We officially don't get the marketing plan this year.

Monday, July 14, 2008 by


In case you haven't noticed, Bravo finally spewed S5 marketing materials all over their site today. Not-so-hidden among the info dump was something we'd never seen them do before. A synopsis of each upcoming episode, revealing both the challenge and the guest judge here.

Hunh?

Well, we guess it worked, because now we're going to devote an entire post to what we know about upcoming episodes (don't worry, we won't spoil things unless you're a naughty girl who likes to be spoiled). So, okay. It worked. We're talking about it - and we suspect we won't be the only ones (just the first, of course).

On the other hand, two minutes perusing that list and we were like "Well shit. They gave away everything." Doesn't part of the fun of watching a season consist of finding out as you go what each challenge is going to be? Think of it as the "They have to do WHAT?" factor. THTDW. Well, if anyone wants to look at that list (and let's face it, a lot of you will), be sure to kiss away the THTDW factor, because it's all laid out for you.

Okay, pouting over. Let's take a look.




[Photo: Jay Sullivan/Bravotv.com]

87 comments:

LilyTheLustyLibrarian said...

Hooray! I popped the comment cherry!

**********************************

Rachel Zoe? Are you kidding me?

THAT woman needs an army of gays working for her!

If that bitch sticks around with her bag-lady, anorexic fashion *sense* for the next couple of decades, I fear for the state of fashion when my daughter becomes a teenager.

*shudder*

Anonymous said...

I'm not looking at the spoilers, yet. I'm just wondering what hooker Heidi stole her dress from.

Anonymous said...

Apolo Anton Ohno!!!!

woot. (he's winter olympics tho.)

I don't know if it'll make much difference. Sure, we won't have endless pouring over crazy pictures wondering what it all means (remember the garbage challenge in S3?) but we can get all excited waiting for Ohno and RuPaul.

I love Austin. Can't wait.

Anonymous said...

With all the blabbery about diversity diversity, diversity, it looks like they're bragging on the fact that they have one woman of color, from Liberia. zzzzzz

Sandra Bernhardt? yay, she could be really fun

Rachel Zoe, ACK ACK ACK I could not be more disappointed, BRAVO/Weinsteins/whoever. ick and poo and ew. anorexic lollipops wearing boho whore style. Just the worst.

Sewing Siren said...

Epi #5 and #10 sound really similar. They are running out of ideas. Also judges, they already had Rachel Zoe and DV.

Anonymous said...

Rachel Zoe? Ewww.

Hey, I'd love to see Ms. Austin and the fab DVF in the judges' chairs, but the list of challenges really takes out the suprise factor.

Although I'm dying to see Tim's mentoring and reactions to the designs for the drag queen challenge! That's getting DVR'd.

I'm just a little disappointed with some of the celebs. Jay-sus, who's promoting what for the mothership of NBC Universal?

stmkent said...

Rachel Zoe? I can't. LL Cool J: Aside from delicious eye candy, I'm not sure where that's going, either--he does run at least one clothing line, though.

But I have been waiting for a drag queen challenge for-frackin-evuh. Where's Chris March when you need him? Can't wait for that.

Still...am I the only person who's feeling very "meh" about this season? It starts this week, and I haven't even begun to plan things around the show. Le sigh.

Lisa said...

I went to the site and Bravo took the page down! WTF??? Don't know what's going on here. Maybe they'll put it back.

Joanie said...

Rachel Zoe is better than Anne Slowey. Or is it six of one, half dozen of the other?

Anonymous said...

If they really want to sabotage it for Lifetime, all they have to do is edit it for boring. That shouldn't be difficult.

I'm worried now.

Beth said...

This is like peeking at Christmas gifts and then pretending to be all "oooo" and "aaaahhh" when you open them. Takes all the fucking fun out of it.

They really screwed the pooch on the promotion of this season.

Sandra Bernhardt? What the fuck does she know about fashion???? Ok, a little more than Rachel Zoe, but still.

Anonymous said...

Okay...
I am going to look.

Anonymous said...

Now that I have looked...
Unconventional and Rachel Zoe don't really go together. (Try conventional and Rachel Zoe.)
I can't wait to see RuPaul!!
Apollo Ohno is hot!!
And I think Sandra Bernhardt would be great for the NY challenge.

Anonymous said...

Trying really, really, really, really, really, really hard NOT to peek....



