Jennifer Welch returns to Bravo with ‘Sweet Home’
A fresh start: Last year, reality TV fanatics fell in love with “Sweet Home Oklahoma,” which followed the home improvement adventures of Jennifer Welch, along with her eclectic gang of family and friends. Now, the interior designer has returned with more ambitious projects, more chic vision and more self-proclaimed “dysfunction” in a newly renovated show. A fresh episode of “Sweet Home” airs Friday, Nov. 30, on Bravo.
Picking up where the original series left off, “Sweet Home” welcomes viewers back to the cast’s hometown of Oklahoma City, where Jennifer and her new design team — Alex Hodges, Sabah Khan and Sarah Moll — undertake opulent redesign projects. Earlier this season, for example, they gave a sleek update to a judge’s chambers. Of course, giving viewers their fix of interior design “before and afters” is only half the fun; many fans are returning to the show to partake in the hilarity between Jennifer and her crew.
Fans are eager to learn more about her unconventional “happily divorced” relationship with her ex-husband and co-parent, Josh Welch, but the main crowd-pleaser has to be Jen’s boisterous BFF, Angie “Pumps” Sullivan. “Sweet Home Oklahoma” was characterized by Pumps’ inappropriate jokes and memorable moments, like the time she argued with Siri over directions. Returning fans can expect the same sort of shenanigans this season: in Bravo’s official trailer, Jennifer tells the cameras that Pumps is still “off her rocker.”
The network also highlights that, ultimately, the revamped show is all about following Jennifer’s journey as she expands her company. “She’s taking on bigger and better projects, from mansions to vacation homes to cabanas,” Bravo’s news release says. For more glamorous reno reveals and antics among friends, catch the next episode of “Sweet Home” when it airs Friday, Nov. 30, on Bravo.
Deck the homes: Christmas is the season for warm conversations by the fire, gift-giving, reconnecting with friends and family, and a dash of unapologetically flashy commercialism. That’s what “The Great Christmas Light Fight” provides. With plenty of holiday party spirit to spare, the seasonal competition show is back with a new episode airing Monday, Nov. 26, on ABC.
Each episode features four families with extreme, over-the-top Christmas display skills and pits them against each other in a decorating competition for a $50,000 prize. The winners are determined by enthusiastic hosts Carter Oosterhouse and Taniya Nayak. With such a lofty reward for the winning family, you can bet the light shows are extravagant enough to push the limits of imagination.
Past seasons have featured family houses decked out from property line to property line, with lights covering every surface; one winning family’s display included 160,000 lights, 43 inflatables and 36 Christmas trees, and this year’s displays are just as extreme. For the first time, the 2018 season even features a “Heavyweights” division that “will showcase light shows that have grown too large for any home,” according to ABC.
You don’t have to be as much of a super-fanatic as these competitors to get into the Christmas spirit, but watching them might just amp up your holiday cheer. Catch the next episode of “The Great Christmas Light Fight” when it airs Monday, Nov. 26, on ABC.
Faith and fear: Religious cults are a scary business, and on the rare occasions when light is shed on what happens behind closed doors, the revelations can be heart-wrenching.
“The Devil Next Door” is a new, six-part docuseries that digs into the secrets of North Carolina’s elusive Word of Faith Fellowship Church in an attempt to pull back the curtain on the organization’s many shocking malpractices. Prepare for some sobering discoveries when the first episode premieres Tuesday, Nov. 27, on A&E.
The series features the stories of several ex-members of the church, with each episode focusing on a particular story. Founded in 1979 and still led by co-founder Jane Whaley, Word of Faith Fellowship Church has amassed 750 congregants in its native North Carolina and nearly 2,000 more internationally.
“The Devil Next Door” takes a look at a fraud scandal in which Whaley and other church leaders have been implicated, but that barely scratches the surface. What the series truly delves into is the allegations of child abuse that many ex-members have made. These allegations include mention of a practice called “blasting,” in which children are screamed at, shaken and beaten in an attempt to “cast out demons.”
Some of the most shocking survivor stories are those of former members who are still fighting to regain their children who are still under the control of the cult community. The series also reveals harrowing stories of arranged marriages and lifelong emotional manipulation. With emphasis on hope and perseverance, “The Devil Next Door” aims to present an enlightening and haunting look into the lives of survivors who are still picking up the pieces. Watch the first episode of “The Devil Next Door” when it premieres Tuesday, Nov. 27, on A&E.