Cake Boss - an Overview

Steven Moneyworth
Steven Moneyworth, Yahoo! Contributor Network
Jul 4, 2009 "Share your voice on Yahoo! websites. Start Here."
For a while I had been seeing advertisements on TLC for its new series Cake Boss. However, until yesterday I had not had the opportunity to watch it. After watching Cake Boss for three and a half hours, I finally caught up with the series.

Cake Boss is a reality show about Carlo's Bakery in Hoboken, New Jersey. Carlo's Bakery is largely family-run and operated, and produces not only traditional Italian pastries and baked goods, but also elaborate special-order cakes. Owner Buddy Valastro is the titular Cake Boss, and is renowned in the food industry for his comestible creations.

Cakes are really at the heart of this show. During a half-hour episode, two to three special-order cakes might be focused on. The audience is taken through the process of designing, producing, and delivering each cake, and the occasional problems and predicaments that happen along the way. The cakes always end up being beautiful and any production problems are overcome in the end. Most notably, a bride that was unhappy with her white wedding cake squirted colored icing all over the cake a day before her wedding, saying that perhaps it could serve as an art lesson to Buddy. The staff at Carlo's Bakery reluctantly rose to her challenge and made an interesting, colorful cake. Needless to say, the bride's mother had been a very good customer in the past.

There is a good amount of interpersonal drama in each episode. This is inevitable, as Carlo's Bakery runs on tight deadlines and must produce high-quality cakes. Likewise, the fact that many of the employees of the bakery are family contributes to their willingness to squabble. However, time is made for jokes and pranks, and it is clear that the employees are a close-knit group that cares about everyone.

Despite the occasional tension on the show, one aspect of Cake Boss that I think makes it a family show is that Buddy Valastro goes out of his way to make cakes for community benefits and other charitable causes. I think this sets a good example for kids. The only thing that would prevent me from recommending Cake Boss as a family show is that there is some occasional swearing, and one episode featured a strip club cake. For mature or older kids, this should not be a problem. The show airs at 10 PM ET on Monday nights, so younger kids may be in bed anyway.

All in all, Cake Boss is an intriguing and entertaining show. I recommend at least checking out an episode or two. It airs on Mondays at 10PM Eastern on TLC.

Published by Steven Moneyworth

I am studying Chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh and plan on attending medical school after college. Follow me on Twitter at @acsamzolin.  View profile

4 Comments

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  • Michael2/6/2012

    Yeah it is staged I highly doubt he normally gets asked to do that many special bizarre cakes and get that many odd events going on in a bakery...like they have a lift but walk a cake down the stairs to drop it in season one...stuff like that is just lazy production and goes away in season two...but yes it is sooooooo staged.

    They could have got better actors and tried to get his sisters to act better only the blonde one can act but it would loose it's charm doing that.

    His "crew" are kinda overshadowed by him if they has just done it normally we could have seen some baking and not so much drama as buddy is loud...but it would not sell would it.

    Buddy is awesome...kinda like the Tony Soprano of cakes...watch it as a feel good soap and you will like it.

    Lastly the special cake making skill is impressive the women who sculpt and Buddy are really very skilled you will see some clever stuff going on. That is not staged he is actually doing that!!!

  • Florida Girl1/18/2010

    This show is sooooooooooo staged! I just got done watching the Bridezilla episode and no one can convince me that the bride wasn't put up to being a bratty bride. The only thing that failed was that she was a horrible actress because she was a real person who was getting married. I think I prefer "Ace of Cakes," because they make some really cool cakes and I don't have to roll my eyes in the back of my head being annoyed at the fake acting that I see in each episode of "Cake Boss!"
    P.S. - Ms. to Buddy: "Do you really think that your Father would be proud of such a staged, silly show?"

  • Sam Zolin7/10/2009

    Texas Guy - First, I respect your opinion and honestly had never considered anything on the show as being staged. I wouldn't rule it out. Drama makes for good TV. However, I more or less doubt that they would intentionally ruin a cake, as it required everyone to stop what he or she was doing to help make a new cake. Thank you for sharing your opinion and I'll certainly consider it the next time I watch Cake Boss.

  • Texas Guy7/9/2009

    I have watched several episodes, and can say with certainty that a great deal of the 'drama' is 100% staged. In one episode the delivery guy drops an incredible cake down the stairs. Totally fake. You can actually see the one guy unnecessarily lift the edge of the cake base so it tips and falls. I replayed that scene about 7 times and there is no doubt it was planned.
    I am also 90% certain the 'bridezilla' episode was staged. There was also a scene where one of the young kids was pranked by getting water and purple dye dumped on his head from the roof above. When you watch it, it is quite obvious that he was going out of his way to stand in a certain spot. The odds of him going to that spot on his own, unintentionally, is about 1:100.
    I have quit watching the show. I can't stand all the fake arguing and over-acting.

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