So much to process! Overall, we were pleased with the show. We have lots of reactions that we edited down to the following:
• Todd needs to relax—he seems so scripted it is painful. We have oodles of respect for him but we think he'll be great if he just is himself. Project Runway's Heidi Klum makes it look easy.
• LA—and they never even went outside! Let's hope they have some projects outside of the Pacific Design Center.
• What's up with the lame shopping challenge? The designers were given a large diarama room and $50,000. None of the rooms looked like $30,000. Not a single team added windows or the idea of windows! (Did we miss something?)...
Only a few teams even took full advantage of the carpenters they were given. With some exceptions, we're more impressed with the mock rooms at IKEA. A lot of the rooms had bare walls! We are looking forward to see the rest of the challenges...
• So far, John is a total ass. We couldn't believe it when he made the nasty remark about "living with a bunch of queens" but we felt the editors got him back with the shot of his reaction to the announcement of mystery guest judge, Alexis Arquette—who's the queen now?
SPOILER ALERT
It felt a little sudden to get rid of two designers in the first show. And it was a team challenge? Harsh. That being said, Heather and Lisa had the worst room.
• We were surprised Goil and Elizabeth won. While they were creative and pushed the ideas the farthest, it didn't come together as a room for us.
• We liked Carisa and Erik's room the best. The sculptural wood piece/fireplace/shelf on the back wall gets two thumbs up.
• We wish Bravo would post pictures of the final rooms!
• Finally, what is up with the Jonathan Adler's catchphrase? "See you later, decorator?" Ugh. Someone at Bravo is trying WAY too hard.
Share your own thoughts and reactions in the comments!
it was not pleasant really in my opinion.... and, when expecting a show up to par w/ Project Runway, this reminded me of HGTV's Design Star. Overall painful delivery by Oldham, Adler, and the other judges... a big let down, but obviously i'll keep watching.
-kellen
i hope more 'design' is put into the challenges
I enjoyed the show a lot, although would like to see them do something more creative than shop at the Design Center - anyone with money can put a room together by shopping at a design center and painting. I thought the choice of client was really interesting and presented a pretty good challenge. I was surprised at how snarky/unfriendly the editor of Elle Decor seemed. Otherwise, I liked the judges and I thought that booting those two off was justified because their room looked like something put together using items from Pier One and Target. They clearly reward thinking outside of the box, rather than the calm = Asian decor analogy that apparently only Health Spas should make....
Agree totally about Todd's delivery! He seems like such a creative, fun guy; I hope that comes out more as he relaxes. Also agree that the challenge was lame and unfair, but the right team was ousted (no WAY would they let macho John and whining Michael go; offensiveness = good TV!). I liked the winning room a lot; it was whimsical and really different, if not all that comfortable-looking.
Todd was so obviously uncomfortable that I felt a little bad for making fun of his cadence the rest of the night. It's too early to tell how good it is going to be, but I found the budget for the first challenge shocking.
I haven't seen the show yet but "See you later, decorator!" made me laugh out loud. That is hilariously cheesy and wonderful.
I'm so disappointed by this show! I thought it was a real bore. There is no spark. Boring rooms. Alexis Arquette? How D list. Then there are the judges. Snore. They seem so...unlikeable. Adler's "catch phrase" isn't. And why is his stuff everywhere on the show? I'm so tired of that mid-century crap. And Todd Oldham sounds so medicated. I think this show is a miss, and I'm so sad.
i thought it was kinda pathetic that they had $50,000, two days, and the aid of a carpenter AND a seamstress and all the rooms looked so blah. and yeah, the room goil and elizabeth put together might not have been 100% cohesive, but at least it was imaginative and didn't look like a PDC showroom like all the others. i hope the work in the future isn't as derivative as last night's stuff. and frankly, i'm really glad margaret russell was bitchy because the judging was otherwise incredibly boring. todd oldham seems like a nice, cool guy who has great friends (hello, amy sedaris) but TV just isn't his medium. it seemed like he ingested some really bizarre drug cocktail before filming.
What happened to Todd from Mtv's House of Style 'Todd Time' segments back in the day? He was so loose and groovy.
That Stepford Todd Pod that was on my TV last night could not have been the same guy. Painful to watch.
