Jaclyn Smith

I surprised myself last year by really coming to love Shear Genius, Bravo's Project Runway knockoff about hair stylists. I'd been expecting to find the competition just more of the same, but all it took was one haircut with hedge clippers and one contestant named Dr. Boogie to get me hooked.

Tonight, the show is back for a second season, and I'm curious to see if Bravo's managed to recapture the offbeat magic of season one. Unlike the network's Top Design, which is getting a total makeover for its second season, Shear Genius has brought its principal people back for another round, including host Jaclyn Smith and mentor Rene Fris. It remains to be seen if any of the new contestants can top the antics of the scrubs-wearing Dr. Boogie, but Oshun (who's styled hair for NBC's ridiculous soap Passions) and Paulo (whose salon's name is Ego Mechanix) seem like early favorites to bring some drama.

Will Shear Genius make the cut (yuk yuk) for your viewing schedule? To watch a clip from the first episode, just read more

Why, it seems like only days ago that our "Shear Genius" was performing its first hedge clipper haircut. Alas, the wackiest reality show on TV wraps up its season tonight, with a final three of Daisy, Anthony and Ben competing for $100,000 in front of a panel of judges that will include Vidal Sassoon himself. Despite my initial skepticism, this show has won me over completely; I hope Bravo brings it back for a second season, though I can't imagine how the producers could find a new cast as wonderfully bizarre as this one.

I'm curious to see how tonight's finale plays out. Daisy either has the capacity to be brilliant or awful; Anthony is consistently good; and Ben, while being my favorite personality left in the competition, doesn't really seem to have the skills. Then again, this is the show that knocked off two of the best stylists in one fell swoop, so anything can happen. To watch a video preview of the three finalists receiving their instructions, read more

After last week's unceremonious booting of two of the strongest stylists in the competition, "Shear Genius" was back this week with the second to last episode. Wow, time flies when you're learning the cutthroat world of hair art. Onwards and upwards, let's recap our penultimate hair cuts (both figuratively and literally):

At the beginning of the show, the four remaining contestants were thrown right into their first challenge — styling an African American woman's hair. This threw Ben into a tizzy, just slapping product after product on his poor model, resulting in a heavy gross-looking mess until about two seconds before the time was up. It ended up mediocre, but needless to say, he did not win the challenge. Anthony won, allowing him to hand out the assignments in the elimination challenge.

For the final challenge the contestants had to style hair in a particular "mood" for a photoshoot. Which was was fun! Yay! BUT before that nonsense, they each got heartfelt video messages from loved ones. Which made Boogie and Ben cry. Especially Ben. Anyway, back to the hair.

Daisy, whose assignment was "Sex Kitten" (but really more like wet cat) was up first and had to style her models hair while it was wet. It looked easy, it went smoothly, the model was probably posing for Maxim. Moving on. Next up was Anthony, who had "Retro Glamour" which mostly meant "Give this woman fake blonde extensions and please don't let us see her darker hairline." He mostly failed in that second part. The photographer looked very displeased.

To hear how the rest of the contestants faired, see the before/afters, and learn who won, who lost, and who wore surgical booties (OK, that one was easy) just read more

Let's all think together: Has there ever been another reality show where a contestant has shown up at a mall dressed like a ninja? I think that's yet another first for "Shear Genius."

At the start of the episode, the stylists discovered three ledger books waiting for them in the apartment. Three books for six contestants? Smells like a team challenge! For the short cut challenge, the stylists had to pair up and solicit haircuts from random mall shoppers; whichever team had the most money at the end would win. As the winner of the last challenge, Tyson got to pick his partner first, and he went with Tabatha, because obviously the poor boy can't interact with anyone who isn't platinum blond. Daisy and Anthony paired up, and Boogie and Ben formed the third team, which frustrated Boogie, given that Ben had shown up dressed as a ninja and thus might freak out potential clients. No, that was never fully explained, but really, if you had a ninja outfit, wouldn't you wear it everywhere?

Anyway, Ben and Boogie pitched themselves as $10 bargain haircutters, while Tabatha and Tyson insisted they stay upscale. At first, that landed them a big ol' zero in the ledger book, but eventually Tyson turned on his, er, charm (consisting of lines like "you've got lovely hair; might I touch it?") and they ended up earning the most. That doesn't mean they suddenly liked each other, though, so read more

Everyone on "Shear Genius" is pretty Grade-A crazy, huh? This week really brought out the nuttiest in the seven remaining stylists, including Tyson conjuring visions of Queen Elizabeth's hairdresser. Wow. Just — wow.

For the short cut challenge, the contestants were told to report to a barber shop, which convinced Tabatha they'd have to cut dogs' hair. Yup, that makes sense. Instead, the stylists get to cut men's hair — but not just any men, oh no. These were men who hadn't seen the inside of a barber shop for a very long time, resulting in 'dos ranging from "casual headbanger" to "that guy from Silverchair circa 1995." Tabatha won by giving her guy a haircut that made him look like a 14-year-old skater boy instead of a 12-year-old skater boy. She also introduced us to the most fabulous expression ever, calling Tyson "Fig Jam" — or, as she explained, "F--- I'm Good, Just Ask Me." She later called him "weasel boy," but that's not nearly as catchy.

For the elimination challenge, the stylists had to design a hairstyle emblematic of a certain era. Tabatha got to pick her era first, plus dole out eras to the rest of the stylists. She gave Tyson the Elizabethan era in an effort to trip him up, but the most confused folks seemed to be Danna, who couldn't get her mind around '40s glamour, and Boogie, who spent a portion of his time "researching" the Medieval era by rubbing Tabatha's rear.

