Project Runway: The Complete First Season (review)

The coarseness of spirit that every reality show evinces is a depressing reminder of the boorishness of contemporary American society: reality “entertainment” may be the 21st-century version of the game show, but the reveling that accompanies the dispatch of the losers is appalling, the suspense mined from the “who’s gonna get voted off?” dismal. And so the genuinely creative aspect of this game show — in which aspiring fashion designers compete to have their clothing sold in major chain stores, shown at fashion shows, and more — gets subsumed by the bread-and-circuses aspect of seemingly sincere, interesting, ambitious people getting thrown to the lions. Fans say you don’t need to know anything about fashion to appreciate this show, but that’s because it’s not about who is creating the best clothing — it’s about who can be captured on camera being bitchy, sobbing in despair, or looking as if they’d just like to die of embarrassment at being booted off. It’s enough to make thinking TV viewers want to weep themselves. Extras include the doc “Wear Are They Now?” as well as deleted scenes and a gallery of stills of the contestants’ work.