Tuesday, November 02, 2010

Season 8: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Photo: Barbara Nitke/Lifetime Television

Longtime BPR reader Tropical Chrome sends in this excellent year end review of Project Runway Season 8:

Project Runway Season 8 certainly had its moments; some memorable, some we wished we could forget. Here's my look back on the whole season, framed as "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly".

The Good:
Mondo. I could wax rhapsodic over how compelling it was to watch him grow through "I don't have any friends on this show" to stepping up and apologizing for making assumptions about Michael Costello's skills without evidence to his going public with his HIV status to finally letting his passion explode in his designs. He gave us joy and laughter and fun along with inimitable and unmistakable personal style. He made the season pop. Not winning may be the best thing that ever happened to him as it leaves him unencumbered of the winner's leash, free to pursue his vision and career without those limitations.

Michael Costello. In the middle of public outrage over bullying, we got to see first hand what bullying is and does –that it is illogical in the face of evidence, and it is never, ever deserved. And we got to see him finally confront the bullies in an act of vindication for everyone who was ever bullied. Oh, yeah, the man is also a talented clothing designer, making it to the top 4.

Tim Gunn. Until he was muzzled (see The Ugly), he provided more than just additional background information on the show and extensions to our vocabularies, he was our sanity check. He is like Atlas: holding the entire weight of the credibility of this show on his shoulders. He deserves far better than he received for that.

Click here to continue reading The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.