Posted Sep 29th 2008 2:03PM by Kelly Woo
Filed under: Industry, Project Runway
Heidi and Tim, hold on before you pack your bags.
Variety reports that a judge has blocked
Project Runway's network move from Bravo to Lifetime, putting the sixth season's January debut in limbo. The fifth season is currently airing on Bravo.
To recap: Lifetime signed a five-year, $150 million deal to steal away the hit reality series with its production house, The Weinstein Company. NBC Universal (which owns Bravo) filed suit, claiming that it had the right to match any offer made by another network.
Continue reading Project Runway on Lifetime auf'd?
Posted Sep 21st 2008 10:06AM by Kelly Woo
Filed under: Celebrities, Project Runway, Casting
This season of
Project Runway lost some star power when Jennifer Lopez pulled out of judging the final runway shows due to a "foot injury" (which apparently didn't hamper her in a triathalon the next weekend).
But the reality show plans to make up for it.
Access Hollywood says that Lindsay Lohan will be the guest critic in the premiere of the sixth season, the first with
new producers and a new network in Lifetime.
Lohan's already in New York for her guest role on
Ugly Betty, and the cast can't believe the "mayhem" she incites everywhere she goes. Ana Ortiz told
ABC News Radio, "It really puts it into perspective the bubble that she has to live in ... people yelling at her and cussing at her. It's unbelievable."
Continue reading Lindsay Lohan brings mayhem to Betty, will guest judge Project Runway
Posted Sep 11th 2008 8:38PM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Programming, Celebrities, Project Runway, Pickups and Renewals
You know the old saying, "looking good is the best revenge?" Well, looking good on television is even better. To that end,
Nina Garcia, the acid-tongued Colombian judge on
Project Runway, is appearing on a new reality show.
Garcia will be starring on Style Network's new series, Running in Heels.
Heels follows the staff at women's magazine
Marie Claire, which Garcia joined a short while ago after leaving her long-time position at
Elle magazine.
Garcia's split from
Elle was allegedly not on the best terms, so it's probably extra sweet for her that
Running in Heels is a direct competitor to CW's
Stylista; a reality competition show taking place at, you guessed it --
Elle magazine.
Continue reading Nina Garcia is Running in Heels
Posted Sep 11th 2008 8:38AM by Annie Wu
Filed under: OpEd, Project Runway, Episode Reviews
(S05E09) My last review began oh-so bluntly with "I am so full of anger", which was a pretty good summation of the grumpiness that would follow. This episode triggered some very familiar feelings and, while some of you thought I was being a little too hard on the designers, especially Kenley, I can't see how anyone could wonder why after this episode. Don't get me wrong, I'm still a
Project Runway fan. If I only half-cared for it, the drop in quality of this show would not affect me quite as badly. But when a show I love so much and have constantly praised and confidently recommended takes such a sharp drop within one year, it's disappointing, to say the least.
As horrible as it sounds, I'm actually looking forward to the Lifetime move now,
despite my earlier worries, because at least
PR will be on a network that wants them around. The same can not be said for Bravo, which is currently treating
PR like it's the ex that still has to live in the apartment because they're legally obligated to finish paying half this year's rent.
Continue reading Project Runway: What's Your Sign?
Posted Sep 4th 2008 7:55AM by Annie Wu
Filed under: OpEd, Project Runway, Episode Reviews
(S05E08) I am so full of anger. And for that, I feel like I must apologize before jumping into my review, which will inevitably ooze frustration. This fury that has been building inside me throughout this season is about to set me alight. To put it bluntly, there is no one that I like in this pool of designers. There isn't even anyone that annoys me less than everybody else. However, I have been hanging on, because I love fashion and I love art and I kind of, sort of like seeing people getting chewed out on the runway. This episode nearly killed me, though, because nearly everyone was so blind to what was going on. Just about all of the designers are either too caught up on snarking behind each other's backs, complaining about nothing, or desperately trying to be a "character", and they've lost sight of their actual work.
Make me happy to be a
Project Runway viewer again, designers! Save me from this loathing!
