The Brief

From pie eating contests to pig races, county fairs are known for competition. But one contest that's had a surge in popularity in recent years is one you might not expect: competitive table setting.

A 2021 documentary about the table settings competition at the Orange County Fair called Set! and some highly-viewed TikToks have led to a growth in the number of participants in the contest.

Fair officials say it usually takes a few weeks to a month before they have to cut off the number of entries because of space constraints. However, this year they were over capacity in a little more than a week.

The entrants included long-time tablescapers and some first-timers — including YouTubers Grace Helbig and Mamrie Hart and Emmy-winning production designer James Connelly, who documented their respective tablescaping journeys on social media.

What is competitive table setting?

Some of the table setting entries on opening day of the 2025 OC Fair.

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Also called tablescaping (a term that was popularized by Food Network host Sandra Lee in the 2000s), table setting contests don’t have anything to do with how fast you can set a table or even involve any real food or drinks.

They’re contests where participants choose from a theme — this year’s Orange County Fair competition offered “Murder Mystery,” “Tropical Paradise,” “Steampunk,” “A Table For the Gods,” and “Find Your Happy” as options — make up a menu tied to the theme, and then decorate a mini-sized table with place settings that must match the menu (List a salad, but no salad fork? That’s points off).

How do you win?

First off, there’s a lot of work involved to make a display that will match up to the competition.

As veteran tablescaper Bonnie Overman put it, “ I never see any tables where people are just throwing stuff together. This is  building, construction, sewing, planning.”

Bonnie Overman's Clue-themed entry into the "Murder Mystery" category.

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At the Orange County Fair, themes are released about six months in advance. Then the weekend before the fair, participants get four hours to set up their displays.

That’s when the judges step in. This year there were four judges evaluating the entries on these equally-weighted criteria:

• Suitability for occasion and theme (25%)
• Decorativeness/eye-appeal (25%)
• Creativity and originality (25%)
• Correctness (25%)

There are also some additional rules laid out in the competition guide, like a height limit (6.5 feet), and bans on the use of any real food or disposable tableware.

And the rules are strict!

Lisa Minsky, who won “Best of Division” and “Most Creative” this year for her entry into the “Find Your Happy” category, recalled being docked points the first time she entered the competition in 2007.

Lisa Minsky's award-winning entry featured miniatures showing some of her happiest dining memories.

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Minsky included a champagne bottle in her display that the judges determined violated the “no real food” rule. While she had poured the champagne out and put the cork and foil back on to make it appear unopened, she said the judges “didn't know that, cause I did that so well. So I was marked down for that.”

It’s not easy being a judge, either.

Annie Morgan, a chef who has been judging the table setting competition for two years, said the opening day of the fair is stressful for her, because that’s when participants can see if they’ve won.

An table setting competition entry called "Sweet Memories at Farrell's" sports an honorable mention ribbon.

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She likened judging the displays to serving on a jury in a high-profile case: “There are guidelines and the public doesn't understand the guidelines that the jury has, so they may come out with a verdict that the public can't understand and will protest against. And it's the same thing here.”

The scores and judges’ comments are posted next to the table setting displays, and sometimes the participants have complaints.

“If they haven't won,” Morgan said, “they get upset. And then I'm getting emails that I have to explain myself.”

What do you win?

Awards for first, second, third, Division Winner and Best of Show include a monetary prize ranging from $20 to $150, and then of course there are ribbons associated with each.

Other awards that come with smaller ribbons (and no cash prize) include “Best Use of Color” and “Best Napkin Folds.”

Why do people do it?

“You have those people who just want to be creative,” Morgan said. And then, “you have the people who love competition, and want to, you know, dip their toe into whatever that looks like.”

Minsky, who’s entered the competition four times, added: “ It's a passion. When you get started, it gets more fun as you go along, you know? 'Cause you sit back and you go, ‘Oh, I can do this, I can do that.’”

She also likes being able to incorporate what she considers her main hobbies, painting and miniatures, into her designs.

Table setting entries in the "Tropical Paradise" category, including Tim Wyckoff's on the right.

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For Tim Wyckoff, a longtime tablescaper, the initial draw was the thrill of winning.

