Halloween Wars - General Discussion

[mojoween]

I guess all our bitching that Zak was superfluous and completely out of place on this once-delightful show went unheard by the universe.  That sucks.

But yay for pumpkins!

[PaulaO]

Wong forum.

Edited September 16, 2022 by PaulaO

[Guest]

2 hours ago, PaulaO said:

Wong forum.

[Spunkygal]

Halloween Wars friends! Cooking Channel is airing old episodes! I’m now watching season 4 from 2014 when Justin Willman was host. So, so enjoyable! The craftsmanship and judging are amazing. So if you’re a newcomer to HW, please do yourself a favor and watch old episodes…especially episodes with the Bling Bats (season 1) and Dead Man Walking (season 2). I surprised myself at how happy I am to relive these old seasons. 

Edited September 17, 2022 by Spunkygal

[Guest]

Currently watching a marathon of Season 10 (the last one hosted by Jonathan before they switched to the new iteration last year), and it's made me realize/remember an issue with the new judging lineup (Shinmin, Eddie, and Aarti). They're all food people, and the judging panel suffers from not having someone with a film/special effects background (Todd Tucker, for example, in the season I'm watching now). The sort of critiques the film folks used to give regarding arrangement, movement, blank space, and so on, carried a lot of weight and made the judging more interesting to me (sometimes the guest judges provided this as well, though a lot of times they would just say "it looks so creepy I love it!"). Todd in particular was very good at this (and he always got so irritated when they'd have a character facing away from them lol), and he and Shinmin worked well together.

Shinmin IS Halloween Wars, and I like Eddie and Aarti in other contexts, but they don't fill that role very well and it hurts the show, possibly even more than the presence of trapped in the TV Zak.

But the return of pumpkin carvers should bring back some of the true Halloween Wars vibe, hopefully.

[Grizzly]

I love Todd. Anyone know what he's doing now?

[Spunkygal]

@tracyscott76, what great observations! Todd was a great judge alongside Shinmin! I also liked Brian Kinney who was on for several seasons before Todd. He had the mustache that curled at the ends. 

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, Spunkygal said:

@tracyscott76, what great observations! Todd was a great judge alongside Shinmin! I also liked Brian Kinney who was on for several seasons before Todd. He had the mustache that curled at the ends. 

Thank you. I liked Brian, too, though sometimes it seemed like he was playing up his...offbeatedness? (not a real word) a bit. But he kept it pretty mellow, which I appreciated.

22 minutes ago, Grizzly said:

I love Todd. Anyone know what he's doing now?

His IMDB page lists a fair amount of recent special effects credits, though mostly things I've never heard of. In addition to the expected horror stuff, he was also special effects makeup department head for "A Dog's Journey", of all things lol.

[Snarkastikate]

22 hours ago, tracyscott76 said:

Currently watching a marathon of Season 10 (the last one hosted by Jonathan before they switched to the new iteration last year), and it's made me realize/remember an issue with the new judging lineup (Shinmin, Eddie, and Aarti). They're all food people, and the judging panel suffers from not having someone with a film/special effects background (Todd Tucker, for example, in the season I'm watching now). The sort of critiques the film folks used to give regarding arrangement, movement, blank space, and so on, carried a lot of weight and made the judging more interesting to me (sometimes the guest judges provided this as well, though a lot of times they would just say "it looks so creepy I love it!"). Todd in particular was very good at this (and he always got so irritated when they'd have a character facing away from them lol), and he and Shinmin worked well together.

Shinmin IS Halloween Wars, and I like Eddie and Aarti in other contexts, but they don't fill that role very well and it hurts the show, possibly even more than the presence of trapped in the TV Zak.

But the return of pumpkin carvers should bring back some of the true Halloween Wars vibe, hopefully.

Totally agree with all you say, excellent observations.  I guess they're trying to create synergy with whatever paranormal themed show or shows Bagans is on, but it's a total waste of effort.  Nope, not interested.  And geez he's got the personality of a leather boot.  

