Project Runway gets new producers for Lifetime
A couple of months ago, I interviewed Lifetime president of entertainment Susanne Daniels for TV Week, asking her about Project Runway jumping from Bravo to her network.
“We know for certain that Heidi (Klum) and Tim (Gunn) are returning. We would love to see the judges back, Michael Kors and Nina Garcia…but we’re working on that,” she said.
She went on to say that the show will look and feel very much like it did on Bravo; it will be airing in the same time slot, the same day of the week. And she secured Kors and Garcia, so the four important Project Runway principals all will be in place.
Now comes word that in an effort to keep Project Runway as much a hit on Lifetime as it’s been on Bravo, Lifetime is bringing in the veteran production team Bunim-Murray to take over as showrunners.
Bunim-Murray have done 21 seasons of The Real World, and currently they’re doing two shows of E!, Keeping Up with the Kardashians and Living Lohan.
There’s a sound reason for a change in producers. Magical Elves and the Weinsteins have inked a production deal with NBC Universal, Lifetime’s competitors. The producers tried in vain to stop Lifetime from poaching Project Runway, which meant that Lifetime had to to find new handlers.
Fortunately, they’ve turned to very experienced producers, so I’m thinking that the show is going to look and feel very much the same. If there’s any change, it may be in emphasizing more of the personality clashes between the contestants. That’s always been The Real World formula, and that’s fine with me.
Season five of Project, in which Cristian Soriano emerged as the winner — and a fierce competitor — lacked some of the fireworks from previous seasons. Remember evil Wendy Pepper? Arrogant Jeffrey Sebelia? Smart-ass Jay McCarroll? Wildcard Santino Rice? Those are the kind of characters that make Project Runway more interesting for me because I’m not a fashionista.
Anyway, we won’t be seeing the Lifetime edition until next November. The final Bravo run of Project Runway commences July 16, with Magical Elves and Weinstein at the helm.
Universal Makes Date With Bruno
Bruno is all set to pull a Borat.
Universal has announced that Sasha Baron Cohen’s latest R-rated comedy romp, Brunofeaturing the funnyman as a flamboyant fashionista with a penchant for tight leather clothingwill sashay his way into theaters May 15, 2009.
The film marks Cohen’s follow-up to 2006’s Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, which raked in a glorious $128.5 million in domestic ticket sales and landed such phrases as “sexy time” and “is niiice!” into the pop-culture lexicon.
Bruno will have some fierce competition, going up against Angels & Demons, Sony’s prequel to The Da Vinci Code starring Tom Hanks. The following week will see Warner Bros.’ Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins and Fox’s Night at the Museum II: Escape From the Smithsonian.
No word yet on Bruno’s full title or plot, but there are signs the film will take its cues from its predecessor by following the titular character as he takes his show on the road. For example, video footage of Cohen in Bruno mode hamming it up with an unsuspecting public at a Kansas airport surfaced on the Internet a few months ago.
Recognize the Reveler: Think Pink
Here’s a Hint: This fashionista brings the drama on a hit reality show, but we’re not sure how we like the bright pink streaks she rocked at a blog relaunch party Wednesday night in Hollywood.
Think you know who’s got hot-pink highlights? Get the answer right here!
Gisele Bundchen Shops Controversy Away
Gisele Bundchen Shops Controversy Away
While the American media debated her “racially charged” Vogue cover, Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen shopped the day away in the Balearic Island of Ibiza.
The April issue of the popular fashionista magazine has caused controversy in the States due to a King Kong reference.
The cover, which is graced by Gisele and Lebron James (one of the world’s top basketball players), depicts LeBron dribbling a basketball with an angry game face pose and holding Miss Bundchen by the waist.
The spark behind the controversy is that assorted leaders and journalists have claimed that the photo is reminiscent of the stereotypes that feed into the public’s perception of the black male.
LeBron is compared to King Kong, and Gisele is compared to the white woman in distress.