TV
Food Network Unleashing 35 Hours of Halloween Programming Throughout September and October
You can always count on Food Network to embrace the Halloween spirit proper throughout the season, and despite a pandemic, this year will damn sure be no exception.
In fact, this season will feature more Halloween programming than ever before!
The press release details…
Food Network delivers thrills and chills dedicated to the scariest season of them all with almost 35 hours of thematic programming, the most ever, featuring out of this world Halloween-themed showcases and sensational works of edible artistry. Food Network is getting viewers into the Halloween spirit with new series Outrageous Pumpkins, returning seasons of Halloween Baking Championship and Halloween Wars, as well as specials Halloween Freakshow Cakes, Halloween Wars: Legends, Road to Halloween Wars and Worst Cooks in America: Halloween Redemption, along with themed episodes of recurring series.
“Food Network has been the go-to destination for Halloween through the years, offering programming that showcases edge of your seat, nerve-wracking competitions with mind-blowing Halloween creations that viewers have come to expect and love,” said Courtney White, President, Food Network. “With new series like Outrageous Pumpkins taking the action out of the studio, along with returning favorites like Halloween Baking Championship and Halloween Wars, this season is sure to deliver all the frights and delights fans are hoping for.”
On Sunday, September 13th at 8pm ET/PT, Road to Halloween Wars returns to highlight the next talented crop of pumpkin carvers, cake and sugar artists, set to compete on the new season of Halloween Wars. Witness how these Halloween warriors train in the weeks and months before the competition begins, and don’t miss the new season premiering directly after on Sunday, September 13th at 9pm ET/PT. Host Jonathan Bennett returns to challenge six teams made up of an expert pumpkin carver, a cake artist, and a master sugar artist, as they create frighteningly fun and intricate edible displays over five episodes that are spooky as they are tasty. Their creations are judged by award-winning cake decorator Shinmin Li, horror film special effects master Todd Tucker, and a rotating panel of celebrity guest judges, including Guillermo Díaz (Scandal), Jocelin Donahue (Insidious: Chapter 2), Marisol Nichols (Riverdale), Katie Sarife (Annabelle Comes Home) and Jeremy Ray Taylor (IT). The last team standing takes home $50,000.
For the first time ever, three teams composed of reigning Halloween Wars champions face off against each other to see who will be victorious in the two-episode special Halloween Wars: Legends, airing on Sunday, October 18th at 9pm ET/PT and Sunday, October 25th at 9pm ET/PT. Each episode features the returning champions competing in Halloween-themed challenges that feature twists and turns at every corner, as the teams aim to impress judges Shinmin Li and Todd Tucker with their amazingly spooky Halloween displays for $20,000 and ultimate Halloween Wars bragging rights!
New series Outrageous Pumpkins premieres on Sunday, September 13th at 10pm ET/PT. In this four-part series hosted by Alyson Hannigan, a traditional Halloween pastime is taken to the next level as seven expert pumpkin carvers compete at an outdoor pumpkin playground for the title of Outrageous Pumpkin Champion and a sweet $25,000 Halloween treat. Each week the carvers compete in two outrageous challenges that test their creativity and pumpkin prowess as they sculpt gravity-defying scenes that celebrate Halloween, with puppeteer and artist Terri Hardin and master pumpkin carver Ray Villafane judging their every move.
Ten talented bakers from across the country compete to create terrifyingly tasty treats on the new season of Halloween Baking Championship, premiering Monday, September 14th at 9pm ET/PT. Hosted by Carla Hall, the competitors nerves and skills are tested like never before as they bake their way through a haunted house brimming with challenges through seven episodes. Judges Stephanie Boswell and Zac Young join Carla to determine whose devilishly delicious desserts earn $25,000 and the title of Halloween Baking Champion. For more Halloween Baking Championship, don’t miss special episodes highlighting the best, most outrageous, and funniest moments from previous seasons on Monday, September 14th at 10pm ET/PT and Monday, September 21st at 10pm ET/PT.
Four former Worst Cooks recruits come back to Boot Camp in the new Halloween special, Worst Cooks in America: Halloween Redemption, premiering Sunday, October 11th at 10pm ET/PT. Chefs Anne Burrell and Carla Hall welcome back the culinary hopefuls for a shot at redemption, as they must learn how to make a holiday spread for the scariest night of the year – Halloween. The recruits start by making a dish using a mystery ingredient they have been assigned; after Anne and Carla pick their teams, the chefs will teach them to make a buffet for a Halloween gathering. In order to win a kitchen upgrade worth $5,000 and bragging rights, the recruits must impress a panel of culinary experts, including a whole party of Halloween fanatics.
Get into the Halloween fun on the four-episode series Halloween Freakshow Cakes, with double premieres on Sunday, October 18th at 10pm ET/PT and Sunday, October 25th at 10pm ET/PT. In each episode of this one of-a-kind cake showdown co-hosted by Vivian Chan and Zac Young, three sinister cake artists step into a side-show tent to whip up the freakiest cakes imaginable. The baker who showcases the most wildly imaginative and hair-raising cake design wins $10,000 and the title of Halloween Freakshow Champion.
For more seasonal fun, viewers can also look forward to Halloween-themed episodes of The Big Bake, as well as special themed episodes of Delicious Miss Brown, Girl Meets Farm, The Kitchen and The Pioneer Woman in Food Network’s weekend daytime lineup.
As the inaugural season of Apple TV+’s stellar new series “Widow’s Bay” barrels toward its finale in two weeks, the latest episode gives Kate O’Flynn the spotlight as her character revisits her trauma with the Boogeyman.
“Your Baggage“, directed by Andrew DeYoung (Friendship), sees O’Flynn’s scene-stealing Patricia once again renew her fight with the Michael Myers-like stalker that slaughtered her peers during her adolescence. Thrillingly, it makes for one extended chase sequence that sees Patricia trying to warn others, while evading the undead killer.
In short, this episode’s incredible riff on Halloween and the slasher subgenre transformed Patricia into a fierce Final Girl.
“Well, that felt like a bucket list that I didn’t know was on my bucket list until I did it, but when I did it, I just lapped up every minute,” O’Flynn tells Bloody Disgusting of her triumphant turn this episode. “It felt fantastic for her to get that moment where she is becoming a badass. That was amazing.”
The actress turned to a few notable references for her performance. “Horror-wise, I go back to my youth, which was referenced in some of the episodes: Wicker Man, Carrie, and Rosemary’s Baby, that sort of thing is my kind of vibe.”
O’Flynn also notes how the series’ unique tone allows for so much creative freedom to make bold swings. “There’s something very freeing about it. Every moment is up for grabs, so it’s like we don’t have to totally land in one direction or another. It keeps it alive.“
Patricia is the eccentric assistant to Matthew Rhys‘ Mayor Tom Loftis, who’s at the forefront of trying to solve the island’s pesky curse predicament. Rhys felt the same about “Widow’s Bay” and its rare ability to make you laugh and scream in equal measure, stemming from series creator Katie Dippold.
“The mandate was, ‘It’s a real world with real people. You play for real.’ There’s no playing for comedy or horror,” Rhys echoes O’Flynn’s sentiments on how freeing the series’ tone has been.
New episodes will release every Wednesday through June 17 only on Apple TV+.
Kate O’Flynn in “Widow’s Bay,” now streaming on Apple TV.
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