Rock the Cradle

My Thursday night guilty pleasure is MTV's "Rock the Cradle." Their irresistable premise: Take singing superstars like Bobby Brown, MC Hammer, and Eddie Money and pit their offspring against one another in a performing competition.

We're an audience that spent the last seven years watching "American Idol" and absorbing what makes a talent show works. Here's a new twist to a singing contest. Doesn't each generation want to outdo the generation that came before?

The ones with the least talent are sent packing pronto. Two were let go tonight -- Lil B. Sure, son of Al B. Sure, and Landon Brown, son of Bobby Brown. Both were good-looking guys, but they just didn't inherit that singing gene, unfortunately.

The judges call a spade a spade. "You don't have the star quality," "You still seem very awkward to me" and "That was painful!" are actual quotes. And the judges say this to their faces even with the hopeful's superstar parent in the audience.


In "Rock the Cradle," audience voting that makes sense! The contestant with the highest judges' scores has immunity. The audience votes for everyone else and the one with the lowest scores is eliminated. Tonight I'm voting for my two favorites:

Early frontrunner (and I predict runaway winner) is Jesse Blaze Snider (pictured above), son of Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider. I saw Dee Snider on MTV Cribs years ago and he was intelligent, likable, and obviously loved his family immensely. He's a savvy performer who raised his son to be just like him. Jesse Blaze is a 100% entertainer with star potential.

My other favorite is dark horse Olivia Newton-John's daughter, Chloe Lattanzi (above). She's unique, an artist, and will have a career despite what anyone says.

The remaining contenders include Crosby Loggins, the spitting image of his dad, Kenny Loggins. Crosby has his fans, but for me he (as Jesse Blaze puts it) "rocks the cradle to sleep."

Jon and Kate Plus 8

I've been catching TLC's late night reruns of "Jon and Kate Plus 8". The series chronicles the hectic lives of a Pennsylvanian married couple who have twin girls AND a set of sextuplets (three boys, three girls). That's a lot of people in one room.

The first time I saw Jon and Kate Gosselin and their large family was in an hour-long documentary shot after they had the sextuplets. One of the main plotlines of that show was Kate receiving a free tummy tuck from a plastic surgeon and getting a makeover. As a series, the show is now more "slick." The show's open, bumps, and teases are heavily produced. Each episode tallies with on-screen graphics how much the family requires, for example, to take a trip or for a week's meals.

There are a couple of seasons of the series already on the air. The twins are 6 or 7 years old and the sextuplets are 2 or 3 years old. Episodes depict very ordinary family events that are huge challenges for Jon and Kate. Hosting a birthday party for the six young ones, taking a couple of the kids to the eye doctor, shopping for Christmas presents, buying groceries to feed a family of 10 for the week.

Honestly, the show is compelling. Watching Jon or Kate prepare eight plates of food as the children sit around a long dining table, or maneuver in the kitchen with three or four young ones underfoot is something to see. The kids are normal and well-behaved -- by this I mean they're NOT setting the house on fire or maiming one another -- but they're still kids. Someone will be crying, another will be shouting, all will be in motion at the same time.

As parents, Jon and Kate perform some really remarkably kind and loving gestures. At the sextuplets' birthday party, each of the six younger children was serenaded by "Happy Birthday to You." It meant doing it six times, but each kid felt special on a day that IS special even if it is shared with siblings.

In one memorable episode, Jon and Kate dared to bring all eight kids to Toys R Us to help the kids buy Christmas presents for one another. At one point Kate wanted Jon to distract half of the kids while she attempted to make a purchase. When she needed help, she yelled to her husband in the store using words like, "Hello! Stop playing with those toys and help me here!" Later in the parking lot, Jon, with his back to the camera and his voice low but still captured on the wireless mike, complained to Kate that her yelling at him made him feel like a dog.

It is not, by the way, the only episode where Kate bosses her husband around.

