Posted Mar 19th 2010 3:34AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: OpEd, Project Runway, Episode Reviews
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S07E09) Collier Strong makes his seasonal
'Project Runway' appearance to pimp out the L'Oreal makeup. Luckily, we're finally at the halfway point with only eight designers left. I can finally distinguish between all the contestants. This week they were paired up and had to use the culture, architecture, and trends of an area in Manhattan to create a day and night look for only $300.
Chinatown - Anthony & Maya
East Village - Jay & Mila
Upper East Side - Amy & Jonathan
Harlem - Emilio & Seth Aaron
All of the places have very distinct aesthetics, yet somehow Amy & Jonathan manage to botch the idea of a high-class, pale color paired with black.
Continue reading 'Project Runway' - 'Takin' It To The Streets' Recap
Posted Mar 12th 2010 8:30AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: OpEd, Project Runway, Episode Reviews
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S07E08)
'Project Runway' uses this episode to appease their sponsor Garnier. With one day and $150 the contestants had to create outfits based off of the four natural elements somehow making sure that their models hair was incorporated. While I was hoping that the contestants would have had the four seasons instead, they all strayed away from being horrendously literal like Season Five's zodiac challenge. Instead, many were vague and picked blacks and grays to represent their outfits. While it is daring to go so dark, it poses the question: are these contestants afraid of color?
The Elements
Air - Jay, Jonathan, and Seth Aaron
Water - Maya and Ben
Fire - Anthony and Amy
Earth - Mila and Emilio
Continue reading 'Project Runway' - 'The Elements of Fashion' Recap
Posted Mar 5th 2010 3:03AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: OpEd, Project Runway, Episode Reviews
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S07E07) After a week off,
'Project Runway' returns with an unconventional material challenge. In this week's challenge, competitors had $150 to create an outfit from materials at a hardware store. While some competitors grab obvious things like sandpaper, sheet metal, and chicken wire, others were tempted by paint trays and washers. Luckily for Seth Aaron, he got to make something that was a bit boring, but was immune from the last challenge.
Continue reading 'Project Runway' - 'Hard Work' Recap
Posted Feb 19th 2010 3:09AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: OpEd, Project Runway, Episode Reviews
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S07E06) There have been several memorable theme challenges on
'Project Runway,' including dogs, prom, and postal workers, but this week the contestants had to create an outfit for a little girl. Of course it wouldn't be 'Project Runway' without a twist, and Tim announced that the contestants would have to create a corresponding outfit for their models.
I was confused as to how all these children managed to get invited to the show. Unlike the prom girls that all went to the same high school in season four, we never got any explanation. We'll just have to accept how cute the girls are. After seeing this challenge, I hope a future challenge will be a 'Toddlers and Tiaras' childrens' pageant challenge.
Continue reading 'Project Runway' - 'A Little Bit of Fashion' Recap
Posted Feb 12th 2010 3:30AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, Project Runway, Episode Reviews
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S07E05) With five challenges down,
'Project Runway' claims to have the biggest challenge ever. This season continues to sweep the previous season under the floor as if the last season was a hiccup. This week the contestants had to design an outfit for the cover of the April edition Marie Claire, which would be modeled by Heidi Klum. They had one day and $150.
Joanna Coles, editor-in-chief of Marie Claire magazine, had a lot of specification for the dresses: the eye-catching design had to be above the waist, there will be text so there can't be black fabric or loud patterns, and they have to take into account that the April edition will have a spring-like feeling to it. Along with that, the contestants also had to consider a color palate that would match Heidi.
Continue reading 'Project Runway' - 'Run for Cover' Recap
Posted Feb 5th 2010 4:00AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, Project Runway, Episode Reviews
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S07E04) The models take a backseat on
'Project Runway' tonight with the first client-based challenge. With $100 and one day, the contestants had to create a gala dress for Campbell's Address Your Heart Program. Their clients were all impacted by heart disease in different forms. The winner gets a bonus of their dress getting a limited run, and it will be shown during New York Fashion week with the designer.
It was nice seeing an apples to apples comparison where one color was forced upon all the contestants. The Macy's blue challenge last season wasn't as much of a comparison because they got to use several shades of blue and were paired up.
Continue reading Review: 'Project Runway' - 'Design Your Heart Out'
Posted Jan 29th 2010 1:48AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, Project Runway, Episode Reviews
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S07E03) This week on
Project Runway, the contestants finally get the opportunity to go to Mood. The contestants are divided into teams of two and have to make a high end signature look with $500 and two days to work on it. Tim announces a twist after day one: they have to make a look for less. The big twist was that the look for less had to be another team's dress.
We get one advantage of pairing up the high number of contestants: we finally see interviews from several contestants who have blended with the walls. Of course we're treated to Ping running around like a chicken with her head cut off announcing, "oh shoes!" and being convinced that hooker-wear is classy fabric.
Continue reading Review: Project Runway - The Hi's and Low's of Fashion
Posted Jan 27th 2010 4:00PM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: American Idol, Vs., Celebrities, Project Runway, Contestants
American Idol is still marching along with its auditions, and
last night's episode had us in Los Angeles. We had guest judges
Avril Lavigne and
Katy Perry, but those weren't the only familiar faces we saw. During a segment on contestants who were aping
Adam Lambert, we saw a guy who said that he would be the product of
Susan Boyle and Adam Lambert having sex. He seemed familiar, and now the folks behind
Project Runway have figured it out: It was former
Project Runway contestant
Daniel Franco.
Franco appeared in not one, but two seasons of
Runway, and was
made out to be sort of crazy. He didn't win, and is apparently testing out other avenues in the realm of reality television. He doesn't mention anything about this endeavor on
his website, but then again, he hasn't updated his blog since 2007. It doesn't appear as though Franco got a golden ticket, so we'll never know how his singing ability stacks up to his design ability. More importantly, we're missing out on the
Project Runway/American Idol mashup that we never wanted.
