Project Runway 8, Episode 4: Yippee

Well, that was one of the more enjoyable episodes in a while. In honor of such, I am returning to my usual format...

Up and Down
First, some initial bitching... The beginning of the episode was marked by rather annoying series of events. In improv terms, they kept raising the stakes only to immediately lower them. They repeated ad nauseum the same clips of Ivy passed out getting loaded into an ambulance, only to have her immediately return a-ok with nothing wrong. They threw in the added twist of requiring the designers to work with whatever model was attached to the hat they chose to work with, only to have every designer choose their own model and just work with whatever hat they happened to be wearing. Good idea producers, but it didn't work, so why make us sit through the entire process of watching each designer stick with their model? Then they made a big deal about Valerie forgetting to buy a zipper, only to have another designer immediately lend her one.

All of that was completely pointless. Ironically, if the producers actually listened to the clips of their own show, and paid attention to Tim's rant about editing in Valerie's critique, they might learn a thing or two.

The Lines
The episode was resplendent with good one-liners.

Peach: Short but not showing the good china.
Casanova: I'm not a cat with 7 lives.
Tim (to A.J.): A woman who can afford that hat can afford a poka-dot dress where the poka-dot design matches up.
Michael D. (about Michael C.): There's more than one way to skin a cat, but usually you want to bring a knife.

I'm sure there were more that I'm forgetting. If you had a favorite, leave it in the comments.

You Think You're So Smart
I'm sure every season the designers spend a lot of time gossiping with each other about whose designs are going to make the top and bottom. We've seen glimpses of it, but with the new 90 minute format, we're really able to see a lot of it. Last night it was sooooo interesting to see how the designers so completely disagreed with the judges, and so sweet to see Gretchen be so wrong.

That was some pretty skillful manipulating there editors and producers. I was totally expecting Christopher to be in the top with his Mesh-Hat-Gown and Valerie to be in the bottom with her Masquerade-Mask-Gown. I tip my hat to you and say "good job".

The Ad
Did anyone else notice Apple ran an ad for the iPad during the show? Heaven forbid anyone realize anyone else makes touch screen computers like the HP models the designers use (or that they've been around for years and Apple didn't invent them).

Winners and Losers
I don't know, I kinda liked Michael's Grecian-House-of-the-Rising-Sun-Dress. Kristin or April? Ugly-Black-and-Pink-Dress vs. Diaper-Shorts? They both missed the boat, but Kristin complained too much. Besides, April and her Casanova impersonation make for better TV.