Wyckoff has been tablescaping for 30 years, since he was a teenager, at the Ventura County Fair.

“I saw that the little tiny table settings that the kids got to do got these giant ribbons, and I'm like, ‘Oh, I want that. I want the giant ribbon,’” he said.

Wyckoff said the hobby also helped him through one of the hardest times of his life.

“ I was almost homeless. I was jobless," he said. "So it was one of those things of like, I don't have a lot going for me, I'm not very happy, everything kind of sucks. This makes me happy. Like, let me do this.”

This year, Wyckoff took home second place for his tiki-themed entry that featured an animatronic bird that he programmed to sing along to Hawaiian music. And he said he’s not stopping tablescaping any time soon.

 ”I don't ever wanna stop,” he said. “Although it's getting harder, harder to top myself. I'm like, ‘I built an animatronic. What's next?’”

How to see it

What: OC Fair, open through Aug. 17
Where: 88 Fair Dr, Costa Mesa
Info: Tickets, hours and instructions can be found here

Editor’s note: This article has been updated with a clarification about how interest in the OC Fair competition has increased this year.

Updated January 12, 2026 at 00:20 AM ET

Timothée Chalamet, Teyana Taylor and Noah Wyle each took home acting awards at the Golden Globes on Sunday night.

Comedian Nikki Glaser hosted the show for the second year in a row, joking in her opening monologue that the Golden Globe for best editing should go to the Justice Department, seemingly referencing the Epstein files — and that the award for most editing ought to go to CBS News, calling it "America's newest place to see B.S. news." (New CBS News editor in chief, Bari Weiss, recently drew criticism for pulling a segment about a detention center in El Salvador from 60 Minutes.)

Teyana Taylor's prize was for best supporting actress in a motion picture, one of four awards for One Battle After Another, which also won the evening's prize for best musical or comedy motion picture. Filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson took home awards for screenwriting and directing.

Wyle's award was for The Pitt, which also won the prize for best TV drama.

Chalamet's win was the only prize for Marty Supreme, which was nominated as a comedy. Hamnet won the award for best drama film; Jessie Buckley took home the award for best actress in a drama for the same movie.

The Netflix series Adolescence took home trophies for best limited or anthology series, along with prizes for actors Stephen Graham, Owen Cooper and Erin Doherty. The Studio took home the prize for best TV musical or comedy, with Seth Rogen winning the top prize for actors in that group.

Good Hang with Amy Poehler won the Globes' very first prize for the best podcast.

The nominees in each category are below, with winners noted in bold.

Best motion picture – drama
Winner: Hamnet (Focus Features)
Frankenstein (Netflix)
It Was Just an Accident (Neon)
The Secret Agent (Neon)
Sentimental Value (Neon)
Sinners (Warner Bros. Pictures)

Best performance by a female actor in a motion picture – drama
Winner: Jessie Buckley (Hamnet)
Jennifer Lawrence (Die My Love)
Renate Reinsve (Sentimental Value)
Julia Roberts (After the Hunt)
Tessa Thompson (Hedda)
Eva Victor (Sorry, Baby)

Best performance by a male actor in a motion picture – drama
Winner: Wagner Moura (The Secret Agent)
Joel Edgerton (Train Dreams)
Oscar Isaac (Frankenstein)
Dwayne Johnson (The Smashing Machine)
Michael B. Jordan (Sinners)
Jeremy Allen White (Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere)

Best motion picture – musical or comedy
Winner: One Battle After Another (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Blue Moon (Sony Pictures Classics)
Bugonia (Focus Features)
Marty Supreme (A24)
No Other Choice (Neon)
Nouvelle Vague (Netflix)

Best performance by a female actor in a motion picture – musical or comedy
Winner: Rose Byrne (If I Had Legs I'd Kick You)
Cynthia Erivo (Wicked: For Good)
Kate Hudson (Song Sung Blue)
Chase Infiniti (One Battle After Another)
Amanda Seyfried (The Testament of Ann Lee)
Emma Stone (Bugonia)

Best performance by a male actor in a motion picture – musical or comedy
Winner: Timothée Chalamet (Marty Supreme)
George Clooney (Jay Kelly)
Leonardo DiCaprio (One Battle After Another)
Ethan Hawke (Blue Moon)
Lee Byung-hun (No Other Choice)
Jesse Plemons (Bugonia)

Timothée Chalamet on the Golden Globes red carpet.

