Shear Genius virgin no more
I was recently accused by a family member of getting sucked into whatever was showing on television. This family member is mistaken. When he caught me watching the The Real Housewives of New York City reunion (or whatever it is they call the post-season chit chat), and when he saw me running into the living room to see who got kicked out of Top Chef, he wasn’t witnessing me getting sucked into whatever was showing, these were things I had specifically handpicked to watch. His conclusion comes from the assumption that all reality TV is crap (he asks, “who’s reality?”), but I have learnt since my exposure to the last season of Project Runway that Bravo TV was showing reality television of a different calibre altogether, though I was very late indeed.
Not that all of it is good and not that there is time for all of it: from the shows I know of, Work Out, Millionaire Matchmaker, The Real House of Wives of Orange County, Kathy Griffin are all pretty much boring, and Flipping Out is amusing but nothing worth spending my time on, Step It Up and Dance is interesting but I can do without it, and some of the photo shoots in Make Me a Supermodel were fantastic. Shows that boasted mad, crafty skills were not only entertaining but inspiring as well. I was amazed by the level of skills the finalists brought to the show in Project Runway and Top Chef, though of course this culture of fierce competition is pretty disturbing, especially when the best of the best is picked from a set of tests where certain rules must be followed, and where a winner must be picked for the sake of having a winner. Stephanie vs. Richard makes as little sense as Rembrandt vs. Dali. Can you really say one is a topper painter than the other? And can you factor in patron satisfaction?
Last night, anyhow, I was able to catch a repeat of the first episode of Shear Genius 2 while working on the redesign of this blog in the foreground. This was my first time watching the show ever and I was very excited by the two interpretations of Betty Boop. Those two were my instant favorites from that elimination round, though I admit the winning Wilma Flinstone rocked the most. I shall now forward this post to that family member, though I’m not sure if I will watch the new season of Real Housewives of NYC. My curiosity there has been satisfied.