Continue reading Project Runway: Double 0 Fashion
Posted Aug 28th 2008 8:22AM by Annie Wu
Filed under: OpEd, Project Runway, Episode Reviews
(S05E07) Wow, this season's designers are an emotional little bunch, aren't they? There's a lot of whining, a lot of complaining, a lot of talking behind each others' backs. These kids make me feel like I'm in high school all over again, except everyone is somehow even more poorly dressed and misinformed about aesthetics. The designers also seem increasingly insecure about their own work and this challenge did their fragile states no favors. Charged with the mission to grab materials from cars and make something wearable, you'd probably get a little grumpy too.
Continue reading Project Runway: Fashion that Drives You
Posted Aug 21st 2008 9:43AM by Annie Wu
Filed under: OpEd, Project Runway, Episode Reviews
(S05E06) Sadly enough, I think this was the first time I've had fun watching the fifth season. That's right: it took drag queens to get me excited about
Project Runway again. Actually, I think Bravo should dump all of those ridiculously uninteresting faux-
PR shows like
Shear Genius and
Top Design and make a spin-off all about designing stuff for drag queens and kings. It could be set in Baltimore's Hampden and be hosted by John Waters and/or RuPaul. That would be infinitely better than watching Jaclyn Smith make weak attempts at passing constructive criticism to beauty school drop-outs playing with safety scissors. Ahem. I'm sorry. Can you tell I'm not that fond of
Shear Genius?
Continue reading Project Runway: Good Queen Fun
Posted Aug 14th 2008 8:23AM by Annie Wu
Filed under: OpEd, Project Runway, Episode Reviews
(S05E05) In this episode, Brooke Shields stopped by to have the designers make something for her character to wear in the new season of
Lipstick Jungle. Two things surprised me. A)
Lipstick Jungle hasn't been canceled yet and B) Brooke Shields still looks fantastic. Maybe it's because I wasn't watching in HD, but still.
For the first time this season, the designers were broken into teams for the challenge. Last season, it seemed like the majority of the season consisted of team challenges, so I was surprised that it took five episodes before they got around to it for this group. I guess I was surprised by a lot of things in this episode.
Continue reading Project Runway: Welcome to the Jungle
Posted Aug 7th 2008 8:42AM by Annie Wu
Filed under: OpEd, Project Runway, Episode Reviews
(S05E04) Ladies and gentlemen, I think we have witnessed the beginnings of a new low in
Project Runway. I don't recall ever seeing a group of designers so completely miss the mark in a challenge. Most of the outfits weren't atrocious as straight-up garments, but in the context of the challenge, all of them were terrible in one way or another.
I think my horror is fully justified, as this is the first challenge in which a freakin' skort was in the top three. A skort. The very thought of a skort makes me want to set a Limited Too alight, so imagine the severe trauma that ensued after I ever-so briefly entertained the idea of America's top athletes representing the country in front of the rest of the world... wearing freakin' skorts. I have a mess to clean up.
Continue reading Project Runway: Rings of Glory
Posted Jul 31st 2008 9:02AM by Annie Wu
Filed under: OpEd, Project Runway, Episode Reviews
(S05E03) Question: What were the judges smoking in this episode? More specifically, were they smoking one of the hideous creations from this challenge?
This challenge was pretty straightforward, as the designers were dropped off at different locations in a rainy New York City and told to pull inspiration from their surroundings. NYC streets at night are rough and sleek and bright and dark, all at the same time. But looking at this episode's outfits, you'd never know. In fact, you'd probably be too scared to step foot in the Big Apple ever again, for fear of being mauled by psychedelic, leggy, cha-cha-ing monsters.
Continue reading Project Runway: Bright Lights/Big City
Posted Jul 31st 2008 8:03AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Celebrities, Project Runway
You knew when the Harvey Weinstein/NBC Universal case came to court over
Project Runway that things were going to get testy. But the information that came out today -- that
Tim Gunn wasn't paid a cent for the first season of Project Runway -- was a stunner. Testifying in New York State Supreme Court yesterday, executive producer Harvey Weinstein said that Tim Gunn received no salary in season one, and only $2,500 per episode in season two.
