The Return of "Runway"

I admit it. I honestly considered showing some love to “Project Runway” in my Pick of the Week post.

But then I felt like that would be a betrayal to Bravo—not to mention the “Top Chef: Las Vegas” premiere was so good—so I didn’t…

This week’s “Runway” premiere is a tough one for me, because I genuinely love the show. I’m just still miffed at how everything went down. I know that they settled everything out of court, but that doesn’t settle it for me.

But I have to admit that Lifetime certainly tempted me into trying with their scheduling of the “Project Runway: All-Star Challenge,” which brings back eight “Runway” alumni to compete for bragging rights and $100,000 (with a reported cameo from Nicole Kidman, no less). And they’ve brought back two of my very favorites—Santino Rice from Season 2 and Chris March from Season 4.

Joining them will be Daniel Vosovic (Season 2), Jeffrey Sebelia (Season 3 Winner), Uli Herzner (Season 3), Mychael Knight (Season 3), Sweet P (Season 4) and Korto Momolu (Season 5).

I have to give props to Lifetime for putting this great group together, but I also have to wonder whether they’ve shot themselves in the foot. Because not one designer in the premiere of season six looks to come anywhere close to the personalities that these eight bring. And that could be a problem…

Of course, within the first 15 minutes of the premiere we learn the real reason we’ve missed the show so much when Tim Gunn talks a contestant through a breakdown as only Tim Gunn could. Thankfully, it looks like season six will feature him much more prominently than season five did.

Now can someone tell me why he wasn’t submitted to the Emmys as a co-host along with Heidi Klum like Tom Colicchio was for “Top Chef”? But I digress…

For those of you who were concerned that Lifetime and the new producing team would make big changes, don’t. Everything is exactly the same. The concept, the graphics, the set, the runway, everything. It is literally the same show, different network.

And I do have to say that this group of designers has way more personality than the group from season five and there are a few standouts. But I hesitate to tell you who those standouts are because I have absolutely no indication who will be eliminated during the premiere. The media screener from Lifetime ended before the judging.

Just for the record, my friends at Bravo would never do that to me…

“Project Runway” premiere night kicks off Thursday, August 20th at 8 p.m. with the two-hour “Project Runway: All-Star Challenge.” That’s followed by the season six premiere at 10 p.m. Closing out the night is “Models of the Runway,” a new reality show that follows the competition from the models’ point of view, premiering at 11 p.m. on Lifetime…