Did Bravo Put a Curse on Project Runway?

Photo: Virginia Sherwood/NBC Universal

Something wicked this way comes for Project Runway!

Last week's season premiere of Project Runway left many people scratching (and shaking) their heads as the wackiest-yet-dullest cast yet flopped on their first challenge. After watching the show, I couldn't help but think something had gone horribly wrong with the show's usually successful formula of excessive product placement and diva homos!

Ever since the finale of the last season, things have gone awry! Project Runway announced it would move to Lifetime, Nina Garcia left Elle Magazine, the show revealed plans to relocate to Los Angeles... and things only got worse as the new season began.

Season five hit the airwaves with little to no promotion from Bravo--many of my friends didn't even know the new season was starting. Then viewers we're introduced to the strangest cast of characters yet with the tan-addicted alien with bad highlights and the bride of Chuckie winning the awards for most bizarre contestants. It seemed as though the producers, in an act of self-sabotage or acknowledgment that the old formula had become stale and needed a little shaking up, decided to pick the contestants based on their looks instead of their talent. Then, they rehashed a challenge from the first season instead of coming up with something new and exciting. At the end of the show, I didn't feel like any of the designers stood out quite the way the Christian Siriano or Jay McCarroll did from the get go in previous seasons. Everything felt phoned in, like the show's creators just wanted to get one more season in the can so they could move on.

But then, things started to get a bit weird. While the court battle between Bravo and the Weinstein's continues, strange occurrences kept happening. Rami Kashou was attacked by a beer-bottle- (or martini glass)-wielding non-fan at a West Hollywood gay bar, Christian Siriano's boyfriend was allegedly beat up by a beer truck driver, someone spoiled the next four eliminations by tampering with the show's Wikipedia entry, and now Bravo announced the development of their Project Runway-replacement "Fashion House."

I think there's more reality TV drama happening off the screen than on it! Could this be a sign of the Runway Apocalypse? The show's fall from grace? Is it a fashion curse? or is it like Heidi says: One day you're in and one day you're out!