By the way, why has Rene Fris made his catchphrase "let's shake it"? What does that even mean? To see whose "hair era" was a disaster and talk about what Boogie wore, read more

This week's "Shear Genius" featured one of the greatest yelling, screaming, obscenity-laced fights I've ever seen on reality television, and it was all because of ... hedge clippers? Yeah. Evangelin got a little too attached to her gigantic shears this week and insisted on continuing to cut hair with them, thus leading Danna and Tabatha to school her on the difference between "a technique" and "a gimmick." Rene Fris finally let her down gently by pointing out that it's slightly unprofessional to point hedge clippers at an unsuspecting client's head just because you can, but I wouldn't be surprised if people who go to Evangelin's salon will be getting hedge cuts from now on. And that's one of many reasons why I'm never going to Evangelin's salon.

For the Short Cut Challenge, the stylists had to cut their models' hair into a style that could go from day to evening in under five minutes. Boogie — who, to my great disappointment, did not wear scrubs in a single scene this week — attempted to bring the mullet back, while Ben basically gave his model the same haircut she had to start with. His model's evening look was cute, though, so I'll give him a pass. Danna's cute braided 'do got top honors, which I support, because it meant getting to hear more of her awesome accent.

The elimination challenge was to create a red carpet look for Vanessa Williams, who I expected would lay the smack down on anyone who threatened to give her a "hair don't." She was surprisingly mild-mannered, though — no Wilhelmina Slater here! — which was disappointing, because wow, some of those stylists did some really bad prom hair. To see for yourself, read more

"ANTM" was a lame recap episode this week, so I'm here to cover "Shear Genius" instead. If you’re not watching "Shear Genius," you should be. Last night’s episode was exactly the kind of fun I want from a Contest Reality Show. Random eliminations the contestants weren't warned about! Challenge winners forcing the others to suck up for favors! Random items usually found in the garage used for beauty procedures! I smell an Emmy!

For this week's Short Cut challenge all the little wannabes were forced to cut their creepy doll's hair into the infamous Meg Ryan Cut. That’s all well and good, but lest you forget that the judge is Sally Hershberger, the woman who gave Meg Ryan the Meg Ryan haircut (as you can tell from the pic above, she means business). After a demonstration from Sally, the cutters went to work and with about half an hour left, they were randomly told this would be an elimination challenge. The horror! Whatever, the haircuts all looked similar (duh), but Lacey got the ax. Good call, she should have been gone a long time ago.

Tyson won the Meg Ryan challenge, which gave him the first choice of model as well as ... wait for it ... hair cutting tool. Yes, this week the contestants had to use unconventional tools to style their women. Between last week’s celebrity hairstyle challenge during which many poor girls' hair was ruined, and then this, I'm starting to feel sorry for their models.

To check out the before/after pics, learn who won and who I deemed best wide-legged pants, who used what ridiculous tool to cut hair, and my two cents just read more

Just a couple of weeks ago, I was pretty wary about Bravo's haircutting competition show, "Shear Genius." Oh, how times have changed. Somehow, I've become a huge fan — possibly the show's biggest fan, given some of the other reviews I've read.

"Shear Genius" is still no "Project Runway," and not just because it lacks Tim Gunn. But it's the most over-the-top of the Bravo competition shows to date, and that alone is a reason to watch. Here are five more:

• Jaclyn Smith's voice. OK, so at first her weird, robotic monotone really got to me, but by the end of last week's episode, I was oddly entranced by it. While she talks, I try to figure out what could be making those noises — because guys, seriously, it's not a person. Is it that weird garbling machine they use to disguise people's voices during interviews on "Dateline"? The robot who records the "no-one-is-here-to-take-your-call" messages on answering machines? An invisible alien baby? Whatever it is, it's fascinating.
• The challenges. Simply put, they're ridiculous. In the first episode, the stylists had to incorporate stuff they bought at a craft store into their hairdos, and the winning look involved a treasure chest plopped on a model's head. In tonight's episode, the stylists have to give a long-haired woman a short 'do — using hedge clippers, pinking shears and those wavy-edged scissors people use for scrapbooking. A few more I hope to see: an updo that uses fruits and vegetables; extensions done with ribbon, lace and yarn instead of hair; and something — anything — involving live animals.

Three more reasons — and a clip from tonight's episode — so read more

It's not that I have anything against hair styling: I've been known to devour whole seasons of "Blow Out" in a single sitting. But I'm really unsure about Bravo's new competition show, "Shear Genius," which premieres tonight after the "Top Design" finale. I just can't picture how hair cutting could be riveting enough to hold my attention for the next three months. Then again, I would have said the same thing about sewing had "Project Runway" not come along.

But after the lackluster "Top Design" — which won me over somewhat, though it's been a slog — I think Bravo might be spreading itself too thin in the Top Whatever department. For details on "Shear Genius" and to watch some clips, read more

For this week's Recast challenge, I asked you guys to pick all-new actresses for a TV show that was recently made into a movie: "Charlie's Angels." It's such a fun series that it could definitely stand to be recast again.

If you were recasting "Charlie's Angel's" today, what kickass, sassy women would you put in the three main roles? Any actress is up for grabs — but consider Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz, and Lucy Liu off limits. Leave your entry us in the comment section below, and I'll pick one winner to feature next Tuesday, Feb. 20, complete with a "new" cast photo.

Characters to recast:
Jill Munroe (Farrah Fawcett)
Sabrina Duncan (Kate Jackson)
Kelly Garrett (Jaclyn Smith)