Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking

Great concept lost in its own self-aggrandizing Hogwarts. A very talented and mostly likable group of chefs paying homage to Harry Potter themed challenges. Intertwined through the competition are video clips of memorable movies scenes as well as incorporation of the various movie sets in introducing challenges and judging. Given the outright magical inspiration for the show including being given a ticket to ride on the Harry Potter express train after the first challenge, the show is visually spectacular. The competition itself is well conceived, the Phelps brothers are pleasantly enthusiastic and Carla Hall is as always a thoughtful and constructive food competition judge. However, the general tone of the judging is overly melodramatic and Jozef Youssef's vainglorious persona is intolerable. Chairman Kaga was at least entertaining... not a pretentious...

What a delightful watch! It was amazing to see so many Harry Potter references combined with outstanding talent. These contestants weren't just incredible bakers-they were engineers too! Most of the finished pieces featured magical moving elements, which made them even more impressive.

I loved that this wasn't your typical baking show. From the very beginning, it set itself apart, with some teams being paired at random and having to quickly learn to work together. Only the best earned a ticket to continue.

The tasting elements were so creative, and the judges' feedback always felt spot on. I was on the edge of my seat during the finale!

So so many negatives. Firstly, if you are expecting an equivalent of the GBBO, you will be sorely disappointed. This, it is not. It's way way stereotypically American (negative). The introduction of the guests, the pretending it's all true (I mean Harry Potter etc is real, but not the elements in the show...), the over the top excitement.... Ugh!

If you LOVE Harry Potter, you should love this. It's the only thing that saves it for me. But if you only like Harry Potter, i suspect this isn't for you. I laughed, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. But not for baking, not for the presentation (yes I love the Weasley twins, but not the actors as presenters), and not for the overall production. Just for the HP connection, :-)

I thoroughly enjoyed this first episode. I didn't find it chaotic at all. I understood why the teams were introduced as they were. Beautifully representative works and I loved hearing everyone stories about their love and connection to the films. So great having the "Weasley Twins" as the hosts and Carla and Jozef as the judges. I thought the humor was just right - not corny or excessive. It was also great to see how laser-focused everyone was but also how supportive they were of one another. The tickets to get onto the train were an exciting element, as well. Can't wait for the rest of this season!

After a few episodes I came to wonder how much the guest judges influence the decision. Also some of the feedback they give is the same a 3rd grader would give. You would think they would have gotten some kind of coaching. Also, Evanna Lynch is a judge who is vegan, so she can't eat the bakes...make it make sense.

Regardless of my issues with the above, the show is great and brings to life some of the most iconic scenes in all of Harry Potter. I hope they make more seasons and have a run like GBBO. There is so much opportunity to explore hundreds of other avenues with this show. Maybe some better guest judges will help too lol.