Lately I've been watching newer episodes that seem rather contrived. In one episode, the entire brood went shopping for new beds. In the chaos that ensued with eight restless kids in a store (one of the kids was constipated and crying), Jon said more than once that they should've left the children at home. Another episode had the whole clan on a road trip to Disneyworld. Most parents I know would not brave shopping expeditions and extended road trips with two young children, much less six three-year-olds and two six-year-olds. The Disneyworld episode was flat out product placement.

These outrageous outings strike me as scripted or this show's version of introducing conflict. In the last episode I saw, Jon and Kate flew to Utah for a ski vacation with all the kids and two grown-up friends to assist. The trip and new ski jackets for everyone were donated by some company (whose name I did not note). The flight was diverted due to bad weather and the family spent several additional hours trapped on the plane.

Allowing a documentary crew to follow your unusual family for one or two specials is reasonable. But have Jon and Kate really considered what it means to their young children to grow up in front of reality TV cameras? The Olsen Twins grew up while making television, yes, but re-runs of "Full House" show them delivering their lines, not throwing a tantrum like Mady Gosselin did when she wasn't allowed to wear her flip flops on a trip. Will Mady live that down as she enters puberty a mere five years from now?

I'm not sure I can fault the Gosselins for choosing to do a reality show whether its to share their knowledge of raising multiples with other parents, or to make some coin to raise such a large family. But maybe the best thing for me to do is simply turn away and give them the privacy that all families need.

The Wire: Predictions

Three days to go before the series finale of The Wire and a co-worker (the one who loaned me Seasons 1-3 on DVD) challenges me to come up with at least three predictions. Come Monday we'll see who got what right. I'm no Dennis Lehane, so here are my predictions guesses.

The Red Ribbon Serial Killer
Greggs spills all to Daniels. Recall Season 1, when Prez blinded a kid in one eye during a misguided visit to the Projects, Daniels coached him, Herc, and Carver on what to say to IID. Daniels would also know what to do in this situation. McNulty plants evidence that would allow the Baltimore PD to conclude that the Red Ribbon killer is no longer a threat. Daniels informs Carcetti that McNulty is responsible for the successful $16M drug bust. He brokers a deal so that McNulty will be forced into a quiet retirement. McNulty gets drunk one last time and hangs himself. Following tradition, there's a wake for McNulty in the Irish bar.

The Sun
Fletcher finishes a lengthy, compelling piece on Bubbles. Gus arranges to have it run in a three-part series on the front pages of the Sun. Meanwhile, the London reporter goes through Templeton's bylined stories with fresh eyes. He confirms what Gus suspects: that quotes and characters were fabricated. But Templeton's stories on the homeless are nominated for a Pulitzer. Gus presents the tape recording of the Iraq vet to Whiting who, at this point, doesn't care. Gus quits on the spot. As he leaves the newsroom, he glares at Templeton. Klebanow, the managing editor, kills the story on Bubbles as a favor to Whiting.

Vendettas
Levy deduces that Herc fed Marlo's cell number to the police. He shares this theory with Marlo who orders a hit on Herc. Michael is given the responsibility. Michael's told that if he kills Herc, Marlo will not avenge Snoop's murder. Herc is gunned down.

Miscellaneous
Carcetti becomes more and more skilled at politicking and secures his destiny as the next governor of Maryland... Marla bitterly watches the ceremony where her ex-husband Daniels is named Police Commissioner with Rhonnie at his side... Chris Partlow cuts a deal and confesses about the vacant housing murders. Bunk gets the credit for closing these cases... Rawls gets a boyfriend...

In a world where Burrell can get a higher-paying job and Clay Davis can get acquitted, somehow Levy will get a new and wealthier drug dealer client to represent and The Greek will find another drug boss to buy his imports...

My wildest guess that I don't want to see:
Rhonnie prosecutes the case against Marlo, Monk, Cheese, et al with Judge Phelan presiding. The "source of information" isn't enough and the case is thrown out. In little time, Marlo is back on the streets and the drug trade continues.

Project Runway 4 - Christian wins!

