Let’s daydream about a Great British Baking Show + A Black Lady Sketch Show crossover
Here’s what’s happening in the world of television for Friday, September 5, and Saturday, September 6. All times are Eastern.
Top picks
The Great British Baking Show (Netflix, Friday, 3:01 a.m.) and A Black Lady Sketch Show (HBO, Friday, 11 p.m.): Okay, yes, admittedly, this is a stretch idea at best. There are few things these two shows have in common beyond the fact that each title ends in the word Show, and that’s only true in the U.S., since it’s Bake Off and not Baking Show elsewhere. But go with us on this idea.
First of all, Quinta Brunson, Gabrielle Dennis, Robin Thede, and Ashley Nicole Black deserve some cookies—sorry, biscuits—as a reward for their great first season and their well-deserved and very welcome renewal. And what do you know, it’s Biscuit Week in the big white tent!
(Kindly ignore the Tuesday stuff—new episodes of Bake Off air in the U.K. just a few days before that same episode arrives on Netflix.)
Second, both are surprising and delightful and likely to make you root for just about everyone involved. (See below.)
Third, Ashley Nicole Black would be very funny while feverishly trying to make 97 identical biscuits shaped like Invisible Spies, would she not? Hell, why not make the Invisible Spy infiltrate the tent? Regardless, these are two great shows ending in Show; clearly, someone somewhere should make that happen. Throw in the fellas from Mr. Show if you want, why not?
Kate Kulzick will recap the events of Biscuit Week, while ABLSS will get a season-one sendoff from Joelle Monique in a piece running Saturday.
Regular coverage
The Spy (Netflix, Friday, 3:01 a.m.): pre-air review
DuckTales (Disney Channel, Friday, 3 p.m.)
Wild card
Élite (Netflix, Friday, 3:01 a.m., complete second season)
Cruel intentions are far from the only motivation (and influence) in this highly addictive teen drama from Carlos Montero and Darío Montero. The first season of Élite saw the students of Las Encinas, the poshest of private schools in Spain, clash over class, sex, sexuality, and good old-fashioned envy. But real connections were also struck between the spoiled but gracious Marina (María Pedraza) and the striving Samuel (Itzan Escamilla), the latter one of three teens from working-class backgrounds who find themselves caught up in the high melodrama of the so-called high-born. Omar (Omar Ayuso) and Ander (Arón Piper) began a tentative romance while jealousy got the best of one of their peers, leading to the murder that served as the larger framework for season one. The resolution of that crime forms a bridge to an all-new mystery, but one that’s just as steeped in class warfare and unbridled emotions. In its second season, Élite continues to upend teen-drama tropes while welcoming back all your faves, including Valerio (Jorge Lopez, slinking around like Las Encinas’ own Klaus Hargreeves), making it the ideal back-to-school binge. Just make sure that you stick to English subtitles instead of the English dubbing—that is, if you want to get the full effect of Lu’s (Danna Paola) venomous retorts. [Danette Chavez]