- edina -

DolceLorenzo said...

Not happy here. I like to be surprised, especially the challenge, not so much the guest judge.

Anonymous said...

I LOVE Apollo Ohno! I LOVE RuPaul!

I am not going to look. That just pisses me off. Do they map out the whole season on any other show? Why no, not even Meercat Freaking Manor. What the hell were they thinking. GRRRR. Stupid summer interns. Oh, wait, that's the spiteful person who is going to be laid off when PR goes to LT, right?

BOOOOOOO Bad choice! BOOOOO

juniorgoddess

Anonymous said...

Fabulous DVF is back! That's awesome.

Anonymous said...

Rachael Zoe is awful! She's only going to be a judge because Bravo is developing her own show. I can't stand her, nobody can.

Anonymous said...

Why are they doing this? I don't get it.

Anonymous said...

I'm not going to look. I'm a good girl. : )

GothamTomato said...

"A DRAG QUEEN CHALLENGE!!!!"



About time!

BTW, doesn't it look like Tim was photoshopped into that picture?

--GothamTomato

Rainwood said...

Spoil me, spank me, anything to get me interested in Season 5, TLo!

I'm not sure how I feel about all the cats being out of the bag. I look forward to DVF as always, Apolo Ohno could be fun, and I love me some Austin so that's great. Cynthia Rowley should only be a guest judge if Rene Fris is on so he can call her Cynteea Wowwee again.

Rachel Zoe is just the latest in a series of WTF judges for PR. For me, that includes Posh, Nicky Hilton, etc. And yay to the drag queen challenge but they scheduled it one season to late. Chris March would have rocked the socks off that challenge.

Anonymous said...

"GothamTomato said...

"A DRAG QUEEN CHALLENGE!!!!"


Project Catwalk did it and it was so cool.

Anonymous said...

isabella said:

Rachael Zoe is awful! She's only going to be a judge because Bravo is developing her own show. I can't stand her, nobody can.

Well this explains why RZ is a judge. Bravo/NBC are experts and shameless when it comes to cross promotion of their shows.

Anonymous said...

I love RuPaul. That should be fun.

d-kat said...

Ummm - what the hell is Heidi wearing? It's ugly in a Slut Barbie way.

Anonymous said...

Well, I'm a little disappointed. Lots of celebrities, but not enough fashion experts. I don't want another Tiki Tacky Barber fiasco.

junior_goddess said...

I was minding my own business, but the whole "Suede" thing was getting to me. Is this PR's "Oshun-because ahm deep" ???

I think not. I think his mother wanted to name him Slade, after an 80s hair band, but she was still under sedation. Or Mrs. Porky Pig.

Anonymous said...

So is there no reunion show this year, then? It looks like the schedule goes straight from the last challenge to the first part of the finale . . .

Anonymous said...

I believe that Austin Scarlett was chosen as the first guest judge because he won the "unconventional materials" challenge in Season 1, which reads similar to the first challenge of Season 5. But that is just a guess....

Overall, the challenges and guest judges look great and I can only imagine how talented the designers are.

And a blooming romance? Did I hear right? That sounds interesting...Hopefully between two of the guys.

kath said...

Well, as usual, I have mixed feelings about it. I'm excited to see the good judges and can't wait to see their episodes, but Rachel Zoe is a joke. She's sooo over. And I wish they would have more REAL fashion people (Rachel Zoe is not a fashion person)as judges since it IS supposed to be a fashion competition. Even among the designer judges, I wish they had some new faces - although I do love DVF. I wish the real Calvin Klein would judge - wouldn't that be cool? Or Alexander McQueen, since so many of these designers cite him as an influence. Yep, I think our beloved PR has reallly and truly jumped the shark for reals.

CQAussie said...

Rachel Zoe?? yeah ok. whatever.

I can't believe what Bravo is doing! In the spirit of "In your face, I'll teach you to leave ME!" bitchery - THIS is awesome!

BUT I am very disappointed.....season 5 really isn't going to be same as others and NOT in a good way.....

I haven't looked at the spoilers cuz for some STUPID reason, work internet is PREVENTING me from being SPOILED.

I will have opinions, be sure of that, when I do finally look!

(WHAT the hell is Heidi wearing?? It's AWFUL and her feet look like HOOVES! Hang on.....Hoofs?? Hooves....?? sp??....sorry, that was bad form! help me out someone!)

