This Cake is for Today!

My husband informed me this week that I am like, "the worst blogger ever" which I beg to differ. Surely there are other bloggers out there that are worse than I. Bloggers that don't write ever, or their content really sucks. Ok, so my content sucks, but that is neither here nor there. What my husband fails to realize is that TV has been rather... well boring lately. With shows on hiatus and whatnot, it is hard to feel motivated to write. However, it appears that many shows are now back in the regular rotation so I guess that means..... A NEW ENTRY! Hooray!

Now where were we? Oh yes, Cake Boss. Cake Boss is a hybrid show that TLC pulled out over the summer that mixes two very hot topics - specialty cakes (as in Ace of Cakes) and New Jersey (are New Jersey-ites upset about the exploitation of their people?). So immediately, I fell in love with the show because it mixed two of my favorite things. Then the second season started and it was such a disappointment. I don't know if the issues that I am seeing now were in the first season or if I was just blinded but now I am almost offended as a viewer as they stuff they expect me to believe.

The overall concept of the show is good - or at least it should be good when you mix creativity and talent with Jersey, but alas it is not so. The show and it's content all seems a bit too contrived. The things they expect us to believe insult my intelligence. For example, in one of the first episodes of the season, Buddy is asked to make a cake for an engagement and the cake is to include the ring. The guy proposing makes a big deal about giving Buddy the ring and how he is trusting Buddy with this big responsibility. Later, the ring is upstairs and while Buddy isn't looking one of his sisters takes the ring and starts showing it to everyone. Uh oh! I wonder what is going to happen? Will the ring get lost? Will Buddy have to pay for a new ring? Oh my! As can be expected, Buddy later goes to put the ring on the cake and alas, the ring is missing!! How can this be? Buddy launches into a tirade and lo and behold his sister comes waltzing in with the ring and says that she took it to have it cleaned. What a nice person! How totally, contrived by TLC!

And here lies my biggest gripe about most reality TV, it's not really real. Is most of reality TV in fact reality? I'd say probably not, but at least with some of them it doesn't feel so set up. I feel like earlier episodes of the Real World and Road Rules and now even Jersey Shore are for the most part real - just people living their lives on TV. Then along comes the reality show fad and suddenly things aren't so reality based. TLC has a history of this with Jon and Kate. The first few seasons you saw a family who struggled to make ends meet and did things that a normal family did. Then TLC planned trips for them and gave them free swag and suddenly life really isn't life anymore is it? No it's just TLC and their puppets. This is what I feel has happened with Cake Boss. Suddenly it's not enough to just watch a guy and his crew make some pretty awesome cakes. Instead you have to have some made up drama and silly fights and really, it's just old. When in the first five minutes of the episode you can call exactly what is going to happen in the episode, it's not really reality now is it? No, it's just another sitcom if you ask me.

So while the episode of Cake Boss was new on Tuesday, it wasn't so "new" if you know what I mean. Buddy made some cakes, Buddy got pissed because people weren't doing it the way he thought is should be done, Buddy worries his idiot cousin won't deliver the BIG.IMORTANT.CAKE on time!!!! and then he does.

And that is all I have to say about that.