You know, I'm on record as a devoted and unapologetic watcher of Bravo's line of reality show competitions involving experts in a field (many with oversized personalities and/or egos) compete at doing something they're all really good at doing.
None of the ones I've seen have risen to the level of Project Runway, and why? I've come to the conclusion that Project Runway's success can be summarized in two words: the contestants' guide and mentor Tim Gunn.
Who doesn't adore Tim Gunn? Handsome, graceful, gifted, amazingly articulate, and---above all---kindly. His radiant kindness sheds a soft, gentle, transformative glow over the rest of the cast: the teutonically abrupt (though lovely) Heidi Klum; the snide (but engaging) Michael Kors; and the scary (but magnetic) Nina Garcia. I don't think the show would ever have risen out of the endless stream of television reality shows without him. The judges are likable and their comments frequently riveting, but in short....Tim Gunn.
I attribute the substantially lesser appeal of Top Chef to the lack of the Tim Gunn character. Instead of Tim Gunn, we get chef Tom Colicchio: a nice man I am sure, but ice cold. I like him as a judge, but it was a mistake, I think, to set up the show with the judge in the role of---what? what? what's the point of his descent on the competitors to do what Keckler of TWoP calls his "sniff 'n sneer"? He's not a Gunn-like mentor, as he himself has explained; he's there only in his capacity as a judge.
Top Design, the most recent offering, was by comparison to either of these offerings, pallid. Why? Maybe it's because the nature of the task (designing rooms) required more time or maybe because we've all seen too many home makeover shows before. Maybe it's because the show focused too little on the thinking and process that goes into designing a room or maybe it's because they allowed too little time for tasks of this nature. Maybe it's because the judging seemed strangely arbitrary. (Remember the beach cabana task? And the winning cabana won even though it had no roof at all but looked so pretty with the sheer, delicate, non-sun-obscuring curtains blowing out over the beach?)
Or maybe it's because a number of the contestants just weren't that good? Some of the productions I saw were butt-ugly. I'm sorry---it's just my uninformed opinion. Or maybe because their was too much focus from the outset on the drama between the contestants and not enough on the work?
I watch shows like this one in order to watch talented people do things they're good at doing. I was expecting to be blown away and I guess maybe I did watch too many episodes by in the old days of Trading Spaces because I just wasn't that impressed. Ever. Andrea, whom I liked, designed elegant spaces that were uniformly dull in color (the cardinal sin for me, as you can imagine) even though I always loved the details. Matt, the winner, designed rooms that the judges----and I'm aware that those are people who know---found "luxurious" and "chic" and "rich-looking" but that didn't always come across that way on television.
Carisa, whose love of color is equal to my own, got on my last nerve, was relentless in scattering cushions in every last inch of space. (But I thought she should have won). And the ending, and Matt's win, were strangely muted. Eh, I said. I liked Matt. I thought his rooms were nice----not what I'd choose myself, but lovely. He was a nice guy. I sort of didn't care. I wasn't excited about it. "Good for Matt," I thought.
But afterwards I kept thinking about Todd Oldham, lovely, gentle Todd Oldham, with his soothing sing-songy delivery, his encouraging hugs, and even warmer reassurances. When the contestants were struggling with their designs, Todd O. was often on hand with the simple suggestion that saved their bacon. When they got "later, decorator'd" (lamest catchphrase yet and perhaps the root of the problem) by Jonathan Adler, Oldham was on hand to administer warm encouragement and a warmer hug. He was like the full-sized version of the pixie helper from the fairy-tales; a gentle, non-arrow-shooting Elf fromTolkien; or your imaginary guardian angel.
[quote begins from "Elle Decor Cover Inspiration" by Keckler at Television without Pity]
And now it's time for my favorite moments in the show -- the Toddfirmation! I love when Todd comes over to talk to each of the designers. He comes over to chat up Andrea, who tells him that she's painting baseboards, which she will then embroider with a simple backstitch. Andrea shows Todd the heavy, clay-colored yarn she'll be using. Todd says, "Kind of like a wainscoting, but in wool." Andrea begins to say yes, but Todd burbles, "That's so smart! It's ambitious and gorgeous, and I think it's terrific you're doing it." He then hugs Andrea and says, "Congratulations! I think this is going to be really exciting."
The show editors give us less an a second to linger in the warm golden haze of Toddfirmation before they take us to Carisa and Carl....
Todd comes over, and before he can even ask anything, Carisa launches into her spiel: "I'm trying to figure out what I can do with paint right now. But this back wall, we're gonna do with stone, with plaster." Todd asks, "Kind of like a river rock thing? That sounds cool -- what are you going to use to do it?" Carisa tells him, "We're actually going to use some five-minute joint compound, or something …" She trails off... Todd asks how Carisa's going to build the forms, and she tells him they're just going to slap it on the wall and do a faux finish. There will be no Toddfirmation, only a friendly caution: "Are you going to do a model first?" Nope. He replies, "Got my fingers crossed. You're braver than I." This would have been the moment when the cruel, cold fingers of rationality pried away the fantasy cocoon: if a seasoned designer is worried about your technique, it may be time to listen to the voice of experience.... Carl turns from the firebox and glares, "She just has to trust me." Todd soothingly says, "I think we've all learned to trust you at this point. It's amazing what you pull through."...
So we're back at the PDC, and there are four hours remaining in the challenge. Unsurprisingly, Carisa is painting something a bright, red-based hue. Matt is flipping out over the daybed. In an interview, he frets, "I'm not going to get done with this room. I have too much to do. This daybed has been taking forever and a day to get upholstered, and it still looks like crap."
Todd Oldham to the rescue! He comes in as Matt is flailing away at the daybed, and Matt tells him, "I've found something I can't do…I can't upholster." Todd hunkers down and quickly assesses it, then says, "Okay, let's come up with a solution here. Do you have any more of this (rust-colored) fabric? You tear it. You're going to have one crisp edge. Glue the clean selvage on top and you've got a completely finished piece. Then you can go in between these two (edges) and you'll have a double welt that will look very clean and finished." What is that we see shining in Matt's eyes? Is it…relief? Or hero worship?..[W]e bathe...in the golden effulgence radiating from Todd and all he touches....
And now, the exit Todd experience. He tells Andrea, "You have been astonishing. Really, just the talent that is so brimming out of you at all times is just incredible." You know, Bravo needs to figure out a way to send Todd on the road as the guy who handles people post-bad news. It could be a super-lucrative venture.
[quote ends]
I don't have to see Top Design again, but I long to see more of Todd Oldham. Actually, I want a Todd Oldham of my own: someone to descend from the glowing peach-tinted heavens and tell me whenever I got frazzled that it will all be okay because I am so truly astonishing. When I'm sobbing over a laptop malfunction, he would magically appear and say, "Have you checked to see if your caps key is down?"
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