Halloween Wars - General Discussion

[Salacious Kitty]

I really hope Bagans and his dumb TVs are a thing of the past. He added nothing to the show. I watched in spite of him. 

[Grizzly]

2 hours ago, mlp said:

I am both delighted and relieved to see that Jonathan is back but the backgrounds in those pictures makes me think they're still going to be doing smaller creations than in the original shows despite the return of pumpkin carvers.  I hope I'm wrong. 

I don't understand why FN has Aarti judging this show.  I like her but she's not a baker.  I'd rather see a pastry chef or someone fun like Charles Phoenix.

Yay, Jonathan! I wish they'd bring Todd back. He was easy on the eyes. Maybe they're not doing the huge displays because they don't use the assistants anymore.

[Maverick]

 Bringing back Jonathan is a good start.  I want the larger displays/backdrops back too.   And Todd.  Or at least someone associated with the horror movie industry--they've have different people in that slot before.   And Tea Baggins had best be gone.   FN seems to have gotten part of the message but they need to fix this show baclk to the way it was. 

[HyeChaps]

Well, well.  Instead of scheduled repeats of Bagans' episodes, FN chose to show even more DDD today.

[mlp]

3 hours ago, HyeChaps said:

Well, well.  Instead of scheduled repeats of Bagans' episodes,

Huh.  There was a whole season of Bagan's on my TV today.  Xfinity.  I am ignoring them.  

[Snarkastikate]

So I heard the great news that Jonathan is back, that's a good start.  But if I don't see any pumpkins this season, I'm OUT.  Again.    

[Guest]

7 hours ago, Snarkastikate said:

So I heard the great news that Jonathan is back, that's a good start.  But if I don't see any pumpkins this season, I'm OUT.  Again.    

The description on Food Network's site says this (bolding mine):

"Meet the Teams Competing on Halloween Wars, Season 13

These teams comprised of pumpkin carvers, cake bakers and sugar artists will compete in ghoulish challenges for the chance to take home a sweet cash prize!"

So it seems like the old-school breakdown of teams is back.

[CrystalBlue]

4 hours ago, tracyscott76 said:

The description on Food Network's site says this (bolding mine):

"Meet the Teams Competing on Halloween Wars, Season 13

These teams comprised of pumpkin carvers, cake bakers and sugar artists will compete in ghoulish challenges for the chance to take home a sweet cash prize!"

So it seems like the old-school breakdown of teams is back.

I looked this up last night and read the same thing.  No mention of Zak Bagans and his TV screen!

[Salacious Kitty]

14 hours ago, mlp said:

Huh.  There was a whole season of Bagan's on my TV today.  Xfinity.  I am ignoring them.  

It was on last night. Three or four episodes with Zak and his damn TV. UGH. 

[HyeChaps]

It may be “spooky” but the dark background makes it difficult to get a good look at and appreciate the projects. 
Bring back the bright kitchens!

[Guest]

18 minutes ago, HyeChaps said:

It may be “spooky” but the dark background makes it difficult to get a good look at and appreciate the projects. 
Bring back the bright kitchens!

Somehow I thought the creepy creations being in the middle of a bright kitchen actually added to the creepiness in a weird way. Like, the cognitive dissonance of it or something. I dunno, it worked for me.

[Grizzly]

Bigger displays, tasting elements, pumpkins, Froggie in the second hour. This is what we've been wanting.

[CeeBeeGee]

7 hours ago, HyeChaps said:

It may be “spooky” but the dark background makes it difficult to get a good look at and appreciate the projects. 
Bring back the bright kitchens!

Same!

Yes, yes, YESSSSSSSSSSS! *Summoning Meg Ryan at the booth in Katz's* Sooooooo glad our Jonathon is back and the porkpie hat is GONE! Buh-bye!

I am beyond excited :)

[RoxiP]

Did I miss it or is there a start date for this?

[Guest]

1 hour ago, RoxiP said:

Did I miss it or is there a start date for this?

