The Great Canadian Bake Off: the Schitt’s Creek/baking show crossover you need in your life

Like much of the world, I’ve watched a lot of television in the last two years. Two shows have done much of the heavy lifting in getting me through the pandemic and, while worlds apart, Schitt’s Creek and The Great British Bake Off both offer a fun, feel-good viewing experience so soothing it’s like they’re reaching out of the TV and gently stroking my hair.

Having watched every season of both, twice, I was searching for new shows to fill the very specific voids left by each. I didn’t expect to find one show that fills both voids simultaneously, but here we are.

The Great Canadian Bake Off (called The Great Canadian Baking Show in North America due to a copyright issue) is pure joy. Or at least season two is, which is, unfortunately, all that’s currently legally available in Australia. Staying true to the original British recipe, it sees a group of amateur bakers competing in a giant tent in the middle of a field for the honorary title of Canada’s best home baker. It’s upbeat, it’s wholesome, it’s choc-full of puns and, best of all, it’s got Dan Levy.

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Yes, the icing on the artisan bagel is Schitt’s Creek’s biggest sweet tooth himself. The smash-hit sitcom was a few seasons in when its co-creator and star took to social media about his love for Bake Off. “I was watching the British show and tweeted quite naively that if it ever came to Canada that I’d love to throw my hat in the ring,” Levy told the Toronto Sun in 2017. “And then inevitably got a call asking me if I would actually be interested and I said yes.”

Levy suggested the semi-Canadian actress Julia Chan to co-host, while the French pastry chef Bruno Feldeisen and the Canadian-Australian pastry chef Rochelle Adonis signed on as judges. The four presented the first two of the five seasons, and though their Canadianness is a sliding scale, the season two contestants are as Canadian as ice hockey and Joey Jeremiah.

Representing a cross-section of towns and ethnicities, the bakers range in age from late teens to late 50s, and in temperament from delightful to extremely delightful. There’s Timothy Fu, a uni student with the droll resignation of a middle-aged comedian; perma-giggling Mengling Chen, who approaches baking with the same chaotic energy I approach everything; and Devon Stolz, a substitute teacher slash gravestone carver with the coolest job title of all time.

One of the things I love most about this franchise is its unrelenting positivity. There’s no manipulation of events or mining bakers’ past traumas for drama. Even when the judges are tough, it’s with a soft touch and a smile and the bakers are so mutually supportive, they’ll often rush to each other’s aid in the throes of a cake-tastrophe. The success of this gentle, joyful show is proof you don’t need spats and sobs to make good competitive reality television.

You also apparently don’t need cash prizes or any prizes at all. People will do it for a commemorative trophy, the vague possibility of a cookbook deal and the sheer love of baking.

By far the best thing about The Great Canadian Bake Off is Dan Levy. While the judges do a fine job, they’re not overly dynamic, lacking what makes their British counterparts so watchable – the swagger of Paul Hollywood, the charm of Prue Leith, the Mary Berryness of Mary Berry. And though Chan is a bona fide treat, Levy steals every episode, much like current British co-host Noel Fielding. Who knew fashion-forward comedians and competitive cooking shows were such a good pairing?

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Unsurprisingly, Levy presents as a barely pared-back David Rose. In fact, his phrasing, mannerisms, facial expressions and body language are so much like his Schitt’s Creek alter ego, I feel like I’m Zooming with an old friend. And while his humour is as Rose as a breakfast DUI, his brightly coloured outfits and warm rapport with the commoners would cause David to take to his single bed and weep until someone offered him a giant cookie.

Probably the most David Rose thing about Dan Levy is his appetite. “I can’t bake a thing but I can eat,” he told the Toronto Sun, and for once he wasn’t joking. Levy can be seen eating in – I’d conservatively guess – 75% of shots, sampling everything from batter to biscuits. “Oh good, I don’t like raisins,” he blurts when a baker omits them from a recipe. “Not that it’s about me.”

The thing is though, it is about him. And I suspect every project he stars in moving forward will be about him too. He’s transcendent. So while you’re waiting with half the world to see what he does next, snack on The Great Canadian Bake Off.