Like someone else said, how DARE  they ignore us when we told them last year that this new format sucks!!  🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[mojoween]

I’m about two minutes in to “Road to Halloween Wars” and I am already so annoyed.  What the fuck do past episodes of Zack’s stupid show have to do with this competition show?  NOTHING, that’s what.  Gah.

[Maverick]

 The show films sometime late in the year, or maybe January.  They have to film in time frame to have all the pumpkins available.  That's why there was an regular episode still in 2020.  But when the 2021 episode would normally have been filmed, the vaccine still wasn't available and things were still pretty strict.  Presumably that's why there were no pumpkins last year because they had to film it much later in the year when they were out of season.   I'm assuming they returned to the normal filming time frame for this season since the pumpkin carvers are back and that's means it would have filmed shortly after last season aired.  I'm holding out a sliver of hope they were too far into pre-production of this season to make any significant alterations based on the feedback of last year's disaster and we'll see more of a return to the show most of love next year. 

[mojoween]

Ok I promise this is the last of my hysteria, but do you know when Fat Tuesday is?  FEBRUARY.  You know what’s not in February?  HALLOWEEN.  

[Grizzly]

The ladies have nice outfits on in the first episode. Not so much in #2. I'm hoping next year the backdrops, small scares and Jonathan are back. The displays were pretty good. Kind of suspicious that the team that didn't have a voodoo element stayed since a team member likes Zac's show.

[ElleryAnne]

Ugh.  I can't stand Zak Bagans.  He comes across as such a douchebag. 

The winning piece in the first ep was too messy IMO.  But I didn't think any of the pieces were especially good in the first round.  Not saying I could do better, though. 

I still miss Jonathan, and I still miss the Small Scare.

And I miss the big bright kitchen.  I know they probably think the dark studio is more Halloween-ish, but I liked the kitchens from the first ten seasons.  It was happy, like the show itself.

But at least the pumpkins are back, so that's something.

ETA: And I don't like the idea of qualifying rounds. 

Edited September 19, 2022 by ElleryAnne

[threebluestars]

I really miss the old format. This one just sucks because it feels like there's no one to really root for since new people show up the next episode.

This Zach guy must be blackmailing someone at the Food Network.

[Maverick]

 STFU, Teabaggin.   Just because he doesn't have the douchey hat this season, doesn't mean he's not still a dbag.

 The pumpkins are back but they aren't able to be fully utilized because of the ridiculous changes.   They're forcing them to make big cakes with some pumpkin and sugar thrown in.  They need the big display field with backdrops to make a true showpiece.  It's also nuts they have to make a cake for tasting AND make it part of the main piece so they have to cut into the actual display.  The tasting element made much more sense and led to much more creativity, both in the treat itself and how it was incorporate into the piece.  And I HATE the stupid twist they throw at them now.  This show has become more Cake Wars and less Halloween Wars.   You'll never get some of the memorable pieces of the past in this format.  Did the moron that made all these changes even watch the first seasons?

 I thought the first round pieces were decent enough, given what the competition has become.  Both trees were good as were the shrunken heads.  The second episode was as good.   The vampire was mediocre at best.  The eliminated team had zero sense of proportion.   That head wasn't a little off it, it was like it was for a whole different piece.

[Spunkygal]

I agree with what you’ve all said. I’ll add that I also really miss the big Jack-o-lantern and his evil laugh at the beginning of the show. “HA HA HA HA HA!”

I checked out Jonathan’s social media and he is really busy doing projects for Hallmark Channel. I don’t have Twitter to ask him a question but I bet he’d find time to do HW if asked. The first year that FN f’ed up this show, his posts sounded as though he really wanted to return as host. 

The show really needs to return to having a judge alongside Shinmin who is involved in horror entertainment. I know they think Zak provides that, although he’s not a judge, but HE DOES NOT! He adds nothing enjoyable to the show. 

I am assuaging my disappointment by watching previous seasons, as I mentioned upthread. They’re easy to find. 

