September 7, 2007

Watching a bit of TV.

I keep forgetting to blog about TV. Am I watching anything (aside from that debate the other night)? Well, I'm still following "Top Chef," and, being a "Project Runway" fan, I had to check out "Tim Gunn's Guide to Style."

Speaking of style, Tim Gunn may have style sense when it comes to fashion, but a TV show needs some style too. He's great on "Project Runway," where he's offset by lots of other characters, but look how they built a show around him! They paired him up with Veronica Webb, who is incredibly stiff and dull. And there are no contestants, just a makeover target. On the show I watched, this unbelievably uninteresting woman was shown over and over doing one of two things: acting demure and modest or getting excited about all the fabulous stuff they were giving her. Here she is failing to project her essential femininity and here she squealing and clapping and saying things like "wow."

The worst part was in the end, when our made-over darling performed a fashion show in her living room for her family and friends. Her husband presented her with a new engagement ring -- something the show gave him to replace the crappy engagement ring that was all he could afford when they actually got engaged. He couldn't get insulted when they displaced the ring he bought for her. He had to be all sobby and grateful and then do a little re-proposal at the end of the fashion show, blabbing irrelevantly about how much he loved her, which he obviously did -- whether she was wearing jeans and T-shirts or the little dresses that the show insisted she wear to highlight her feminity.

Then, predictably after much foreshadowing, they made a big deal of her mother showing up. That part was almost funny, because obviously they knew the mother was on her way, but they put on the fashion show without her, and then they made a big deal about the big surprise they were about to reveal, and I really think the woman thought she was going to get more material goods. Then, the doors flew open and it was just mom. It's not as if she hadn't seen mom in ages. Mom had just had "an operation." Yeah? For what? You know if it was cancer, they'd have said. It was probably something entirely undangerous. But it wasn't funny, because it was idiotic manipulation, trying to make us cry over absolutely nothing.

And I adore Tim Gunn. I can't watch his horrible show. I await the new season of "Project Runway," but it will be "Project Runway" without Tim Gunn. Oh, the tragedy of TV spinoffs.

14 comments:

Original Mike said...

Did you get your DVR working, Ann?

AmPowerBlog said...

Nope, sorry, I've never watched "Project Runway."

Any insights on "Big Brother 8"?

Ann Althouse said...

Yes, I got Explorer 8000 or whatever it's called to go. So I can speed through the maudlin nonsense.

I don't have HBO though, which is a problem. Or Howard TV. A little Howard TV would be refreshing.

Unknown said...

Tim Gunn has the biggest head on television. You need at least a 42" screen for it to even fit.

And when he stands in front of his counterpart, her head looks about the size of a pea.

Trooper York said...

Ann check out "What not to Wear" with Stacy London and Clinton...it has a lot more entertainment value ...and Stacy lives in Carroll Gardens just about twenty five or so blocks from you.

rhhardin said...

she is failing to project her essential femininity

To be a queen.

Love will make you dream
Everything extreme,
You will be my only one
And I will be your queen


Tiffany Eckhardt _Looking for Signs_

Unknown said...

I like Damages on FX. Glenn Close plays a high stakes tort lawyer, and the whole season is devoted to one case. Good production values, good teasers, good convoluted plot points. I really look forward to the next episode!

Joan said...

No worries -- Tim Gunn will be in PR4.

J. Cricket said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Trooper York said...

Hey Mary Kate, who are you to talk...all you ever do is hang out in clubs with Ashley and vomit in the bathroom...not very productive
you skinny skank.

Palladian said...

"Mary Kate" is someone who keeps changing their Blogger username and leaving stupid comments here. You can always tell it's the same person because even when they change the display name, the URL of their profile remains the same.

"Mary Kate" was commenting as impartial observer yesterday. What a surprise, a lame troll who's a lot dumber than they think they are.

Irene Done said...

I tried to watch because I love Tim Gunn but I couldn't get through it. Couldn't they have changed the What Not to Wear formula just a tiny bit? The thing I hate about WNTW (I've only seen the BBC version) is the premise -- that the women must be utterly humiliated before they can be "helped." I refuse to accept that this in any way results in lasting feelings of self-confidence and beauty.

Ann Althouse said...

I've seen WNTW. It's not a very interesting reality show because there is no story in it. The target is going to be made over, we already know that. Next week, there's a new target. Each week, they are going to say the woman has a problem, and each week, they are going to do their little things and then declare that they've made big improvements. And how many shots of people rifling through closets and store racks can you watch? There is zero suspense.

Trooper York said...

I guess you are correct that there is not much suspense...but I like Stacy's snarkiness... the real reason I like it is that I will be on in October....sorry for the admission against interest.