In its fifth and final season for Bravo, Project Runway premieres this week with a whole new slew of wannabe designers ready to live out their wildest fashion fantasies. We figured the best people to talk to about this undoubtedly benchmark season are two guys who seem to know it best–Tom Fitzgerald and Lorenzo Marquez of noted fan blog “Project Rungay.” Not only does the pair extensively blog about every style that goes down the runway (don’t get too comfy in those judging chairs Nina Garcia and Michael Kors), but they also keep fans updated on any and all Project Runway mumblings during the season. Project Rungay doesn’t take a break when the series does, Tom and Lorenzo (they write together as “TLo”) update the blog almost daily with news and correspondence from past contestants and judges, exclusive contests for PR swag, and their own “in or out” observations on celebrity fashion. Read on to find out their opinions on Runway’s Season 5, the show’s move to Lifetime, and what to wear what NOT to wear this summer. Give your own opinions on Project Rungay here.
Q: In any other context this would sound creepy, but what are you wearing right now?
Oh, so it’s gonna be THAT kind of interview, is it? We’re gonna wind up killing our image by admitting this, but we are currently sporting shorts, t-shirts and flip-flops. Hey, blogging is hard work and you have to dress comfortably.
Q: Was it one episode, or one personality that began your initial blogging romance with Project Runway?
Oh, one personality, definitely. That juggernaut of fabulosity and attitude, Miss Laura Bennett. Truth be told, it was the vintage Louis Vuitton that hooked us, but then it turned out she’s a fantastic designer and a hoot to boot.
Q: Do you watch many reality shows? What makes Project Runway different from other competition reality shows?
Define “many.” We tend to check out all the reality shows on Bravo at least once, but we’ve only ever become fans of PR, Top Design and Shear Genius with Top Chef getting an honorable mention. As for other networks, we don’t watch American Idol but we can admit we have a guilty pleasure in The Biggest Loser. Yes, yes, it’s inspirational but really, we tune in to watch fat people cry.
Q: If you could create a challenge to be aired on the show, what would it entail?
Drag queens. And lots of them.
Q: What mistakes do you think that real men and women make with everyday fashion?
It all boils down to one mistake: not knowing their bodies and what looks good on them. Sometimes that means not dressing age appropriately but more commonly, it means not wearing the right sizes and colors.
Q: Have you ever been confronted by a celebrity that you have blogged about? (Perhaps “Frau Seal” [Heidi Klum]?)
Darling, this may come as something of a shock to you, but blogging isn’t generally all that glamorous. Fabulous as we are, we don’t tend to run in the same circles as celebrities. Unless you’re talking about reality show “celebrities,” in which case they just refuse to have their pictures taken with us.
Q: As you’ve blogged about, Project Runway is going through a lot of changes next season. How do you feel about the show’s move to Lifetime? How do you think the Season 6 contestants’ experience will change by being in LA instead of New York?
We’re…wary about the Lifetime deal. We won’t make a lot of doom and gloom predictions, but there’s a major demographic shift when you move from a network like Bravo to one like Lifetime and with that shift, inevitable concessions will come. It remains to be seen what, if anything will change about the show once it’s in L.A. We’re dreading one dreary red carpet challenge after another.
Q: Which coast has better style, east or west?
East. Definitely.
Q: What TV show or TV character do you think has the best style?
Pushing Daisies looks like nothing else on TV but for sheer visual orgasmia, we have to go with Mad Men. Bullet bras and skinny ties are HOT.
Q: What did you think of the Christian Siriano-designed outfits that Whoopi Goldberg wore to the Tony awards?
Sloppy looking, but better than almost anything the Whoopster’s worn in public.
Q: What are your competitor blogs? Who do you aspire to be like?
It’s all one big, happy blogging pool. The water’s fine and all are welcome. There’s no such thing as competitors in blogging. As for who we aspire to be like, we’re not ashamed to admit that we learned a lot from the Fug Girls. They showed us how to be bitchy without being nasty.
Q: What are your thoughts on Michelle and Barack Obama’s fashion? How about Cindy and John McCain? Bill and Hilary Clinton?
To be honest, we haven’t thought about it much. Too much emphasis is put on style in the political arena. They all dress appropriately for themselves and the circles in which they travel. They’re politicians (and co-politicians). So long as they’re well-presented and not showing up in an “I’m With Stupid” t-shirt, it’s all good.
Q: Who are the biggest divas in the fashion world right now?
Miss Karl Lagerfeld. Although she was a bigger diva when she was fat. We miss the fan.
Q: What do you think Ellen Degeneres and Portia de Rossi should wear to their wedding?