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Best performance by a female actor in a supporting role in any motion picture
Winner: Teyana Taylor (One Battle After Another)
Emily Blunt (The Smashing Machine)
Elle Fanning (Sentimental Value)
Ariana Grande (Wicked: For Good)
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas (Sentimental Value)
Amy Madigan (Weapons)

Best performance by a male actor in a supporting role in any motion picture
Winner: Stellan Skarsgård (Sentimental Value)
Benicio del Toro (One Battle After Another)
Jacob Elordi (Frankenstein)
Paul Mescal (Hamnet)
Sean Penn (One Battle After Another)
Adam Sandler (Jay Kelly)

Best original song – motion picture
Winner: "Golden" – KPop Demon Hunters
"Dream as One" – Avatar: Fire and Ash
"I Lied to You" – Sinners
"No Place Like Home" – Wicked: For Good
"The Girl in the Bubble" – Wicked: For Good
"Train Dreams" – Train Dreams

Best screenplay – motion picture
Winner: Paul Thomas Anderson (One Battle After Another)
Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie (Marty Supreme)
Ryan Coogler (Sinners)
Jafar Panahi (It Was Just an Accident)
Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier (Sentimental Value)
Chloé Zhao, Maggie O'Farrell (Hamnet)

Best director – motion picture
Winner: Paul Thomas Anderson (One Battle After Another)
Ryan Coogler (Sinners)
Guillermo del Toro (Frankenstein)
Jafar Panahi (It Was Just an Accident)
Joachim Trier (Sentimental Value)
Chloé Zhao (Hamnet)

Cinematic and box office achievement
Winner: Sinners (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Avatar: Fire and Ash (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
F1 (Apple Original Films)
KPop Demon Hunters (Netflix)
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (Paramount Pictures)
Weapons (Warner Bros. Pictures, New Line Cinema)
Wicked: For Good (Universal Pictures)
Zootopia 2 (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)

Best motion picture – animated
Winner: KPop Demon Hunters (Netflix)
Arco (Neon)
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Infinity Castle (Aniplex, Crunchyroll, Sony Pictures Entertainment)
Elio (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
Little Amélie or the Character of Rain (GKIDS)
Zootopia 2 (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)

Best original score – motion picture
Winner: Ludwig Göransson (Sinners)
Alexandre Desplat (Frankenstein)
Jonny Greenwood (One Battle After Another)
Kangding Ray (Sirāt)
Max Richter (Hamnet)
Hans Zimmer (F1)

Best motion picture – non-English language
Winner: The Secret Agent (Neon) - Brazil
It Was Just an Accident (Neon) - France
No Other Choice (Neon) - South Korea
Sentimental Value (Neon) - Norway
Sirāt (Neon) - Spain
The Voice of Hind Rajab (Willa) - Tunisia

Best television series – musical or comedy
Winner: The Studio (Apple TV)
Abbott Elementary (ABC)
The Bear (FX on Hulu)
Hacks (HBO Max)
Nobody Wants This (Netflix)
Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)

Best television series – drama
Winner: The Pitt (HBO Max)
The Diplomat (Netflix)
Pluribus (Apple TV)
Severance (Apple TV)
Slow Horses (Apple TV)
The White Lotus (HBO Max)

Best television limited series, anthology series or motion picture made for television
Winner: Adolescence (Netflix)
All Her Fault (Peacock)
The Beast in Me (Netflix)
Black Mirror (Netflix)
Dying for Sex (FX on Hulu)
The Girlfriend (Prime Video)

Best performance by a male actor in a television series – drama
Winner: Noah Wyle (The Pitt)
Sterling K. Brown (Paradise)
Diego Luna (Andor)
Gary Oldman (Slow Horses)
Mark Ruffalo (Task)
Adam Scott (Severance)