It started last night with a two-hour premiere (plus a "Road to Halloween Wars" preview beforehand)

They're still doing the "qualifying round" thing this year: 3 rounds of 3 teams competing, with one team being sent home each round, leaving 6 teams for the "real" competition. So far, they've just had the first 2 qualifying rounds.

[ShelleySue]

So far I don't hate it. That's a huge change from the Zac (and Eddie) years and the first COVID season (when everyone sat around and chatted).

[cuppasun]

4 hours ago, RoxiP said:

Did I miss it or is there a start date for this?

Note: all times I mention are Pacific time, so folks elsewhere should check their listings to be safe

Began last night (Sat 9/17) with the one-hour "Road to Halloween Wars" prequel ep and then a two-hour airing of the first two episodes "Terrifying Nursery Rhymes" and "Good vs. Evil" featuring two elimination rounds of 3 teams each. According to my listings, they're all being rerun on this Thurs 9/21 at 10 am, 11 am and noon. The two competition eps will also rerun next Sun 9/24 at 7 and 8 pm before the new one at 9.

I assume it's also available on whatever streaming services are offering it at this point (Max? On Demand from by your tv/cable provider? Food network app? I'm honestly not sure anymore where it's kept after airing!)

Hope this helps!

[mlp]

I was very relieved to see Jonathan hosting again and I got a huge kick out of him saying, "I'm baaaaack!"  That told me that FN realized people weren't happy with Zac and wanted the show back the way it was.  Small Scare too.  

I've always liked Dean Murray so I was happy to see him there.  The grey in his hair made me wonder how long this show has been on.  Years and years apparently.  I've watched it since the beginning but I can't remember how long ago that terrific first season was.  I was happy to see Froggy too.

I missed the ho-ho-ho pumpkin at the beginning.  I always had to say that out loud along with him.  :)

[RoxiP]

I have Discovery Plus so I will be excited to look tonight and see if it is available for viewing!  Thank you.

[mojoween]

I love how in the “Road to Halloween Wars” the contestants must have had to redo their Halloween decorations because so many of the videos had snow on the ground.

Loved the big backdrops, love that Zak is gone.  Could do without Aarti and Shin-Min’s dramatic GASPS whenever anything goes slightly awry, however.

Edited September 19, 2023 by mojoween

[Spunkygal]

4 hours ago, mlp said:

I was very relieved to see Jonathan hosting again and I got a huge kick out of him saying, "I'm baaaaack!"  That told me that FN realized people weren't happy with Zac and wanted the show back the way it was.  Small Scare too.  

I've always liked Dean Murray so I was happy to see him there.  The grey in his hair made me wonder how long this show has been on.  Years and years apparently.  I've watched it since the beginning but I can't remember how long ago that terrific first season was.  I was happy to see Froggy too.

I missed the ho-ho-ho pumpkin at the beginning.  I always had to say that out loud along with him.  :)

Agree with all of this! Jonathan! No Zac! Froggy! Ho Ho Ho Pumpkin 😢 bring back Ho Ho Ho! I too have watched every season and love seeing so many familiar faces and glad there’s no Tator. He may show up Outrageous Pumpkins. Already, this season is much more enjoyable than the Zac days. Thank you, FN.

[Giuseppe]

Agreed with you all. I don't mind the darker set/kitchen from the past couple seasons, but I'm super happy to have the old format of small scares, spine chillers, tasting elements, Jonathan, and PUMPKINS back!

 

[Guest]

11 minutes ago, Giuseppe said:

Agreed with you all. I don't mind the darker set/kitchen from the past couple seasons, but I'm super happy to have the old format of small scares, spine chillers, tasting elements, Jonathan, and PUMPKINS back!

 

Not to single you out, because I was guilty of this too, but we've all apparently forgotten that they did have pumpkin carvers last season. I was looking through past teams and remembered that the winning team last season included pumpkin carver Monique, a favorite of mine who was on the Halloween Wars: Haunted Hayride miniseries and Outrageous Pumpkins.

