My average outfit involves cargo shorts and a hooded sweatshirt, pretty much all year round. With that perspective on my fashion sense, feel free to laugh as I attempt to convince you of the merits of a series where a troupe of would-be designers attempt to define their sense of style in a series of challenges. The funny doesn’t stop there. On top of that, I’m a serial denier of reality television’s worth – I just don’t like it. I prefer plots and cohesive storylines. And yet, Project Runway is damned entertaining television. Properly trimmed down to almost the bare essentials, each episode focuses on 2-4 of the show’s remaining contestants and follows their personal hang-ups, triumphs and failures. The fifth season set brings all the familiar faces back: Tim Gunn and Heidi Klum as well as a slew of celebrity guest judges like Natalie Portman and LL Cool J.
Even as I allow you to dismiss my opinion with a self-deprecating joke, there’s something to say for a show about fashion being able to entertain and hold the attention of a totally fashion-ignorant viewer like myself. Reality TV is typically heavy on the human drama element – and for most, that’s a huge draw. They crave that behind-the-scenes camerawork that shows contestants at their worst; it soothes their own insecurities by either giving them something worse to compare it to or by letting them commiserate. Either way, it fills an emotional niche.
Each episode sees new contributions to and crimes against the fashion world; but after five seasons it’s not surprising that a few of the ideas for the weekly challenges seem a bit far-fetched. Yet that’s not where the problem with the fifth season lies: it’s the final judge critiques on the more outlandish projects that make certain episodes almost entirely unbearable. Waiting through all the setup, rending of garments and the final model touch-ups we arrive to find the three judges flabbergasted that the contestants weren’t able to make something pretty and innovative (yet wearable). It turns out the challenge was little more than a wind-up to let the judges blow off steam.
They do deserve to blow off steam. The contestants tend to reach a level of bitchiness that just makes you want to slap them around now and again to remind them of how the world typically works. For example, when Kenley finally gets fed up with the harsh criticisms of the judges she starts to openly argue against the judges and even to badmouth Tim Gunn. Now, I can’t call myself a fan of the show, but if there’s an element of the show that’s perfectly matched it’s that man’s presence. His advice to the designers almost always reflects the judges’ criticisms and yet no one ever seems to catch on. He says “Fix problem X” and they add flourish Y. Why do they ignore this man? After five seasons, how has no one learned this lesson?
What I call flaws of the show (and its cast) others see as the essential qualities that draw them back week after week. What really matters though is that after five seasons this reality series has retained it’s watchability. If you’re a fan, go for it, buy the set. If not, I wouldn’t say go off and buy season five on DVD, but maybe tune in once and a while and see how it strikes you. It’s better than 90% of the reality television out there.
DVD Bonus Features
The most important factor ( and one of the only two “extras”) is the extended episodes offered on the disc, so you’re getting more Project Runway than what you saw when it aired on Bravo. Otherwise, the only other extra feature is a little expose focusing on the winners and where they went in the time after their wins. Interesting for the fans of the human element, slightly captivating for those who aren’t – decide where you fall on that line and go accordingly.
"Project Runway: The Complete Fifth Season" is on sale August 4, 2009 and is rated NR. Television. Directed by Paul Starkman, Tony Sacco. Written by Eli Holzman. Starring Heidi Klum, Tim Gunn.
