Defamer
tight agenda
Posts Tagged “
Bravo
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Auf Wiedersehen
Is Bravo Trying to Kill Off 'Project Runway' Before It Heads to Lifetime?
It hit us last night while watching the season premiere of Shear Genius (yes, we watch it): is Bravo trying to drive Project Runway's stock down before it makes the leap to Lifetime in the fall? Though the cable channel is advertising its final season of the show (which premieres July 16), Runway's been unceremoniously bumped to a 9pm timeslot, while Shear Genius will claim Runway's traditional 10pm stomping grounds. In an even clearer sign that Bravo is loathe to give the lame-duck series more attention, the Season 5 ads are recycled clip jobs; though Bravo has always mounted a splashy new ad campaign for each iteration of its reality shows, it's apparently going to send Runway off into the sunset without shooting any new footage. Check out the half-hearted Season 5 clip after the jump. More »
chastity
Kathy Griffin Admits The Woz Never Got Inside Her Floppy Drive
Now that the new season of Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List has begun, we've had a chance to spend some quality time with the comic and her much-trotted-around billionaire boyfriend, Apple Computer co-founder Steve Wozniak. Sure, we know the two have already broken up, but observing them interact—behold the clip above, in which a Segway training session is as tender and romantic as a shared plate of spaghetti in Lady and the Tramp—at least gave us some inkling into what made their much-buzzed about relationship work while it lasted. But now comes the shocking!—OK, not all that shocking—news that Griffin and The Woz never, you know, actually...did it. From usmagazine.com:"We were dating, but were just friendly. I never f—--d him or anything!" she told Usmagazine.com during a visit to our NYC offices last Thursday.More »
Flipping Out
Why Can't You Give Martini-Olive Counting Jeff Lewis The Respect That He's Entitled To?
Depending on where you lie on the whole "insufferable, OCD-afflicted, house-flipping boss from Hell"-loving spectrum, news that the second season of Bravo's surprise hit Flipping Out premieres tonight will either come as a delight, or warning. Either way, it bears mentioning. Back again is the series's polarizing central figure, Jeff Lewis, who last season memorably spent 45 minutes entering a compound-drink order that involved the use of an overhead projector, a laser pointer, and a periodic table of the elements. In the preview scene above, Lewis has quite remarkably succeeding in adding yet another Boy Friday to his revolving menagerie of assistants. One week in, New Chris still seems eager to attend to his boss's fucking insane demands. To wit: stocking the meticulously numbered and aligned contents of his sparse refrigerator. (Coffee-Mates: 6. Yogurts: 6. Jars of martini olives: 3. Lunatics running the asylum: 1.) Like we said, you can either deal with this, or you can't. Personally, we're waiting for the series's breakout domestic to get her own spinoff, Feeling Zoila.- Flipping Out [Bravo]
Fame Games
VH1 Rolls The Dice With New Unknown Actress Reality Show, But Does The 'I Wanna Be A Big Stah!' Format Work Anymore?
Here we go again! VH1 (who else?) has just greenlit Scream Queens, a reality show in which 10 unknown actresses desperate to be the next Jamie Lee Curtis or Janet Leigh will compete for a starring role in an upcoming “major” Lionsgate film. And boy are they excited — one Lionsgate rep tells THR that “discovering new talent is always exciting,” while another chimes in by teaching us that “VH1 has had a tremendous track record in launching alternative programming that captures viewers' imaginations.” Yes, yes it does! Our brains have been expanded by Viacom's ongoing carnival featuring women degrading themselves in hot tubs and music execs attempting to Make A Band, Any Band Will Do quarter after quarter. But with a reputable horror studio behind Scream Queens and the fact that scary movies have launched more than a few major careers, this one may put its You’re The One That I Want and It Factor predecessors to shame. We look back at five recent Next Big Thing reality shows in an effort to place our bets: More »
Annals Of Incoherent Acceptance Speeches
Bravo's Presentation Of The A-List Awards Now Pauses Briefly For Lauren Hutton To Lose Her Mind
