Project Runway All Stars Episode 1: Read All About It

I watched Project Runway All Stars on demand last night. I will freely admit I afforded myself the luxury of fast forwarding through large portions of it, including anything that looked like gratuitous drama and most of the runway critiquing and judging. Really, most of the second half. I didn't care what any of those people had to say about the looks, judges and contestants included.

I found watching it a very interesting experience. On the one hand, I enjoyed seeing some familiar faces and was interested in what they were doing. On the other hand I was bored.

Gone are Heidi, Nina, Michael, and Tim. Instead we have host Angela Lindvall. She may be a supermodel, but she is no Heidi Klum. She was wooden and never looked natural on camera. Heidi never looked like she was reading lines even when she clearly was. Angela always looked like she was reading lines even when she clearly wasn't. But if Angela was wooden, than judge Georgina Chapman was a petrified forest. Everything she said sounded like she'd rehearsed it about 70 times and we were watching the 40th take.

Then there's Isaac Mizrahi. You may remember him as the co-host of Bravo's Project Runway replacement The Fashion Show, or from his many TV appearances. He's also apparently a designer. Frankly, he comes off to me as a desperate wannabe. Everything he says sounds fake and insincere. He's doesn't come off as reading lines at least, but he does come off as acting.

Then we have Joanna Coles stepping into Tim Gun's shoes. I actually have no problem with her. She seemed to give good advice, and they've scaled back her role some.

Still, the biggest problem with the show isn't them, it's the designers. They're all there, and they're all the same. Kenely's still a bitch. Austin's still fabulous. April's still soft-spoken. Elisa's still bat-shit crazy, and Michael Costello is still gross. Surprise, surprise, his dress looked exactly like what someone else was making.

That's the problem, though. They're all still the same. Watching the regular show, you don't these people at all. It takes a while to get to know them. You get character development and arcs. Here, we know all these people already. We know how this experience changed them or didn't change them. There's nothing interesting to see here, except how they interact with each other. And that's just going to be over-produced manufactured drama. I just don't care.

All I really wanted to see was the finished dresses, who won and who lost. I'll probably just follow it online.

Oh, they eliminated Elisa (thank god). As stated, she's still crazy, but at least she was grateful in defeat. Rami won. He's my early favorite, mostly because he's the only one who looks like he's enjoying himself, and he looks like he's having a great time. That's compelling to watch.