So we all must have blacked it out because it was still a Zak season and we assumed it was completely terrible. Still no small scares last season, though, and they were still doing the "make a cake with 12 layers, 8 flavors, and 5 textures incorporated somewhere into the design" instead of a simple tasting element. So this season is still a big improvement!

[ElleryAnne]

I love having Jonathan back.

I love having the small scare back.

I love having taste treats incorporated separately into the final piece, instead of having them cut into the piece itself.

I love that Zak B. and his hat and tv's are gone, hopefully forever.

And I agree with everyone wanting the old kitchen back, and the ho-ho-ho pumpkins.

So far, this season is SO much better than the past two.

ETA: One thing they need to change - stop letting the judges give tips to the teams while the challenge is in progress. It seems unfair.

 

Edited September 21, 2023 by ElleryAnne

[libgirl2]

Count me in as being glad Zak is gone. 

[Salacious Kitty]

20 minutes ago, libgirl2 said:

Count me in as being glad Zak is gone. 

Did anyone LIKE him? 

[libgirl2]

4 minutes ago, Salacious Kitty said:

Did anyone LIKE him? 

Someone at FN had to have liked him! 

[Salacious Kitty]

1 minute ago, libgirl2 said:

Someone at FN had to have liked him! 

Sure, but I haven't seen one viewer give him positive feedback. What did FN see in him?

[libgirl2]

52 minutes ago, Salacious Kitty said:

Sure, but I haven't seen one viewer give him positive feedback. What did FN see in him?

Maybe they hoped he would grow on us? 

[Rammchick]

1 hour ago, libgirl2 said:

Someone at FN had to have liked him! 

I believe it was a tie-in to his show on The Travel Channel (FN is part of the same network) -- so it wasn't a matter of liking him, it was for promotional purposes.

 

[libgirl2]

13 minutes ago, Rammchick said:

I believe it was a tie-in to his show on The Travel Channel (FN is part of the same network) -- so it wasn't a matter of liking him, it was for promotional purposes.

 

That's right, I seem to remember it. Well, I'm glad the ordeal is over. 

[HyeChaps]

So much better to have a separate tasting element rather than having them cut into a cake with a specific flavor.  First, how clean was the cake.  Second, that would hamper the look of the cake.  Also, they have more freedom in deciding what the tasting element will be.

 

(Oh, my.  Giving this too much thought.)

[Guest]

I get why Sweet Screams was eliminated, but it was a bummer because 

A: I thought the Medusa Grim Reaper turning people into their tombstones was a really clever idea, and 

B: I really liked the sheer spiderweb top that Amy the sugar artist was wearing.

[Grizzly]

The team with 3 women who lost the small scare really turned things around in the final piece. But I thought their creature blended in with their background. If the flesh had been green, she would have stood out more and tied back to Frankenstein. 

[ShelleySue]

Kudos to the person that is choosing clothes for Shinmin and Aarti this season. They are both beautiful woman and even more so in these styles.

[Pi237]

It’s Better, but still not the show I loved and made sure to never miss.  Yet another favorite ruined by over-producing. 90% of the scenes are:

”OmGosh we’re running out of time!”

”we need to hurry!”

”I don’t think we’ll finish on time”

”ooops I dropped the sugar element”

when will they learn that the fun is in seeing what they’ll create NOT the ridiculous time constraints!? Then, all the judges’ critiques are basically about how they could’ve done more, should’ve made it cleaner, etc all pertaining to the 45 minutes they had to work with. I hate it.
 

Used to be fun, and, now, just tense and annoying.  I’m down to watching it on fast forward to see the creations and skip the fakeness and awful judging.  

[Guest]

34 minutes ago, Pi237 said:

It’s Better, but still not the show I loved and made sure to never miss.  Yet another favorite ruined by over-producing. 90% of the scenes are:

”OmGosh we’re running out of time!”