Held last night in New York and scheduled to air next Thursday, Bravo's A-List Awards are billed as a night celebrating "the best in Food, Fashion, Beauty, Design and Weatherman Lap-Dance Dispensation." BravoTV.com has already started building buzz by leaking highlights online, including Lauren Hutton acceptance speech for a "beauty icon" award. In it, she first admits to having been "up for 46 hours," before launching into a stream-of- sleep- deprived-consciousness which encompassed, in no particular order, her thoughts of guacamole-preparation, the ozone layer, and the promiscuity-engendering properties of testosterone. So confounding was her monologue that during the commercial break, it took the combined efforts of Tom Colicchio, Santino Rice, and Carson Kressley just to pry apart the paralyzed furrows in a deeply perplexed Tim Gunn's brow. [BravoTV.com]
third wheels
Kathy Griffin And Al Roker Lap Dance Their Way Towards A Legendary Moment In Live Television History
For any of you out there who still don’t “get” Kathy Griffin, we now present you with a single clip that will effectively prompt a lifelong love affair with the red-headed, fast-talking, Scientology-bashing spark plug of an entertainer that she is. On the Today Show this morning, giggly Al Roker had the pleasure of speaking with Kathy about her upcoming hosting job of Bravo’s inaugural A-List Awards and not-so-innocently asked her if there was really anything she wouldn’t do on camera, considering her reputation as a truthiness-telling comedienne who never holds back. What followed was a delicious and epic moment in television history, during which Roker was given a lap dance, off-screen staffers were overheard gasping, and images of a Roker/Matt Lauer/Halle Berry threesome in “the big bed” were thrust into our collective imagination. More »
the not so great white way
Three Reasons Why We Won't Be Watching MTV's 'Legally Blonde' Reality Show
As Variety reports today, MTV just greenlit eight episodes of a new reality show called The Search For Elle Woods, in which ten blonde hopefuls will compete to play the lead in Broadway's version of Legally Blonde. Reminiscent of NBC's You're The One That I Want, that high-kicking monstrosity in which amateur dancing, singing, crying, laughing Great White Way hopefuls danced their little hearts out for the chance to star in last year's revival of Grease, this one will thankfully rely on judges instead of America to determine the winner. But after hearing the details behind MTV's production plans, our initial sense is that the summer series will be utterly unwatchable. Three reasons why this show should not go on, after the jump:
More »
reality television
TLC Becomes Only Network Not To Pass On Jennifer Lopez's Next Reality Show
Remember when The Learning Channel was proudly cheesy? Back when they featured all those low-budget Baby Stories and Wedding Stories and any kind of Story that would set housewives' hearts aflutter? Well, it looks like those TLC-loving housewives are in store for something a bit more glamorous. According to the NY Daily News, diamond-drenched new mother of twins Jennifer Lopez is gearing up to invite us into her and vampire-like husband Marc Anthony's home to "deliver a slice of [Lopez's] life that audiences have never seen before, as she takes on her career and launches a new fragrance while trying to juggle her new responsibilities as a first-time mom." While we couldn't be more excited to watch Lopez cook enchiladas that Anthony will eventually purge, we're noticing a trend. Namely, that previously straight-laced networks like TLC and Lifetime have taken notice of Bravo's success and, thus, are beginning to follow their bold footsteps by greenlighting programs that strongly appeal to the gay and lesbian community. More »
zip it up and dance
Introducing The First 'Step It Up & Dance' Contestant With An Inevitable Gay Porn Past
The Circle of Vaguely Latino-Looking Reality Stars With Gay Porn Pasts continues with news (and accompanying suite of fleshy, very NSFW photos) that Step It Up & Dance contestant Michael, described by Bravo's official site as living by the motto, "life is my canvas, the beat is my soul, crank it up and watch me roll," has applied that same vigorous enthusiasm towards his modeling work on LatinBoyz.com. Despite The Ashton Cruz Zoo blog's semi-hysterical assessment of the photos as a "GAY PORN SCANDAL!!!," however, we doubt anyone tuning in to a dance contest hosted by Elizabeth "I'm Not a Whore" Berkley would be entirely shocked to learn that any one of the talented contestants might have at some other point impressed a different set of judges with the sheer technical skill of their tripoded pliés.
