story from entertainment weekly, sorry if its been posted before!
Sew Addictive
Chic and creative challenges, kooky but talented contestants, and a secret weapon named Tim Gunn help ''Project Runway'' turn haute couture into addictive TV by Missy Schwartz
Nina Garcia was just settling into her seat on a flight from Rome, eager to take a nap, when the teenage girl sitting next to her recognized her as the tough-to-please judge from Project Runway. ''I was like, 'I need to rest!''' recalls Garcia, who spends her days working as Elle magazine's fashion director. ''She just wanted to talk for eight hours about Project Runway!''
So, it seems, does anybody else who's gotten hooked on Bravo's behind-the-seams reality series (airing Wednesdays at 10 p.m.). A competition that follows 15 budding designers as they spin sartorial gold out of everything from luxurious silk to recycled plastic, Runway has blossomed into an undeniable hit. After scoring its second consecutive Emmy nomination for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program, the show nabbed its best-ever ratings on Aug. 2, when 3.4 million viewers made it the most-watched broadcast in Bravo's history. ''It's exciting to create something that people actually enjoy,'' says exec producer and host Heidi Klum. Couch potatoes who never gave a hoot about hemlines and bias cuts are tuning in obsessively. And ''the celebrities who watch...,'' marvels judge Michael Kors. ''Marc Anthony was telling me that he and Jennifer Lopez love the show. I said, 'So Jennifer loves the show?' He said, 'No, we both love the show!'''
When two of the world's biggest stars are in a frenzy about a reality series, something is up. We think we've figured it out: Here are five reasons why we, like Garcia's chatty seatmate, can't get enough of Project Runway.
1. It never should have worked in the first place. Let's be honest: A reality show featuring unknown designers toiling at sewing machines doesn't exactly scream exciting on paper. But that's the genius of Project Runway, which has transformed the hokey stitch-and-b*tch trend into sexy drama. ''It's the democratization of fashion,'' says Garcia. ''It's the H&M's, the Targets, Project The Devil Wears Prada. The timing could not be better. Designers have become like rock stars.'' And that's just what exec producer Harvey Weinstein was banking on when he pitched the idea in 2003 as ''the sister to Project Greenlight,'' his critically acclaimed let's-make-a-movie reality series. ''People are fascinated with the creative process — especially how clothes are made,'' Weinstein says. ''I thought this could be great.''
Bravo went for it — on one condition. Runway could never devolve into ''people in black, talking about designing a gown with, you know, a birdcage and a clock woven into someone's Marie Antoinette wig,'' recalls Bravo president Lauren Zalaznick. She got her way, but there was still the matter of making that whole sewing thing riveting. Which brings us to...
2. It features the smartest, most creative challenges on TV. Fashion? Flighty? Not here. Each week, the Runway hopefuls tackle tasks that are innovative mind-benders. The producers — with input from Klum and the designers' dapper mentor, Tim Gunn (see No. 5) — dream up one- and two-day tasks that truly test contestants' artistic vision and practical skills. No matter what, they must always result in real, wearable clothing. ''We trick them with little twists so they get all discombobulated,'' says Klum giddily. Like making the designers create an outfit for each other's moms or sisters, or depriving them of actual fabric: Witness the season 3 premiere, when they busted up their apartments for materials, and an Aug. 16 trip to a New Jersey recycling plant, where they searched for usable components. Gunn, chair of fashion design at Manhattan's Parsons The New School for Design, is all for the thornier challenges. ''Something that really causes them to scratch their heads — that's when they surprise even themselves.''
3. The judges reward actual talent. Like most reality shows, Runway boasts its share of off-the-wall characters. Unlike most, it can truthfully call itself a meritocracy. Quips season 3 tattoo boy Jeffrey Sebelia, ''We're not eating cow's balls or having to survive in the jungle with one book of matches and a bottle of water.''
But how exactly does the judging work? Here's the rundown: Just as they would at a Dior show in Paris, the Runway judges (Garcia, Kors, Klum, and a rotating guest like Diane von Furstenberg) scribble down their opinions as each outfit hits the catwalk. ''I write my gut reaction — 'chic and simple,' 'wacky and kooky' — whatever it might be,'' says Kors. They then rate the designs on a 1-to-5 scale before handing their notes to the producers, who tally up the numerical scores. After a lengthy deliberation that takes into consideration such factors as past performance — and that can sometimes last up to four hours — the judges anoint a winner and a loser.
But hang on — what's the deal with that tantalizing end-of-show disclaimer: ''The judges considered both their scores and input from the Producers and Bravo in reaching their elimination decisions''? And isn't it sketchy that the judges don't even tally their own scores? Bravo senior VP of programming and production Andy Cohen says it's never a question of hanging on to a contestant for the sake of good TV. ''Last season, I got a ton of e-mails accusing us of keeping Santino [Rice] because of his personality,'' Cohen says. ''I'm sensitive to those accusations, but it's fashion. And fashion is incredibly subjective.'' Besides, argues Garcia, if the producers tried to interfere, ''there would be mutiny!'
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4. The contestants aren't pathetic, fame-seeking narcissists. Not all of them, anyway. According to Robert Best (a.k.a. the recently ousted Barbie designer), the grueling schedule weeds out those seeking a quick brush with pseudo-stardom. ''You're sleep-deprived and woken up at impossible hours,'' he says. ''You're not going to be like, 'Oooh, I'm here for the ride!''' And the working conditions are far from glamorous, explains redheaded ballbuster Laura Bennett, who was three months pregnant with her sixth child during the May-June shoot. ''You can't put the air-conditioning on [in the sewing room] because it messes with the sound. It's brutal. You can't be a ninny.''
Ah, but you sure can be nutty. Season 1's Wendy Pepper proudly backstabbed her rivals, and this go-round, we've suffered Vincent Libretti, who turned a basket into a hideous chapeau and later clashed with polarizing, rosette-obsessed designer Angela Keslar. ''I look like a horrible b*tch,'' sighs Keslar, ''but I'm just very strong-willed.'' Gunn says it's all par for the couture course. ''Creative people have bigger-than-life egos,'' he explains with a laugh. ''And some tame those egos better than others.''
5. Tim Gunn makes it work. Blunt but kind, suave and witty, Gunn is Runway's secret weapon — a breakout star who's also the most lovable mentor this side of Mr. Miyagi. ''Tim is a gentle, real person. He's like a father figure,'' says front-runner Michael Knight. On hand to help each contestant, the 53-year-old never holds back an opinion. ''I thought I'd be so scared of him,'' recalls pageant gown master Kayne Gillaspie. ''You saw the very first episode — Tim was like, 'We love you, but we hate your clothes.''' Still, notes Bennett, Gunn ''is good at not vomiting when you can tell he wants to. I should probably take a lesson from him.'' Why have all the Runway copycats failed? Because none of them — not CBS' Tommy Hilfiger–led The Cut, not WE's Style Me With Rachel Hunter — had Gunn power. ''I'm having a blast,'' says Gunn, whose hilarious tell-all podcasts on Bravotv.com are averaging almost 60,000 downloads weekly. ''I'm enjoying this now because it could go away as abruptly as it came.''
True, but given the rising ratings, Bravo probably won't be air-kissing its biggest hit goodbye anytime soon. The current season wraps in October, and Gunn says there's no limit to how long the series could run. ''I have 550 students in my department at Parsons,'' he adds slyly. Which, by our count, means fans are covered for at least the next 36 seasons.