Dan said...

Oh come now you all. It is not like they listed every detail of the challenge...

Example: In the first episode of the Emmy-nominated creative competition series, the 16 designers are forced to think outside the box and construct an outfit from unconventional materials.

Wow I think TLo could have predicted that synopsis word for word no problem. "Unconventional materials" could be a grocery store (season one) or their apartment (season two) or anything.

Its kinda a spoiler, but you can still "watch what happens." Has anyone noticed how much the Shear Genius previews give away? We knew about the Orange County girls way before the episode.

Lilithcat said...

Oh, these aren't really very spoilery. (Aside: is anyone else really annoyed at the "read more" link that leads to . . . nothing more?)

Anotherlaura said it looks like they're bragging on the fact that they have one woman of color - look more closely at the pics/bios. In addition to the woman from Liberia, there are two African-Americans (Jerrell and Terri) and Jerry appears to be Asian.

Well, I didn't know who Rachel Zoe was, so I checked her out on Wikipedia. And judging from the picture of her there, she's got no business judging fashion design. But maybe they caught her on a bad day?

And what's an "LL Cool J" when it's at home?

I cannot, however, wait for the drag queen challenge!

Anonymous said...

Why is Nina wearing shoes that match her hair color ? Isn't that a little too matchy matchy ?
:)
Juju

Jenster said...

RuPaul! Yeah! (Pumps fist in air.)

Rachel Zoe has no business judging fashion. A facial leather-tanning competition, yes. Fashion, nyet.

Katyola said...

Every day is a bad fashion day for Rachel Zoe. But at least we can make fun of her when she comes on the show. And is anyone else a little tired of the punk aesthetic? Even when Jeffrey won the show it felt a little tired, and now we have Stella, Kelli (who has the body of a punk and the hair of a Barbie -- weird!), Suede and Terri. Then again, maybe it doesn't matter much how the designers dress themselves -- it's not like Michael Kors is setting the world on fire with his Single Outfit.

Anonymous said...

it seems like there's way less guest judges this year actually from the fashion industry, which seems strange (take a number). also, no reunion episode? i didn't see one listed in the line up.

rachel zoe? brook shields? huh?

i'm worried.

Anonymous said...

Only glanced at all today's news so far (stupid work interference) but...

I wonder if Bravo thinks this season's follow-through story is so compelling that we don't need our usual immediately pre-episode anticipation re challenges & judges?

Also -- Bluefly reports on a wrap party last Saturday. I'm guessing you and BPR and other "press" weren't invited? How strange.

-- desertwind

TheNYCourier said...

Ugh, I hate Francisco Costa. Why couldn't they get Vivienne Westwood?

Yay for Drag Queens! And Astrological signs.

Anonymous said...

PS

Sandra Bernardt - RuPaul - Brooke Shields

The 80s are back! (or was it the 90s?)

And, isn't Rachel Zoe so over?

Anonymous said...

I'm excited! I can't wait for Wed night!

BTW, another Laura, 'From an aesthetic point of view, it is the most diverse group...'--I don't think they were talking about ethnicity... :)

Anonymous said...

PPS -- Episode One. "Back to the Start" "Unconventional materials" "Austin Scarlett"

that challenge sure ain't hard to guess.

Anonymous said...

brook shields? huh?

Me thinks this is another attempt by NBC to promote their series that starred Brooke Shields.

Anonymous said...

Esther said:
Ummm - what the hell is Heidi wearing? It's ugly in a Slut Barbie way.

did heidi start using rachel zoe as her stylist? maybe it's in her contract...and she was just starting to look so much more put together.....

Anonymous said...

I AM SO NOT LOOKING FORWARD TO THE DRAG QUEEN CHALLENGE. TOO MUCH TACKY ON ONE RUNWAY.

Anonymous said...

"Katyola said...

Every day is a bad fashion day for Rachel Zoe. But at least we can make fun of her when she comes on the show. "

Exactly. She's get the Tlo treatment.

Anonymous said...

Rachel Zoe and no Iman.... bored, bored, bored... and the new group looks more american apparel than american designers. Even a swee'pee knock off.

Anonymous said...

Rachel. Effin. Zoe.
Kill me now.

