Holiday Wars - General Discussion

[ShelleySue]

5 hours ago, Rammchick said:

 And predictably, the team who did the worst all season managed to eke out the win for no apparent reason. 

I know I said I was done but I had to watch the last episode to see if they ever explained how they determined the season's winner. But I guess it was just the winner of the last episode.  Talk about anti-climatic.  Actually the whole season was anti-climatic if that's possible.

I'm sorry that I can't remember the name of the teams.  I thought that the elimination of a team for a technicality was absurd.  It just seemed very mean spirited because that layer was not the same as the other ones. I was thinking of something last night and wish that I wasn't so hasty to delete.  Did the little hearts on top of one of the displays count as a layer? Because if it did, that was a lot lamer than the little people that did not count as one.

Edited because I forgot to say this:

I was watching with my daughter who has never seen this show before.  She wanted to know why the judges were giving the teams pointers while the teams were making their displays. She said she thought that judges weren't supposed to be helping teams and that might give one team an unfair advantage over another team.  She was visiting and wanted to watch the show because back in the day she had been a "That's So Raven" fan but she couldn't watch the show to the end. That's how bad it was.

Edited December 7, 2020 by ShelleySue
Explained above

[Pepper the Cat]

The team that got eliminated on a “technicality” was robbed. They had the nicest looking piece. I think the judges just got rid of them because they were the strongest team. I think the team that won were the judges favourite and that is why they won. The judges kept saying “I am so glad they made it through”. 
What a disappointing season.

 

[Grizzly]

The narwhal was excellent, just not sure how Christmassy it was. Didn't like the elves ruining the penguins' wedding. And Johnnie can leave with his validation that Shinmin liked something he did.

As an aside, Jewel is a completely different person on Candy Land. She's nice, calm, and not critical. Makes you wonder.

[Biosynth]

Thank God the season is over.  I wouldn't have minded so much if only Erin wasn't there.  She was horrible.  Between her being so nasty and her stupid voice, I spent each episode angry.  

Also, this seemed like a Cake Wrecks Holiday Edition show.  Ug.

[40Love]

On 12/1/2020 at 5:55 PM, mojoween said:

Erin’s hair in the ponytail with the tendrils looked really cute though.

Erin reminds me of the actress who played "Jo" on the Facts of Life: Nancy McKeon. I think she's beautiful. But, her face does always look like she's mad. Hehe!

Edited December 7, 2020 by 40Love

[hilaryvm]

I feel compelled to point out that there are no penguins in the arctic.  If this indeed were supposed to be a north pole wedding, there should not have been penguins.

The northern lights wedding, with the two people, they both looked female to me.  Also, their faces were creepy.

What is the point of keeping all the teams until the end if you're not going to factor in prior work?  Otherwise they just should have eliminated a team each week.

[Guest]

47 minutes ago, hilaryvm said:

I feel compelled to point out that there are no penguins in the arctic.  If this indeed were supposed to be a north pole wedding, there should not have been penguins.

The northern lights wedding, with the two people, they both looked female to me.  Also, their faces were creepy.

What is the point of keeping all the teams until the end if you're not going to factor in prior work?  Otherwise they just should have eliminated a team each week.

Perhaps it was a destination wedding?

Edited December 7, 2020 by tracyscott76
Misread the quoted post

[40Love]

1 hour ago, hilaryvm said:

The northern lights wedding, with the two people, they both looked female to me.  Also, their faces were creepy.

I thought the facial expressions of the two people were a little weird looking too. Didn't get the judge's OTT praise. I was going to go back and check whether their original sketch mentioned whether they were both women... but was too lazy. The artist chose those round forms so they wouldn't have to finesse the shapes. I agree with whoever said they were the favorites to win... for whatever reason. Kind of felt like they were getting the winner's edit when the one guy kept going on and on about the new woman who joined their team. 

[mojoween]

It’s over?  It’s OVER.

Never has something I was looking forward to disappointed me so much.  Don’t do this again, Food Network.

A team won and three others went home and I honestly didn’t care who did what.  I complained about this before, but there was absolutely not enough Ho Ho Ho in any design any week to make this show enjoyable.

[trudysmom]

1 hour ago, 40Love said:

Didn't get the judge's OTT praise.

