Pop Culture Princess

Pop Culture Princess
especially welcome to extensive readers

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Project Runway teams up to tackle the Lipstick Jungle,Shear Genius cuts a few family ties and Mad Men's Don Draper redefines down and dirty



And the celebrity guest judges keep on coming to Project Runway;this time out,we had Brooke Shields,who wanted the designers to create an outfit for her to wear on season two of Lipstick Jungle(I didn't know the ratings were that good for the first season to get renewed but,then again,I'm a picky TV watcher to begin with).

After each designer had their one-on-one consultation with Brooke about the look of the clothes(she wanted a day to evening wear type of ensemble),they were broken up into teams of two,with Brooke selecting the team leaders.



The team leaders then selected who to work with and Stella was the last one picked. Turns out that she and Jerell were a good match-up. The two of them made his design really come alive(and Stella got to use her beloved leather,for the middle piece of the dress). Brooke liked it,but was unsure about the belt that was added on,thinking it was "too busy."

Actually,I thought the belt was fine and that the colors they selected would show Brooke at her best. It's not hard to picture her in this outfit,no matter what show she'd be on.



Korto and Joe had a small tiff over the bright orange jacket that she was making for the basic beige dress Joe put together. Seems that Joe wasn't thrilled with how poufy the jacket was coming and didn't speak up until Tim Gunn came in and remarked how it looked like a "big sweet potato".

What annoyed Korto was Joe not giving her a heads-up about the wrong direction the jacket was going in. I have to agree with her,teamwork is a two-way street and your partner should be willing to stop you from stepping out into busy traffic at the wrong time. Korto used a bus metaphor that expresses her feelings better than I can.



Keith and Kenley also have clashing styles,but they managed to make that work for them. Kenley was very vocal about how the floral top was looking too "South Beachy" and her input helped Keith's design to be all it could be. See,Joe-you can use constructive criticism to your advantage in a positive way!

Keith and Kenley took the win(no immunity granted,but having your design worn by Brooke Shields on primetime TV is nothing to sneeze at),which was fine but Kenley's giggling at Daniel during the judging was not. Kenley,sometimes a private joke needs to be appreciated in private,do you know what I mean? I know you think Daniel's constantly saying he has "impeccable taste" is hilarious,but you looked a little loony in front of the judges right then and there.



No laughing matter was Blayne and Leanne's two piece creation that looked more appropriate for a character on Gossip Girl than Lipstick Jungle. In fact,I can't picture any business woman,real or fictional,going to the office and later planning for a night on the town wearing pants that look like they were sized for a Boy Scout troop.

Blayne tried hard to sell Brooke and the judges on that sucker,but no dice. He even had the nerve to tell them "You know I'm crazy like that!" and Brooke's reply was great-"I just met you!",said with a little laugh. See,Kenley,there's a right way and a wrong way to laugh in public(another lesson learned,I hope!).



The suit that didn't measure up was Kelli and Daniel's leopard trimmed top with skirt and jacket that Brooke thought looked very cheap. It did appear to be especially cheesy with the jacket off-Michael Kors said it best,"Slutty,slutty,slutty!"

Since Kelli was the team leader and it was her design,she was sent home. She wasn't thrilled about that but I'm over the moon about next week's challenge. Chris March returns to announce it(in full Viking gal regalia)and it's a drag queen challenge! Talk about Must See TV!!!




The Shortcut challenge on Shear Genius this week had the stylist working on shorties-little girls needing a first day at school look for their hair. Daniel won that round,for giving his young client a mini Jaclyn Smith do(which she wanted and was happy beyond belief about).



The main challenge was to give hair makeovers for family members of the stylists,the catch being that you couldn't work on your own relative. Daniel had the First Pick/Who Goes Next advantage and he assigned Charlie to his own mom. Charlie assumed that Daniel trusted him not to mess up her hair but Daniel was really hoping to see a clash of personalities instead.

Charlie gave Daniel's mom a bright,Sharon Stone sharp cut that did look well on her despite the need to cover up her protruding ears. Daniel didn't mind that,since he has the same kind of ears but thought her hair needed to be more "fluffy." Regardless of that,Charlie had his third elimination win with this one.



I don't know what Nicole was thinking when she gave Dee's mother such a short cut. She claimed to be giving her a pixie cut,but clearly the results were more G.I. Jane than Tinkerbelle. Dee did tell her that her mom had very thick hair and was not a fan of short hair styles,but Nicole went her own way.



That put her in the Bottom Two but fortunately for her,Paulo's choppy look for Charlie's sister was deemed to be much worse and he had to pack his scissors and go. Paulo was a nice guy but he did keep giving gals that same scattered stringy style over and over again.

Next week,it'll be down to the Final Four preparing for the Final Three for the finale. Should be plenty of snarking and scissoring fun for all.



So far on Mad Men,things are interesting. Peggy's baby seems to be a big secret at Sterling Cooper,Betty's cold mothering and hot flirting are setting her up for a fall and Don Draper's dry spell appears to be over.


On the last episode,Don was trying to smooth over things between the(fictional) owner of Utz potato chips and a rude comedian who mocked his heavyset wife during a commerical endorsement shoot. The comedian's slick savvy manager/wife was willing to play along with Don,as long as she and her hubby could hustle some extra cash out of the situation.



Don played ball and more than that(getting a jumpstart for his limp libido of late)but at a reconciliation dinner which started off bad and was getting worse,he wound up having to literally take matters into his own hands:



Some folks found that to be a bit much,but in my opinion,that was in accord with what both of those characters would say and do,plus it was one hell of a show stopper. Mad Men certainly keeps a person on their toes,in more ways than one.

RANDOM NOTES:




DOUBLE MEMORIAL TRIBUTE: Comedian Bernie Mac and singer Issac Hayes have both recently passed away and as they both had a share of TV fame,I thought it would be best to pay tribute to them during TV Thursday.

Hayes was already a big name in the music world but it was his voice work as Chef for several seasons on South Park that made him more well known to the younger generations. Despite his rift with the SP folk and his departure from the show,Hayes will still be fondly remembered as a musical marvel and one of the best characters to be a resident of South Park:





Bernie Mac had been a stand up comedian who also appeared in several films,one of which showcased his on stage skills along with his friends Steve Harvey,Cedric the Entertainer and D. L. Hughley,The Kings of Comedy.

One of his routines became the basis for his sitcom on Fox,The Bernie Mac Show. The show ran for several seasons and won a Peabody Award in 2002. Mac had a good film career as well,making appearances in the Charlie's Angels sequel,Ocean's Eleven and as a potential VP candidate with Chris Rock in Head of State. The Bernie Mac Show,however,will always kept him alive in the hearts of many as it lives on in syndication:


No comments: