TV Binge: Nailed It (Season 1, 2018)

Its a beautiful Sunday (or at least I hope it will be since the posts are written in advance…hooray to organization!) I should be baking this weekend since its my husband’s birthday weekend. Fun fact that our birthdays are literally a week apart. Either way, its time for fun stuff so whats more fun than talking about food. Boy..am I on a roll with food related series! Anyways, I didn’t realize Nailed It was so new until I was looking at the release date on Netflix.

Nailed It (Season 1, 2018)

Hosts: Nicole Byer & Jacques Torres

Guest judges: Sylvia Weinstock, Zac Young, Valerie Gordon, Dave Arnold, Yolanda Gampp, Jay Chandrasekhar

Nailed It is a competition show for amateur bakers who are trying hard to learn how to bake but failing hard. How the show works is that there are three bakers every episode. In the first round, they face-off for a themed baked goods usually the same item but different design and the bakers get to choose whichever they want or end up with if they are too slow. Whoever does the best ends up with a prize and get to wear the gold chef’s hat to flaunt that they are the one to beat in the second round. The second round is a one big cake that they need to replicate. As this is an amateur baking competition, they have a Panic button one lifeline to ask for help where one of the judges will go to help them, while the loser of the first round gets a second advantage of one of the buttons that mess with the other two competitors like Nicole Nags, Freezer Burn or Pardon My French. The best of this second round wins the competition and ten thousand dollars.

The first season of Nailed It only has 6 episodes so its quick watch. In some ways, its weirdly satisfying to watch amateur bakers at work. I believe that we learn a lot from our failures. So, there’s this weird connection of being a amateur baker that fails at aesthetics of a baked good all the time that I do understand their struggle and from those elements, I learn a little about the little details that make a difference. While this feels more or less as entertaining than say Zumbo’s Just Desserts (review), there is still a lot to be learned in the baking department because the head judges is Jacques Torres who is a pastry chef and a chocolatier, so he offers some nice advice. With that said, the other person joining him is host Nicole Byer who probably is the life of the show because she talks a lot and is somehow rather entertaining for the most part. Aside from them, each episode has a new guest judge, each knowledgeable in their own respects.

Overall, the season for Nailed It was so swift that there isn’t really much to talk about. Its for the crowd that likes having a good laugh at some of the baking failures and shenanigans that can happen to the amateur bakers who attempt some big projects. As entertaining as it all is, it surprising highlights a lot of the basic mistakes that some people don’t quick get when they first start baking and has a decent educational value as well. Plus, most of the guests are pretty knowledgeable and give some decent advice as well as Jacques Torres. Its a fun little show and I wouldn’t mind seeing a Season 2 as a fun little binge session. I definitely has a good few laughs at some of the turnouts. Honestly, that is all I ask for sometimes when I watch a show. Its not like I’m watching a food documentary series which is meant to be serious which I have a few of those TV binges coming up 😉 Plus, I appreciate that Netflix is appealing to its foodie viewers especially since I don’t have cable so I don’t get Food Network unless I travel and have hotel stays.

Have you seen Nailed It yet?