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Bravo

crossovers

Julia TV: Confirmed

Wired posted its profile of Julia Allison, the Time Out New York dating columnist and onetime protocelebrity (now in the process of crossing over into the real thing). Yes, the cover story (preceded by the cover itself) retreads much that Gawker readers already know about Allison, and many of you will, no doubt, find the piece altogether too friendly, a celebratory, rather than judgmental, distillation of her techniques for self-promotion and attention whoring. But there is news. Confirmation, for one, of Allison's long-rumored reality TV show for Bravo, IT Girls. Wired said the deal was signed in June, though it's clearly been in the works for much longer. Then there's a terrifying new wrinkle to Allison's new "lifecasting" Web venture, Non Society: More »

reality tv

How Harvey Weinstein Squeezes Millions Out Of Project Runway

$8 million. Does that seem like a lot of money for a company to pay to have mediocre models use their hair products on a mediocre cable show for a few seasons? It kind of does. But that's how much The Weinstein Company, run by entertainment mogul Harvey Weinstein, is trying to squeeze out of L'Oreal for three seasons of sponsorship of Project Runway. Of course, Weinstein has a long history of pimping out the fashion reality show to every company on earth willing to pay a dime to be on it, using it as a profit machine to support his company's less sure-thing ventures. And he's still milking it for every cent. How do we know? Because he left all the evidence in a public trash can: More »

media

Cable: The Old New Big Thing

TV is dying, right? We read about it online. Kids these days spend all their time on YouTube, and television is left to geriatrics watching Depends ads, right? But no! One word, friends: Cable. Just today, news came out that the executives at Discovery Communications, home of the Discovery Channel, are some of the highest paid in all of the media—their CEO took home $20 million, right up there with the Viacoms and Time Warners of the world. How did little old cable get so rich? Good timing, good programming, and a little bit of luck. Learn and marvel! More »

disasters

Bravo Plans New Top Chef For Kids

Hey kids 13-16! Do you like truffles? Do you make a mean osso buco or quick salad with radicchio and pancetta? Sure you do. All kids like food. Which is why Bravo, home to more reality shows than there are hours of programming in a day, is getting ready to start shooting Top Chef Junior, a cooking competition for epicurean, wine-swilling, back-stabbing teenagers. More »

jackie warner

Sponsor Drops Workout Over 'Negative Icon'-Gate

Jackie Warner, star of Bravo's Workout and lesbian fantasy girlfriend to straight women everywhere, is in trouble for being mean on the show and getting called "a negative icon to the gay community." In response to complaints from Warner's former fans, salty green water purveyor and Workout sponsor Gatorade is ending its relationship with the program. The sports-drink giant told the angry mob: "We have notified Bravo we no longer wish to be associated with The Workout and will be pulling our commercials. Furthermore, we will not renew our sponsorship of this program in subsequent seasons." But wait! A new sponsor has stepped forward! More »

jackie warner

Workout Star Called "Negative Icon"

Jackie Warner, the personal trainer star of Bravo's reality show Workout and popular fantasy girlfriend of straight women, is facing a fan backlash for acting rude on the show. They're calling for a boycott! Apparently she fired a guy named Peeler (rudely), and now she's being branded as a "negative icon to the gay community." Harsh! Shouldn't that type of forceful condemnation be reserved for, you know, Perez Hilton? [LA Rag Mag]

feuds

Bravo Steals Project Runway Producers

Will cable network Lifetime ruin reality fashion television forever when it takes over Project Runway from Bravo later this year, de-snarking the show on behalf of overearnest spinsters and partnering with a third-tier fashion magazine? Bravo is working hard to make sure it doesn't have the chance. First it sued to stop the show from moving. Now Bravo owner NBC Universal has cut a deal with Runway's longtime executive producers for new shows. The deal would presumably enable Bravo to create something very similar to Runway if its lawsuit fails, assuming the poached producers never signed anything that would prevent a Runway copycat. In any case, the producers are definitely done with their old show. Reports the Wall Street Journal: More »

top chef

Snuffles, Has Lifetime Already Bought 'Top Chef'?

Joshua David Stein is back briefly to talk about Bravo's Top Chef whose eighth episode aired last night. As has been much chewed over, Lifetime, a channel for femiladies recently bought Bravo's Project Runway, a show for gays and also anyone else who is fierce and worthwhile. Fears have been raised, as mentioned in an article by former Gawker Mama Rose Doree Shafrir, that the show's edginess will be transmuted into some life-affirming pastiche of pastel Hallmark aphorisms and dime-store candy. This is probably true. But, last we heard, Top Chef was still property of Bravo television which is why last night's episode didn't make any sense: it was cheap; it was cliché; it was precious; it was pap. Also, is Gail Simmons pregnant?
More »

feuds

Hags Vs. Homos: The Project Runway Holy War Is Upon Us

The migration of Project Runway from Bravo to Lifetime is getting ugly, and not Harvey Weinstein ugly — partition of India ugly. The fashion show won't actually move until November, but things are already bad, so bad, between the trendsetting supergays who TiVO Bravo and the spinster homebodies who drink white zinfandel until they pass out on their cats in front of Lifetime. Wrote a commenter on Dlisted: "Being on Lifetime ... automatically makes [Runway] not cool, trendy, or creative. Bravo is funny and gay. Lifetime is timid and stodgy." Doree Shafrir's mom at the Observer rounded up other examples of anti-Lifetime fearmongering by Runway fans, then quoted a Lifetime VP saying, "We care about women — we put them first." PUT WOMEN AHEAD OF GAY MEN, HUH?? Oh, it's on, and even the inevitable Chistian Siriano-mediated peace talks may not be able to turn it off. A bullet-point summary of each side's strategic strengths, distilled from the Observer piece by a party not directly involved in the dispute, after the jump. More »