The whole reason for the court proceedings involves
Project Runway running away from Bravo to Lifetime. The Weinstein Company wanted more money for the program -- one of Bravo's biggest hits -- and found Lifetime ready to pay big bucks.
Emblematic of this fight over money is the fact that Bravo, apparently, didn't think to reward Tim Gunn for his efforts in making the show a hit by giving him something after season one, and more than a token amount (in show biz money) in season two. Tim wasn't the only one who looked in vain for something from Bravo; Heidi Klum received flowers, but nothing more substantive.
Continue reading How Tim Gunn made it work despite the skinflints at Bravo
Posted Jul 28th 2008 8:21AM by Brett Love
Filed under: American Idol, Survivor, Celebrities, Project Runway, Dancing With The Stars, Awards, Emmys
Indeed she will, but she'll have some help. In a change born of trying to keep current with the state of television today, the Emmys will be hosted by the five nominees in the Reality TV Host category. Klum will share hosting duties with Ryan Seacrest, Jeff Probst, Howie Mandel, and (the man that should win it all) Tom Bergeron.
It's a great idea. The standard formula of these shows is something just asking to be shaken up. Klum is probably the biggest question mark here, for the simple fact that she has Tim Gunn to handle much of the unscripted action. I'll be curious to see how she handles the role, and I'm confident that the rest of the nominees will be just fine. The linked article also has a great stat. The average audience of the five nominated shows has been as high as 70 million. Jiminy. The broadcast takes place Sept. 21st, on ABC.
Posted Jul 25th 2008 1:17PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: OpEd, Celebrities, Project Runway, Episode Reviews
(S05E02) First of all, I thought last week lacked a fancy new intro because the episode was packed the rafters with new season goodness. However, since we got nothing again, I suppose this was just another instance of Bravo not caring enough to give the show the love it deserved.
Secondly, I have decided that I don't have a favorite this season, just some people that annoy me less than others. Everyone is so self-conscious this time around. I pray that Blayne leaves the show soon, just so this "-licious" craze he is attempting to jump-start will die a quick death. Plus, I'm tired of adjusting my display to make sense of his tan.
Continue reading Project Runway: Grass is Always Greener
Posted Jul 22nd 2008 1:20PM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, The Amazing Race, Survivor, Celebrities, Project Runway, Dancing With The Stars, Hell's Kitchen
Everybody who watches reality shows, especially reality competition shows, does it: you wonder how well you would fare if put in the same situation. I really don't have the talent to be on a
Project Runway-type show, or the ability to eat gross crap that you need to make it on
Survivor, but I think I could hang on
The Amazing Race for a while. I don't think I'd win or anything, because I would definitely be the one who constantly has meltdowns over obstinate camels and whatnot, but I don't think I'd be eliminated first, either. I can't cook much more than pasta, but I'm also pretty sure that if I were on
Hell's Kitchen, at the very least,
I wouldn't make Gordon Ramsay vomit like Matt did.
AOL asked a bunch of celebrities what reality shows they would tackle if given the chance. While most of the answers sounded more like desperate pleas for a job, others were annoying and some were just kind of hilariously misguided. Check out some of the answers after the jump.
Continue reading Which star wants to be the next Survivor?
Posted Jul 22nd 2008 9:03AM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: Celebrities, Project Runway
Last season's
Project Runway winner,
Christian Siriano, has snagged himself a Hollywood job. The 22-year-old designer who has the dubious distinction of introducing the phrase "hot tranny mess" into the popular lexicon, is designing a collection that will be showcased in the upcoming film,
Eloise in Paris.
Siriano is excited to be featured in the movie, saying, "It is a dream to work with legends such as [director] Charles Shyer, Uma Thurman and [costume designer] Milena Canonero on a wonderful story filled with creative inspirations." One of the film's major scenes takes place at Paris Fashion week, and it will be Siriano's creations that the models will be wearing as they strut down the catwalk.
While having a collection in a movie-version of Paris fashion week isn't quite as prestigious as having a collection in
real Paris fashion week, the young Siriano is off to a good start. After all, he could have been designing clothes for the
Bratz movie,
like a certain other Runway winner.
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