In preparation for its big August 20th season premiere on Lifetime (and, evidently, to interrupt me when I'm trying to watch a few episodes of Frasier and Will & Grace), Project Runway has been running endless ads, loud and proud. I'm sorry, did I say "loud and proud"? I meant "weirdly sentimental and full of slow-mo."

The commercials featuring individual designers from the upcoming season were almost touching enough to confuse me. I mean, I'm used to the super-catty "I didn't come here to make friends, I came here to be the snarky queen bee" sort of ads. Are these just to reel in the average Lifetime viewer, or is this an early indication of Project Runway's slightly new voice?

(S05E08) I am so full of anger. And for that, I feel like I must apologize before jumping into my review, which will inevitably ooze frustration. This fury that has been building inside me throughout this season is about to set me alight. To put it bluntly, there is no one that I like in this pool of designers. There isn't even anyone that annoys me less than everybody else. However, I have been hanging on, because I love fashion and I love art and I kind of, sort of like seeing people getting chewed out on the runway. This episode nearly killed me, though, because nearly everyone was so blind to what was going on. Just about all of the designers are either too caught up on snarking behind each other's backs, complaining about nothing, or desperately trying to be a "character", and they've lost sight of their actual work.

Make me happy to be a Project Runway viewer again, designers! Save me from this loathing!

(S05E07) Wow, this season's designers are an emotional little bunch, aren't they? There's a lot of whining, a lot of complaining, a lot of talking behind each others' backs. These kids make me feel like I'm in high school all over again, except everyone is somehow even more poorly dressed and misinformed about aesthetics. The designers also seem increasingly insecure about their own work and this challenge did their fragile states no favors. Charged with the mission to grab materials from cars and make something wearable, you'd probably get a little grumpy too.

(S05E06) Sadly enough, I think this was the first time I've had fun watching the fifth season. That's right: it took drag queens to get me excited about Project Runway again. Actually, I think Bravo should dump all of those ridiculously uninteresting faux-PR shows like Shear Genius and Top Design and make a spin-off all about designing stuff for drag queens and kings. It could be set in Baltimore's Hampden and be hosted by John Waters and/or RuPaul. That would be infinitely better than watching Jaclyn Smith make weak attempts at passing constructive criticism to beauty school drop-outs playing with safety scissors. Ahem. I'm sorry. Can you tell I'm not that fond of Shear Genius?

(S05E05) In this episode, Brooke Shields stopped by to have the designers make something for her character to wear in the new season of Lipstick Jungle. Two things surprised me. A) Lipstick Jungle hasn't been canceled yet and B) Brooke Shields still looks fantastic. Maybe it's because I wasn't watching in HD, but still.

For the first time this season, the designers were broken into teams for the challenge. Last season, it seemed like the majority of the season consisted of team challenges, so I was surprised that it took five episodes before they got around to it for this group. I guess I was surprised by a lot of things in this episode.

Unless that little ad I saw during Top Chef was a total lie, Project Runway's fifth season will be starting Wednesday, July 16 at 9:00 (new time). I definitely was not expecting the new round to start this early. It feels like the painful fourth season ended only three months ago because, umm, it did. It worries me when competition shows seem a little too eager to pick the next hottest thing. Let the old hottest thing bask in the limelight for a little while! I really hope PR doesn't turn into a non-stop barrage of half-talent the way that American Idol has, popping out new seasons like they're Danielle Steel novels and not allowing the talent pool to grow.

Hey, boys. I know it took, like, two whole seasons before you became comfortable enough with your masculinity to admit enjoying Project Runway and start watching the show with your lady-friends. It's really great that you were open-minded enough to spend a night every week with Bravo, NBC's flamboyant cousin. Anyway, about that... Project Runway is leaving Bravo for Lifetime. Secret Runway fans need come out now, because "Oh! I thought tonight was Top Chef! I guess I'll just watch this anyway..." isn't going to cut it anymore, because the only other options on Lifetime are Meredith Baxter TV movies and Your Mama Don't Dance.

I'm very pleased to share the news that Tim Gunn has signed a deal with Bravo to bring his fashion expertise to his very own makeover show. The program will be based around his upcoming book, Tim Gunn: A Guide to Quality, Taste & Style (set for May release). Gunn has promised to use the program to re-define "makeovers", which sounds like a pretty bold statement to make. But, then again, this is the all-mighty Tim Gunn. I have no reason to doubt the man. All hail Tim Gunn.

While this is all lovely, I can't help but feel a wee bit bad that this announcement was made just as Bravo canceled their hit makeover program Queer Eye for the Straight Guy (which was fantastic, but eventually exhausted). Looks like Gunn has to fill five very flamboyant shoes as Bravo's new makeover guy.

Gunn's presence in the next season of Project Runway still has yet to be confirmed, but at least we know that the worst case scenario will be that he'll only be on one program, not two.

According to People, Tim Gunn may not return for the fourth season of Project Runway. Please, allow me to repeat myself: Tim Gunn -- the only voice of reason among a sea of poorly-dressed crazies -- may not return for the fourth season of Project Runway. See, the show has always filmed at the end of the academic semester, so Tim, an instructor at Parsons, would not have any schedule conflicts. This may not be the case any more.

(S03E13) Damn it. Why must they tease us? This episode had nothing. Nothing. They should have just made tonight a two-hour special, declared the winner, and put us out of our anxious, hand-wringing misery.

But no. We have to wait until next week to find out the Season Three winner.

We didn't even get to the bottom of the Laura/Jeffrey scandal (which wasn't as exciting as I hoped)! It's a double-cliffhanger, folks, the very worst kind of cliffhanger.

(S03E06) After Heidi told the designers that they've had it relatively easy all season, she sent them to Newark, New Jersey to learn about their new, tougher challenge. There, Tim presented them with several massive mounds of mylar and peanut bags and paper. The designers were challenged to create an outfit out of three bins' worth of this recyclable material. Plus, they had a budget of only $25 (limited to only art supplies) and had to finish it by midnight that night (instead of their normal two days). Crunch time!

Bravo has officially decided to start airing the third season of Project Runway this summer in order to use September's Fall Fashion Week for the finale (where the three finalists -- and one other designer who's just there to throw off spectators and will not be aired -- compete with collections instead of individual garments). An hour-long casting special will air July 12 at 9PM ET/PT, with the first episode premiering at 10PM.

If you've never seen the program before, I suggest you jump on the bandwagon with the first episode. It really is the classiest reality show on television.

[Thanks, orimental!]