Whatever flatters them and makes them feel comfortable. But no tuxes. Or sneakers.
Q: What styles are in and out for summer? (Or, should we really toss our cargo shorts and wedged espadrilles?)
You can probably still get some wear out of the espadrilles, but the cargo shorts and the capris need to go. A walking short is more flattering than the capris, which gives even the slimmest women cankles and the cargo is just so OVER.
Check out a preview of Season 5 here.
Today, The Nielsen Company issued the first in what we’re calling “three-screen reports” that monitor how Americans are viewing entertainment on TV, the web, and on mobile devices. According to the report:
Screen time of the average American continues to increase with TV users watching more TV than ever before (127 hrs, 15 min per month), while also spending 9% more time using the Internet (26 hrs, 26 min per month) from last year. At the same time, a small but growing number of Internet and mobile phone users are watching video online (2 hrs, 19 min per month), as well as using their cell phones to watch video (3 hrs, 15 min per month).
The New York Times takes a closer look… you can read it on your mobile phone or computer.
Do you find yourself watching more TV, viewing more online video, and streaming more media on your phone as compared to a year ago?
If you find yourself trapped in the house this summer due to heat waves, rising gas prices, or just general agoraphobia, there are a handful of fresh reality/game-based shows aimed at keeping your interest. Check out a selection of these new shows that have just debuted or are scheduled to land soon. Be among the first to make an opinion on these by following the links below.
Million Dollar Password: TV’s Million Dollar Game Show emcee of choice, Regis Philbin, hosts this update of the classic game show ‘Password,’ where celebrities help contestants win as much as, you guessed it, one million dollars.
Legally Blonde The Musical - The Search For Elle Woods: The movie that was based on a book and then became a musical is now a TV show that sets out to find the lead for the musical… which we’re guessing is probably going to be made into another movie, which will be turned into…
Greatest American Dog: Who doesn’t love a stupid pet trick? If this show catches on, perhaps they’ll expand it internationally to include more than American Dogs… but maybe German Shepherds, French Poodles, and Irish Wolfhounds are already eligible for this show through some sort of international work visa program — we’re not sure.
Celebrity Circus: So You Think You Can Trapeze? This series follows the famous and semi-famous in their quest to be circus stars. We’re afraid of clowns, so you’ll have to watch and tell us how it is.
Wipeout: Braving mud and more across extreme obstacle courses, two dozen contestants each week compete for $50,000.
I Survived A Japanese Game Show: Americans travel abroad to compete in / be humiliated by a zany Japanese Game Show for cash prizes… probably a good deal considering the exchange rate.
Hopkins: No fun and games here… a documentary crew was allowed to follow a team at the famous Johns Hopkins Hospital for this gritty six-part series.
High School Musical: Get In The Picture: Singer, celebrity dancer, and now reality show host Nick Lachey oversees a talent search for the next round of High School Musical stars. Can a show about their eager stage moms fawning over Nick be far behind?
Kevin Croy is the founder of LostPedia, a worldwide Wiki that details the ever-expanding minutiae of the tv show Lost. Recently, Kevin spoke at the Paley Center for Media in New York, as part of a panel (along with Jenny from OfficeTally) about the growing impact of fan sites on how fans interact with their favorite shows — and how the network producers keep their eye on the communities that follow their shows. As the season comes to a close, the LostPedia site has become a must-visit destination for the obsessive fan, the curious newbie…and interested bloggers like us.
Q: What was your inspiration to start LostPedia?
I have always been a big fan of Wikipedia and I’ve always wanted to start my own wiki. After the 1st episode of the second season, my mind was just a mess with all of the stories lines in LOST. It just occurred to me that a wiki would be the perfect format to keep track of all this stuff. After searching and not finding one, I decided to create one and the rest is history.
Q: Are there any drawbacks to running a community site about your favorite television show?
Sometimes my focus has to shift away from the show itself in order to help with issues the community is facing. A good example of this is during season Finales. Sometimes I have to pause the Finale in order to handle server issues related to high traffic loads.
Q: Do you participate in the Lost ARG (alternate reality game)? What do you think of melding a storyline to a television show with an online and real-life game?
I follow along with the ARG, but don’t do a lot of original research for it. I think the ARG is really a great way to keep an audience entertained and involved in the series during the off season. I hope LOST continues to develop their ARG.
Q: What can you tell us about the people who visit and comment on Lostpedia? Why do you think so many people are drawn to Lost?
Lostpedia users are a really diverse crowd. University Students, Business men and women, stay at home moms. You name it!
