Nailed It! Holiday!- Netflix Season 1 Review

Episode Guide

Jingle Fails
Winter Blunderland
You Mitvah Spot!
It’s A Family A-Fail
Toying Around
3…2…1…, Ya Done!
Just Do It Yourself!

If you watched the original Nailed It! and disliked the format of the show, you should probably steer clear of this holiday special. Camp, over the top and outrageously funny, Nailed It! is the anti-cooking show that becomes more elaborate and crazy as it goes on. The format remains unchanged from the original series but with a more festive theme this time around. Netflix’s outrageous cooking show returns for 7 episodes of blunders and cringe-worthy disasters and it’s every bit as satisfying to watch as the first time around.

For those who have never watched the show before, Nailed It! borrows elements of other cooking shows but tailors them to get the worst results from contestants. Three judges, front-lined by the hyperactive energy of Nicole Byer, take to the stage to judge three people’s cooking prowess. The catch? None of them can bake. At all. What follows are 7 outrageous episodes that task three different contestants each episode to make two separate Christmas-related cakes or sweet treats with each judged at the end on taste and presentation. Each episode is split in two, with a small challenge to begin with before progressing to a show-stopping treat that ranges from an upside down Santa Claus cake to a multi-tiered structure with moving parts.

Along the way we’re given some handy baking tips that flash up on screen and step by step instructions for how to achieve the perfect bake. Much like other cooking shows, there’s some time spent with the judges as they discuss the contestants and where they’re going right or wrong with the way they’re cooking. Predictably, things don’t go to plan and throughout the baking process we’re greeted with numerous blunders, mis-steps and cooking mistakes that make up the core appeal of the show.

Of course, Nicole Byer’s infamous screaming and over-the-top mannerisms return in a big way here. It’s one of the things that turned many away from the original show and instead of dialing this back, Nicole is given free reign to fully embrace herself over the entirety of the series. This will make or break the show for you and if you weren’t a fan of her the first time around, it’s unlikely this Holiday special will change your mind. Having said that, her boundless energy and enthusiasm for the show is something that actually does well to sell the absurd concept of Nailed It! so it’s hard to be too judgmental here.

Despite its overly familiar format, Nailed It’s holiday special is a lot of fun. The Christmas theme fits the show perfectly and there’s something infectiously charming with this cooking show as it embraces the ludicrous nature of people trying to bake cakes and failing. The big reveals are hilarious and are really the main highlight here with some of the contestants producing some unintentionally terrible (and hilarious) efforts. With a profound lack of artificial drama or tension, Nailed It! makes up for this with its humour. A little bit of slapstick, a little bit of silliness and a whole lot of goodness. Nailed It! won’t be for everyone but fans of the original will be happy with this serving of Christmas-themed cake.