Project Runway

Project Runway is on.  Watching it reminds me of the days I’d spend with Mom ripping apart the show “So you think you can dance.”  (Pfff, yes..yes, I do.)  We were suckers for the lame and the beautiful, but of course we’d settle for whoever was the least annoying (which was usually a tight race).  On the nights our dancing show wasn’t on, we’d succumb to watching Heidi what’s-her-face and the A-listers from Betsy’s school for bad attitudes (aka, Project Run(a)way).  Why, God, why must the word ‘artist’ be synonymous with ‘prima donna’?  Can’t the people just make pretty dressers and keep their mouths shut?  (And here, a little digression.  I’m reminded of a time when I had the misfortune of renting an apartment from one of NYCs biggest prima-Ds.  Unfortunately for me, she also moonlighted as a B-level actress.  Her calling?  MTV “reality” shows.  Ah, so the secret’s out.  Yes, the folks in the reality shows ain’t your average Joe standin’ in the line at Starbucks, just waiting to be found.  The actors audition like the rest of Hollywood/New York.  What a sham!  At least the tooth fairy’s real.)  Where was I?  Ah yes, craptastic TV shows.  Anyhow, on most evenings, Mom and I would nestle in our favorite chairs – hers the mechanical lifter (I’m sure there’s a more technical term) and mine the entire couch – and spend the evening critiquing (or criticizing…little difference) our reality shows.  Though she’d never miss a Law and Order, she wasn’t much for big-time drama.  Dancing and dress-making were just enough to keep her attention.  Usually around ten, we’d shut the TV off -- much to her annoyance -- and start the hour long process towards getting her to bed.  The evening’s events would carry us all the way to that last peck on the forehead.  Nothin’ like human drama to keep the brain working and the laughs going.  She loved those shows, and because she did, so do I.  Though I still think Mrs. Seal (Heid Klum) can be a bit harsh.  -- J