There may be only so many ways to serve up brunch, so a second season would have to find yet more innovative ideas to stretch the premise. Given how it handled these first eight episodes, though, “The Big Brunch” has earned its place at the next table.

The Big Brunch dips too far into sappiness. The HBO Max show lulls its audience back into a Sunday morning snooze, instead of inspiring them to go have a boozy brunch of their own. The Big Brunch does have a great concept, which shines in the dishes that the contestants present to the judging table. ... Unfortunately, what The Big Brunch fails to grant these folks is the time to really flaunt their actual cooking skills on camera.