Halloween Wars - General Discussion

[ShelleySue]

It's official.  One of my favorite shows is now unwatchable.

[CharlizeCat]

I just watched. I didn't hate it, but I didn't like it as well as the old series. There were parts of it I liked but missed the pumpkin carvers as well as having Jonathan as the host. 

I do wonder if COVID was indeed, a major reason why there were no pumpkins this year. They are starting to be harvested now in my area and for the most part, look pretty bad. Very small and not much of a supply as compared to previous years.

For starters, I did not miss the ongoing drama, meltdowns and bickering. It seemed like all of the teams got along well and played nicely together. I guess not having a carver left an opening for another talented cake or sugar artist.

Amy has been on "Halloween Baking Championship" at least once and I have seen her on at least one other FN baking competition show, but can't remember which one.

I also don't see how the teams were able to perform on that dark cluttered set which looked like it was the set from last year's Holiday Wars or whatever it was called.

I would be OK with having Jonathan back as host and having Shimin, the horror move director guy and Eddie was judges. He was certainly better than Aarti. And of course ... the return of the pumpkins and carvers.

[Maverick]

 Amy was on the Spring Baking Championship.   

 Another thing that bugs me about this season:  doing a challenge based on an intellectual property/movie tie in.  FN has other baking shows that are all about cross promotions (Cake Wars, Buddy vs. Duff, etc) but this one has always been about original ideas on a basic Halloween theme.   I'm not looking forward to the Adaams Family episode.  

[Snarkastikate]

WTF is this mess!  Just watching first episode now.  No pumpkins?  No carvers?  Where's the fancy blown & spun sugar?  No small scare?  Even the scary music is gone!  Entire new format, zero excitement, zero fun.  Did covid do this?  Did I say NO PUMPKINS, yeah I guess I did.

Who's the host, the steampunk looking dude in the tv?  Nice to see Shinmin but sorry, I'm not a fan of Eddie Jackson, the beefy former football player.  Always looks & sounds out of place to me. Like he does on Christmas Cookie Challenge.  But the FN sure likes him, so.....

I hope they play some past seasons of HW this season, I'll watch those.  Remember some of the huge fantastic creations from past years?  Now there are just basically fugly carved cakes covered in fondant?  I've seen better cakes at a county fair. 

Unwatchable.  I'm sad & I'm out. 

[Passing Strange]

Aarti, I applaud you for having the confidence to wear that outfit. Even so, when people are stressed and upset, stop cheerleading, STFU, and go away. And don't come back and hug people while they're still scrambling.

1 hour ago, Snarkastikate said:

I'm not a fan of Eddie Jackson, the beefy former football player.  Always looks & sounds out of place to me. Like he does on Christmas Cookie Challenge. 

Me, either. He's cute enough, but this is the guy who kept making healthy, low calorie food when his "culinary point of view" was cheat day. For me he doesn't have a lot of credibility when it comes to baking technique. I think he's there mostly to be the unofficial on set host and eye candy.

Like others, I'm missing a small scare, the pumpkin carvers. Todd, a guest judge the teams all pretend they've heard of, and a real host. I'm hoping the guess that this is Covid related is right and things will be back to normal next year.

[Ilovepie]

Gah! What the hell happened to this show!?!! They have completely neutered it and turned it into another stupid cake contest! It has been a yearly ritual in our house for my son and I to watch Halloween Wars. We started several years ago and he is now 12. We made it 15 minutes with this garbage before we turned it off. I hate to say it, but I’m actually sad they ruined this show. We deleted all the episodes and stopped recording it. Another FN show turned to crap……

[Angeleyes]

I follow Aarti online and IIRC they filmed this show in June so the pumpkins wouldn’t have been available then. Also, I believe Jonathan was filming a Hallmark Channel Christmas movie when they were filming this show. 
I’m hoping they will film next year’s show in October so that they can bring the carvers back. 