Just before Heidi announced the winner of Project Runway Season 4, Christian Siriano's eyes were spilling tears. After watching him all season carry himself with a charming brand of arrogance, I was surprised to see him vulnerable. Christian, at 21 the youngest Project Runway contestant, was up against Rami ("I'm passionate about draping") Kashou and I thought the judges were going to disappoint me for the third season in a row by giving the prize to the more established designer. "Christian," Heidi said, "you're the winner." Cheers, applause, and cries of joy broke out at my house.

Throughout the season Christian's excessive self-confidence rubbed more than one fellow designer the wrong way. Even I was put off by it in the early episodes. But he was fun and funny, and incredibly talented. A caliber of talent that warranted forgiveness for his attitude. Christian commanded a little more than his fair share of screen time. His signature adjective -- "Fierce!" -- became such a catchphrase that to hear anyone else use it, including Heidi and Tim Gunn, made it sound overused coming from their lips.

This is how self-assured Christian is:

When Tim Gunn visited Christian to check on how his collection was progressing, Christian took a pair of pants made of feathers off the rack. Tim Gunn, brow furrowed, said nothing as he looked at the feathers. Christian declared the pants "amazing." Tim Gunn still didn't reply. Christian said, "What's wrong (beat) with you?"

Notice he didn't say, What's wrong with the amazing pants I made? He said instead, What's wrong with you, Tim Gunn, for not seeing how amazing these pants are?

And that's how cocky Christian is, this petite guy who'll get to vote for President for the first time in his life this year.

He wanted to win so badly he was crying on the runway. I wanted him to win. Fifty percent of the audience who texted their vote wanted him to win. And there is justice on Project Runway because Christian Siriano is the winner!

The Wire: Nice little moments

The payoff watching five seasons of The Wire isn't solely in seeing this Sunday's anticipated series finale. The payoffs were aplenty and they came in those nice little moments sprinkled throughout the show.

Some of my favorites:

• Det. Jimmy McNulty puts on his best British accent to go undercover and bust a white slavery ring. For me the best part was not seeing McNulty get it on with two Eastern European call girls, but seeing Dominic West turn off his American accent and use his own natural English accent.

• Two words: Fuzzy Dunlop.
  
• Back in Season 1, when we all thought Lester Freamon was a dork who made doll furniture, back before we realized how cool he was, there was this one scene when he brings Shardene back to the basement office and closes the door from the envious eyes of the other police.
• Bunk drunkenly explaining that he tried to burn his clothes because he'd slept with a woman who was not his wife and he was trying to get rid of all the trace evidence.
• Pearlman and Daniels having a cozy moment in their bed at the end of the day. Both of them sitting up and reading, talking and laughing. I was skeptical when the storyline of the two as lovers was introduced. I couldn't see the chemistry, couldn't get the attraction. But over time, as with many other storylines in The Wire, the arc worked.

• Stringer Bell holding a meeting with his drug crew and enforcing Robert's Rules of Orders. Poot pisses off Stringer, who charges from behind a podium to yell into Poot's face, while someone else says, "He had the floor!" Probably my favorite scene of all.
• The first time New Hamsterdam came to life. Colvin first had the dealers go there, but there were no customers. So then the customers were routed to New Hamsterdam!
• The ever changing names of the drugs depending on current events or time of year. A couple of memorable ones for me were "WMD" and "Mistletoe" (the latter during Christmas).
• Any shot of the outdoor sign of a hotel that said, "Welcome New Day Co-op."
• Bodie spitting as excellently as a Major League Baseball player.

• Omar going out in his pajamas to buy Honey Nut Cheerios. He pauses to light a cigarette and someone from a second story window drops their stash to him and it lands near his feet. My second favorite scene of all.
• Freamon telling Daniels they can arrest Marlo Stanfield and Bunk has DNA tying Chris Partlow to one of the vacant murders. Daniels's face trying to comprehend all the information he's receiving. I shed a tear of joy.
• A glimpse of Rawls at a gay bar.
• Cutty's womanizing explained away at least twice with the phrasing, "I was locked up for a looooong time..."
• Speaking of Cutty, how he asked Avon Barksdale for money to open a boxing gym for youths. Barksdale asked how much he needed. When Cutty hesitantly said, "Ten thousand dollars," Barksdale laughed and upped it to 15.
• Clay Davis's "Sheeeeeeeeeee-it."