And "Mar" is such a bitch, man. Seriously. I like how sweet Kelly was.
Dull. No need for me to watch again. Appointment television this ain't.
Todd Oldham is more boring than Padma. Pains me to say that because she is so dull, but he sure ain't no Tim Gunn, that's for sure. Who is going to carry this show?
Elle Decor Lady copy a mighty big 'tude for someone running a second, er . . . third, er . . . fourth rate design rag. I mean c'mon, the eye rolling, the snark, she's trying soooo hard to be Anna Wintour. Please. Enough.
From the promos, I hated the little bespectacled guy, but next to Jonathan he was sympathetic. I think I might actually like him.
Todd Oldham. Worst. Host. Ever.
I saw the elimination coming a mile away. It's what you'd expect from a housewife who decided to open her own design firm because all her friends "rave about her taste." Their room had zero to do with the challenge, aside from being awful. I think she saw the West Elm catalog last month and decided that's what's "hip" these days. THe younger of the two seemed to have some promise but unfortunately drew the short straw. I personally wish they had eliminated Jonathan and the grey haired lady. And by the way, Jonathan? You are a queen. Don't think otherwise.
Um, one more thing. On what planet is Alexis Arquette a celebrity??????
ok so i fell asleep a few times, but i think i saw enough to pose this question - what'd they do with the money? $50k is a lot and i just didn't see it in any of the rooms, especially considering that the labor was free. did i miss something?
the homophobic comments from john (i counted two total, when it was just him and the camera) were completely off-putting and made him a villain right away. i didn't like his teammate either, the guy who couldn't paint, but compared to the tanned and injected john, he was bearable.
i would have liked more nasty critiquing from the judges, since there is plenty of room to judge an entire room.
Shauna, I'm with you - I was waiting for "Todd Time" Todd! This show doesn't give him a chance to be creative at all. I think any room that did not look like a catalog page from one vendor (i.e. pier one, west elm, horchow, cost plus world market, whatever) were the ones that caught the judge's attention.
we've been having some fun dishing about it over on decor8 as well.
Reading this makes me feel so glad I don't watch television:)
The Elle Decor editor did come off as very unfriendly, which is odd, because when I had a problem with a subscription, she was very helpful and very friendly--and she actually answers some of the site email! (I presume so that she will know what people are writing about.)
ur color arangement is well and chronicle color
disorder face fine
I highly doubt that you actually spoke directly to the editor about a subscription issue Lauren
Honestly, I was disapointed with the episode last night. Aside from the concept of the sandbox- which I'm not even sure I enjoy- nothing was all that innovative let alone impressive. Given that they had $50,000 and a carpenter all of the rooms were disapointing.
The biggest challenge was creating a space having only seen a handful of objects owned by the client- none of which seemed to fit in any of the rooms that well.
I would have really liked to see more daring designs, more innovative concepts, more risks. I hope the sunsequent episodes are more inspiring.
1. i wouldn't want any of those rooms in my house
2. the bravotv reality contests are getting far too over-produced. you already know that john and his beady-eyed annoying git partner who apparently has never touch a paintbrush will make it to the final 4 because of the drama they will cause.
3. boring hosts all around. too cliche. but the ladies are not ugly.
4. yeah, alexis arquette? barf.
The only 'designers' on that show so far (judges aside) seem to be the architects! I have never seen so many mediocre rooms put together by decorators. Horizontal stripes painted on the walls? Please.
I have been very pleased with the program selection on Bravo but Top design is awful. Todd talks to slow and the other judges are just as boring. The fake interior decorators have no clue what design is all about. I want to know who approved this when it was a pilot.
This show was so compelling that I went back to finishing up a couple of reports for work.
While my fiancee watched it, I caught snippets of it. Is plastic surgery that pervasive now? I am so glad I left LA. It seems bravo (lowercase on purpose) ups the BITCHINESS quotient every six months. It was unbearable in this show. I gave some attention to the ending presentations, but have to agree that with the exception of that one room (you know which one), they all SUCKED!!! ARGH!!! So much SUCKAGE!!!
Sigh.
Project Runway looks like the second coming of JC and his apostles compared to Top Chef and this show.
