PILOT REVIEW: The Baker and the Beauty

THE BAKER AND THE BEAUTY

Starring: Victor Rasuk, Nathalie Kelley, Dan Bucatinsky, David Del Rio, Michelle Veintimilla, Belissa Escobedo, with Lisa Vidal and Carlos Gomez

Developed for American Television by Dean Georgaris
Based on the Israeli Television Series "Beauty and the Baker" by Assi Azar
Telelplay by Dean Georgaris, Directed by David Frankel

Last year was the first time I read some of the pilots before Upfronts. I had plans to read all of them but only made it through ABC and a few NBC ones. There were a lot of ABC ones that I was interested in and go figure they picked up almost none of them. But one of the ones I actually really liked, much to my surprise, was The Baker and the Beauty. It's been about a year since I read the pilot but a lot of it stuck with me watching the pilot tonight and I am happy to report that the final product was as charming as the script.

The Baker and the Beauty is based on an Israeli series but centered on a Hispanic family with a bakery in Miami. Daniel Garcia (Victor Rasuk) is stuck in a rut in a four year relationship with girlfriend Vanessa (Michelle Veintimilla). She proposes to him at a restaurant where he has a chance encounter with international superstar Noa Hamilton (Nathalie Kelley) and all of the sudden a humble family bakery and the family that runs it are caught up in it all.

Sure, the plot of the pilot is a little outrageous. But for some reason, it was all played as plausible and had a very healthy dose of sweetness to it. The leads, Victor Rasuk and Nathalie Kelley, are both likable and also have nice chemistry with each other. Though their characters come from very different worlds, there was an inherent spark from the minute they met and that went a long way to make a preposterous plot feel more real. The show needs to do the same with the rest of the family, which did not play as real all the time as the central love story and I have a feeling this show will be an awfully lot about the family as well.

The Miami setting was perfect for a modern day fairy tale story like this. Even if some of the production values were questionable (the whole defiling the poster was very clearly done on a green screen, not that it shouldn't have been), it still was a well-made pilot. I also was curious to see how much a pilot I actually was into (as opposed to For Life) played when I got to see the finished product. I don't think it diminished my enjoyment, if anything it made me more excited. Now to get back to those 2020 pilot readings.

WILL I WATCH IT AGAIN?
Yes, I'm curious to see where this show goes.