Seasonal success: ‘Halloween Wars’ still going strong

By Michelle Rose TV Media

If you’ve missed out on the first two episodes of this year’s “Halloween Wars,” there’s still time to jump right in and watch the pro carvers work their magic. A Halloween staple since 2011, the Food Network’s autumnal classic has new episodes airing every Sunday in October, including this week, on Oct. 13.

The beauty of this show is watching the creative process because each artist within the team brings their own master skills and talent to the competition.

And the end results are incredible. Some of these elaborate, edible Hal- loween displays could easily be mistaken for stop-motion sets. It’s an impressive feat, considering the fact that they’re all carved and sculpted out of sugar, cake and giant pumpkins.

You won’t find simple jack-o’-lanterns here. The first episode was all about capturing the horror of being trapped in a nightmare. Last week’s episode mixed humor and horror with its “zombie dating show” theme. And this week, the teams have to represent a fear shared by many: the fear of being attacked by a swarm.

Last year’s edition of “Halloween Wars” brought in series-best ratings that placed it in the top 10 original cable telecasts on Sunday nights throughout its run. It was just a few spots ahead of another limited-run Food Network competition, “Haunted Gingerbread Showdown.” This seems to be proof that Food Network has clearly found its winning formula and is delivering just the kind of family-friendly competitions we’re looking for this time of year.

It helps that the challenges mix funny and frightening themes that keep it entertaining, kind of like a special edition of “Cupcake Wars.” That show’s host, Johnathan Bennett, is presiding over all of the baking, sculpting and carving in this show, too, and has been for every edition since 2016.

The judges might also look familiar. Acclaimed cake decorator

Shinmin Li and horror film special effects master Todd Tucker are back to judge this season’s creations and teams. They’re joined by new celebrity guest judges, including actress Harley Quinn Smith (“Tusk,” 2014) on this week’s episode and Caleb McLaughlin (“Stranger Things”) next week.

It’s all in the name of good fun, food and art. Mind you, there still is a $50,000 grand prize that everyone wants to win.

If you need to catch up on Season 9, or just want a refresher, mark your calendars for Oct. 27. Repeat airings of “Halloween Wars” will help fill in the blanks or refresh your memory leading up to the big finale.

Sunday, Oct. 13

1:00 p.m. (9) KAWE Lidia’s Kitchen

2:00 p.m. (9) KAWE The Great British Baking Show

5:00 p.m. (8) WDSE Confucius Was a Foodie

Monday, Oct. 14

1:00 p.m. (11) KARE The Rachael

Tuesday, Oct. 15

1:00 p.m. (11) KARE The Rachael

Wednesday, Oct. 16

1:00 p.m. (11) KARE The Rachael Ray Show

Thursday, Oct. 17

1:00 p.m. (11) KARE The Rachael

Friday, Oct. 18

12:30 p.m. (9) KAWE Food Over 50 1:00 p.m. (11) KARE The Rachael

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By Sachi Kameishi TV Media

Good things are said to come in threes, and for actress Patricia Heaton, the third time’s certainly looking to be a charm. Heaton has struck critical, cultural and ratings gold not once, but twice before. As loving, overworked mother Frankie in “The Middle” and caring, authoritative mom Debra Barone on “Everyone Loves Raymond,” she has spent a whopping 18 years on comedy soundstages.

One year after the wrap of the 215-episode run of “The Middle,” Heaton is back in the new medical comedy “Carol’s Second Act,” airing Thursday, Oct. 17 on CBS. The series centers on the life of Carol Kennedy, played by Heaton. Carol is a retired divorcée who, after raising her children into adulthood and admitting disinterest for her teaching career, decides to make good on her dreams of becoming a doctor. In her 50s with nothing but young aspirations carrying her forward, Carol cuts her teeth with the rest of the hospital’s ambitious interns. And, with more than a few years to hang over her peers and quite a few of her superiors, Carol’s path into her new-found career is as clumsy as it is life-affirming.

What might surprise viewers is how Carol’s age is used in the show, and that relates directly to what Heaton found most uplifting and appealing about playing this character. The actress spoke to Patheos about the portrayal of a woman actively pursuing her desires when her age tends to be synonymous with a lack of movement and helplessness.

“It’s refreshing,” Heaton said. “It’s definitely a show about the strength and the value of the experience of older women — It’s about people not becoming invisible after the age of 50, and how the world needs us.”

The press materials and first few episodes of the show have certainly found the humor in the disparity between Carol’s age and the youth of her co-workers. However, it’s done in a way that emphasizes the struggle between different generations when commu-