PROJECT RUNWAY

This is Reality TV at its best, at least if you ask me. Why, you may ask, is PROJECT RUNWAY better than say SURVIVOR? The answer to that lies in the fact that the winner of this show gets the grand prize thanks to some actual talent; talent that consists of more than just lying that is. Not only that, but these people are all really good. Sure there are some missteps along the way, but for the most part every designer on the show puts out consistent work. But watching talented people design pretty clothes alone wouldn't be worth watching. The thing that puts this show so high on the ladder of programming served up to the viewer is the contestants themselves, not too mention the always entertaining Tim Gunn, who is the designers guru and guide on their crazy journey. On top of all that, the challenges they put these poor people through is pure genius.

Take for example this week's competition, which had the designers running through a warehouse full of jeans frantically grabbing for as much material they could. They are only given several minutes to snatch up their chosen pieces. Time is actually a key factor in this show because they are also given precious little of it to put their masterpieces together. Add to that the fact that they also have to actually come up with a design they want to create, and you have a recipe for some mighty fine entertainment. But I have to say my favorite part of the show is the interaction between the contestants, which ranges from warm and fuzzy to catty and down right dirty.

The best example of catty behavior this season is Christian, who is the flamboyantly arrogant 21-year-old who is sure he has more talent in his little pinky than the rest of them do put together. Fortunately for him he does have the goods to back up his claim. But, no matter how talented these people are, there can only be one winner, which means every week somebody has to go.

This week that somebody was Victorya. She had been doing very well, but in this challenge she seemed to lack any enthusiam or creativity, and on this show one bad week can take you down. I can't say who I think will win, because they are all so different. What I can say for sure is that I will be watching to the bitter end.

CASHMERE MAFIA

http://criticsrant.com/archive/2008/01/24/CASHMERE-MAFIA----The-Deciders.aspx

The biggest surprise about this show is the fact that it has managed to stay on the air for the past three weeks. Created and produced by the same guy who brought us the venerable HBO series, SEX AND THE CITY, Darren Starr has served up what amounts to a sloppy rip-off in just about every way. From storylines, character development, cinematography, music and everything else that goes into making a TV show come to life, Darren Starr has managed to take what went into making SEX AND THE CITY a ground-breaking juggernaut and turn it into a pathetic and stereotypical portrayal of women in the work force. To start with, there are four high-powered women, all with different colored hair, who spend more time with each other than they seem to with their families or jobs. Then there is the fact that they live in New York City, where they take their fashion and gossip to heart. Hmm, sounding a little familiar; but wait there's more.

One of the women, Caitlin (Bonnie Sommerville) has decided to give lesbianism a try. For anybody who remembers SEX AND THE CITY, Samantha (Kim Cattrall) already showed us how trendy becoming a temporary lesbian can be. Let us not forget Mia (Lucy Lui), who is an editor for a magazine conglomerate. Granted, Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) wasn't an editor, but she was a writer. As for the other two women, I'm not really sure yet what they do, but I know they are very high up the food chain at each of their jobs. But Darren Starr has done more than just insult our collective intelligence by putting out rancid seconds, he's committed the cardinal sin of producing bad TV.

Like I said, CASHMERE MAFIA is a rip-off of SEX AND THE CITY in every way, well every way except one that is; it doesn't even come close to the standard of excellence that its predecessor did. All I see when I watch this disgusting excuse of a TV show is four impressively dressed women who whine and moan about everything in their lives; and I'm sorry but the level of intelligence I see taking place in these bitch sessions has me questioning how they ever graduated college, let alone manage to create such successful careers for themselves. The only excuse I can give ABC for leaving this piece of schlock on the air is the increasingly annoying writer's strike, which has left the TV landscape seriously barren of any new programming. My only hope is that they will realize that repeats of ALF would be better than what they've got going on now.