THIS sums up the whole sad, ugly season.

[Spunkygal]

So glad this hot mess is over. I always look forward to Halloween Wars and Holiday Wars. Hell, I started the forum for this show. I am hoping that this lump of coal that FN put in our stocking reverts back to its charm next year....Jonathan as host, Shinmin as judge but joined by Jason or anyone else but Erin, a team getting eliminated each week, and more bling, more festive presentations, return of the fruit carvers, more craftsmanship. Julian, the brilliant sugar artist, is welcome to return, but all these other third class contestants can stay home. 

All that being said, it was fun commiserating with you guys. Happy holidays and please stay healthy so we can snark the reindeer poop out of next season! 

Edited December 8, 2020 by Spunkygal

[Popples]

35 minutes ago, Spunkygal said:

So glad this hot mess is over. I always look forward to Halloween Wars and Holiday Wars. Hell, I started the forum for this show. I am hoping that this lump of coal that FN put in our stocking reverts back to its charm next year....Jonathan as host, Shinmin as judge but joined by Jason or anyone else but Erin, a team getting eliminated each week, and more bling, more festive presentations, return of the fruit carvers, more craftsmanship. Julian, the brilliant sugar artist, is welcome to return, but all these other third class contestants can stay home. 

All that being said, it was fun commiserating with you guys. Happy holidays and please stay healthy so we can snark the reindeer poop out of next season! 

Or they could take the ice sculpture carving element from last year's Santa's Baking Blizzard. I wish they had brought that back instead of whatever this season was.

[Rammchick]

17 hours ago, hilaryvm said:

The northern lights wedding, with the two people, they both looked female to me.  Also, their faces were creepy.

Could've been female.  After all, the two snowmen were male.

The way they were dressed and their faces made me think they were Inuit, but no, that wasn't the concocted story the team had.  

18 hours ago, Biosynth said:

Also, this seemed like a Cake Wrecks Holiday Edition show.  Ug.

Or Nailed It.  When Raven-Symone yelled, "Time's up, you're done!" on one of the episodes, I laughed out loud.  Some of what was produced could've easily been on that show.

[hilaryvm]

2 hours ago, Rammchick said:

Could've been female.  After all, the two snowmen were male.

The way they were dressed and their faces made me think they were Inuit, but no, that wasn't the concocted story the team had.  

I think one was meant to be male because the team mentioned their names were "Skip" and something else.  Not that it matters if it's two females or not, but if they intended one to be male, I think they failed in that respect.

[mlp]

18 hours ago, Spunkygal said:

So glad this hot mess is over. I always look forward to Halloween Wars and Holiday Wars. Hell, I started the forum for this show. I am hoping that this lump of coal that FN put in our stocking reverts back to its charm next year....Jonathan as host, Shinmin as judge but joined by Jason or anyone else but Erin, a team getting eliminated each week, and more bling, more festive presentations, return of the fruit carvers, more craftsmanship. Julian, the brilliant sugar artist, is welcome to return, but all these other third class contestants can stay home. 

Agree with every word.  I'd love to see Jason or Charles Phoenix back as judges.  I hope never to see Raven or Erin again.  

I thought the team that won was the worst of the three overall.  SMH.

Food Network - You ruined one of my favorite shows.  Please don't do it again.

[RoxiP]

Normally I really like this show and think that the contestants are very talented...not so much this season.  I guess they were doing the best they could with people who were willing to  brave the pandemic, but the quality really suffered.

[Maverick]

 This show is back this year and it looks like Raven Symone and the snotty chef that works for Buddy (Erin?) are out and Aarti and Maneet are in.   I wish they'd mix these judges up some.  Aarti, Carla, Shinmin and Maneet were all oh Halloween shows and now they immediately popping up on Holiday shows.  Presumably Eddie will be on the Christmas cookie show if it's back this year.  Having Shinmin on back-to-back doesn't bother me because this is all she does for Food Network.  The others are constantly popping up and becoming overexposed.  Plus Shimin is a legitimate pasty chef.  

 Hopefully the teams and the structure of the competition will be better this year.  Losing Raven and especially the other judge will be a step up at lest.  