Posted Jan 22nd 2010 1:30AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: OpEd, Project Runway, Episode Reviews
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S07E02) This week's challenge on
Project Runway fell under the unconventional materials category. The contestants had burlap potato sacks and a day and a few embellishments to transform it into a party look for their models. The models got to choose their clients, so there was a slight shuffle with a handful of designers. The model-as-client episodes are a reminder that while the models have opinions, it's ultimately up to the designer to know what is both visually stunning and matches their aesthetic.
There are still too many contestants, I don't think I heard a peep from Captain Jack Sparrow or last week's winner Emilio. We still get a lot of quirky Ping, including her pronunciation of "Buttocks." As for Anthony, I'm tired of him ending statements by announcing "period." The real question is, will these outlandish characters survive the long haul, or are they being focused on because they will be eliminated?
Continue reading Review: Project Runway - The Fashion Farm
Posted Jan 15th 2010 3:04AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: OpEd, Project Runway, Episode Reviews
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S07E01) As if last season of
Project Runway was a bad hiccup, we're returning to New York with Michael Korrs and Nina Garcia permanently on the judging panel.
The show opened up on the roofs of the Atlas Apartments. The energy of the show felt back to normal in New York City. The first challenge was borrowed from season four: pick from a whole ton of fabrics to display the designer's point of view. The twist was that the contestants had to edit down to five fabrics. In the end, most of the designers edited down to two fabrics. They were given one day, which felt steep for day one.
Continue reading Review: Project Runway - Back to New York
Posted Dec 31st 2009 2:02PM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, The Amazing Race, American Idol, Survivor, Festivus, Project Runway, TV Squad Lists, So You Think You Can Dance, Top Chef
More of our best of the decade coverage, which started on Tuesday. You can read the other posts at the link above. Here, we talk about a major category that came of age in the aughts: Reality shows.
While I would never call myself a reality TV junkie, it really bugs me when people make blanket statements like, "I hate reality TV," or, "Reality TV is the bane of my existence." The genre has grown so much in the past decade that it has become just like scripted television, in that there's good and there's bad. Even though we're splitting this up into two lists, "Reality," and "Trashy Reality," you won't see a single show that starts with, "
Who Wants to Marry" on either list.
This list is dedicated not to the guilty pleasures, but to the shows that you wouldn't be embarrassed for your neighbors to know you watch: the
classy reality, if you will. So without further ado, here is TV Squad's list of the best reality shows of the decade.
Continue reading Best TV of the '00s: Reality Series
Posted Dec 20th 2009 3:08PM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, Survivor, Project Runway, Contestants, Celebreality, Top Chef
A year has passed and there has been a lot of best and worst lists here at
TV Squad. I know tons of reality television shows have grazed my TV so I've compiled a list of the best and worst reality shows of 2009.
Finding the best shows are easy, but it's hard to pare down the worst list. I define "worst" as shows that had potential and never did anything with it. While shows like
I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here and anything involving the words "
Real Housewives" aren't mentioned, they aren't the worst because they started at rock bottom and had nowhere to go. Several of the worst shows I've mentioned could just go through some tweaking and it could have been amazing.
Continue reading Best and Worst TV of 2009: Michael P.'s list
Posted Dec 11th 2009 1:01PM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: OpEd, Scrubs, How I Met Your Mother, Festivus, The Office, Project Runway, 30 Rock, Dexter, Reality-Free, The Big Bang Theory, Parks and Recreation, Glee, Community, Cougar Town, Modern Family, V
I finally, and with great difficulty got the tree up, I've somehow gotten roped into holding a cookie exchange at my house this weekend, and I have glitter in places where glitter should not be. What's that smell? It smells like Festivus to me. While the main thing I want this year is to just lie very, very still in a dark room for a week or so, this is a TV blog, so let's talk about what TV could do to make me happy!
- Stop with the long hiatuses already! I don't get to see a new episode of V until March, and I'm being forced into leading a Glee-less existence until April. Give it up already! If you have 3 months between new episodes, it's a new season, why not call it that? You know what I have been doing for the past 11 weeks? Watching the first 11 episodes of Dexter. This week, I will be watching episode 12, and then the season will be over. It's efficient and satisfying. The networks need to get on board.
Continue reading All Kona wants for Festivus
Posted Dec 10th 2009 4:33PM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, OpEd, The Amazing Race, Festivus, Project Runway
I could have sworn that I was trying to find a Halloween costume yesterday, but while I was digging I should have found my aluminum pole instead. It's Festivus again and I'm letting my wishes commence.
I know my tastes skew towards reality TV, but I've gotten some obscure wishes this year on how to improve my television experience.
- No more football overrunning The Amazing Race. If we know that an NFL game is stretched into three hours, why can't they start a half hour early and if they end on time have 30 minutes of post-show analysis and interviews? They could even dedicate 30 minutes to pre-game analysis. If you're investing three hours, you are willing to invest four.
Continue reading All Michael P. wants for Festivus
Posted Nov 20th 2009 4:42AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, Project Runway, Standout Episodes, Episode Reviews
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S06E14) It's finally the end of
Project Runway season six, and Carol Hannah, Althea, and Irina get to show off their looks. The three were evenly matched with a solid concept, good models, and similar makeup consultations. I've been disappointed with the way this season turned out after its long hiatus, and I'm hoping that next season's return to New York will be better.
In the end, I got the reunion show I was wondering about, in the form of
Models of the Runway. It was the weirdest use of
Project Runway's footage because the models didn't have any involvement in many of the videos.
Continue reading Review: Project Runway - Finale Part 2 (Season Finale)
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