[Iseut]

Echoing all here who are completely bummed out by the changes to this show. I do give a lot of leeway for COVID restriction challenges, and I have to still give FN a lot of love for keeping me entertained with comfort TV these past 18+ months, but this was still a huge bummer. I watch and enjoy Halloween Baking Championship; I don't need a simultaneous lesser version of it by a different name.

The haunted "host" guy? Blech. That wasn't hosting, that was self-promoting. "Me me me my museum my scary stuff my show me me me here's a doll that's creepy I guess do something with that or whatever me me me..."

The Lego blocks themselves were cool, but the "monster" itself was just a big ugly mess. I would have eliminated that team and kept the record player people, though I do agree with Shinmin that the discs themselves were really the coolest part. 

[Spunkygal]

16 hours ago, Snarkastikate said:

WTF is this mess!  Just watching first episode now.  No pumpkins?  No carvers?  Where's the fancy blown & spun sugar?  No small scare?  Even the scary music is gone!  Entire new format, zero excitement, zero fun.  Did covid do this?  Did I say NO PUMPKINS, yeah I guess I did.

Who's the host, the steampunk looking dude in the tv?  Nice to see Shinmin but sorry, I'm not a fan of Eddie Jackson, the beefy former football player.  Always looks & sounds out of place to me. Like he does on Christmas Cookie Challenge.  But the FN sure likes him, so.....

I hope they play some past seasons of HW this season, I'll watch those.  Remember some of the huge fantastic creations from past years?  Now there are just basically fugly carved cakes covered in fondant?  I've seen better cakes at a county fair. 

Unwatchable.  I'm sad & I'm out. 

FN is re-airing older seasons of HW. I’ve been watching and it really makes you miss the good old HW that we know and love. Sometimes the reruns are on during the day.

[Grizzly]

The sugar work done for the Addams family ep was fantastic! The sunglasses and palm leaves on one and the snake feathers on the other were awesome. Loved that one guy being constantly amazed and awed by his teammate's skill. None of the displays really featured their character. Fester looked the truest.

[Maverick]

23 hours ago, Passing Strange said:

Aarti, I applaud you for having the confidence to wear that outfit. Even so, when people are stressed and upset, stop cheerleading, STFU, and go away. And don't come back and hug people while they're still scrambling.

It's one thing that it was kinda fug (you do you Aarti) but I don't get what she was going for.  It was short enough to be a midriff so it looked like she bought something a size too small.  

I can cut them some slack on the lack of pumpkins due to COVID screwing up the filming.  But the ghost hunter dbag and Adaams Family tie in are pure Discovery corporate meddling.  And losing the small scare, the tasting treating and basically turning it into a bad knock off Cake Wars (which was a questionable knock off of Food Network Challenge) is from the same great minds that screwed up Holiday Wars last year.  

[mojoween]

The Addams Family has fuckall to do with Halloween, IMO.

Edited September 28, 2021 by mojoween

[CrystalBlue]

Is Zak Bagans supposed to excite us or put us to sleep?  There's deadpan delivery and then there's boring.  Zak is boring and his shilling shtick for HIS TV show AND doll museum is annoying.  The Addams Family 2 Movie is another shameless plug.

I too question the fashion choices made by Judge Aarti.  Shinmin looked nice as usual, but the sleeveless dress in that magenta color doesn't scream Halloween or even autumn.

I guess the exciting drama was the cut finger.  I agree with the choice for the winning team and the two teams who went home based on their finished products.

[Maverick]

 I keep forgetting things that bug me about this season....because there's so damn many of them.   the snake piece last night was all metal armature and aluminum foil.   Bad enough that they've turned this into a cake competition, but worse it's "cakes" that are largely wood, pvc and metal.  I also realized another things off from previous season is one of the contestants narrating for their team.    And lastly, what was up with the camera work?  Lots of zooming in and swimming around.  Were they cross promoting with Dramamine too?  

[CrystalBlue]

I questioned the inclusion of the aluminum foil as a mold as well.  I thought that all elements had to be edible.  Perhaps they've changed the rules for the show?  As long as the judges get their slice of cake, it's allowed?  Zak is Dramamine, no cross-promotion needed!