Forgot to add: I’ve heard horrific, terrible things about the Hellfire Club. I don’t recall why it came up in conversation but a friend was talking about it earlier this summer. If even half of what he told me is true—-🤮 Has anyone else ever heard of it? 

Edited September 19, 2022 by Spunkygal

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Spunkygal said:

Forgot to add: I’ve heard horrific, terrible things about the Hellfire Club. I don’t recall why it came up in conversation but a friend was talking about it earlier this summer. If even half of what he told me is true—-🤮 Has anyone else ever heard of it? 

Just the version in X-Men comics, which was a front for super-villains. They were pretty bad.

I was all set to root for the Mixin Vixens, but it wasn't meant to be 😢 . I liked the team that went out in the first hour, too. I guess I should wait until the preliminaries are done to pick a favorite.

The "boy, that young guy sure is young" storyline will hopefully not carry on too much longer. I doubt he really enjoys that being pointed out repeatedly.

[Dirtybubble]

18 hours ago, ElleryAnne said:

Ugh.  I can't stand Zak Bagans.  He comes across as such a douchebag. 

I was just coming here to say this.  Not digging this dude at all.  I'm comparing him to John Henson from Halloween Baking Championship.  

[Maverick]

 Another thing, cut the fucking hysteria.  Looking at you especially, Aarti.   Sure that one team kept bungling into one disaster after another, but the way she was acting you think they were under attack from one of the Martian killing machines in War of the Worlds. 

[Grizzly]

Commercials for Outrageous Pumpkins show 3 pumpkins doing the evil laugh. Not quite with the same fervor but it might be enough to hold over some people.

[ElleryAnne]

15 hours ago, Maverick said:

 They're forcing them to make big cakes with some pumpkin and sugar thrown in.  They need the big display field with backdrops to make a true showpiece.  It's also nuts they have to make a cake for tasting AND make it part of the main piece so they have to cut into the actual display.  The tasting element made much more sense and led to much more creativity, both in the treat itself and how it was incorporate into the piece.

Definitely this.  I hate them being so cake-oriented.  In older seasons, the first 15 minutes of the show would be spent on the small scare, and often had really great pieces.  Now that time is spent watching people getting cake ready to put in the oven and then taking it back out of the oven. Somewhat less impressive, jmo.

I don't like them to cut into their work and pull out perfect slices of cake, anyway.  It looks too fake.  The former tasting element, like you say, was far more creative.

4 hours ago, Spunkygal said:

Forgot to add: I’ve heard horrific, terrible things about the Hellfire Club. I don’t recall why it came up in conversation but a friend was talking about it earlier this summer. If even half of what he told me is true—-🤮 Has anyone else ever heard of it? 

I hadn't. It sounded creepy.  Not in a fun scary way, but just in an unpleasant way.  I guess it fits the Bagans concept of making Halloween Wars less fun.

[mojoween]

The team that didn’t have any voodoo at all in the first round should have been bounced based on that alone.

I liked William in the intro ep…but then he called himself “your boy” and there are RULES, so that’s a shame.

Zak does absolutely nothing that Eddie or Shinmin or Aarti couldn’t do.  And everyone jumping when the TV’s come on is past getting old.

[threebluestars]

The only Hellfire Club I acknowledge is from Hawkins, Indiana 😁

[Snarkastikate]

Geez this show sucked last night, I won't be watching it this season. 

[ShelleySue]

This has turned into Big Bake with a pumpkin element and and an idiot on a tv screen, but no Ron Ben-Israel to lighten things up. Why did they take a wonderful show with great elements and turn it into a mirror of a mediocre show?

[mlp]

On 9/19/2022 at 12:32 PM, Spunkygal said:

I also really miss the big Jack-o-lantern and his evil laugh at the beginning of the show. “HA HA HA HA HA!”

That was one of my favorite parts.  I hate that they took it out.