The list goes on...

The Wire: What happens to McNulty?

When McNulty hatched his plan to fabricate a serial killer in Baltimore on The Wire, I nearly lost faith in the critically acclaimed HBO series. The plot was so far-fetched, so absurd, so bizarre that it didn't appear to belong in The Wire universe.

The Wire creator David Simon has said that the McNulty's Red Ribbon plot is no more implausible than Colvin's New Hamsterdam scheme from Season 4. I'm sorry, Mr. Simon, you're brilliant for creating the best TV series I've ever watched, but I don't agree. The New Hamsterdam storyline was meaningful and provocative; it's the stuff of a national debate if only more people actually watched this show.

But now that McNulty has accomplished what he and Freamon had hoped for, and now that Greggs is ratting them out to Daniels, what will happen to McNulty?

Some of my wild McNulty theories:
a. He's killed in an angry mob, his body torn limb from limb.
b. He's threatened with jail (and beatings and rape, etc.) and must cooperate with the police and the mayor. Some already dead homeless guy is pinned as the killer, ending the investigation, and Carcetti and the brass can claim all the glory for saving Baltimore. McNulty goes quietly into a forced retirement.
c. He's executed by the mayor's office and his body is staged as a suicide complete with a planted note confessing that he's the Red Ribbon Killer.

David Simon and George Pelecanos are professional storytellers. They have only one more episode to wrap everything up, particularly this McNulty mess. I certainly hope they don't let me down.

Getting down to The Wire

This TV blog wouldn't be complete without some posts about the acclaimed police drama, HBO's The Wire, the best show on television.

Yes, though I'm the Project Runway correspondent for Juls, I also spend an hour each week watching The Wire, David Simon's analysis of the crumbling of the American city by taking an unflinching yet empathetic look at Baltimore institutions -- its police, working class, politicians, drug trade, school system, and media.

Correction, I watched an hour of The Wire each week only for the last four weeks. I'm a latecomer to Wire fandom and I spent most of January 2008 catching up with the show. I watched about four to five episodes (about half a series) per sitting till I was in sync with HBO's schedule of the current season, its fifth and last.

The biggest buzz on The Wire this week is the anticipation of the series finale this Sunday, March 9. HBO usually releases the new episode a week in advance by making it available to Comcast On Demand customers on Mondays.

But not with the series finale.

Episode #60 of The Wire will be withheld from Comcast On Demand. The audience has to watch it - gasp! - the old-fashioned way, by tuning in to the broadcast. You know, the way television has worked since its inception in the 20th century.

I guess too many people complained about spoilers coming from gloating Comcast On Demand subscribers.

I watched the penultimate episode again tonight. (Again, I say, because I saw it On Demand last Monday of course.) I'm all worked up and I can barely wait till next Sunday when we all get to see how it ends.

Project Runway 4 - Rami vs. Chris

I love the season's penultimate Project Runway episode for one primary reason: Tim Gunn visits each designer in their home environment and meets their families. Reality television does the meet-the-family gimmick well when it's down to the finalists and Project Runway has been touching and surprising in the past. (Another reality show that does this well is American Idol.)

This season around, Tim Gunn doesn't travel all that much. It's three stops in New York and one cross-country trip to L.A. The rundown:

Christian in NYC
Inspiration: romantic gothic look
Tim's comment: "It's a lot of look." Needs editing eye.
Family time: We don't get to meet Christian's family. Instead Christian points to photos of his sister, his parents. There's no explanation for this and this makes the segment disappointing. I disliked Christian at first, but he grew on me. Apparently I wasn't the only one because at last week's reunion episode, Christian won the $10,000 cash prize for being voted the Fan Favorite. But couldn't he get a posse together to introduce to Tim Gunn? Doesn't Christian have any friends?