But YAY! on Austin making an appearance and DVF showing up again!
Oh and I bet with the Natalie Portman appearance they'll have to design some "vegan" clothing. She is a big advocate for organic/non-animal clothing.

Anonymous said...

"saiariddle said...

Rachel. Effin. Zoe.
Kill me now.

But YAY! on Austin making an appearance and DVF showing up again!
Oh and I bet with the Natalie Portman appearance they'll have to design some "vegan" clothing. She is a big advocate for organic/non-animal clothing."


I think that's a good guess, maybe that's it. I like her, she's a great actress, I don't know about fashion, but she wore several Lanvins at Cannes which shows that at least she has some taste when it comes to fashion.

Anonymous said...

Interesting Stuff. I looked - and the challenges seem to be interesting enough. I kind of wonder how many of them are team challenges, because they only mention one specifically. I don't know though - while some of the THTDW factor is gone, there's a couple of descriptions that are vague enough to allow for some surprise. It makes total sense to me that Austin is juding the first show - after all, he did win the first PR challenge ever; and his cornhusk dress remains one of the most memorable designs ever on the show.

Beth said...

Just for shits and giggles, I Wiki'd Rachel Zoe and found this statement directly under her name:

"This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards."

No truer words have ever been written.

Stubenville said...

I'm being good and not peeking in a vain attempt to keep up a pretense of suspense. This will probably last a half hour...

'From an aesthetic point of view, it is the most diverse group...

Does this mean they're letting straight men compete? Gasp! Well, live and let live. I really don't mind straight people, so long as they act gay on Project Runway.

Stubenville said...

New drinking game for the drag queen challenge! Take one drink every time Time says any of the following:

Moon clothes
Clown clothes
A float in a parade
That's a lotta look
This worries me / I'm concerned

eric3000 said...

Seriously, I do not want to know.

I don't even like to know the constestants' names before the first episode. And I usually try to avoid the TV guide so I can't see the titles of the episodes; that's how clueless I like to be.

Anonymous said...

RuPaul! Apolo Ohno! Austin Scarlett!
:-D

LL Cool J?
Why?!?

Anonymous said...

I don't want to know anything. It's really annoying and for those saying that they're not saying much that's bullshit they're saying who the judges will be, I didn't want to know that Austin is the first judge.

Anonymous said...

RuPaul!!! That's awesome!!!

Anonymous said...

Brooke Shields and Natalie Portman? What do they know about fashion? Not to mention Rachael Zoe, the skate guy and all the others. I'm very disappointed.

Anonymous said...

I love RuPaul. A drag queen challenge - How awesome is that? We ain't getting that on Lifetime.

Anonymous said...

I look forward to seeing Austin Scarlett as a judge. He's a doll.

Anonymous said...

Oh, just you all wait until the show moves to the "Not Without My Purse and Matching Restraining Order" network. Then you'll really have something to b!tch about.

Seriously, I cannot believe they posted all the challenges and judges and add me to the 'ugh, Rachel Zoe' list.

For a bunch of folks that often mention Westwood, Mugler and LaCroix as favorites, their personal style sure is boring.

Anonymous said...

okay, I hear you guys, but in the videos that TLo posted the other day they were talking about diversity, how diverse the designers were wow these designers are so diverse, I'm amazed at the diversity of the designers. Okay, so I live in the business world too, and I thought they must mean diverse the way I think about diverse, which is meaning every kind of person other than 20-something WASP. and that's an aesthetic, too, hee! So I was disappointed at the lack of what I think of as "diversity." Who the hell knows what they're like as designers, yet? Looking forward to Episode 1

CroqueMonsieur said...

Rachael Zoe is a joke. I can't wait to make fun of her. Hasn't she been on the show before?

Unknown said...

I love me some RuPaul and Sandra Bernhard and it's always great to see DvF but.....ugh. When does PR Canada start????

boobarella said...

I wonder if Bravo is doing the promotion this way not so much on purpose but as a throw up your hands it's not our game after this so who cares kinda thing?

Anonymous said...

Rachael Zoe should be ashamed of herself. She promotes Anorexia!!! All of Rachel Zoe's clients are all stick-thin/anorexic/drug abusers. Shame on you Bravo!

Anonymous said...

They need to work on getting more fashion authorities as judges, not those bimbos who wouldn't be able to pick a dress without the assistance of their personal help and stylists. I'm glad they're bringing DVF back, she's fantastic. Francisco Costa was a horrible judge.