Zac the host is awful.  After all the negative comments last year, I'm surprised that they brought him back.  Jonathan was goofy but he was a lot more fun.  I think they've made a mistake with the judges too.  I like both Eddie and Aarti but neither seems like a good fit for this particular show.  Along with Shin Min, we need Todd or someone like him who knows horror and design and so on.  We also need someone for fun.  Charles Phoenix maybe.  I liked the original set better too.  It was brighter and the teams seemed to have a lot more room to work.  They look cramped now.   I miss the Small Scare too.

[Spunkygal]

I’m so sad. A toilet made out of pumpkin. Tiny displays that have no impact and tell no story. I almost look forward to seeing Tator on Outrageous Pumpkins. I’m watching this show for:

1. fun, creative storytelling with hopefully a bit of gore and/or spookiness

2. large impactful design not tiny table top vignettes 

3. tasty bite size treats

Some of the carving had elements of interest but nothing was awe inspiring.

I can’t believe Shinmin returned this year. Food Network must be paying her decent bucks. AND ZAK SUCKS!

[ElleryAnne]

2 minutes ago, Spunkygal said:

I’m so sad. A toilet made out of pumpkin. Tiny displays that have no impact and tell no story. I almost look forward to seeing Tator on Outrageous Pumpkins. I’m watching this show for:

1. fun, creative storytelling with hopefully a bit of gore and/or spookiness

2. large impactful design not tiny table top vignettes 

3. tasty bite size treats

Some of the carving had elements of interest but nothing was awe inspiring.

I can’t believe Shinmin returned this year. Food Network must be paying her decent bucks. AND ZAK SUCKS!

I cosign all of that.

Zak continues to be irritating.  I don't care about his self-promotion of his ghost show or his museum.  I don't need him pretending that his trip through Alcatraz was terrifying for him.  I don't want him introducing dark and depressing themes for teams to work on.  I don't want commercials for his stupid show on the Travel channel.  I just want him gone.

Weird stories for the cakes this week.  Vampire eats bats to grow wings? Werewolf feet what? 

[Grizzly]

One thing I'll give the show credit for is they are trying to give us new talent instead of contestant retreads. That one sugar artist was 20! And I liked the pumpkin carver on the eliminated team. How much work did the assistants they used get do? The pieces used to be so much bigger. This week's twist to add another character was unfair.

[Maverick]

 The old version had returnees but it also had new contestants every year.   I'd say in later seasons it was maybe 1/3 returnees and 2/3 new.   And this new format may be hindering them some, but for the most part no one much less no team has jumped out as super impressive.

 I was working on the computer during this week's episode and nothing every drew my attention.  I barely watched the reveals.   The mummy looked good but otherwise meh,

[ElleryAnne]

9 hours ago, Grizzly said:

One thing I'll give the show credit for is they are trying to give us new talent instead of contestant retreads. That one sugar artist was 20! And I liked the pumpkin carver on the eliminated team. How much work did the assistants they used get do? The pieces used to be so much bigger. This week's twist to add another character was unfair.

I actually miss the so-called retreads.  I liked seeing some familiar faces mixed in with new ones.

I blame the smaller size pieces on the cake thing.  I wish they weren't so cake-centered now, because they'd be able to build bigger, sturdier pieces if they didn't have to take slices out of the center of the darned thing. 

[ShelleySue]

Am I just getting nostalgic or was the old show really that much better? Now everything is just getting on my nerves. I hate the way Aarti and Shinmin are dressed. It bothers me when Eddie really loves something but then finds one little thing to nitpick. I feel cheated when people that I know are skilled sugar artists are relegated to making the same eyeballs every week instead of the beautiful creations we used to see. I miss the pumpkin carvers working on huge pumpkins that are the centerpieces instead of just heads (or this week a plain looking basket). But most of all I miss the guest judges from the horror genre who added something instead of Zak who just seems gimmicky. Zak reminds me of the little league coach's child who gets to play in the game just because he's the coach's son despite having no talent while other kids sit on the bench.