Jillian in NYC
Inspiration: continuing with the museum idea by using 15th century armor, etc. for inspiration
Tim's comment: "Your palette is a cloudy day."
Family time: Tim Gunn is invited to the Long Island home where Jillian grew up. We meet her boyfriend, her mom and sisters; they are all good-looking. A sharp contrast to the disheveled man in a trucker cap and unkempt facial hair. It's not clear if this is Jillian's father or stepfather, but it's delightful to see that they've all rallied around Jillian with pride.

Rami in L.A.
Inspiration: Joan of Arc
Tim's comment: "Pull it back a bit." The heavy clothing looks put together with hammer and nails.
Family time: Rami introduces Tim to his best friends, an attractive young couple. Rami told a story about growing up with the compulsion to keep his designing talent a secret because he was in an Arabic culture and because it wasn't masculine, etc. But his brother, father, and stepmother supported him. "They've always known this is what I wanted to do."

Chris March in NYC
Inspiration: beauty with a quirk - 95% fashion and 5% costume
Tim's comment: Human hair doesn't work. "You've been living in the monkey house."
Family time: Chris takes Tim Gunn to a friend's home that is decorated in opulent Rococo and Baroque style where his "New York family" of friends have gathered. He mentions that his four brothers have relegated each of his achievements as yet "another thing Chris is doing." This includes dressing in drag, having a career in costume design, and getting on television via Project Runway. Chris didn't speak of any pride or support from his family. It struck me as sad.

In this season's gimmick of having a run-off between two designers for the chance to show at Fashion Week, Rami and Chris present their three strongest looks. All Rami had to do was make something that didn't look like a Grecian goddess. Chris created innovative designs, but the use of human hair made every judge cringe. Chris is out.


I preferred Chris's designs over Rami's, but a costume designer can't beat a red carpet designer. Certainly not on Project Runway.

Chris had already gone farther than he deserved. He was already eliminated once and if it wasn't for Jack's medical emergency and the judges' decision to bring Chris back, he would've been a footnote to Project Runway. Did they bring him back for entertainment purposes only?

So it's Jillian, Christian, and Rami as the final three. Having seen glimpses of their collections, I'm guessing the judges will give it to Christian. We'll know by next week.

Idol Worship

Blah blah blah Obama, blah blah blah Hillary. Yeah I know all that political stuff is important for our future, but you can’t vote for these people via unlimited text messaging! It’s prime idol season people, time for 12 on 12 boy girl action! The boys were first to take the stage last night, with girls to follow this evening. Here is a breakdown of some of my picks for best and worst:


David Archuleta – WTF?


I don’t see what is so great about this little castrate. Why Randy Jackson likes this boy so much is a mystery, Randy even spontaneously sang along with him at auditions, not acceptable! All the attention is always put on which contestant Paula is sleeping with, but I think we should set our sights on this NAMBLA worthy paring. Randy is definitely helping little Davey hit the high notes. Unfortunately I think this boy will be around in the final 10.


Jason Castro – Side Show Bob has some competition


This young man is pretty good except for the fact that he looks like the offspring of Bob Marley and Jeremy Sisto. Interesting looks and dreads will get this guy to the final 10, but he won’t win. Lose the guitar.


Jason Yeager – Osmond and the Omen

This guy is cruise ship scary and to make things worse he has a freaky little demon offspring cheering him on in the audience. Definitely Osmond inspired crooning, unfortunately he will be around for a bit. I swear that Seacrest introduces him as “Chasin’ Jaeger” which is good for a laugh. But seriously, someone needs to shave his kid's head and check for “the mark”, I think the Anti-Christ is among us.


Michael Johns – Pick of the night


This is my hands down favorite of the night. He’s from Georgia but moved there from Australia. Randy said he had a real “Michael Hutchence” thing going on. Hopefully this young lad doesn’t take that to heart and incorporate autoerotic asphyxiation into his next performance. Hang in there dude with two first names, take off that scarf before you hurt yourself!

My loser picks (not video worthy):

Chickezie – The name alone makes you a loser.
Peach colored suit was the nail in the coffin.

Luke Menard – How did you get on the show?
Picture a bad Kenny Loggins impersonation.


Make sure to tune in tonight for the ladies.