julia allison

Julia TV Gets The Green Light

Our culture cannot be so debased as to give a television platform to a woman who pretends to be a Star magazine journalist, one who claims to design handbags, and the third an heir to a Sun Microsystems dynasty that we've never heard of. But, of course, it has. That rumored reality television project, one of the few things that Star's Julia Allison has ever kept secret, has been greenlit by Bravo, we're told by people familiar with the cable network. The show, tentatively called IT Girls, begins shooting this summer. More »

trends

American Housewives Wanna Get With This Lesbian

Many and many straight, married gals get all hot and woozy when they watch sinewy lesbian Jackie Warner flex that sweaty six-pack on Bravo's reality show Work Out. "Andy Cohen, senior vice president of programming and production for Bravo, said: 'Straight women across the country are not only obsessed with the show, they are obsessed with Jackie.' Obsessed? 'I cannot tell you how many of the e-mails that we got from last year’s ‘Work Out’ reunion that were women saying, ‘I am married. I have never looked at another woman. I have a huge crush on Jackie,’ Mr. Cohen said." But Jackie's all, meh. More »

reality tv

Nothing Real About Real Housewives of New York City Except My Agony

In last night's premiere episode of Bravo's Real Housewives of New York City no one bothered to stay in New York City very long. They all flounced off to their gaudy Hamptons manses or, in one ridiculous case, to the classy-talk speaking island of St. Barth's. Ramona, the most image conscious of the leathery ladies, flirted with her nincompoop tennis pro and got drunk poolside with her dopey friends, much to the chagrin of her stick-up-her-ass daughter. Betheny, some sort of aspiring Martha Stewart (and the youngest and only single member of the group) didn't do anything memorable. Jill, the one from the Long Island "Jewish ghetto" who does bulk resale, pranced around playing tennis and sending her perfectly healthy looking daughter off to some sort of weight loss detox program. LuAnn De Lesseps (the countess) barked at her maid and talked about money. And then there's Alex, the stern-jawed Brooklynite (she's the only one who doesn't live on the Upper East Side) who, with her fey Australian husband and forcibly French speaking children, trotted off to St. Barth's to avoid the crush of the Hamptons. There she and her husband wore hideously skimpy bathing costumes and bought tens of thousands of dollars worth of ugly dresses.
More »

tv

D-List Forever

Comedienne, Radar honoree, and, most importantly, queer icon Kathy Griffin's Bravo reality show My Life On The D-List has been renewed for another season. This is pretty exciting for the many gays who adore her and her comedy, which is basically recapping several months worth of celebrity gossip blogs. (But in a funny conversational way!) Now they can enjoy even more of her odd orange glow from the comfort of their own plush, be-teeny-tiny-dogged apartments. [B&C]

the future

"Project Runway" Gets Cheesy Remote-Control Interface

The fourth season of "Project Runway" will feature an "ad-supported advanced advertising application"—that means that viewers can use their remotes to participate in polls and the like as it airs, Bravo announced today. Unfortunately, Bravo does not address the important question of whether settings will be available allowing the viewer to selectively mute Michael Kors. The press release follows. More »

sew over it

Is Project Runway Already Too Ugly For TV?

You may have noticed Heidi "Kissed By A Rose" Klum roaming around the top of our site screaming, "IM IN UR 'POOTS, SEWING UR CLOZE!" That's because last night was the season premiere of Bravo's Project Runway Season 4. We watched. The ladies at Jezebel watched. It's a funny thing because we know at the end of the season we will have become passionate advocates and bitter enemies of some of the designers. Remember the passion for Santino? The antipathy toward Pepper? The love for Jay? More »

final cut no

Bravo Intern Chris Ultimo Is the Next Roman Coppola!

It seems young Spike Carter, who removed his college video project from his website yesterday evening, is not the only talented Emerson College student out there who kind of knows how to use Final Cut Pro! Bravo TV intern and Jersey native son Chris Ultimo recently made a video he made for the network's Intern Blog. It makes us like Spike Carter a lot more, even if he is the son of a famous man. Be warned: You'll never get these three minutes of your life back.

top chef

Dale Is An Stupid Useless Idiot Genius

Last night was the first half of the "Top Chef" finale. Last night was when jerky boys Brian and Dale were supposed to go home. Last night, particularly, we planned to celebrate the departure of Dale, the LOLmegagay, from our lives forever with a bottle of Chandon. But Bravo once again jiggled the rules of the competition, so only one contestant was going home. Why, why can't they respect the stern rule of reality show law?
More »

top chef

Why Is Andrea Strong Such A Hater?

Last night's episode of Top Chef was perhaps the least satisfying and most miserable episode yet. It's like we had been reading Stendhal's Le Rouge et Le Noir, a novel full of tender moments and human weakness, and all of a sudden we're in the middle of Alfred Jarry's Ubu Roi plays, a profane, syphilitic cesspool of misery. This had a lot to with the challenge: the eight contestants were asked to create a restaurant in 24 hours, a mission that all but ensures failure. But it also had to do with the fact that one of the "secret" judges was food blogger Andrea Strong whose rambling Sex-And-The-City-ish newsletter, The Strong Buzz, coagulates daily in our inbox. It is a mess. And she was just mean. More »