[libgirl2]

2 hours ago, ShelleySue said:

Am I just getting nostalgic or was the old show really that much better? Now everything is just getting on my nerves. I hate the way Aarti and Shinmin are dressed. It bothers me when Eddie really loves something but then finds one little thing to nitpick. I feel cheated when people that I know are skilled sugar artists are relegated to making the same eyeballs every week instead of the beautiful creations we used to see. I miss the pumpkin carvers working on huge pumpkins that are the centerpieces instead of just heads (or this week a plain looking basket). But most of all I miss the guest judges from the horror genre who added something instead of Zak who just seems gimmicky. Zak reminds me of the little league coach's child who gets to play in the game just because he's the coach's son despite having no talent while other kids sit on the bench.

Count me in as not liking Zak. I wish he would go away. 

And as much as I like Eddie, he does go over the top liking something and then complains. 

Edited September 26, 2022 by libgirl2

[Madding crowd]

I don’t like the way they do the critiques. They say something is wonderful then find ten things wrong with it. Then no matter how many flavors are added to the cake they want more. I thought the mummy looked pretty cool but I miss the big scenes with a backdrop, the small scares and the tasting elements.

[Guest]

At least the team I liked best out of the three made it through this time, unlike the first two preliminaries. Not a fan of the name "Squad Ghouls", but I'll live with it. I wonder if Hannah the 20 year old will get as much OMG SO YOUNG as the 19 year old from last week.

For whatever reason, Zak really doesn't bother me - he's there so sparingly I can live with it (and I wasn't a huge fan of Jonathan's over-the-top "ONE HOUR REMAINING" bits, anyway). Agreed that the need for an edible cake incorporated into the design is hurting the overall look of the pieces, but I am at least glad that some of the cake is being eaten rather than just crammed in as wasted filler.

The judging dramatics are an issue, also. There's always been an element of "oh noes, something's falling!" as the judges look on in horror from their table, and they certainly did it last year, but they seem to have dialed it up to eleventeen this year. The "adding a negative comment after praise" bit is I think just to keep it seeming even, and doesn't bother me as much as the dramatics while the pieces are being constructed.

To end on a positive note, it feels like with this format, we're hearing from other members of the teams more. There's still a "spokesperson" doing talking heads, but they seem to be incorporating a lot more bits where the other members talk about what they're doing as they're doing it. I like that better than one person just telling us what the others are doing in a sit-down filmed later.

[mojoween]

I think it was the team who was bounced that made the chocolate raspberry cake? Whoever it was, that cake sounded delightful.  Oh wait no I think it was mummy baker girl.  Regardless.  Yum.

I know they left, but I was happy the isomalt bars worked.  I thought her idea was pretty clever.

[HyeChaps]

The network must think Zac is a pretty big deal. They put his name in the title of the program. 
Come to think of it, they also did that with Spring Baking Championship with Molly Yeh.

 Take a look at that forum for harsh comments. 

[Salacious Kitty]

I'd never heard of Zak before this show. He's done absolutely nothing to endear himself to me. 

[RoxiP]

I think you are right about that cake being the team that was bounced.  The baker's insistence on spending (sorry, the bold key acccidentally got pushed) two hours for the sourdough to bloom or whatever doomed that team.  They had to rush the decorating and the cake was too warm and caused issues.  He might have been doing it the "right" way but sometimes in this situation you have to use expediency over being right.  It is unfortunate because I would have liked to have seen what headband boy could have produced over time.

[40Love]

On 9/27/2022 at 12:16 AM, RoxiP said:

I think you are right about that cake being the team that was bounced.  The baker's insistence on spending (sorry, the bold key acccidentally got pushed) two hours for the sourdough to bloom or whatever doomed that team.  They had to rush the decorating and the cake was too warm and caused issues.  He might have been doing it the "right" way but sometimes in this situation you have to use expediency over being right.  It is unfortunate because I would have liked to have seen what headband boy could have produced over time.

He was so stubborn... and a wee bit cocky about that baking technique. Then he completely fell apart when it didn't work out. I just sighed when he walked off the set. All that over-confidence just evaporated. I'm sure he's a great baker. But, I don't think he's suited for these high-stress level and rushed competitions. 

