Thursday, September 3, 2009

Alert Stephen Colbert, Because I'm Putting Lifetime on Notice!!!

I seem to be having some TiVo management issues lately, and on Monday I realized that for the second time, the second episode of Runway had gotten deleted. No prob, I'll just pick up the next showing, I thought...wait a MINUTE! Excuse me! The second episode was not on again this week until THURSDAY NIGHT?! Hello, Lifetime, if you really want to have this show, you will have to realize that one has to watch each episode several times, or if you miss it the first time, be able to catch it before the next new episode. Hmm, does Lifetime have some kind of satellite Lifetime 2 channel that might have it? This is beyond frustrating, people!

So, it seems like the approach for the first two shows is to eliminate the crazy designers first. Well, for the first episode, I was kind of routing for the Georgia guy not to lose...I didn't want to see another Southerner get the boot after the first challenge (like the girl from Alabama who didn't know what auf Wiedersehen meant, geez). As I was starting to watch the first episode for the second time, though, I wished that Ari hadn't gotten cut first. At least...until I got a little ways in with Ari chirping "hello garment what do you want to be?" Then the outfits to wear in a tent with water purification systems. I don't understand what that is about. Uh, no. Got to go! Well, she was cute and had cute little colorful outfits and would have been worth some on-air zaniness for the producers to milk. But no, dispatched efficiently.

The whole "my model was too big" thing with Georgia guy (I'm not going to bother learning names for some of these guys until I know they are staying, lol!) was a bit irksome. It occurred to me at the time that a truly savvy person would have at least stressed how great and gorgeous the model was while making the excuse of having received the wrong measurements. Not gallant or chivalrous at all for a Southern boy. Stu-pid! And Heidi was absolutely right, you would never just take some measurements as gospel and make a tiny garment, you would allow for adjustments once you had the fitting with the model. Duh! This girl walked naked for you on the runway, and when you didn't choose her again you even made another comment about the model problem.

So, here is the starting line-up and my thoughts and predictions, based on having seen the first episode fairly thoroughly and the second episode just once (yes, I'm glaring at you, Lifetime!)

The Losers

1. Ari - gone. I kind of liked her geodesic dome idea with the hood, although it was crappily made and not relevant to a challenge about creating a red carpet look. And if the only goal in doing the challenge was to be true to yourself, then why bother even trying to get on the show? The point is to compete, or at least try to meet the actual challenge. She was a good sport about losing, though. Godspeed, Ari.

2. Mitchell - okay, I remember his name. What was that weird thing he was making, anyway? A Victorian smocked rainbow thing? This garment did not bear much of a resemblance to a red carpet look, although it was decidedly interesting. And come on, Nina, after seeing this weird see-through thang....you wanted to see what else he could do? What?!

I enjoyed Heidi's strong rebuke of him as he scraped by again, when egg-guy got the boot...

3. - Surprisingly, I hadn't started hating Malvern ETA: (OOPS! Malvin), with his "Oh I don't want to deprive anyone of my design" (Oh thank heavens!), and there just isn't any "Vocab" for his designs yet. His first design, in spite of the lack of words invented to describe it, was actually pretty nice, from what I saw of it. I think that first piece was why I didn't expect him to leave the second episode. But a crazy literal interpretation of an egg and chicken thing...uh, okay, Malvin, honey, think about it. Why would a gorgeous model who wants something fashionable to wear while pregnant want something with "chicken thighs?!"

This is a competition, people! You are given a brief, you are not just there to do whatever the hell you want.

4. Qristal ETA: (OOPS! Well, I got the Q spelling right of Qrystle) - she's definitely nice and unassuming. "Plus sexy" instead of plus size, cute! The first gown, though...um, nice design, love the purple, but that multicolor situation on the front: not so much, girl! I don't quite know yet where she is going to go, but I'm not sure she is belonging?

Don't Know Yet:

5. Epperson - his first piece was rather dramatic and showy. Very interesting potential. What I remember of his pregnancy challenge outfit was fugliness, though...

6. Pretentious straight-haired boy (ETA: oops, Nicholas) - "I made a gown for Mar-CHESA!" Well, he does sound like he has an interesting resume. Um, what is his name? So, I am interested to see what he will do on the show. But I don't remember what he did the second show. Grr.

7. Marina? Minna? ETA: (OOPS! Irina) - I liked her instantly because she designs and makes handbags. I hated her instantly because she carries a little dog around in them. And it looks like a poodle. Just kidding! Sort of. Her first gown was okay. Slinky.

8. Logan - Is he the self-proclaimed-every-chance-he-gets straight guy??
Is "If the limo breaks down I'll pop the hood myself" code for that or something?

9. Goga Lady - The lady from Croatia with the shop in Charleston. She is likable, but I don't remember now what she designed.

The Contenders

10. Shirin - Her designs caught my eye during her intro on the first episode. I love the idea of convertibility (when it is not stupid) in clothing. I liked her first challenge dress, but wasn't sure it was a red carpet situation. I did think she deserved the win for the second challenge. She seems strong.

11. Louise Black - the one from Texas, with the bob and who likes vintage. I've seen her somewhere before. Not literally, but she is a certain stereotype. I'm interested to see what she will do to follow up her decent pregnancy challenge lingerie-dress thingie.

12. Pixie-girl (ETA: Carol Hannah). Shoot, I don't remember her name. But I thought her fairy dresses looked cute. As a Southerner, she seems like she is not a dumbass, and that she has a reason to be there. I'm looking at you, Mitchell, and the aforementioned Alabama girl from the earlier season.

13. The guy who won the first episode. The one who is making a theme out of the "I didn't have formal training but I deserve to be here." At least when he and the Croatian lady were discussing not having training while they were in the workroom, they sounded genuine and not whiny or bitchy or chip-on-the-shouldery about it. I liked his dress from the first challenge, and I hope he feels validated and will get down to it and do some good stuff.

14. They guy with the bowling ball dress. Geez, I really need to look up the names. His first dress was great. I was worried, though, when they told him not to be afraid to make it edgy. You can't go into the second challenge thinking, okay, got to make it edgy, etc. Try to do as well as you did in the first challenge so your a$ will stay on the show!!

Which brings me back to Mitchell: telling the guy the dress looks like a bowling ball, prompting complete meltdown, then "Oh it doesn't look bad from here!" Um, stop doing fugly work and then you can pull the passive-aggressive "reassuring" thing.

I don't remember who else is no this show, and I will tune in tonight and find out!! (ETA: oops, sorry Althea and crystal meth guy!). And, I will get my TiVo act together so I can blog Project Runway. I also need to catch up by reading my favorite re-cappers and following the unparalled "Blogging Project Runway." (The only recap I read was Jay McCarroll on the first episode....the Ari being a Sam Ronson lookalike comment, and that should have made Lindsey Lohan like her better, was hilarious!) I generally like to watch the episodes and get my own feel for things, first, though.

That's right. Lifetime: you're on notice!!!

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