[crazycatlady58]

11 minutes ago, CrystalBlue said:

I questioned the inclusion of the aluminum foil as a mold as well.  I thought that all elements had to be edible.  Perhaps they've changed the rules for the show?  As long as the judges get their slice of cake, it's allowed?  Zak is Dramamine, no cross-promotion needed!

I thought Dramamine was supposed to keep you from feeling nauseous not make you nauseous. For some reason I can't stand Zak I don't know why he never did anything to me but I just want to turn the channel ever time I hear his voice. 

Edited September 28, 2021 by crazycatlady58

[CrystalBlue]

3 minutes ago, crazycatlady58 said:

I thought Dramamine was supposed to keep you from feeling nauseous not make you nauseous. For some reason I can't stand Zak I don't know why he never did anything to me but I just want to turn the channel ever time I hear his voice. 

Dramamine is supposed to fight sea sickness and car sickness (nausea) but it also puts people to sleep as a side effect.

[BusyOctober]

Not sure if it’s COVID’s fault but this season sucks.  Hate it.  Aarti,Shinmin  and Eddie seem like nice people, but there is NO chemistry between any of them.  Eddie always looks/sounds like he’s either repeating what the produce is saying in his ear piece or he’s reading off cue cards. Aarti lost all her credibility IMO because of her constant presence in Guy Fieri’s orbit.  Shinmin has the judging credentials, but there is just no connection between the judges and the contestants.  I have no clue what a Zack (D-Bag) Bagans is, but I don’t care to know more than shown already.  His “museum” sounds like a cheesy side show attraction that would be on the seedy side of the old Vegas era.  No thanks.  
 
These contestants are lacking too.  Some sugar work is good, but a few of the final “cakes” in both episodes looked so amateurish.  

Edited September 28, 2021 by BusyOctober
Auto correct is not my friend

[mlp]

6 hours ago, BusyOctober said:

Not sure if it’s COVID’s fault but this season sucks.  

Someone over on Food Network Gossip said that one of the contestants said (on Twitter) that there were no pumpkins because the show was filmed when they weren't in season.  I suppose that did have to do with Covid.  I just hope FN goes back to the original concept next year because this season is a big disappointment.  I keep reminding myself that it could be worse - like last year which was beyond awful.  

I like all three judges as people but Shin Min is the only one who "belongs" there.  Aarti just isn't a good fit (much like her outfit).  I'm not sure how Eddie ended up judging baking shows.  I'm always happy to see him but he seems out of his element.  I want Shin Min and Todd and either guest judges who fit the theme or Charles Phoenix.  I'd also like to have Jonathan back instead of an annoying host who isn't even there.

[mojoween]

I cannot tell a lie…I LOVED Aarti’s striped pants.

[Spunkygal]

FN is re-airing all episodes of season 7 (2017) on October 7 beginning at 6 pm. 

[Snarkastikate]

So I get that due to covid they had to film during a time that no real USA grown pumpkins were available, and although it seems as fruit & veggies from South America are available when they're off season here in the US, maybe pumpkins aren't.  

But there are very realistic fake pumpkins made. Where I used to live in NY there was a huge tourist attraction called The Blaze.  It's thousands of carved fake pumpkins of all sizes & shapes in giant vignettes, it's very cool.  So why didn't the show just be honest & say we're using these fake pumpkins but stick with the old format.  Don't want to insult the participants, but the cake & sugar work so far doesn't seem up to what it was in the past. 

[CeeBeeGee]

1 hour ago, Snarkastikate said:

So I get that due to covid they had to film during a time that no real USA grown pumpkins were available, and although it seems as fruit & veggies from South America are available when they're off season here in the US, maybe pumpkins aren't.  