[RealityCheck]

From this article, the new season of HOLIDAY WARS premieres Sunday 11/07/2021 at 9PM with host Maneet Chauhan and judges Shinmin Li and Aarti Sequeira.

From the same article, host Maneet Chauhan rings in the New Year with HOLIDAY WARS: CHAMPION CAKE OFF on Sunday 12/26/2021 at 9PM as the champions of Halloween Wars and Holiday Wars go head-to-head.

Edited October 30, 2021 by RealityCheck

[Grizzly]

Looks like they kept the stylist from Halloween Wars. Lovely ladies in clothes not doing them any favors.

[trudysmom]

I was so bored. Two episodes of this nonsense put me to sleep.  I liked the teams but I guess I miss the contrived drama, the sense of urgency of the old format.  I recognize Orly from past seasons, he was always a great sugar artist and Susannah, wife of Nacho, from some season of Baking Championship.  The guy on the second episode winning team looked like Mike Nesmit. (yes my age is showing).

[Spunkygal]

I actually enjoyed both episodes. There were some impressive displays and the right teams went home. I do still miss the old format and Jonathan but I’ve resigned myself to admit defeat and just go with it. It was great to see Orly again. Why oh why does Aarti’s stylist hate her? She is so beautiful! 

[Rammchick]

2 hours ago, Spunkygal said:

I actually enjoyed both episodes. There were some impressive displays and the right teams went home. I do still miss the old format and Jonathan but I’ve resigned myself to admit defeat and just go with it. It was great to see Orly again. Why oh why does Aarti’s stylist hate her? She is so beautiful! 

I spent most of the two episodes thinking, "Girl, that's not your dress."  Tight and revealing does Aarti no favors, and surely there are better ways to dress her stylishly.  On the other hand, I loved Maneet's sari that she wore in the second episode.

[Guest]

I thought Aarti looked nice - the second outfit was quite a bit more revealing in front than she usually wears, but I wouldn't say it was unflattering. I mean, she's a larger lady (but not unhealthily so)...most outfits are going to show at least a few of her curves, and I don't think that's a bad thing. Is she supposed to wear nothing but loose, baggy shirts or a completely formless drape that hides her shape completely? Cosign the loveliness of Maneet's second outfit, though.

The winners of both rounds seemed pretty obvious to me, and the eliminated team in the first round was also pretty clear. I was a little surprised at the team who went home in the second round, as I thought the look of theirs was a little better. But I might have missed what the deciding factor was as I admit I wasn't paying super close attention to the judges' discussion.

Edited November 8, 2021 by tracyscott76

[Emkat]

Maneet's shrieking is so grating. 

I think Aarti looks great. If you've got it flaunt it lol.

[Maverick]

 So. Many. Headbands.  

[mojoween]

Aww I love Maneet and also loved her sari.

This is still not quite right as a show, but at least it does not have that dumb twist from last season where the winning team picked out a present, for no reason whatsoever.

The Grim Reaper of Christmas Future looked weird and unfinished to me so I didn’t quite get all the praise, but the design as a whole was better than the other two.

I mean, the hands on the other safe team were terrifying and definitely did not look like human hands.  I’m also unsure why abuela was a small puppet stuck in her armpit.

[Spunkygal]

Wasn’t contestant Jen on the Mr Fox team a finalist on Holiday Baking Championship one year? I loved Mr Fox. Instead of a mouse on his head, I think I’d would have put a creature that flies like a bird or a grasshopper or some bug. Having anything on his head was dumb but I think they said his support dowel was too long. 

It’s a shame that the pier scene was too busy and crammed with stuff. I loved the pelican. Instead of having a great big scene-hogging shark as the predator, I’d have that wonderful pelican be the predator and then have a well designed fish as the two frienemies. 

What was the other display? A hawk, a fish and a armadillo? I can’t remember! Those hawk wings were going to be gorgeous but it was way too small. 

I thought everyone’s food items were well done and the fish jumping out of the bowl was executed brilliantly even though the story was lame. I hope the future episodes have more holiday themes with elves, the Santas, Rudolph, polar bears, etc. 

Edited November 15, 2021 by Spunkygal

[Maverick]

 They were trying (poorly) to do a Thanksgiving theme.  Holiday Baking Championship does the same thing since they start Christmas shows the day after Halloween.   The best we get for Thanksgiving is one throwaway episode on a Christmas show 

 Jen was on one of the Baking Championships.  Not sure it was Holiday.  Maybe Spring. 