Best performance by a female actor in a television series – drama
Winner: Rhea Seehorn (Pluribus)
Kathy Bates (Matlock)
Britt Lower (Severance)
Helen Mirren (Mobland)
Bella Ramsey (The Last of Us)
Keri Russell (The Diplomat)

Best performance by a female actor in a television series – musical or comedy
Winner: Jean Smart (Hacks)
Kristen Bell (Nobody Wants This)
Ayo Edebiri (The Bear)
Selena Gomez (Only Murders in the Building)
Natasha Lyonne (Poker Face)
Jenna Ortega (Wednesday)

Best performance by a male actor in a television series – musical or comedy
Winner: Seth Rogen (The Studio)
Adam Brody (Nobody Wants This)
Steve Martin (Only Murders in the Building)
Glen Powell (Chad Powers)
Martin Short (Only Murders in the Building)
Jeremy Allen White (The Bear)

Best performance by a male actor in a supporting role on television
Winner: Owen Cooper (Adolescence)
Billy Crudup (The Morning Show)
Walton Goggins (The White Lotus)
Jason Isaacs (The White Lotus)
Tramell Tillman (Severance)
Ashley Walters (Adolescence)

Best performance by a female actor in a supporting role on television
Winner: Erin Doherty (Adolescence)
Carrie Coon (The White Lotus)
Hannah Einbinder (Hacks)
Catherine O'Hara (The Studio)
Parker Posey (The White Lotus)
Aimee Lou Wood (The White Lotus)

Best performance by a male actor in a limited series, anthology series, or a motion picture made for television
Winner: Stephen Graham (Adolescence)
Jacob Elordi (The Narrow Road to the Deep North)
Paul Giamatti (Black Mirror)
Charlie Hunnam (Monster: The Ed Gein Story)
Jude Law (Black Rabbit)
Matthew Rhys (The Beast in Me)

Best performance by a female actor in a limited series, anthology series, or a motion picture made for television
Winner: Michelle Williams (Dying for Sex)
Claire Danes (The Beast in Me)
Rashida Jones (Black Mirror)
Amanda Seyfried (Long Bright River)
Sarah Snook (All Her Fault)
Robin Wright (The Girlfriend)

Best performance in stand-up comedy on television
Winner: Ricky Gervais (Ricky Gervais: Mortality)
Bill Maher (Bill Maher: Is Anyone Else Seeing This?)
Brett Goldstein (Brett Goldstein: The Second Best Night of Your Life)
Kevin Hart (Kevin Hart: Acting My Age)
Kumail Nanjiani (Kumail Nanjiani: Night Thoughts)
Sarah Silverman (Sarah Silverman: Postmortem)

Best podcast
Winner: Good Hang with Amy Poehler (Spotify)
Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard (Wondery)
Call Her Daddy (SiriusXM)
The Mel Robbins Podcast (SiriusXM)
Smartless (SiriusXM)
Up First (NPR)

Copyright 2026 NPR

DUARTE, Calif. — Veteran actor T.K. Carter, who appeared in the horror film "The Thing" and "Punky Brewster" on television, has died at the age of 69.

Carter was declared dead Friday evening after deputies responded to a call regarding an unresponsive male in Duarte, California, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

Police did not disclose a cause of death or other details, but said no foul play was suspected.

Thomas Kent "T.K." Carter was born Dec. 18, 1956, in New York City and was raised in Southern California.

He began his career in stand-up comedy and with acting roles. Carter had been acting for years before a breakthrough role as Nauls the cook in John Carpenter's 1982 horror classic, "The Thing." He also had a recurring role in the 1980s sitcom "Punky Brewster."

Other big-screen roles include "Runaway Train" in 1985, "Ski Patrol" in 1990 and "Space Jam" in 1996.

"T.K. Carter was a consummate professional and a genuine soul whose talent transcended genres," his publicist, Tony Freeman, said in a statement. "He brought laughter, truth, and humanity to every role he touched. His legacy will continue to inspire generations of artists and fans alike."

Copyright 2026 NPR

Downtown Los Angeles

A person in an inflatable frog suit holds a sign during a protest in Los Angeles, California on January 10, 2026 against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis.

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A woman holds incense during a protest in Los Angeles, California on January 10, 2026 against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis.

