…. wins a plate. Engraved with the show’s logo.  That’s it.    Bakers compete in pursuit of excellence in a contest that’s the cooking equivalent of a Bob Ross Painting. And in the heat of this election campaign… the Bake-Off is all the excitement I can handle.  100 episodes could take you all the way to inauguration day. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.