[Guest]

Jen was on Season 4 of Holiday Baking Championship and won. Feels kind of weird for her not to be the spokesperson talking head of their team. I wonder how they decide that?

[Rammchick]

I liked Aarti's dress this week, and the color was great for her.  Much better than previous weeks, IMHO.  I also really liked Maneet's pant suit.

[crazycatlady58]

11 minutes ago, Rammchick said:

I liked Aarti's dress this week, and the color was great for her.  Much better than previous weeks, IMHO.  I also really liked Maneet's pant suit.

I like what all the ladies were wearing. Aarti's dress look fantastic. It was perfect for her.

[Grizzly]

That was the worst shark I've ever seen. The pelican was good and should have been front and center. The poor hawk looked pathetic with his plan b wings. It needed to be bigger than the armadillo to show the imbalanced relationship. Like the way the fox towered over the rabbit. The face on the rabbit was so good but I agreed with the judges that the arms were wonky. I recognized Jen's voice and as soon as she said Wisconsin, her Baking season came flooding back to me. She won Holiday with her geese a laying cake.

[Rammchick]

12 minutes ago, Grizzly said:

That was the worst shark I've ever seen. The pelican was good and should have been front and center. The poor hawk looked pathetic with his plan b wings. It needed to be bigger than the armadillo to show the imbalanced relationship. Like the way the fox towered over the rabbit. The face on the rabbit was so good but I agreed with the judges that the arms were wonky. I recognized Jen's voice and as soon as she said Wisconsin, her Baking season came flooding back to me. She won Holiday with her geese a laying cake.

I also thought the hawk looked more more like a stork!

[mojoween]

Is having a vegan sponge offset by using cream cheese in the filling?

“We’re super behind, so we’re going to make a character that needs eight tentacles!”

I love Angela from Three Pipers Piping.  Just adore her.  That hawk didn’t much look like a hawk, though.

[Grizzly]

The correct team went home. And the correct team won. That snowboarding reindeer was nearly flawless. Ninja ginga was a close second. The elves were so expressive. And I forget which team made the chocolate peppermint cake but I want it!

[Guest]

At one point early on, I looked up and wondered why one team had a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle on their cake, but then I realized it was a gingerbread man and all was well 😆

A little more tension on a couple teams than we've been seeing on X Wars lately, but I appreciated that they didn't fly into the hysterics that were so typical of Halloween Wars in years past.

[mlp]

The reindeer display definitely deserved to win.  It looked great.  The gingerbread-Ninja wasn't far behind.  I think we saw just bits and pieces of the work on the gingerbread man and no long shots because, when they showed the finished display, I was startled to see something I didn't remember seeing before.

The losing team had a fine basic idea but it didn't look good even before the arm fell off.  

I don't understand why any team decides to make something like the mountain that eventually fell apart.  They spent a huge amount of their time making, stacking and covering instead of doing things that actually take skill and would make a much better impression on the judges.

[mojoween]

Ahh that was close Three Pipers Piping.  Tighten it up!

I get this is *Holiday* Wars, and kids in the northern parts of the US have snowball fights during their holiday breaks, but fuck’s sake can we get something more holiday-y like Santa or elves or even a manger, for cod’s sack?  Hanukkah? Kwanza?  Nine foot tall woodland creatures and gingerbread Raphaels don’t really scream the season.  

[Darian]

I like all the teams, and don't have favorites because I can't keep them straight yet (I have memory issues). But I am enjoying this season. I've always found Shinmin delightful with the cred for for the job. I've also always enjoyed Aarti in whatever she's been on, but for a reason I could never figure out, I never warmed to Maneet. But here, I find her really likable. She also seems to be enjoying herself. There seems to be a good vibe and rapport between the three judges. So, watching the teams create is always going to be my motivation for watching, I appreciate this judging combo. 

[Grizzly]

How unusual, no one had their cake fall apart. I really liked the tree of the losing team. It was so intricate and looked like it took a lot of skill to assemble. Their character was fun. I understand that their sugar dome didn't match whatever that was holding it up, but I'm not sure it was bad enough to send them home. Perhaps if they had left it off completely, they'd be staying? The rest of the pieces were good but all the cake combos sounded awful. The ladies all had nice, holiday outfits but still look like they're in the middle of summer.

