Do Not Make Tim Gunn Angry

Anyone who watched last night's episode of Project Runway, witnessed former drug addict Johnny get the cold shoulder from Tim, after being kicked off the show. Tim showed little sympathy for the man, not doling out his usual goodbye hug, nor did he even look at Johnny when he told him to back his knife and go. Tim was of course mad at the "designer" for the ridiculous lie told on the runway, about Johnny having to quickly redesign a dress after his first was destroyed by a steamer. The truth was Tim criticized his first dress, which was ugly, though I thought the oragami birds was an interesting idea, so Johnny crunched it up and threw it into the garbage. While lying to the judges was wrong, it was also completely unnecessary for the situation. Johnny destroyed the first dress because Tim Gunn told him it was bad. That is a completely justifiable reason to make a new garment. There was no reason to create an elaborate lie, especially considering Tim Gunn and the other contestants knew what had happened. I mean really. He probably would have had a decent chance at staying, if he hadn't doomed himself by lying. But hey, lying is what crack-whores do.

Since I'm writing about reality television, i always want to mention the booting of the adorable Mattin from Top Chef this week. Though his dismissal was understandable - why would you serve raw fish at a rach cook out - I'm still going to miss the adorable Frenchie. Anyway, at this point isn't kind of obvious who will be the final five contestants - Jen C, the Voltaggio brothers, Kevin and Mike I. Although I could see the show have someone unexpected (Ashley?) remain until the final four or five.

Project Runway - It's Back Baby

After all the courtroom drama, they're finally airing the new season of Project Runway on Lifetime. I missed all the drama. They started off the season well, with the first challenge being a red carpet look. They're were some pretty, pretty dresses, and I liked the winning dress by Chris. I also find him kind of cute, even when he insists on wearing the sideways baseball cap. The losing dress by Ari was crazy bad, but I still thought she should have stayed over Mitchell and his 30 minute see-through nitegown. It was a seriously crappy move on his part, to blaime his model Yosuzi and then dump her on Models of the Runway. I still don't know what to make of the models' show, which seems to just be cobbled together bonus stuff, rather than an actual show. Preceding the season premiere of Project Runway, was the all star challenge. Daniel Vosovic won the competition, which I thought was completely ridiculous. He made a great red carpet look, but the rest of his collection stunk. Korto or Chris would both have been preferable winners.

The Fashion Show

This past Thursday night, Bravo premiered the first episode of Fake Project Runway... I'm sorry, I meant The Fashion Show. When the network first announced production of the reality show, I thought it was a bad idea. A cheap knock-off of a popular reality series would be a disaster. After seeing the first episode, I have to admit it wasn't that bad. The series still has a number of kinks to work out, but if it does well enough for a second season order, the problems can be fixed. That's not to say The Fashion Show isn't a cheap knock-off of Project Runway, because it is, but at least it has the potential to be entertaining. So, how can the show improve itself? Well here are some of my suggestions:

Get better lighting - Seriously, the show looks rather drab and ugly, appearing as if it were filmed in somebody's basement.

Get rid of the hallway discussions - Both the Isaac/Kelly chat and the post-runway panel deliberation came off as cheesy. At least give the panel a table to sit around.

Do something about Kelly Rowlands - Essentially the show's Padma Lakshmi, she comes off as a nice person, but personality-wise can't compare with fellow judges Isaac Mizrahi and Fern Mallis. Over time Padma improved as co-host of Top Chef, so maybe Kelly will do the same.

Get more talented contestants - In the first episode, half the cast complained about not being good at sewing. That just shouldn't be!

Add a hot guy or two - It helps every other reality program.

