I gave Bravo's The Fashion Show the ol' college try, but the show just hasn't pulled me in — and a lot of you aren't sold, either. So you might not be shocked to learn that so far, The Fashion Show hasn't been stepping into Project Runway's big shoes in terms of ratings.
Runway finished off its Bravo run last year averaging four million viewers an episode; thus far, The Fashion Show is averaging under one million viewers. Bravo executives told The New York Times that the ratings are "as good as we can ever hope for" for a new series, but The Fashion Show definitely isn't immediately making up for the loss of Runway to Lifetime.
Granted, Runway started slow, too, with even fewer viewers watching that show's first episodes — but with the help of round-the-clock repeats, the show built an audience and buzz awfully fast. This time around, the ratings aren't picking up steam, and I hardly ever hear anyone talking about The Fashion Show.
Bravo says it's too early to say whether the show could see a second season, but I'm wondering: Why do you think it's not clicking with audiences yet? Is it too similar to Project Runway? Do Isaac Mizrahi and the judges rub people the wrong way? And do you think the show has time to make a name for itself still, or is it already too late?
Photos courtesy of Bravo
Thomas Pink
Passionata
Vanessa Bruno
The designers on the Fashion Show all kinda suck. The production values are cheap and Kelly Rowlands has as much personality as a wet blanket. Biggest gripe: no Tim Gun. I can live without Heidi, Michael Kors an Nina Garcia, but no Tim Gun equals boring show.
1I can't even watch 10 seconds of the Fashion Show. It's beyond annoying. Bad call Bravo, baaaad call
2I still watch The Fashion Show, but only b/c the Project Rungay blog is so funny. It is really not a good show and the judges are horrible... Kelly has no business being anywhere near a fashion show and Issac needs to simmer down.
3I'm not a big fan of Kelly as a host, she doesn't have the "it" factor. The show is ok, but it's just not as exciting as PR. I think for the most part, it's just hard to replace or duplicate something that is so good...Tim, Heidi, Marc, and Nina just have such a good combo of personalities that make PR must-watch TV. I think it's the best reality show on television, and its so sad that it had to leave Bravo.
4The designers don't seem that talented or at least we haven't seen the talent and creativity. The challenges are also really lame and the contestants personality's are kind of blah. Just really every aspect is not up to par
5My wife and I like the Fashion Show a lot. Like fashion, taste is quite an arbitrary thing. We think the challenges are at least as interesting as Project Runway, which we also look forward to, maybe even more so. And the contestants are talented, especially now that most of the lessor lights have been extinguished. Not all of them, yet. One reason I suspect that The Fashion Show is doing poorly is that they don't rerun it hardly at all, nothing like they do Real Hosewives, which is not my favorite by a long shot. But the I have to say that The Reason That Dares Not Speak Its Name may be that this show is too over the top gay to attract a broad audience. That combined with the fact that the female contestants present a challenge to female viewers as far as bonding with them goes and you have a ratings miss. I still like the show and look forward to every episode. But that's just me.
6I have watched maybe two to three episodes and the format kills me. I don't like how the judging panel is worked and honestly the only person I like to watch is Issac. kelly does not belong on a fashion show and they do not take enough time for you to really get invested in the contestants because they are always doing team challenges.
7I've actually been pulled into The Fashion Show I think more for the colorfulness of the contestants. Like Merlin and Reco. The rest seem unremarkable, but the contestants outshine the "star" judges by far. Kelly Rowland is a joke, she tries too hard and Anna Wintour she is not. Issac designs for Target, so he really should check his ego at the door. The reason they have no hope of more than a million viewers a night is because of the poor choices of judges, and stupid challenges. The show hired cheap on talent and you see they have gotten what they've paid for.
8Wife and I have been watching The Fashion Show (1) as a curiosity and (2) while we await the return of project runway. FS suffers by comparison in many respects. Issac being both "mentor" and judge is just strange. The show does not incorporate the values of fashion merchandising enough. None of the designer contestants are particularly likable and we don't know enough about them.
My wife has taught clothing construction, fashion merchandising, fashion history, etc. for the past 30 years, so enough has rubbed off on me to pick up of things. I like Issac, but he is a character in his own right, whereas Tim Gunn has the professional and academic credentials to really evaluate and mentor.
I with both shows would ditch the repetitive cliches. "I'm just not buying it." "One day you're in, next day you're out." Cue the winner music, cut to commercial at the same spot. Good Lord, are the producers asleep?
9The Fashion Show is a poor knock off, like one of those "Coach" bags you wee on street corners in Manhattan.
10The hosts aren't likable and don't have the class of Heidi and Tim. Heidi's glam and energy are missing and so is Tim's expertise, humor and nurturing manner.
I have two words for The Fashion Show — "you're out." Can't wait for the 6th season of Project Runway.
Post New Comment
Please share your opinion with our community, but make sure it is on topic and follows our Community Rules. We moderate comments and prohibit personal attacks, threats, spam, lewd images, or the promotion of your personal website.