Spring Break
Pop Culture
by Laura Gamble
Staff Writer
Arts | 11/25/08
Posted online at 2:31 AM EST on 11/25/08
Bob and Harvey Weinstein need to watch out for the fashion police. Fashion junkies everywhere are losing sleep over the legal limbo in which Project Runway has landed after the Weinsteins decided to move the show from the loyal Bravo Network, home to the hippest reality shows (Top Chef, Blow Out, Top Design), to the relatively less popular Lifetime Network. The deal cost the network a reported $200 million for five years.
While taping of the sixth season will continue, the show's future is unclear; Lifetime won a small battle moving the case from state to federal court, but a Manhattan judge is currently deciding whether to overturn the ruling, bringing the case back to the New York Supreme Court and creating a legal quagmire, much to fans' dismay.
Exacerbating the problem, the Weinstein Company has since sued Bravo, contending that they tried to sabotage the show. Meanwhile, Bravo is reportedly casting for a show tentatively called The Fashion Show, which seems to indicate a lack of confidence in their case against the Weinstein Company.
Loyal followers of the show should be most concerned about the proposed and probable changes to the format. Not only has Lifetime decided to move Project Runway from the American fashion capital of New York City to Los Angeles, but it has also said that future installments of the show will focus more on the designers' personalities.
Project Runway is one of a handful of reality shows that regularly reward genuinely creative and talented individuals, and the show has earned credibility for displaying the contestants' skills as opposed to the fights they get in with other competitors.
It is likely that the legal agitation will affect the sixth season of the show, but fans have no choice but to be optimistic. Television network aside, producers should strongly consider the success of the show in its original form before making changes; the more than three million viewers who tuned in for the last season finale speaks volumes. Project Runway is a huge success and flourishes beautifully in the ever-changing fashion industry, so it is baffling why any producers would feel the need to change it.
While taping of the sixth season will continue, the show's future is unclear; Lifetime won a small battle moving the case from state to federal court, but a Manhattan judge is currently deciding whether to overturn the ruling, bringing the case back to the New York Supreme Court and creating a legal quagmire, much to fans' dismay.
Exacerbating the problem, the Weinstein Company has since sued Bravo, contending that they tried to sabotage the show. Meanwhile, Bravo is reportedly casting for a show tentatively called The Fashion Show, which seems to indicate a lack of confidence in their case against the Weinstein Company.
Loyal followers of the show should be most concerned about the proposed and probable changes to the format. Not only has Lifetime decided to move Project Runway from the American fashion capital of New York City to Los Angeles, but it has also said that future installments of the show will focus more on the designers' personalities.
Project Runway is one of a handful of reality shows that regularly reward genuinely creative and talented individuals, and the show has earned credibility for displaying the contestants' skills as opposed to the fights they get in with other competitors.
It is likely that the legal agitation will affect the sixth season of the show, but fans have no choice but to be optimistic. Television network aside, producers should strongly consider the success of the show in its original form before making changes; the more than three million viewers who tuned in for the last season finale speaks volumes. Project Runway is a huge success and flourishes beautifully in the ever-changing fashion industry, so it is baffling why any producers would feel the need to change it.
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