- Official Bios [Step It Up & Dance]
- STEP IT UP AND DANCE GAY PORN SCANDAL!!!! (NSFW) [theashtoncruzzoo.blogspot.com via Towleroad]
weinstein woes
Jeff Zucker's Wife and Kids Nervous About Harvey Weinstein's 'Runway' Restitution
Some days we're so full of love for Harvey Weinstein that our weak, arrhythmic blogger hearts nearly explode. It was one thing last week when he brazenly moved Project Runway to Lifetime, pulling the rug out from a supposedly unwitting NBC. It was another thing entirely on Monday when Harvey rolled the rug up and started whacking NBC boss Jeff Zucker over the head with it: More »
weinstein woes
More Fallout For Controversy Magnet Harvey Weinstein As 'Runway' Heads To Lifetime
Spring 2008 hasn't been kind to Harvey Weinstein and his little production company. First, his close friend Anthony Minghella passed away (prompting a highly critical piece penned by New York Magazine film critic David Edelstein), then he butted heads with the Marley family over his planned biopic on the reggae singer, and now the portly producer finds himself at the center of NBC and Lifetime's battle for Project Runway. Moments after Lifetime announced their five-year $150 million deal with the Weinstein Co. to take over the helm of Bravo's signature show, Jeff Zucker and his peacocked lawyers immediately responded by suing Harvey and his goons for breach-of-contract. And insiders at NBC aren't keeping mum about their feelings towards the money-hungry Weinstein:
"Harvey hates us passionately, always did...He despises Bravo because he thinks we didn't pay him enough."More »
making it work
'Project Runway' Crowns A Majah Fashion Force
Last night was the Project Runway finale. Could you feel it? It was in the air! It was positively zeitgeisty! Even our bartender at Little Dom's was going on about it. (Well, actually, she had forgotten, but we reminded her. And then she was all, "Runway this," and "Christian that!") We scarfed down a pizza with speck and fresh arugula (delish!), and headed over to our friend's place on Elevado St. for the big show. Things only got better from there. There was champagne and guacamole, and a wall-mounted TV, and a whirlwind of last-minute Bryant Park preparations. Silly Jillian, you took a model variety-pack when you should have stuck to just one kind, like a dozen 5'10" Asians—how fierce would that have been? You're OK, but you're not, like, fierce. Your dad is kind of fierce, though. And there's Rami, who is deeply influenced by a Joan of Arc poster or something. Quit hissing, everyone, we can't hear what Rami is saying! Oh—he's saying Christian is young and has a lot to learn about the fashion business. [Fierce megaspoiler after the jump!] More »
reading too much into things
Did One Of The 'Runway' Finalists Give Away Too Much On 'Regis And Kelly?'
The final Runway four climbed onto Live with Regis and Kelly's barstools this morning, offering us, the way-too-involved Project Runway fan, the illusion of seeing some old, completely-charisma-free friends on national morning TV! (Perhaps the same is being said of us.) Moments after Jillian Lewis shared the many, many mishaps that made the construction of her Twizzlers dress such a living nightmare (so many licorice-related complications!), Reeg goes in for the kill: More »
zzzzzzzz
Bearish 'Runway' Finalist's Hibernation Habits Not Tim Gunn's Definition Of Making It Work
And then there were five. Last night's Project Runway was the last before next week's catty reunion episode. (Apparently the African-American girl we have no absolutely no recollection of was really upset about certain things someone said about her!) More »
feroche spice
'Project Runway' Finalist Christian Stuns Fashion World By Removing Glasses And Revealing Himself To Have Been Posh Spice All Along
If you simply, absolutely must see what the final five Project Runway contestants (Sweet P, Christian, Rami, Jillian, and Chris) sent down the catwalk today at their New York's Fashion Week shows, there's plenty of photos at Getty Images. The only thing we're going to spoil for you, however, is contained in the photo above, featuring the show's beloved panel, and guest finale judge Victoria Beckham, rocking an orange kimono dress and steadfastly adhering to her 24-hour grimace policy. It's a portrait of such feroche fiercosity, forgive us while we react to it the only we know how—with a stream-of-consciousness regurgitation of every Runway cliché we can think of:
More »
women who can beat you up
'Project Runway' Challenge Addresses Issue Of Wearable Women's Piledriverwear
With two weeks since the last new installment, we came to last night's episode hungry for Project Runway action, like a submissive John desperate to be body-slammed by his favorite dominatrix in thigh boots. Luckily, this week's challenge amply serviced our whimpery needs, as the guest models were the Divas of WWE. They were she-beasts all, showing off for the remaining designers in an impressive demonstration that required them to grab a regular Runway model by the ankle, then swing them over their heads and launch them across the room before high-fiving each other and engaging in a spirited flex-off. Enjoy.
balls out competition
'Make Me A Supermodel' Now Basically The Reality TV Version Of Pervy Coco Screen Test Scene From 'Fame'
We've already admitted to you our growing fascination with thinly veiled child-sex-trafficking game show Make Me A Supermodel. (Small side note: Has the term "supermodel" lost all currency? Is it now the fashion world equivalent of the term "porn star," with any XXX-come-lately to successfully wrap a dp scene instantly elevating themselves to the level of a Courtney Cummz or Naomi St. Clair? But we digress.) Forced to up the naked ante from last week's naughty boudoir challenge, producers dispensed with all manner of propriety, and had the remaining contestants strip bare for a drawing class.
More »