But there are very realistic fake pumpkins made. Where I used to live in NY there was a huge tourist attraction called The Blaze.  It's thousands of carved fake pumpkins of all sizes & shapes in giant vignettes, it's very cool.  So why didn't the show just be honest & say we're using these fake pumpkins but stick with the old format.  Don't want to insult the participants, but the cake & sugar work so far doesn't seem up to what it was in the past. 

The Blaze is still around--I've never been but all my friends know I'm a huge Halloween fan so they keep telling me I should go. Interesting, did not know about the fake pumpkins!

[Rammchick]

12 hours ago, Snarkastikate said:

So I get that due to covid they had to film during a time that no real USA grown pumpkins were available, and although it seems as fruit & veggies from South America are available when they're off season here in the US, maybe pumpkins aren't.  

But there are very realistic fake pumpkins made. Where I used to live in NY there was a huge tourist attraction called The Blaze.  It's thousands of carved fake pumpkins of all sizes & shapes in giant vignettes, it's very cool.  So why didn't the show just be honest & say we're using these fake pumpkins but stick with the old format.  Don't want to insult the participants, but the cake & sugar work so far doesn't seem up to what it was in the past. 

There are plenty of other vegetables they could carve if they couldn't get pumpkins.  I see various squashes in the supermarket all year round, and there are also sweet potatoes, zucchini, etc.

[CeeBeeGee]

On 9/20/2021 at 1:19 AM, Maverick said:

 Last year's Halloween Wars wasn't impacted by Covid.   They They film it very early in the year (or maybe even at the end of the prior year) so it was filmed before everything shut down.  Maybe Covid had something to do with eliminating the rotating judge, but I don't see how it forced the other changes.  Ditching Jonathan in favor of the ghost guy wearing the doucebag hat and LOOK AT ME glasses was clearly Discovery forcing a cross-pollination of their TLC crap into former Scripps shows.   

HATE THIS VERSION. Really, really dislike the new host and his hat.

Am hoping the lack of Jonathan and pumpkins is temporary and next year will be back to normal. But I'm not watching it this year.

 

[Giuseppe]

Agree with everyone else. I don't know what this is, but it sure ain't Halloween Wars.

[Guest]

Well this may not feel like Halloween Wars, but I thought most of those folklore creations were pretty damn good. Really liked the Wendigo and La Llorona in particular.

[Spunkygal]

If FN had re-named this show, maybe I could accept it but I’m still struggling with it as HW. The creations looked good but they did get 7 hours. The tiny monitors with stupid tiny Zack flashing on the screen and the bakers doing a little jump as if they’re scared is hilarious, and not in a good way. Zack’s added scary element was useless and I would have shoved it up my character’s ..….oh whatever. I don’t like the show and will mope for a year until the original version is back. But the creatures were pretty good. I felt like Amy’s yoda looking character should have gone home. It wasn’t scary. I live for this show every year and now have to be happy with old versions.

[cindyls]

Why do they have pumpkins for Outrageous Pumpkins and none for Halloween Wars? Outrageous Pumpkins started tonight right after HW and they seem to be filming in chilly weather like in previous seasons, so I guess the pumpkins became available AFTER they filmed HW? Confusing. When did they film this show then (OP) and why couldn't they film HW at the same time?

I have a sinking feeling that the changes to HW are permanent and done to make it seem more like every other cake show on FN :-(.

[Rammchick]

So at least this week, after the qualifying rounds, the pieces were all very good.  The "Headless Horseman" team that went home only lost by a (I almost hate to say this) nose.  I would have had a hard time making that call.

[mojoween]

I think the flavor of the lady’s cake with the headless horseman did them in.  Because I am nearly drooling thinking how delicious that coconut cake must have been, even with the rum.

Is anyone still trolling FN’s social media?  Just wondering if people are still like “why” and “what the fuck” and “Zak sucks and brings nothing to the show”.

[Spunkygal]

It was great seeing carver Lenny on Outrageous Pumpkins. He has appeared on HW several times (in the show’s glory days) and I like him. He never panicked on HW and does nice work. 

[Pepper the Cat]

I would have liked to see more emphasis on the special artifact that had to be incorporated into the design. It seems to me that was ignored i some of the cakes.