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Etienne Laurent

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A person holds up a sign during a protest in Los Angeles, California on January 10, 2026 against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis. (Photo by ETIENNE LAURENT / AFP via Getty Images)

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Etienne Laurent

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A person holds up a sign during a protest in Los Angeles, California on January 10, 2026 against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis.

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Etienne Laurent

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AFP via Getty Images

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A tourist bus drives past as people protest in front of the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC), in Los Angeles, California on January 10, 2026 against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis.

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Pasadena

Alison Brett (far right) of La Crescenta at the Ice Out For Good protest in Pasadena on Jan. 10, 2026.

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Casey Law of South Pasadena at Ice Out For Good protest in Pasadena on Jan. 10.

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People have been taking to the streets nationwide this weekend to protest the Trump administration's immigration enforcement tactics following the death of Renee Good in Minneapolis, a 37-year-old woman who was shot and killed by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer this week.

At least 1,000 events across the U.S. were planned for Saturday and Sunday, according to Indivisible, a progressive grassroots coalition of activists helping coordinate the movement it calls "ICE Out For Good Weekend of Action."

Leah Greenberg, a co-executive director of Indivisible, said people are coming together to "grieve, honor those we've lost, and demand accountability from a system that has operated with impunity for far too long."

"Renee Nicole Good was a wife, a mother of three, and a member of her community. She, and the dozens of other sons, daughters, friends, siblings, parents, and community members who have been killed by ICE, should be alive today," Greenberg said in a statement on Friday. "ICE's violence is not a statistic, it has names, families, and futures attached to it, and we refuse to look away or stay silent."

Large crowds of demonstrators carried signs and shouted "ICE out now!" as protests continued across Minneapolis on Saturday. One of those protestors, Cameron Kritikos, told NPR that he is worried that the presence of more ICE agents in the city could lead to more violence or another death.

"If more ICE officers are deployed to the streets, especially a place here where there's very clear public opposition to the terrorizing of our neighborhoods, I'm nervous that there's going to be more violence," the 31-year grocery store worker said. "I'm nervous that there are going to be more clashes with law enforcement officials, and at the end of the day I think that's not what anyone wants."

Demonstrators in Minneapolis on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026.

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The night before, hundreds of city and state police officers responded to a "noise protest" in downtown Minneapolis. An estimated 1,000 people gathered Friday night, according to Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara, and 29 people were arrested.

People demonstrated outside of hotels where ICE agents were believed to be staying. They chanted, played drums and banged pots. O'Hara said that a group of people split from the main protest and began damaging hotel windows. One police officer was injured from a chunk of ice that was hurled at officers, he added.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey condemned the acts of violence but praised what he said was the "vast majority" of protesters who remained peaceful, during a morning news conference.

"To anyone who causes property damage or puts others in danger: you will be arrested. We are standing up to Donald Trump's chaos not with our own brand of chaos, but with care and unity," Frey wrote on social media.

Commenting on the protests, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told NPR in a statement, "the First Amendment protects speech and peaceful assembly — not rioting, assault and destruction," adding, "DHS is taking measures to uphold the rule of law and protect public safety and our officers."

Good was fatally shot the day after DHS launched a large-scale immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota set to deploy 2,000 immigration officers to the state.

In Philadelphia, police estimated about 500 demonstrators "were cooperative and peaceful" at a march that began Saturday morning at City Hall, Philadelphia Police Department spokesperson Tanya Little told NPR in a statement. And no arrests were made.

In Portland, Ore., demonstrators rallied and lined the streets outside of a hospital on Saturday afternoon, where immigration enforcement agents bring detainees who are injured during an arrest, reported Oregon Public Broadcasting.

A man and woman were shot and injured by U.S. Border Patrol agents on Thursday in the city. DHS said the shooting happened during a targeted vehicle stop and identified the driver as Luis David Nino-Moncada, and the passenger as Yorlenys Betzabeth Zambrano-Contreras, both from Venezuela. As was the case in their assertion about Good's fatal shooting, Homeland Security officials claimed the federal agent acted in self-defense after Nino-Moncada and Zambrano-Contreras "weaponized their vehicle."
Copyright 2026 NPR