Tonight: Launch My Line

It's been 3 weeks with Bravo's "new hit" Launch My Line. I wanted to give it a chance; I really wanted to like it. But after 3 weeks, I've gotta say what I said after week 1: it's not Project Runway.

I feel like it's probably a pretty obvious comparison, but who are we kidding? It's a show about fashion, with a work room, designers (and experts), gay men giving advice, and a runway finish each week that chooses the best and the worst designs. Sounds familiar. Sounds very familiar. (like the Russ that Rachel dates after Ross on Friends.)

When Project Runway started, it was very edgy. Cool shots of New York City... A behind the scenes look at what it takes to start a fashion line that matters. We saw the sweat that went into the creation of, as Tim would say, very fashion forward pieces. It was aspirational. If the designers were impressive, we looked forward to rooting for them each week. If the designers were terrible, we looked forward to Heidi's "auf wiedersehen." The casting was brilliant in those first seasons. "What happened to Andre??" - still a favorite quotable moment. And Tim was always so charming.

So what happened [to Project Runway]? Well this year, I personally couldn't grasp watching Tim and Heidi all packaged up in Lifetime wrapping. The red carpet stuff was very lame. The voice in all of the promos was misplaced. Nothing about watching Lifetime felt right. And the show itself didn't feel the same. Leaving NYC to bring the work room to L.A. made Project Runway feel like a TV show. Now instead of getting a glimpse at passionate designers struggling to make something new and different, we watched three average Janes make clothes in front of a camera. The challenges started slipping a couple seasons back when the product placement settled in. But even more, with movie themed fashion challenges on Lifetime, (I hate to say it but..) Project Runway lost it's mojo. In it's prime [on Bravo], Project Runway, was my favorite show - We all have our favorite shows. But at some point, the idea gets tired, or the characters get married, whatever it is, time goes by, and we have to move on [to Launch My Line].

This time around, Launch My Line (like The Fashion Show) feels like a TV show. It's the same formula with a little bit of a twist. This time around we have a group of people who have had very successful careers in different areas, but now think that they deserve a fashion line. (And they've been paired with experts who will do all the actual construction for them.) I feel like the concept lacks passion, as well as inspiration. The "designers" don't really know what they're doing. (However, in their defense, the rules and the challenges kind of suck. They had to pick out all of their fabric the first week, and I feel that telling them what type of piece to make every week doesn't really let them design much of anything. Very odd.) Also, the strange set up has been cast with a much older group than [that other show] ever had. Sigh. I don't believe that I'm the only one feeling like I just want to see struggling designers who really want to make it. These "designers" have had other jobs. When they get auf'd - oops, I mean - when their line gets dropped, they've still got a way to pay the bills. They don't need to look up to D-squared like Christian needed to look up to Tim. And there's no fun in that!

Let's end on a positive note. Launch My Line has it's watchable points. Not being Project Runway, these designers and their experts are trying to make one cohesive line. It's interesting to look at what they've put together thus far all in one rack, and to decide if they are staying focused. I have trouble with the fact that each challenge is steering the look, and the line. (As well as finding anyone I really like.) But I'll give it another shot next week. For now, as D-squared said, "Interesting doesn't always mean fabulous."