Project Runway, The Bachelorette, &c.

Jay (courtesy of Slate)

I've had a big backlog of drafts sitting in my Blogger queue over the past fortnight--finally dissipating and, luckily, most posts aren't particularly time-sensitive--but the finale of "Project Runway" is now more than two weeks gone and already forgotten by fans of the show (much less by those who haven't even heard of Bravo and/or PR). Still, it's worth underlining that this cream-of-the-reality-TV-crop was a pleasure to watch throughout the entire season, from the easily lampooned hostess Heidi Klum--who knew that all Austrians sounded like Arnold?--and her stern "you either in oo you out," to eminence grise and Parsons fashion design chair Tim Gunn; from the clever and interesting assignments (redesign the postal carriers' uniforms, fashion a dress from materials available at the grocery store) to the bounty of the contestant-characters (Kara Saun as the brilliant student; eventual winner Jay McCarroll as the charismatic, small-town freak; Wendy Pepper as the evil stepmother; and Austin Scarlett as the homosexual fop). Browse the site for Fashion Week outtakes, and check out my favorite outfit from Jay's streetwise collection. I say buzz!

For those who think reality TV is rigged, I refer them to this season's "Bachelorette 3," where said bachelorette refused both finalists. I've always noted that there's an awful lot of, er, "reality" on display when folks are mating--the first spurned suitor is found muttering "how could she have chosen [us] as the two finalists when we're so different?": this is par for the course, where the last two standing almost always comprise the sexy one and the safe one. Go figure.

Postscript: See this interview with Jay by Corina Zappia from the Voice. [cws::09 Mar]