Anonymous said...

While I would have loved to see Chris get to do the drag queen challenge, it would have been LOTS more fun to watch VictorYA have to do it!!! :-)

mcbrunnhilde

Anonymous said...

what's with the "college-to-career" challenge? are they doing a make-over episode?

Red Seven said...

D'you suppose that Bravo is trying to sabotage the show because they're pissed about the move to Lifetime??

Anonymous said...

Theyre doing it so late because the filming ended just a few days ago. The final three designers like just got home a few days ago.

Anonymous said...

babs:

I, too, wondered about the "college-to-career" challenge. Sounds very "How Do I Look" or "What Not To Wear." I really do hope PR doesn't venture down the ever popular road of reality/competition/makeover show this season and next. That would be way too Lifetime and a real dealbreaker for me.


- edina -

FashionFanatic said...

"The contestants must create a look inspired by the fall collection of a fashion icon of this decade."

I can't wait for this challenge. I'm curious to see who they're going to choose.

Anonymous said...

This season boys, I will be there to help you rip, there seems to be plenty to work with! Scene Ripper

Anonymous said...

AUSTIN!

Um, since everyone else has said what I think about RZ and AAO many times over, I'll just sit over here and be happy Princess is coming back.

Anonymous said...

Fashion icons of this decade?? Christ, we got Gwen, we got Amy, and we got Brit's bad haircut. Everyone else is just "whatever I got to wear from the design house, and thanks for the cool stuff from the goody bag." Seriously. Because if you can tell me what makes Paris an icon besides Daddy's money and a savvy publicist, I will freakin' curtsy right here!!!

Alex! said...

Do Drag Queens really use duct tape?

That seems ... uncomfortable.

Anonymous said...

"another laura said...
With all the blabbery about diversity diversity, diversity, it looks like they're bragging on the fact that they have one woman of color, from Liberia. zzzzzz"

huh? Looks to me like the color spectrum is a little deeper than that. This is definitely a first for PR--4 Non-Wasp contestants. And I was happy to see a nice representation of NON-schooled designers in the mix. Always makes the runway interesting. But did anyone else notice how many bios show Westwood/McQueen as major influences? Is this a PPS hold-over?

Anonymous said...

I'm glad they're redoing some of the challenges. I'd love to see them doing bridal again.

Anonymous said...

Well, color me a bit disappointed. I'll still have to wait for
- the senior citizen challenge
- the pregnancy challenge
- design a dress around L'Oreal's new mascara challnge
- the mother of the bride challenge
- the thrift shop challenge
- and Condoleeza Rice as guest judge.

Sigh...

Anonymous said...

i'm patsy stone said...

"Just for shits and giggles, I Wiki'd Rachel Zoe and found this statement directly under her name:

"This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards."

FANTASTIC!

profp

Anonymous said...

At least the Olson twins aren't guest judges. This season.

Anonymous said...

Now that explains why she is a judge:

"Brooke Shields said she felt like an "amateur" when she guest-judged Project Runway in the company of Heidi Klum, Nina Garcia, Tim Gunn, and Michael Kors. "They have got it so down," she said at Longchamp's 60th anniversary in the Soho store last night. "Then I realized there's a certain pacing to it and I figured it out." She said she taped the spot over two days for eight hours each day. "I was surprised at how long and how emotional it was," she added. "I thought I would be more on the periphery, and they actually involved me on a much deeper level, and I felt truly engaged in both my criticism and my approval and whatever I had to say about the designers. It felt like it got personal, and I tried to keep it professional." Might she reveal details on this emotionally fraught challenge? "I don't want to ruin it, but there was something to do with the fashion taste — it had to be incorporated into Lipstick Jungle in a certain way." Sounds like the Sex and the City challenge from last season. We can't wait. —Tina Peng"

http://nymag.com/daily/
fashion/2008/07/
brooke_shields_felt_like_an_am.html

Kelly Marie said...

Not peeking! I want it all to be a surprise too. Though I wonder if Bravo is doing this to sort of let everyone down gently so that they won't be too encouraged to follow the show to Lifetime?

Anonymous said...

I'm going to miss seeing Zak Posen this season.

Anonymous said...

Can't wait to see Rachel Zoe. I love watching her apperances on TV. It gives one a chance to watch melanoma develop before your very own eyes!