[Guest]

Good news everyone! Tonight, as we speak, Food Network is re-running Season 9, aka Tator's "redemption" season...which he also lost. I didn't want anyone to miss a chance to see him!

On a more serious note, this season also features Beth Townsend, one of my favorites to appear on this show.

Edited September 29, 2022 by tracyscott76

[Spunkygal]

1 hour ago, tracyscott76 said:

Good news everyone! Tonight, as we speak, Food Network is re-running Season 9, aka Tator's "redemption" season...which he also lost. I didn't want anyone to miss a chance to see him!

On a more serious note, this season also features Beth Townsend, one of my favorites to appear on this show.

Beth was always one of my favorites too and I liked it when she and Froggy used to be on the same team. 

[Guest]

FN seems to be working their way backwards through the old seasons. This evening's offering: Season 8, featuring two more of my crushes favorites, Shelby Bower and Sabrina Jurado. Shelby had the infamous "accidentally added salt to her cookies instead of sugar and comically spit it out when they made her taste it" moment.

It is sort of jarring to be reliving these seasons and then see ads for the current format. Whether one likes the new format (lol) or not, they really do seem like two different shows.

[Spunkygal]

I’m watching season 8 along with you! I felt so bad for Shelby and the sugar/salt mix up! I just love seeing all the familiar faces. I watched all of season 1 recently and season 2 is next on my list. Vinnie who was on Dead Man Walking passed away just a few years after season 2. 😢

I know I sound like a broken record, but it is just mind-boggling that FN decided to change up the format of this previously charming and enjoyable show! Those large displays were such fun and the old set was easier for me see what was going on. And the small scares….those were the days. I DVR the current version and watch it when I have time. The old version was must see TV as it aired. 

[KayVeeTeeVee]

On 9/16/2022 at 2:18 PM, mojoween said:

I guess all our bitching that Zak was superfluous and completely out of place on this once-delightful show went unheard by the universe.  That sucks.

But yay for pumpkins!

I hope this (Zak's appearance) does not portend we'll be treated to the next Spring Baking Championship with Molly Yeh.  I just can't take all that smiling, silly questions, and cookie  salad!

[Spunkygal]

33 minutes ago, KayVeeTeeVee said:

I hope this (Zak's appearance) does not portend we'll be treated to the next Spring Baking Championship with Molly Yeh.  I just can't take all that smiling, silly questions, and cookie  salad!

I can assure you that Molly will never grace my TV screen again. Never. 

[Salacious Kitty]

2 hours ago, KayVeeTeeVee said:

I hope this (Zak's appearance) does not portend we'll be treated to the next Spring Baking Championship with Molly Yeh.  I just can't take all that smiling, silly questions, and cookie  salad!

According to Nancy Fuller's social media, Jesse Palmer will host Spring Baking.

[mojoween]

If I wanted to watch Ghost Adventures, I would fucking watch Ghost Adventures.  It’s ridiculous to have the challenges be the dumb shit Zac has seen.

Also Bridget Bishop wasn’t a Halloween witch for cod’s sack.  That whole thing felt unseemly to me.

[Guest]

13 minutes ago, mojoween said:

Also Bridget Bishop wasn’t a Halloween witch for cod’s sack.  That whole thing felt unseemly to me.

I'm on the record as not minding Zak's presence on the show, but this was too much. Unseemly is exactly right. She was a victim of false accusations and groupthink that led to her (and others') execution. I know it was over 300 years ago, but it's still gross to use it as fodder for an exploitative ghost hunters show, not to mention a silly baking show.

Bakers: "She's come back as a TV show host!"

Judges: "Ha ha ha, that's so clever! Let's taste your brew!"

Me: 🙁

And we all know that there are other kinds of historical injustices/tragedies/horrors that they would never ever dream of using this way, certainly not today. But oooo witches so spooky!

(The pumpkin tornado was kinda cool, tho)