Project Runway 4 - ep. 11 - The Met

Project Runway taught me two lessons tonight: even if you have one look such as draping in your designs, you can still be in. And if you can bring the drama, you can be in even though you were already out in an early episode.

The elimination challenge: Design a look that showcases your vision as a designer using artwork from The Metropolitan Museum of Art as inspiration.

I envied the remaining five designers and Tim Gunn for having three rooms of the Met all to themselves. To document their inspiration, the designers took photos with provided digital cameras. How I'd love permission to take photos in a museum!

Rami chose a statue of Aphrodite and justified making yet another dress with draping.

Chris, inspired by a painting of a noblewoman, seemed more inspired by the avant garde dress he co-designed and co-executed with Christian a couple of weeks ago. Guest judge Roberto Cavalli never saw that dress so he didn't see the echo so obvious to the rest of the judges and to those of us in the audience.

Christian wins. Rami and Chris were in the bottom two, but the judges deem Rami and Chris good enough to stay in. Huh? Yes, once again, Project Runway changes its own rules for determining the final three. Once again, we don't even have a final three! Last season they weakly declared, "You're all good enough for Bryant Park so you're the final four!" This season it's: "We don't want to make a decision yet so you're the final four!"

Sweet P is the only one eliminated in this episode. It's a cruel move.

Jillian, Christian, Rami and Chris will take time off to design a collection. But before showing at Bryant Park, Rami and Chris need to show their three strongest pieces and the judges will eliminate one of them.

Favorite quotes:

• "I'm passionate about draping." - Rami's defense for his design
• "I sew fast. Get over it." - Christian while making several individual pieces for his look

My prediction for the big finale:

Rami to be eliminated, Chris to make the final three. Jillian to win, Christian to place.

Project Runway 4 - ep. 10 - WWE

The most exposed busts and booty in a Project Runway episode ever!

What I thought was an overly gimmicky challenge -- create an outfit for a World Wrestling Entertainment diva to wear in the ring (can you feel my eyeballs rolling into the back of my head?) -- turns out to be an interesting way to weed the designers down to five.

For who would want to get sent home for failing this challenge? The closest similar challenge in Project Runway history was designing an outfit for an Olympic figure skater. But WWE? Instead of going to Mood for their fabrics, Tim Gunn took the designers to a place called Spandex House.

Rami seemed bewildered that he couldn't drape anything. Sweet P couldn't wrap her head around the entertainment value needed for the design. Chris and Christian easily adjusted to the costume aspect of the challenge. Jillian and Ricky had moments of self-doubt.

Fittingly, Chris wins the tackiest challenge this season, but his green leopard hoodie was truly a scene stealer. And finally, FINALLY Ricky is out! The judges criticized Ricky for designing an orange bathing suit. I'll miss Ricky's crying, but not really.

Favorite quotes:

• "It's the classy sexpot, not the whore sexpot." - Candace describing her style to Sweet P
• "It's like Eva Gabor in Green Acres!" - Tim's horrified reaction to Sweet P's design
• "I feel like the Pope at a sex club." - Michael Kors on seeing all the WWE divas in their outfits

Tim Gunn with the Funny Man!

Did you see Tim Gunn on The Daily Show the other day? He was so funny with the funny man. My friend Wella reviews Project Runway on here, check it out! Project Runway is great as Jon Stewart says here in this interview because people actually make something.

Let’s make a dance!

My loving wife Julie, the creator of this wonderful blog, has been after me to post a review of some of my favorite television gems. While there are so many to choose from during this particularly prolific time for television, I thought I would focus in on one of the more “special” selections in my weekly viewing. “Tim and Eric’s Awesome Show: Great job” on Adult Swim is at the top of this list, combining sketch comedy with a great love of low budget public access and local television. I could actually go much deeper in describing this show, but I will let this clip with special guest, John C. Reilly, speak for itself. It’s for your Health!

Project Runway 4 - ep. 9 - Levi's

Down to seven designers, Project Runway gets interesting again. The conflicts are rising to the surface, although nothing like what we've seen in previous seasons where designers actually clashed.

