Are you in or out?

In my best and worst post, I named “Project Runway” as the best reality show, but I didn’t give much of an explanation why.

Now you can see for yourself as Bravo gives us a marathon of the second season Tuesday, July 4th, beginning at 9 a.m. And if I was going to be home Tuesday, no doubt I would watch most of it even though some of the episodes I have seen at least 10 times (and no, that is not an exaggeration).

So what’s the attraction? “Runway” is everything that’s good about reality TV. Yes, there are people creating characters for the sake of TV, but for the most part, the drama comes from the competition itself and though there does appear to be some manipulation by the judges, most of the show is actually real.

If you’ve never watched it, “Runway” is a competition to find the next great American designer. Each week, contestants are given a different design challenge and a limited amount of time and money to create it. Then, the designs are shown on the runway where the judges score them. The designer with the lowest score is eliminated as host Heidi Klum tells them, “You’re out” (as in out of style).

The time constraints and odd challenges (like using plants as material) actually bring you to the edge of your seat as you wait to see whether the designers will get finished and how the designs will look on the runway. And even the score gives the entire show an energy not seen in reality television.

If you’re unable to catch the marathon Tuesday, I encourage you to check out the newly released DVD which contains some great special features, including deleted scenes and an update on the top three designers.

By the way, the third season begins Wednesday, July 12th at 10 p.m. And I will definitely be in.