I think people are drawn to Lost because it’s constantly making them think and re-evaluate ideas that they have about characters and the story. The fact that every episode builds on the one before is a key to their success. Fans have invested a lot of time in the series at this point and no one wants to miss an episode and fall behind.
Q: We’ve noticed that you’ve suspended registration until Lost’s Season 4 is over because spoilers were being posted. How do you balance people’s desire to know more about the show with a spoiler policy?
We give users an area to discuss spoilers in the forum that is clearly marked as such. I think there are a few different levels of spoilers. Sometimes people who live on the west coast that visit Lostpedia after it’s aired on the east coast, but before it airs on the west coast can get spoiled. I think that’s the nature of the beast. However, spoiling the finale weeks before it airs is totally unacceptable and I don’t think serves anyone’s best interest (except for maybe competing networks!) So we try to draw the line there and we do our best to prevent the spread of “unaired spoilers.”
Q: What are your favorite characters and storylines in the series?
Ben Linus, John Locke and Sayid are my favorite characters. They keep the audience guessing about Ben. Is he a crazed mad man or a genius that really has everyone’s best interests in mind? My favorite storyline of this season was when Desmond was traveling through time and I also liked the concept of him needing to find a “constant.”
Q: If you could write one episode of Lost, what would happen?
I would write an entire episode on the numbers and I would explain where they came from, why they’re so special! I’d also like to see Hurley get over his fear of his Lottery money and do some cool things as a multi-millionaire.
Q: What are your other favorite shows?
I’ve recently gotten into Dexter. I watched all the episodes back to back over a 3 day period (gotta love Comcast On Demand!). I still love watching Seinfeld, even though I’ve seen every episode at least 10 times.
Q: Imagine you’re a studio head. Program the ultimate Thursday night lineup from 8-11… you can use any current show on any network.
8:00-8:30: Seinfeld (Rerun if necessary, but if I’m a studio head then I’d bring the crew back together and make some new episodes!)
8:30-9:00: Rob & Big
9:00-10:00 LOST
10:00-11:00 Dexter
Q: No matter how Lost ends, do you imagine fans being upset and trash talking it a la The Sopranos backlash?
I really hope not. I was really disappointed with The Sopranos ending. I’m sure no matter how it ends some fans will feel they were let down. My gut feeling is that most fans will be pleased with the ending. The writers of LOST definitely aren’t dummies. I think they definitely are going to try to avoid a Sopranos type ending. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
Q: If we offered you a book with all of the secrets, explanations, and plot twists in the remaining seasons of Lost, would you read it? Or, would you rather watch the show every week to find out what happens? Note: We don’t have said book… or do we?
I wouldn’t want to read it. I think the twists and turns are an exciting element of the show. Even though the cliffhangers at the end of each episode can be pretty rough of fans sometimes, I’m glad I don’t know how it’s going to end. I think if you had a book like that you could make a lot of money selling copies of it, because a lot of people definitely would want to read it.
We were feeling pretty good about hitting 100,000K members this week until we learned from our friends at Billboard that 97.5 Million votes were cast for last night’s American Idol finale, won by David Cook. The former bartender from Missouri captured 56% of the votes… almost exactly the same percentage predicted in a recent poll of Hey! Nielsen members who went for Cook 57% to 43% over his competition, 17-year-old David Archuleta.
In the month leading up to the finals, the buzz on Cook (tracked by Nielsen Online’s BlogPulse) was consistently edging out Archuleta’s — and then spiked last night for the finale, accounting for nearly .5% of all blog posts tracked by Nielsen.
After the announcement that he had won, Cook, despite claiming he was at a loss for words, was able to tell host Ryan Seacrest: “I am absolutely at a loss for words.” Bravo.
Jennie Tan knows cubicle life. Perhaps that’s why she’s just the right person to run OfficeTally, a website devoted to the US version of the popular series ‘The Office.’ What started as a site for fans to rate their favorite episodes (hence the name) has blossomed into the site for ‘The Office’ news, gossip, and more… even her new BFFs, the stars of the the show, read it when they’re killing time at their fictional desks. So enjoy this interview… then get back to work! Oh, but not before playing our Trivia Quiz which features a question from OfficeTally.
Q: We all have our favorite shows, but what attracted you so much to ‘The Office’ that you started a website?
It was all by accident, really. I’m a huge web nerd, and I wanted to learn how to create and maintain my own blog. I had just started getting interested in ‘The Office,’ so I figured that would be a good topic. If it hadn’t been ‘The Office,’ I might have started a blog about eating or restaurants or geek gadgets.
Q: As I write to you from my stylish beige cubicle, I have to ask… did you ever work in an office? If so, was it more or less soul-sucking than [the paper company on the show] Dunder Mifflin?