[Madding crowd]

I thought the sugar Christmas tree by the losing team was just beautiful. To me it was the best thing there. I don’t get it why these shows now require 25 flavors in one cake. Of course a chocolate, garlic, banana, matcha, black pepper, tahini, hazelnut, strawberry, lime combo won’t taste good! I made up that particular combo but it’s not far off the mark. Let them make a delicious, normal cake and then concentrate on the designs.

[RoxiP]

I wanted the sugar Christmas tree at my house too!  That was beautiful.

[mojoween]

Alien Christmas.  Fuck’s sake.

With that said, the designs came out well, even if the theme sucked and the cake flavor combos all sounded horrific.  

[Spunkygal]

33 minutes ago, mojoween said:

Alien Christmas.  Fuck’s sake.

With that said, the designs came out well, even if the theme sucked and the cake flavor combos all sounded horrific.  

I’m excited to see what the next episode brings with the challenge of “bringing  the story of an iconic carol to life.” Maybe we’ll get some charming, snowy displays. And I want a Rudolph challenge so hopefully it’s about him! 

[trudysmom]

Apologies if this has been said but Bakers in Toyland (I think that's the team name) seem to really have it together.  I love the calm way they go about their displays, and they win because their stuff holds up!  If the baker could just get her flavors right, it would be theirs to lose I think.

[Rammchick]

15 hours ago, mojoween said:

Alien Christmas.  Fuck’s sake.

I'm imagining Gordon Ramsay saying this!

[seacliffsal]

I don't know what they have done (they as in the producers) as I find this season really boring.  One thing for me would be to have more than just 1 cake/dessert expert as a judge.  I've liked Aarti since her Food Star season, but she's not a cake/dessert expert nor is the host.  Maybe more talented competitors don't want to get involved in the time filming takes for very little benefit?  Something just seems off.

[Spunkygal]

25 minutes ago, seacliffsal said:

I don't know what they have done (they as in the producers) as I find this season really boring.  One thing for me would be to have more than just 1 cake/dessert expert as a judge.  I've liked Aarti since her Food Star season, but she's not a cake/dessert expert nor is the host.  Maybe more talented competitors don't want to get involved in the time filming takes for very little benefit?  Something just seems off.

They seem like nice ladies, but Aarti and Maneet don’t work for me on this show. I know Jonathan was filming a Hallmark Christmas movie this year which may have interfered with him returning to host this show, but I miss him. Maybe Jason Smith is staying close to home due to COVID precautions, but Ron Ben-Israel is a judge on The Big Bake, so get that twinkly-eyed cutie as a judge. He is actually a brilliant professional baker! Get John Henson to host. He did the Halloween Baking Championship. Although she hasn’t appeared on this franchise of shows (i.e., the “Wars” shows), see if Gesine would be a judge. I know that FN must have it in their contract that chefs have to participate in X number of shows, but this is not the right one for the two ladies mentioned above. 

[trudysmom]

I agree with everything Spunkygal said about the hosts, but it goes beyond the hosts, doesn't it?  The set, sure it looks 'holiday-ish' but it feels like they're filming in a warehouse that was converted to accommodate kitchen equipment.  In the old kitchen format, with 4 person teams, they had room to spread out a bit, didn't seem to be so right on top of each other. Here, with 3 people they look like they are cramped into too small a space.  I also miss the backdrop they used on the old version.  I liked them creating a scene and an atmosphere, not just a stand-alone showpiece. I don't know, kudos to FN I guess for keeping a favorite and trying something new but it's not working as a much watch for me.  I catch the reruns, if I remember. I do enjoy the one team who keeps winning though, they haven't had a piece fall apart, yet.

Edited December 7, 2021 by trudysmom
spelling

[Spunkygal]

There’s no question that the right team went home. Those characters were scary! But I liked the “lead” lady on that team.  And yay that the episode had a more festive theme than aliens or other nonsense. If the 12 Days of Christmas team had used characters other than the boring, stiff gingerbread couple, they probably would have won. That tree and those ornaments were darling.