What's Is It Cake? About?

Bakers fashion cakes that look like everyday non-cake items, then a panel of celebrity judges tries to guess which one is the cake. If they’re wrong, the baker wins cash.

Who's Involved?

Merely two of the greatest reality competition producers ever! In 2001 Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz founded Magical Elves, which created Top Chef and Project Runway. Three years ago they decided to start again as indie producers.

Season 1 features eight accomplished baker-fakers, and unlike most reality-competition shows, there are no eliminations. All eight stick around for the entire season, with three competing in each episode while the other five comment from the sidelines.

Mikey Day is the host, and true to most of his SNL characters he is likably smarmy. (He’s also clueless about baking.)

Celebrity judges change each episode. They include fellow SNL castmembers past and present (Heidi Gardner, Bobby Moynihan, and Finesse Mitchell) and other Netflix-adjacent talent like Karamo Brown, Fortune Feimster, Jason Bolden, Arturo Castro, and Lyric Lewis.

Why (and to whom) do we recommend it?

A play-nice game with just a bit of edge, Is It Cake? features eight telegenic young bakers with a peculiar skill for making everything from cheeseburgers to handbags out of flour, fondant, and moldable chocolate. It’s the opposite of Nailed It! since these folks can really bake, but it borrows a key ingredient from that Netflix hit: the generous, fun-loving tone. So come for the delectable doppelgängers, but stay for the good-natured banter between contestants and Day’s amusing patter. And remember: Win or lose, everyone gets cake!

Pairs well with

• We Are the Champions (Netflix), a charming look at obscure competitions with another pitch-perfect choice as host (Rainn Wilson).
• The American Barbecue Showdown (Netflix), an all-American response to The Great British Baking Show.