And the hilarity ensues...This show is worth watching just for pure camp value! I mean Alexis Arquette? Todd Oldham was just painful to watch. Like others have pointed out, what happened to the Todd on House of Style? I've seen Johnathan Adler in interviews, and he seems like a funny guy. This is an example of a show that seems alittle too self-conscious and produced. Clearly they were trying to edit people into "characters." We've got the nurturing mentor (Todd doing his best Tim Gunn), the bitchy judge (Michael Kors/Simon Cowell), and the like.
That said, there is clearly real talent on the show. I think we just have to give the show a chance to mature because as I remember, the first season of Project Runway was alittle less than inspired compared to the more recent ones.
Todd was terrible. Too much fake-tanning, awful teeth, uncomfortable delivery. And why the hell isn't he a judge? If he is going to be Mr. Make it Work for this series he should be giving real opinions like Tim Gunn. Not meek "looks great/ good luck" type nonsense. And yes the catch phrase is painful but Jonathan Adler's comments about each room were the best of the bunch. The zoloft comment had me cracking up.
The rooms were terrible and didn't represent the client at all. I cannot believe Alexis Arquette wasn't more dissapointed and cutting in her opinions too. I do not see how this is diff. from Design Star and cannot see watching this down the line (unless I catch a marathon some sunday when I am sick on the couch which is how i watched design star). I actually don't think the room that got the boot was so terrible. It was an aesthetic that everyone decides is very "Chinese restaurant" but i think that the rest of the rooms were too modern-bland-boring. The winners deserved it because they went kitsch which is what the items they were shown implied about the client. At least they didn't play it safe.
Agreed. No need to get on Les Todd for not veneering his teeth. You long for realness? They're real.
To the show: Sadly, the producer did not "find" the groovy Todd. There is no interaction, no personality yet. And sadly, b/c this was filmed in the late fall, it probably won't get better. No time for reshoots. I, too, disdain the "throw money at a problem" philosophy. It's antithetical to this blog, of course. If there was rigor in the selection process, as PRunway maintains, I didn't see it here. I found John Prey fascinating - the nelly homo/phobe who THINKS he's the Marlboro Man. Perhaps Alexis A. showed him what for off-camera. Not every experiment succeeds. -Jer
Everything looked very HGTV to me-and those walls! Did they have to chose those paint colors, or were they required? The colors looked very unsophisticated.
Oh dear, I hope it gets better. It can only get better, right? I would rather watch paint dry. Really. Fingers crossed!
It was abysmal.
And I was so excited about it, too.
one more thing: Could they at least have TRIED to find a straight guy as a contestant? One guy mentioned his wife and kid, but if he's straight, I'm the Prince of Wales.
I agree that the rooms were boring. How disappointing. On the other hand, it lends credibility to my working philosophy that being forced to work within the constraints of a real budget is a good thing.
Not being able to afford to just go out and say "gimme" to every overpriced design center objet leads to much more creative and interesting solutions than when the sky (or $50K? Puhleeze.) is the limit. It forces one to innovate and think outside the box, a point that I think is regularly illustrated here at AT.
Interior design as with life...having lots of money has a tendency to make you lazy. Not that I would know. I do all my own painting, after all.
Elle Decor fourth rate? - I don't think so!
Was anyone else waiting for Alexis to unhinge her jaw and swallow the losers whole?
The survivors would then be required to design a digestion den for her.
we, have only seen 1 episode, and most series need some time to establish themselves. aside from todd, most people have never heard the judges voices, or have any clue about their personalities. i have hopes for the show, the production quality is high, and there are big names in design are attached to it.
let's hope the producers skip the expected, like contestants arriving with their luggage, the oh, here's a note i'll read it to everyone, and the confessional or private interview spliced in.
just watched todd oldham on martha today and he was great. gone was the spray on tan and stiff delivery, he was his old self at ease at full of information as he led martha through the construction of a platform bed and headboard.
as a professional fag hag.. this was even too gay for me!
Dude. Carson. The one guy who said he had a wife and child was so. not. straight. I laughed when he made that announcement. Also, I guess I wasn't offended by John's comments because--am I totally off here?--he is completely gay himself. Um, he compares his life story to George Michael's.