God Bless Mary Berry, The Perfect Remedy For What’s Been Ailing Us

God bless Mary Berry. The British baking star is a national treasure across the pond in her native England, where she recently sparked a national controversy by quitting her popular series after the producers of The Great British Bake Off tried switching networks from the BBC. But Great Britain’s loss is our gain. The producers of the show — and its star — have come stateside.

Starting tonight and continuing throughout the month of December, The Great American Baking Show will be airing on ABC. We got a taste of Mary Berry last year with this series (formerly titled The Great Holiday Baking Show), where American bakers competed to win Berry’s affections and the title of “Star Baker.” But last year’s edition had the feel of a hastily wrapped present, and the showstopping treats withered in comparison to the original series.

This year, adorable marrieds Nia Vardalos and Ian Gomez are back on hosting duty, stealing tastes and practicing their comedic bits to keep the narrative moving. But the producers have upped their game with the rest of the show.

They’ve uncovered American home bakers who are talented enough — and enamored enough of the show — to present their creations to the show’s Baker-in-Chief and her judging partner Johnny Iuzzini. Reality shows are only as good as the talent on display and this year the competitors have the chops to create sugary delicacies worthy of high definition closeups.

In addition to impressive baking skills, the producers have also found a talent pool with some of the qualities that made the original series so very watchable. The Great British Bake Off gave viewers a microcosm of British cultural diversity, zoning in on the different backgrounds and flavorings that the contestants bring to their baked goods.

This season, we are also presented with a worthy smattering of Americans. There’s a grandmother who — with 36 grandchildren — has 72 helping hands supporting her in the kitchen at holidays, a classically trained opera singer who resides in Harlem, and a mom with adorably bespectacled toddlers. There’s even an orthopedic surgeon who lives with his dogs in Brooklyn and shares adorable quips like this: “I draw a lot of hearts and kidneys and lungs and livers when doing medical illustrations. But never snowflakes.”

The show is an amazing (and subtle) counterpoint to the racial discord that is swirling around both America and Britain right now. While voters and politicians are talking about dividing and removing immigrants that take up residence within our borders, this series instead focuses on the importance of cultural diversity in the kitchen. Who in their right mind could attack the different ethnicities who take up residence in our country after seeing the amazing baked treats they have to share?

The competition also has a warmth missing from most American reality shows. When a competitor gets sent home every week, the remaining competitors seem genuinely sad to see them go. Baking is a complicated, mostly solitary pastime, but on this show, the contestants have found a group of like-minded sugar obsessives to bond with.

With the holidays nearly upon us, The Great American Baking Show is a great excuse to tune out of the politically-charged battlegrounds of social media in favor of some good cheer and holiday spirit. This probably wasn’t on the minds of ABC producers when they greenlit a second season of this series this fall, but as it turns out, Mary Berry just so happens to be the perfect remedy for what’s been ailing us during these turbulent times.

[Watch The Great American Baking Show on ABC]

Meghan Graham (@keanesian) lives in fear of Mary Berry uncovering her soggy bottom.