”we need to hurry!”

”I don’t think we’ll finish on time”

”ooops I dropped the sugar element”

when will they learn that the fun is in seeing what they’ll create NOT the ridiculous time constraints!? Then, all the judges’ critiques are basically about how they could’ve done more, should’ve made it cleaner, etc all pertaining to the 45 minutes they had to work with. I hate it.
 

Used to be fun, and, now, just tense and annoying.  I’m down to watching it on fast forward to see the creations and skip the fakeness and awful judging.  

They were infusing excess drama into this show via time constraints and mishaps from the very beginning. Someone was always dropping something or rushing to add something at the last second, and they were always having arguments - including straight-up shouting matches and people in tears. And there have always been reaction shots from the judges going "oh no!", though they used to do it sitting at their table instead of all standing in a huddle.

I agree that it's annoying, but it's nothing new. In fact, I'd say they've greatly dialed back the intra-team conflict in these more recent seasons.

[Pi237]

I’m sure you’re right. I guess I’ve just lost interest in it. Fair enough!

[ShelleySue]

19 hours ago, tracyscott76 said:

And there have always been reaction shots from the judges going "oh no!", though they used to do it sitting at their table instead of all standing in a huddle.

I know someone who was in the audience for a Food Network competition back when they used to have audiences. There was a "reaction" shot of her that was shown. She said that her reaction was to something completely different. It was just edited to look like it was in reaction to what was shown on tv. She also said that things were shown out of order and that the timing was wrong. For example, when the host says "You have five more minutes" we see everyone frantically trying to finish. But the frantic moments that are on tv may have happened earlier that five minutes from the end. Of course things may have changed and Halloween Wars may be different, but I doubt if everything we see is in context.

 

[libgirl2]

1 hour ago, ShelleySue said:

I know someone who was in the audience for a Food Network competition back when they used to have audiences. There was a "reaction" shot of her that was shown. She said that her reaction was to something completely different. It was just edited to look like it was in reaction to what was shown on tv. She also said that things were shown out of order and that the timing was wrong. For example, when the host says "You have five more minutes" we see everyone frantically trying to finish. But the frantic moments that are on tv may have happened earlier that five minutes from the end. Of course things may have changed and Halloween Wars may be different, but I doubt if everything we see is in context.

 

I kind of figured that with the "5 more minutes" or less time. I get it, you want to keep working as long as possible, but everyone still frantically adding things? 

[SemiCharmedLife]

On 9/23/2023 at 6:51 AM, HyeChaps said:

So much better to have a separate tasting element rather than having them cut into a cake with a specific flavor.  First, how clean was the cake.  Second, that would hamper the look of the cake.  Also, they have more freedom in deciding what the tasting element will be.

 

(Oh, my.  Giving this too much thought.)

I'm glad you explained your thought process because everyone here has been happy that the tasting element is back and I couldn't figure out why.  I guess that is the only element they have to cook there (for tasting purposes anyway.) I guess I was used to judges tasting the actual cake, but now I see the reason.

[Giuseppe]

Man, I loved all of those clown displays tonight. I thought it was a really difficult judging decision because they were all so good. LIke if those were actual ceramic displays that you could buy, I'd get all of them and make them part of my yearly Halloween decor. I think my favorite, though, was the marionette clown and I agreed with Shin Min that the composition of that one was excellent. But yeah, well done to all the teams tonight for some really amazing displays.

[Guest]

I sort of zoned out at the beginning during Jonathan's explanation of the challenge and partway through the episode I thought "wow these seem like pretty ambitious displays for small scares." Then they started talking about tasting elements and I realized that this was the main display. I wonder why they did small scares for the qualifying rounds but not for the main competition? Or did they have a small scare but edited it out for some reason? Weird. I guess future episodes will show if they're gone for good.

But yeah, these were all pretty good displays. I guess clowns are creepily inspiring.