Don’t like Zach. I have no idea who he is other than annoying, 

Really miss the pumpkins!

[mlp]

If you think of this show as Cake Wars with a Halloween theme, it's pretty good but I'm still very disappointed not to have the show I always look forward to.  With pumpkin carvers.  And Jonathan.  I even miss the jack-o-lantern at the beginning that said "ho ho ho."

The judges picked the right two to be in the bottom but I couldn't guess which one would be eliminated.  I would have been OK with either.

[Rammchick]

10 hours ago, mlp said:

 I even miss the jack-o-lantern at the beginning that said "ho ho ho."

I literally said that out loud while watching it.

[Grizzly]

18 hours ago, Spunkygal said:

It was great seeing carver Lenny on Outrageous Pumpkins. He has appeared on HW several times (in the show’s glory days) and I like him. He never panicked on HW and does nice work. 

But I think Lenny should've been the one to go home since he didn't have any jack o lantern elements in his piece. Funny how the intro says these are the best carvers and half of them said they'd never competed before. The guy who uses power tools did very nice work. He and the woman who did the undersea cave were the only ones to incorporate color and I really enjoyed them.

[Suzn]

On 10/3/2021 at 9:49 PM, Spunkygal said:

If FN had re-named this show, maybe I could accept it but I’m still struggling with it as HW. The creations looked good but they did get 7 hours. The tiny monitors with stupid tiny Zack flashing on the screen and the bakers doing a little jump as if they’re scared is hilarious, and not in a good way. Zack’s added scary element was useless and I would have shoved it up my character’s ..….oh whatever. I don’t like the show and will mope for a year until the original version is back. But the creatures were pretty good. I felt like Amy’s yoda looking character should have gone home. It wasn’t scary. I live for this show every year and now have to be happy with old versions.

If the other changes weren't ridiculous and disappointing enough, the fake scares are beyond stupid!  Is there anyone there scared of the cakes and Zack on the little monitors?  If so, they need to be heavily sedated. Then we have the haunted and cursed items... oh yeah, so scary.

[Iseut]

My husband walked in for about 5 minutes while I was watching this and Zack Bagans was yammering (so I was kind of tuned out). Hubby's like, "Wait, does he have some sort of museum or something?" And I said "Yeah, some haunted museum thing in Vegas..." and hubby started laughing and said he was being sarcastic. "I know, he just mentioned it, like 20 times!" Heh. Shut up Zack.

Edited October 6, 2021 by Iseut

[Spunkygal]

FYI, there is now a forum for Outrageous Pumpkins for all us pumpkin carver fans! 

[Koalagirl]

Here’s the story about why no pumpkins this year.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.tmz.com/2021/10/06/food-network-no-pumpkin-carving-halloween-wars-covid-pandemic/

[trudysmom]

On 9/20/2021 at 11:16 PM, RoxiP said:

How many times has Amy been on a Food Network show?  I count at least three.

And an episode of Bar Rescue.  I don't watch it because the guy screams all the time but my daughter does and she pointed her out.  She did say in her audition tape thing that she's a part time bartender. What she omitted was that this is at least her 3rd rodeo on FN. 

I recall when Aarti was on Next Food Network Star, when I could still stomach that show. It came out that she and her husband had auditioned to be on several shows, from cooking to home makeovers to I don't remember but I thought then she was just determined to be on tv, no matter the medium, so I take her critiques of other peoples cooking with a huge block of salt.  

One final thought, I am so tired of every cake having to have a filling, texture, contrast, 'interesting' flavors.  Dammit cake can be delicious all on it's own, or with a good frosting.  Rant over.

Edited October 12, 2021 by trudysmom
I can spell, really!

[candall]

How did Food Network acquire enough Halloween Wars footage to fill every day around the clock for the whole month of October?

[Guest]

I really liked the winning carousel horse. Also noticing that there's a lack of team disfunction this year. There seemed to be maybe a little underlying tension in the eliminated team, but no big fights, no eyerolling, no throwing things when something goes wrong. It's nice.

