Queering the competitive cooking show: performance on/of Netflix’s Nailed It!

English

Abstract

This paper will look at Netflix’s Nailed It!, a competitive cooking show that introduces humor to the traditional format. In my analysis, I will look at the genre conventions of both food television and competitive cooking shows to situate Nailed It! within both these genres to understand its particular position. In comparing the show to the conventional narrative structures and performances within genre conventions, I will come to the conclusion that Nailed It! is a queer rendition of a cooking competition. In order to do so, I will look at how humor works in the show, both in the performances of the host, judges, and participants, as well as the format and production design. Finally, I will conclude that the particular use of humor enables the show to be read as “a queer cooking show”, in how it destabilizes gender roles ascribed to the traditional genres as well as the genre itself.