Congratulations Leanne

The season finale of Project Runway was last night, and designer Leanne was crowned the winner, which was deserving. A win by Korto would have also made me happy. Leanne's detail work was impecable, with all the waves and the petals, and her wedding dress was to die for. I do understand the judges concerns about her, in regards to her colors and constant use of pleating. She limited her color range to just white, tan and a teal blue, since her inspiration for the collection was water and waves, but I think she could have expanded her color palette by using various shades of blue and gray, maybe incorporate silver and yellow, representing sunlight reflecting off the water. But still, I think her collection provided a specific viewpoint. Kenley's, on the other hand was just a big HUH? I liked some of the pieces she had, but I don't think it was cohesive. The white dress with the painted-on flower sash was too cutesy, and the 40s/80s imspired green uber-bitch dress was just ugly. Plus, I just found her reallyannoying, so I'm glad she didn't win, and I'm still upset over the fact that Terri didn't get to show at Bryant Park. She was probably my favorite designer from the beginning, and the fact that she got thrown out for making one bad outfit, while others (Suede) kept making bad outfits but stayed to the top 5, and got to show at Fashion week is just really annoying.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

No, no, no, no, no! Why? Why? Why? Why did she have to be kicked off? Ugh. Last night's episode of Project Runway saw the departures of Blayne (ok, by me) and Terri, who was probably my favorite. Ok I admit the outfit she made for the challenge, designing an avate garde outfit representing an astrological sign (genius challenge by the way), was bad, but she should not have kicked off before the seriously annoying Suede and Kenley. I mean what the hell was up with Kenley's costume anyway. Terri was in the top 3 several times throughout the competition, that should count for something. She continually made great oufits, while Suede and Kenley were all over the place. It's even more annoying that the judges never picked her as the winner, when there were multiple occassions where it would have been justified. But whatever........I'm now rooting for Korto and Leanne, Korto more so than Leanne. Based on what they've done over the course of the show, their collections for the finale fashion show could be amazing. Since the finale is filmed this Friday, it must mean that all six of the remaining designers show at Fashion Week, with only three or four of them actually counting, which would mean Suede would actually show in Bryant Park - gross. Now that's really unfair that Terri's unable to show a collection, even if it won't count. I'm sad.

Oh My God! Like, There's Stuff on TV!

With not much currently going on in my life, I tend to watch the TV at night during the week. Yeah yeah, it's sad....I really should be involved in another crappy relationship, instead. Of course it's the summer and there hasn't been much on television worth grabbing my attention. Swingtown was fun, though it didn't reach its potential, the Olympics and the Democratic Convention were entertaining spectacles, and Mad Men and Generation Kill made Sunday a great night for television, but other than that it was....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz! Last night there was actually stuff to watch with a new episode of Project Runway, which continued this season's greatness (Diane von Furstenberg, I love you) and the season premiere of America's Next Top Model. Yeah I know ANTM is by no means the height of culture, but I find it thoroughly entertaining. Currently for me it's all about the trannie, Isis, and the French girl Marjorie. Also, Tyra continues to be batshit insane, and it's what makes her completely necessary for TV.

Oh yeah, there was also the Republican National Convention, but I had no interest in it. Watching a bunch of Republicans giving speaches to each other is like being in the Twilight Zone. There is no sense of reality. With the Democrats, yes there is the obvious partisanship, but through it all you can still grasp a sense of the real world, something relatable. You watch the Republicans and you're like, "Where do you live? What country are you talking about? Did you all have a lobotamy?" It makes you want to bang your head against the wall.

Project Runway

I'm really loving Project Runway this season, especially after the disappointment that was season 4. Overall, I think there is a better selection of contestants and a better set of challenges that are more fun and require more ingenuity. I mean.... last night's challenge of using car parts, seriously genius! Yes it was a giant product placement for Saturn, but unlike last season's product whoring, the challenge wasn't meant to service the product - I don't know if that makes sense? Like, the Levi's challenge was make an oufit that represents the Levi's company, or the wrestling challenge that was meant to represent the female wrestlers. The object of the Saturn challenge was not to make an oufit representing the car or inspired by the car, it was just to use the pieces of the car.....yeah. My three favorite designs were actually the same three the judges picked - Leanne's, Korto's, and Jerrell's. The outfits looked as if they could be couture garmets from Paris. And thank god they got rid of Keith. He was kind of hot, except for that stupid rat tail which I wanted to rip off with my bare hands, and he was kind of interesting, in that you could tell there was a whole boatload of crazy just under the surface, but seriously he became such a douche. Over the course of the season, my three favorite designers have come to be Korto, Leanne, and Terri. Most likely one of them will be the winner, and I think that probably all three will make it to the top 4 along with Straight-Guy Joe. Although I fear Terri might not make it, since she hasn't been getting the wins she deserved .....hello, her drag oufit was brilliant. But yeah.