Uh, I’ve worked in an office for … years! That’s all I’ve ever known professionally. I am used to sitting in an 8×10 cubicle in front of a computer all day. Fortunately, the company I work for is way less soul-sucking than Dunder Mifflin. In fact, it is one of Forbes’ “Best Companies To Work For”!
If you think you love TV you’re probably nowhere near as infatuated with the medium as our pal Jenny from the TV review site TV Over Easy. She sometimes watches as many hours of TV as most of us spend awake! A self-admitted TV junkie, Jenny recaps the best in TV viewing each night with insight and enthusiasm. Since she vlogs more than blogs, Jenny decided to answer our questions in video.
Discuss shows mentioned in this video: Jericho, Ugly Betty, Heroes, Pushing Daisies
Tomorrow, the video streaming service hulu [discuss] opens its digital doors after a closed beta period during which the site began serving clips and full episodes from NBC Universal (including related networks like USA and Bravo) and News Corp. (FOX, FX, etc.). More shows as well as films are expected shortly from other partners soon including the NHL, NBA, WWE, Lionsgate, Warner Bros, and even the satirical news outlet, The Onion. (more details at MediaWeek)
It’s not quite right to call hulu a YouTube killer since its concept of community and content is much different and much more controlled. Unlike YouTube, you can’t upload video to hulu; the only content featured is that which the studios choose. If anything, the major criticism of hulu has been this selective rationing of content. Yes, popular shows like The Office, House, and Family Guy are featured, but not every episode. In a way, it’s a little like OnDemand programming, where only a handful of episodes are available at a time. There is advertising on hulu, but it’s never longer than a 30-second spot dropped in where regular commercial breaks would be during the broadcast.
As far as interacting with the content or other users, no one would confuse hulu with a social network, but users can create playlists, write reviews, and embed video on their own blog of social network page (see our embed below).
It’s unclear if the sheer quality of content on hulu (the hulu player is arguably a step up from YouTube’s interface) will start to chip away at YouTube’s lead as a video portal. But, the fact that hulu has chosen to provide not only full episodes, but also snack-sized clips indicates they are eager to capture some of that elusive short-attention-span / blogger marketshare. In the past, media bloggers and journalists would use a number of other sites (YouTube, DailyMotion, etc.) to pull in video from certain shows (for example the wildly viral Saturday Night Live Democratic Debate) — now hulu enables the original owner of that content to be part of the embed mix.
Let us know what you think of hulu, or tell us about your favorite video sharing site by commenting below.
As more and more networks offer clips and full episodes online of their new shows, the social aspect of web culture is filtering — if not flooding — into TV programming. Take ‘quarterlife,’ an honest-to-blog drama that recently debuted (with less-than-stellar ratings) on NBC (and now moved to Bravo). The show follows the fictional lives of twentysomethings who probably have a lot in common with the real life people tuning into web-based shows by the millions on social networks like MySpace (now with the added power of News Corp and FOX TV) and Bebo, which has seen success with KateModern. Bebo’s web-based hit is one of the net’s first “spinoffs,” bred out of YouTube’s lonelygirl15 phenomenon (For you old-school TV fans, think of it as the Web 2.0 version of ‘Rhoda’ spinning off from ‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show’). Bebo plans to debut two more shows this year, ‘The Gap Year’ and ‘Sophia’s Diary.’ The Wall Street Journal reports that Bebo is in “buy me” mode, with the likes of CBS’s giant eye taking a close look.
MySpace’s second dip into the webisode pool following ‘Roomates’ is ‘Special Delivery‘, a hidden cam show that tweaks unsuspecting delivery workers (again think of it as the 21st century Candid Camera, aka the original Punk’d). All of these web-based shows offer an snack-sized version (under five minutes in most cases) that appeal to viral growth and short attention spans.
Which do you think has a better chance of catching on — TV shows that feature more web-based content, or a new breed of reality and scripted webisodes? Check out clips below.
NBC’s “quarterlife”
Bebo’s “KateModern”
MySpace’s “Special Delivery”
According the cash register, Tom Petty. After the game, Petty (who is also the voice of “Lucky” on King Of The Hill) topped the catalog chart for Billboard by steadily moving up, achieving a nearly 200% bump in sales. Both his “Greatest Hits” and his “Anthology” collection raked up huge sales on the digital side. More than a third of all Petty tracks were sold online. The song “Free Fallin’” which Petty performed at the halftime show on Super Bowl Sunday sold 63,000 copies via the web, 300% jump! Perhaps that’s why coach Belichick left the field early, he wanted to go download “Running Down A Dream.”
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