Project Runway Shocker
By Joal Ryan
Mon Apr 7, 7:33 AM PDT
No one said the fashion world was boring. In a major TV shakeup, Project Runway will say auf Wiedersehen to Bravo and jump to cable rival Lifetime, it was announced Monday.
NBC Universal, which owns Bravo, responded swiftly to the defection with a lawsuit, according to Lifetime and the Weinstein Co., which produces Project Runway. The suit was noted, if buried, in the two companies' joint press release trumpeting the programming coup.
Bravo did not immediately offer comment. In a statement, a spokesman for the Weinstein Co. called NBC's lawsuit "without merit."
As announced, Project Runway will strut on over to Lifetime in November for the launch of what the network said will be the show's sixth season. For those keeping count, the show's fourth season just concluded last month. Lifetime said its math wasn't in error, indicating a fifth Runway season will play out on Bravo between now and November.
Heidi Klum will continue as host; Tim Gunn will continue as mentor to the designers.
Klum and Gunn were both quoted in the release—Klum reminding that "fashion is about change," and Gunn dropping his catchphrase, à la "Lifetime and I will definitely 'make it work' together."
Deals with judges Michael Kors and Nina Garcia haven't been closed yet, a Lifetime spokesman said.
It was unknown what effect, if any, the upheaval will have on Top Chef, another Bravo hit from the same production company, Magical Elves, as Project Runway, and Tim Gunn's Guide to Style, a makeover series that Bravo awarded Gunn last year. (Gunn might have answered the latter question himself, noting in his statement that he was "very excited to be part of the Lifetime family.)
Project Runway premiered on Bravo in 2005. Its just-concluded season scored the show's highest ratings yet, averaging 3.8 million viewers an episode.
The show has been nominated three straight years for the Reality-Competition Emmy (and, like so many others, lost all those years to The Amazing Race). Just last week, the series scored its top honor to date, when it was tapped for the prestigious Peabody Award.
By Joal Ryan
Mon Apr 7, 7:33 AM PDT
No one said the fashion world was boring. In a major TV shakeup, Project Runway will say auf Wiedersehen to Bravo and jump to cable rival Lifetime, it was announced Monday.
NBC Universal, which owns Bravo, responded swiftly to the defection with a lawsuit, according to Lifetime and the Weinstein Co., which produces Project Runway. The suit was noted, if buried, in the two companies' joint press release trumpeting the programming coup.
Bravo did not immediately offer comment. In a statement, a spokesman for the Weinstein Co. called NBC's lawsuit "without merit."
As announced, Project Runway will strut on over to Lifetime in November for the launch of what the network said will be the show's sixth season. For those keeping count, the show's fourth season just concluded last month. Lifetime said its math wasn't in error, indicating a fifth Runway season will play out on Bravo between now and November.
Heidi Klum will continue as host; Tim Gunn will continue as mentor to the designers.
Klum and Gunn were both quoted in the release—Klum reminding that "fashion is about change," and Gunn dropping his catchphrase, à la "Lifetime and I will definitely 'make it work' together."
Deals with judges Michael Kors and Nina Garcia haven't been closed yet, a Lifetime spokesman said.
It was unknown what effect, if any, the upheaval will have on Top Chef, another Bravo hit from the same production company, Magical Elves, as Project Runway, and Tim Gunn's Guide to Style, a makeover series that Bravo awarded Gunn last year. (Gunn might have answered the latter question himself, noting in his statement that he was "very excited to be part of the Lifetime family.)
Project Runway premiered on Bravo in 2005. Its just-concluded season scored the show's highest ratings yet, averaging 3.8 million viewers an episode.
The show has been nominated three straight years for the Reality-Competition Emmy (and, like so many others, lost all those years to The Amazing Race). Just last week, the series scored its top honor to date, when it was tapped for the prestigious Peabody Award.
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New York City
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Re: Bravo, you're out!!
Wed, April 9, 2008 - 5:28 PMblech!! i *loathe* lifetime.
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Re: Bravo, you're out!!
Wed, April 9, 2008 - 5:30 PMme too. too much estrogen. makes me want to slather on wild yam cream and hug it out. ew.
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Re: Bravo, you're out!!
Wed, April 9, 2008 - 5:34 PMsame here. any network that creates a platform out of portraying women as victims is beyond lame. -
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Re: Bravo, you're out!!
Wed, April 9, 2008 - 6:12 PMari calls it "the burning bed" network ... remember that
<hanging head in shame>
i did watch some .. NOT ALL!! of this : www.mylifetime.com/on-tv/movies/wisegal
alyssa milano is irresistible!
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Re: Bravo, you're out!!
Wed, April 9, 2008 - 7:07 PMwhoa. that's the total opposite of the kind of stuff they used to do.
it looks funny. and like it would be good fodder for creating a drinking game.
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Re: Bravo, you're out!!
Sat, April 12, 2008 - 6:47 PMAgreed. Lifetime sucks. My vagina never needed it's own channel. -
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Re: Bravo, you're out!!
Sat, April 12, 2008 - 11:12 PMLifetime!! Thats the channel old women watch 24/7 to keep their minds off of their impending death.
And pregnant teenagers are forced to watch to keep themselves from getting knocked up again...because of a jane Seymore film.
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