Posts Tagged ‘Bravo’

Who told Bravo that weird lips and a British accent get viewers? Top Design dragged Trudie Styler into the judges’ panel, and if we’ve heard it once, we’ve heard it a million times: she has hot tantric middle-aged sex with Sting, among others. She kept harping on Matt’s sterile bedroom.

But he won, Carisa didn’t and we still hate Bravo.

Project Top Design went to the party. And then they went to LAURA BENNETT’S to watch the show!

The Gilded Moose liveblogged. Best line:

Todd Oldham is so endearing. He’s sort of like a lesbian Don Knotts.

Blogging Top Design asks readers for only positive comments about Carisa. One and holding.

Jonathan Adler thinks bloggers should be glad to see his white, hairy ankles. So prep, don’cha know?

Linda Merrill deconstructs the loft challenge.

FBLA wonders why the LA Times Home section has barely mentioned this show. Shot here with designers from here–or is that too obvious?

Summing up: Top Design was just okay. Casting was decent, challenges were poorly conceived, judges adequate, production values good. B-/C+

FBLA is completely disgusted with Bravo and is never watching their stupid poopy channel again. (And we’re not alone.) Our pal, Andrea Keller, got booted from Top Design, and frankly, we blame the fine hand of the producers, hungry to interject some life in this mortibund series. So who did they keep?

Carisa–a shrew with the design esthetic of Dirk Diggler.

Matt–not gay, just sensitive. Margaret’s favorite. He lost 17 pounds during the show!

FBLA has learned that the PA who writes the blog was completely unknown to a number of crew members who actually worked on the show. Pink Navy has his number.

Linda Merrill recaps the actual design elements nicely.

Project Top Design has some commenters with the right ideas.

TWOP thinks the whole idea was stupid, and calls Kelly’s ensemble “summer picnic at Dachau” which pretty much sums up the whole episode.

Reader/writer Sherlynn Hicks shares her thoughts on TWOP’s acquisition by Bravo:

TelevisionWithoutPity.com has been bought by Bravo. I quietly lament. Glark, TWoP’s Head of Programming, set up a forum entitled No, We Don’t Have Tim Gunn’s Phone Number: Questions About The Bravo Deal. See how clever they are. Glark has responded in the forum with answers, non-answers, evasions and none-of-your-businesses, but in a completely reasonable and nice fashion.

In the forum, TVTourist amply expresses my concern: “I am a little a worried about this change. Will freedom of snark really continue in the forums under the reign of Bravo? Take The Real Housewives of OC show for instance. Bravo won’t allow any negative comments to be posted on its own boards, and TWoP shut down its thread about the show after getting heat from the participants’ lawyers. If Bravo is able to exert the same control it exercises over its own boards, the freedom of snark on TWoP’s boards may really be in jeopardy.” Glark equivocates alluding to a legal, not snark issue, with the Real Housewives forum. (FBLA reminds readers that FoodNetwork shut down their own forums thanks to posts about Sandra Lee.)

Beadgirl, a litigator, counters Glark’s admittedly vague response: “Well, that it was a legal issue worries me…if it was a frivolous legal claim put forth in a big way by expensive lawyers with tons of briefs, and you shut down the thread because you could not afford to prove in court the frivolousness of the claim, that troubles me… [N]ow that you have Bravo on your side, will their legal department be able to help you if it comes up again in the future?”

I would not only ask if Bravo would be able, but more importantly, willing, to defend TWoP’s right to snark, a cultural mainstay of an intelligent, vibrant, civilized internets community. I further admonish my beloved TWoP to look at the Viacom/YouTube money brawl carefully and avoid that bikerbarfight at all costs. Mo’ money, mo’ problems.

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Viacom is suing YouTube for unauthorized use of some 160,000 video clips from MTV, Comedy Central and VH1. Viacom thinks that $1 billion is fair recompense for the 1.5 billion times the clips were viewed. Viacom’s argument included this:

This is value that rightfully belongs to the writers, directors and talent who create it and companies like Viacom that have invested to make possible this innovation and creativity.

Like Viacom gives a shit about those writers and directors, much less creovation.

Bravo paid an undisclosed sum for Television Without Pity.com. Creators Sarah Bunting and Tara Ariano will remain as editors, but Bravo will no doubt quish the life out of the recaps and ferret out employees who post on the message boards.

Court TV is dropping the court part and rebranding as some generic reality network with first person programming such as a cops with cocktails show about nightclub bouncers and an all-girl team of bounty hunters. Nancy Grace and Star Jones, neither of whom are stars nor graceful, will command a two hour talk show block. Why not just call it The Lowest Ring of Hell and be done with it?

M. Night Shyamalan gets an infusion of producing cash from Indian media comglomerate UTV Motion Pictures. Lady in the Water must not have opened there yet or else someone in Mumbai really wants to see Philly. Do they know that cheesesteaks come from cows?

ABC speeds up National Bingo Night, a play-along game show. Interactive as all get-out, this isn’t Grandma’s bingo–and the set is a bingoplex! It’s a slot machine in your tv!

Bravo’s Top Design second episode started out strong when John Grey, the bear from Chicago, clued in his housemates about his HIV+ status and the massive dose of testosterone he got from his MD. Andrea Keller, our glama-zon architect pal, fills us in.

AK: The John thing was pretty shocking, none of us saw it coming or knew what was up (I was sitting there knitting, hello). He was very sincere and straightforward, it was very impressive. He just realized that there was a major problem, so he decided to tell all of us right away. Made for a lot more understanding and respect.

Grey just became the 2nd reality cast member to admit to being HIV+ — Real World’s Pedro was the first–in 1994. Too bad the Bravo assistant was such a jerk about it. Frankly, if we want to hear from a PA, we’ll kick him.

The challenge was (stop us if you’ve heard this one) to design a room for a mystery client. (Note to Bravo: why tip us off with the title?) And surprise! the clients are short.

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Bravo orders up some fun.

Bravo:
Tim Gunn’s Guide to Style
The Project Runway dreamboat/mentor will help ordinary people maximize their fashion potential. Best news ever.

Hey Paula!
Cameras follow as the Idol judge goes about her business as a choreographer, a business woman, producer, singer and gibbering idiot. Can’t wait to see her closets.

Shear Genius
Aka Top Hair, with Jaclyn Smith as host, and Sally Hershberger as been judge, all focusing on the high end world of hairstyling. Shear Insanity would have been a better title. Why not the high-end world of pet grooming?