Everybody I know who's tried watching Project Runway likes it, regardless of gender or sexuality. The 'sband, Craig Ferguson, my dad . . . everybody likes Project Runway.
One great thing about it is that it's a competition reality show that's actually about the quality of work the contestants do, not about the contestants having tv-drama-friendly personalities. That said, nobody (and no show) is perfect, and there have been a few egregious judging decisions. Here are the top three.
#3: Season 3, the recycled materials challenge--Allison is eliminated instead of Vincent
OK, so Allison's dress was not good. But Vincent's dress was horrrrrrrrible . As one of the other contestants pointed out (angrily) to Vincent, his model couldn't even walk in that dress.
Where Allison went wrong was A) that weird hair bow thing on her model and B) not being totally, perhaps clinically, crazy. Allison was cute but mild-mannered, which is not a good recipe for sound bites. Vincent, on the other hand, was always doing something totally weird, which the cameras love. That's why he got by week after week with designs either out-of-date or just boring (there was a challenge where they had to make outfits for themselves, and he made a plain black shirt and plain black pants. And didn't receive a lick of criticism from the judges). It had to be the crazy that saved him, which was never more egregious than with his childish, non-functional trash dress.
#2: Season 2, the designer makeover challenge--Nick gets eliminated instead of Santino
Well, I tried and tried, but couldn't find a picture of the suit Nick made for his fellow designer, Daniel. Suffice it to say that judges were correct that it looked like a woman's suit and that the fabric puckered in many places. But Santino's jumpsuit for Kara? Was, for one thing, literally falling apart (the left arm was falling off) and, for another, was uh, a jumpsuit. And it looked gross and ill-fitting. Although, show me a jumpsuit that isn't gross and ill-fitting, and I'll give you a cookie.
But Santino was Season 2's designated villain, so he had to be kept around as long as possible. Admittedly, as far as "villains" go, Santino wasn't all that bad. He was pretty funny (killer, killer Tim Gunn impression), and he did make good stuff sometimes. Far superior to, say, Wendy freaking Pepper.
#1: Season 1, the Grammy/Nancy O'Dell
challenge--Wendy Pepper wins, Austin is eliminated.
This was the problem with Wendy Pepper (besides being mean and not a very good designer): she had watched too much Survivor. Everybody else was there to kickstart their careers in fashion design--they wanted to make good things, and they were perfectly willing to help each other make good things (this is another way in which Project Runway is superior to other reality shows--they give each other advice and sometimes even use their spare time to give other designers a hand). Wendy thought she was there to be on A Reality Show, with alliances and strategies and junk. It was the first season; when you think about it, she didn't really have a good reason not to think that way (until of course she observed that no one else did).
So Wendy was an ideal villain. That's why, I am convinced, she was crowned winner of the last challenge before fashion week, meaning that she got into the final three who got to have shows on the big stage. They were supposed to make a dress for stupid Nancy O'Dell to wear to the Grammy Awards. Wendy made that dumb orange thing with, like, a feather skirt. Nancy was like, "Oh, I could just edit that and it would totally work!" (Why couldn't edit somebody else's?) Whereas Austin made a beautiful dress, because that's what Austin did. Nancy insisted it was just too fancy for the Grammys. Austin had talent, but Wendy had drama, and the producers decided they needed the latter in the season finale.
But! Like I said, such decisions are rare--usually the judges choose well.
And now I wll tell you what I think have been the best and worst challenges--in terms of the concept of what the designers have to do and the quality of work they come up with.
Worst: Season 4, the Tiki Barber menswear challenge.
There were three problems with this: first, that the designers come on the show with the understanding that they're going to make womenswear. They are, by and large, women's designers. Similarly, menswear is clearly harder to make. It demands separate pieces (no dresses), pants (no skirts), and pretty rigid construction. Finally, Tiki Barber is totally boring. Even if a designer had the ability to make something interesting, they were limited by having to make something for a dull guy to wear on the Today Show. How can you make something original for a guy who needs a boring suit?
The best stuff they made was dull, and the worst stuff was just shockingly bad--like Carmen's over there. As you can see, she never found the time to make a shirt.
They should never repeat this one.
Best: Season 5, the drag queen challenge!
This was just a great episode. Drag queen wear is the opposite of menswear--you can do almost anything, as long as it's loud and fun. There were a bunch of great ones with this (Korto made this fantastic red dress with 3-D flames on one side of the collar--I loved it). Joe's sailor/Ann Margaret thing at left was the winner. Plus, the drag queens themselves were great TV. I don't know if they could repeat this one either, since it was so memorable, but it's the kind of drama and originality they should shoot for.
Also, here's a creepy picture I found of Tim Gunn, Andrae, and Santino.