[ElleryAnne]

2 hours ago, tracyscott76 said:

I sort of zoned out at the beginning during Jonathan's explanation of the challenge and partway through the episode I thought "wow these seem like pretty ambitious displays for small scares." Then they started talking about tasting elements and I realized that this was the main display. I wonder why they did small scares for the qualifying rounds but not for the main competition? Or did they have a small scare but edited it out for some reason? Weird. I guess future episodes will show if they're gone for good.

But yeah, these were all pretty good displays. I guess clowns are creepily inspiring.

I heard them say at the beginning of the episode that there wasn't a small scare this week, but no explanation why. I'm hoping it's just because of how many teams there were, and that when they whittle it back down to three or four they'll return the small scare. I'm gonna be really bummed out if they don't, because I like it and was glad they brought it back.

 

12 hours ago, Giuseppe said:

Man, I loved all of those clown displays tonight. I thought it was a really difficult judging decision because they were all so good. LIke if those were actual ceramic displays that you could buy, I'd get all of them and make them part of my yearly Halloween decor. I think my favorite, though, was the marionette clown and I agreed with Shin Min that the composition of that one was excellent. But yeah, well done to all the teams tonight for some really amazing displays.

The face on the marionette kid was outstanding. Sad and terrified, and utterly disturbing. 

I wish they wouldn't assign food choices to the teams.  It would have been fine to say they had to make the taste treat reflect carnival food, but I don't like the teams being limited by having the food assigned.

I covet Shinmin's pink coat/cape.

btw - did they actually announce a winner for the episode?  I only heard them announce the team going home.

 

Edited October 2, 2023 by ElleryAnne

[libgirl2]

17 minutes ago, ElleryAnne said:

 

btw - did they actually announce a winner for the episode?  I only heard them announce the team going home.

 

I fell asleep! 

[Guest]

40 minutes ago, ElleryAnne said:

btw - did they actually announce a winner for the episode?  I only heard them announce the team going home.

They did not. I was pretty sure it was going to be the marionette team, and was a bit let down that they didn't announce a winner.

[mlp]

3 hours ago, ElleryAnne said:

I heard them say at the beginning of the episode that there wasn't a small scare this week, but no explanation why.

I'm really reaching here but I wondered if the announcement that a whole team had left the competition and no small scare were somehow related.  Something happened that they couldn't/wouldn't televise?

[Grizzly]

1 hour ago, mlp said:

I'm really reaching here but I wondered if the announcement that a whole team had left the competition and no small scare were somehow related.  Something happened that they couldn't/wouldn't televise?

I thought that one team had been eliminated so I was confused. I missed the first few moments, was it mentioned? That's the most animated I've ever seen Jonathan get about the tastings. Maybe flavors are assigned so everyone doesn't make the same thing? The ladies were lovely, those outfits were great. It's what they should wear for a finale.

[CrystalBlue]

Re Shinlim Li's cape: OK, but when did hot pink become a Halloween color?  I thought that's more spring/summer, not autumn.

The clowns were well done, but I think the right team was sent home and agreed with the judges (all two of them).  Clowns and carnivals don't scream Halloween to me either, so I guess making them Killer Clowns made sense.

I'm more into the witches, skeletons, vampires and traditional monsters for Halloween and jack-o'-lanterns and ghosts and goblins.

I too wonder why they announced no small scare for this episode.  Maybe they gave the teams more time to work on the clowns and not be hurried?

I enjoy this show so much.  I laugh at the drama.

[SemiCharmedLife]

I agree that all the teams did a good job with their displays.  I thought the team that took such a long time on their background- stacked boxes- were in trouble, but their display was one of the cleanest and aesthetically pleasing.  The team that went home should have left off the clown that was adding piranhas to the dunk tank.  It was an extra character that didn't really need to be in the vignette.  They would have had more time to finesse their display and it wouldn't have appeared so busy had they left him out.

I'm dying to know why the Snack Sabbath team had to drop out.  I hope the bakers/carvers will be invited back for future seasons.