[Spunkygal]

I thought all the entries were awesome but the horse definitely deserved the win. And I’d love to try all the cakes—what interesting and creative flavor combinations! I guess the quality of the artistic work is so good because they don’t have to be as huge and fill up as much space as the real Halloween Wars….but I still miss the original version and Jonathan’s wackiness. And carvers! 

Two things. If I ever find myself in Vegas, nothing could tempt me to go to Zak’s museum. Nothing he has shown so far looks creepy or scary. Tickets begin at $42. No thanks, I’ll stuff it in the slot machine.

Also, there is no one on earth that could make Aarti’s dress look good. She is a beautiful woman and on this show, she has worn clothes that do nothing for her. But the dress on this episode was the worst. Miss America couldn’t save that dress. 

[Grizzly]

I was coming on here to ask who was dressing Aarti. All of these outfits have been horrible, doing her no favors. She looks good on the other shows that she's on.  I really haven't liked Shinmin's clothes either.

The teams are all likable. I had no idea who was going to be bottom two. So ironic that the only team to actually feature clowns, went home.

[mlp]

2 hours ago, Spunkygal said:

Also, there is no one on earth that could make Aarti’s dress look good.

I thought she looked like she'd just arrived from Bedrock.  She has obviously gained weight and nothing she's worn has been flattering.

The carousel horse was impressive and deserved to win and the right team went home. 

One thing I've learned from these shows is that, even if I had the talent and creative streak needed, I would never have the patience it takes to succeed.  Making a gazillion little popcorn pieces and then dabbing each one carefully with a dot of color would drive me up the wall.  I give them all credit for what they can do.

 

[Guest]

10 minutes ago, mlp said:

I thought she looked like she'd just arrived from Bedrock.  She has obviously gained weight and nothing she's worn has been flattering.

It's not obvious to me. I think she looks perfectly fine, weight-wise. I wasn't wild about what she was wearing, especially the color, but I'm not seeing the disaster that others are. At least she and Shinmin are trying, as opposed to Eddie, who gets to just show up in whatever basic shirt and pants he has lying around and escape unscathed.

[CrystalBlue]

Shinmin looked lovely and Halloweeny.  Aarti's clothes have not looked autumn season or Halloween, other than looking like a circus clown on a couple of occasions, wearing those wide pants and ill-fitting tops.  (I don't associate circuses with Halloween, but whatever.)  Aarti's dress should have been orange and black dots, not that clashing pinkish color.  Eddie is underwhelming to me dress-wise and I don't lust after him, I've never heard of him before this show, so he does nothing for me.

I like the teams and how they're working together without the drama and hijinks of past seasons.

I agree that the carousel horse on fire was, well, on fire and the appropriate winner.  I was not impressed with the final outcome of the clown cake and agree to that team being sent home.

Shinmin likes pretzels and wanted to have pretzels in each bite!

Zak needs to not quit his day job and call in sick on Halloween Wars.  He is irritating and doesn't add to the show.  I like how that one lady contestant kind of told him to "go" when he interrupted the bakers with his drivel and said his clown name was Bongo.  Hee!

Edited October 12, 2021 by CrystalBlue
Added a couple of missing words.

[mojoween]

Ahh yes.  Circuses, clowns and carnivals, the three C’s of Halloween.

But I’ll give the horse props, because that was awesome.

[Spunkygal]

18 hours ago, mlp said:

I thought she looked like she'd just arrived from Bedrock.  She has obviously gained weight and nothing she's worn has been flattering.

The carousel horse was impressive and deserved to win and the right team went home. 

One thing I've learned from these shows is that, even if I had the talent and creative streak needed, I would never have the patience it takes to succeed.  Making a gazillion little popcorn pieces and then dabbing each one carefully with a dot of color would drive me up the wall.  I give them all credit for what they can do.

 

Wilma wouldn’t be caught dead in that dress. She kept it to a simple white number!