This episode the product tie-in was Levi's. The designers were asked to design an iconic denim look using their selections of of 501 jeans and white cotton. Conflict #1: Victorya and Jillian both designed coats for this challenge. There were sly peeks at each other's work across the workroom and the remark, "It's just really annoying actually."

Ricky voiced how discouraged he was by being in the bottom so often. Christian badmouthed Ricky for not getting eliminated yet. This set the stage for Ricky to finally show off his experience working in lingerie. He won the challenge for his chic denim dress. And, of course, he shed tears throughout.

Victorya lost. Turned out both coat designs didn't impress the judges, but Victorya's was worse. Michael Kors observed that her design looked like a reconnoitered denim jacket with a party skirt added to the bottom.

My favorite designers to root for are Christian and Sweet P. And so far, they're still very much in the running.

Favorite quotes:

• "If I had hair on my head, I'd want to tear it out." - Rami, on putting up with Christian's immaturity
• "Very Joan Cusack in 'Working Girl.'" - Michael Kors on Chris's dress

Project Runway 4 - ep. 8 - Avant-Garde

We're almost halfway through the fourth season of Project Runway and things are getting... well, boring.

This week's challenge -- making an avant-garde outfit. Twist? Teams of two. Stress twist? Make a second look.

Yawn!

The one saving grace is that every week there's a new runway show. This time around I was rooting so hard for Christian, the youngest designer among the lot. Also the most petite one as well. He was paired up with Chris and together they barely beat the elite team of Victorya and Jillian.

The irony of this episode's theme was that Elisa, the leading avant-garde designer in America, was kicked off last week.

Project Runway 4 - ep. 7 - prom dresses

Project Runway goes back to its senses. Tonight's challenge was to design a dress... for a teenager to wear to her prom. Throughout the episode, the designers mentioned what their own prom experience was like and a photograph from their prom night was also shown. Sadly, Rami had no prom growing up in Israel. Sadder even was Chris who said he didn't go to prom. Instead he stayed at home, watching old movies, and getting drunk.

This challenge, unlike last week's Hershey's silliness, provided these benefits: the designers were forced to work with and please a client; the regular models weren't used; everyone had to make a dress; and best of all, the girls picked their designer based on seeing their portfolios.

This episode showed Christian struggling to work with his outspoken client who also fancied herself a designer.

While it was interesting to see Christian spooked by someone who sassed back at him at every turn, he got so discouraged, he was ready to get eliminated.

Victorya won -- I personally didn't like the dress, but I'm no longer in high school either -- and Kevin got kicked off for the cheap-looking red silk dress he designed for a Filipina.

My favorite quotes:

"I was voted off." - Chris's statement ending a debate about who among the current contestants have fared the worst in judging to date

"When I had a girlfriend, I made her prom dress. That should've been a clue there, right?" - Ricky Lizalde

Project Runway 4 - ep. 6 - Hershey's

I was sick in bed and couldn't blog when this episode premiered last week. And this episode was so dull and boring, it's not worth of a season 4 episode.

The designers were brought to a Hershey's flagship store in Times Square and given 30 minutes to grab their source materials to create a new dress. Ugh!

It's not the blatant product placement I disagree with, it's Hershey's itself. The brand has nothing to do with chocolate. And (my pet peeve) Hershey's isn't very good chocolate!

So most of the designers grabbed kitschy junk like stuffed toys shaped like Hershey's kisses and pillows shaped like Hershey bars. Only Jillian made the effort to design a dress made of edible items (she made a red dress out of Twizzlers).























Anyway Elisa, the avant garde designer, gets eliminated while Rami wins. Snore, snore.

As my co-worker Catherine said, they could have at least designed uniforms for the staff of Hershey's!

Anatomy of the Hospital Drama

My dear friend and contributor tancow had this to say recently about one of her favorite shows...

What I love about Grey's Anatomy is that I can consistently plan on crying every episode. Whether it be about a relationship gone wrong or a patient we get too emotionally attached to, or the sadness we feel for these characters we've grown to love, the show never fails to make me sob uncontrollably for hours on end.

When Julie asked me to blog about my favorite show, it was inevitable it would be Grey's Anatomy. On the final episode before the big writer's strike, we saw young Dr. Lexie Grey get a taste of what it's really like to be a doctor. When these doctors were enticed by the concept of saving lives and playing God, they were never told that playing God only exists if they could save every life they touched, and this after all is real life and not all is perfect. What are the writer's of Grey's Anatomy reminding us time and time again? Even though these doctors play God on the surgical table like when African-American Doctor Bailey is forced to "rise above" and operate on a White Supremist with a Swastika tattooed on his stomach to save his life, she at last is God to him, but not God in her own life. While she is busy saving someone else's life, her husband is in the waiting room giving her a final chance to redeem what's left of their marriage. The writers of Grey's Anatomy remind us that in order to save our lives, they give up theirs. That is their offering to us when playing God.

Project Runway 4 - ep. 5 - Everyday Women

Tonight's challenge: to design a new look for an everyday woman who's just lost a lot of weight. These women would be the designers' client and model. They lost anywhere from 50 lbs. to 140 lbs. each. It's a clever challenge that incorporates aspects of what's worked in previous seasons: making new clothes out of old clothes, using "normal" women as models, designing for a client.

But this episode will be most remembered for a never-before-happened event. Jack voluntarily leaves Project Runway! This storyline has been teased to us for three episodes. Though spoilers are all over the Internet, tonight was the episode where he quits. Jack, who's HIV-positive, developed an infection that required him to seek medical treatment. Last week's losing designer Chris March gets a second chance. He's brought back to take Jack's vacated space and embarrasses himself by continuing to design costumes.

Chris March's design, a blue top over a black skirt with red trims, is hideous enough to elicit two of my favorite quotes this episode:























"It's a little Shirley MacLaine when she played a hooker with a heart of gold." - Michael Kors
"That was so Paris hooker 50's." - Michael Kors

The judges had to select between Kevin's and Christian's designs. I like both designers and Christian ends up winning. His design not only fit his client/model very well, it was also praised for being "commercial" in its look. Significantly, the guest judge was the head designer from Gap Inc., someone who knows the value of a commercial look for normal, everyday people.

Project Runway 4 - Episode 4 - making the out in again

FADS! We didn't like them the first time around, but they're bringing them back. Horrible fashion trends such as overalls, baggy sweaters, neon, and shoulder pads!

The designers group themselves into teams of three to create a collection of 3 looks that incorporates all 3 outdated trends, but is relevant and cohesive for today.

The teams:

Jillian, Kevin and Rami - overalls, poodle skirt, 70's flare
Ricky, Elisa and Victorya - neon, cutouts, underwear as outerwear
Jack, Kit, Christian - zoot suit, pleather, fringe
Chris, Sweet P and Steve - shoulder pads, dancewear, baggy sweater

Kevin, Jillian and Rami won. Jack, Kit and Christian were in. These six designers are distinguishing themselves as the upper crust. Jillian has won twice already.

During the show Victorya railroaded Ricky. I thought Ricky was dead meat -- he didn't do well last week. But in the end it was Chris who was out for being a poor leader and for designing a jacket with shoulder pads that still looked trapped in the 80's.

I'm developing a fondness for these designers:

Christian, for being young and cocky. These happen to be the two qualities that made a poor first impression on me, but four weeks into the show and Christian's youth and self-assuredness are endearing.




Sweet P, for being older and plaintive. She's also been able to hold her own with her designs. I cheered for her when Donna Karan praised the dress she designed, an update of the baggy sweater.




Elisa, for being kooky and yet having integrity. Like Sweet P, she also emerged as a blameless member of this challenge's worst half. I'm intrigued by how accomplished she is pre-Project Runway and I expect her to kick ass.



Though I still don't have a favorite that I want to see win.

This episode was all about the conflict between Victorya and Ricky. There was enough going on between the two of them to overshadow all else.

My favorite quote:
"You never know, the judges might die over it. Or they might die because of it." - Christian on Team Ricky's and Team Chris's collections

Unfortunately Michael Kors didn't come up with a memorable quote this episode. I'm disappointed.