“Project Runway” to air on Lifetime

You’ve probably already heard the news by now, but it sounds like crazy old Harvey Weinstein has finally worked out a deal with greedy old NBC Universal that will allow the long-delayed sixth season of “Project Runway” to finally see the light of day on Lifetime. Yay!

Terms of the deal were not disclosed and both sides are trying to play it all cool, but you just know it killed NBC Universal to lose another landmark series right now. I mean, with “ER” signing off last night, “Kings” boring audiences to tears and nothing remotely new and exciting on the horizon — except for maybe five nights a week of prime time Jay Leno (yawn) — NBC is, as Heidi Klum would say, definitely “out”.

But Lifetime, on the other hand is so “in” it hurts! “Rita Rocks”, “The 2009 Nora Roberts Collection” and now “Project Runway”? Man, “television for women” never sounded so good!

The Chenbot is not amused…

By now you’ve probably all seen this year’s list of Emmy nominees — if you haven’t, you can download the full list of nominees here — overall, this year’s crop was a pretty decent bunch. Glad to see smaller basic cable shows like “Mad Men” and “Breaking Bad” swing a few major nominations, but at our house, the news was all about who was not nominated.

And no, I’m not talking about the extremely talented cast and crew of “The Riches” or the writers of “Lost”, but rather, the elegant Chinese robot that is “Big Brother” host Julie “Chenbot” Chen.

With the announcement earlier this year that the TV Academy was adding a Best Reality Host category, we thought for sure our beloved Chenbot was a lock for a nomination. Of course, we expected to hear the names, Jeff Probst, Heidi Klum, and even cheesy old Ryan Seacrest…but what no one expected was to hear the next two names on the list: Howie Mandel and Tom Bergeron?!

Are you kidding me? Have you seen their shows? The best things on both “Deal Or No Deal” and “Dancing with the Stars” have absolutely nothing to do with those two ham-fisted windbags! I mean, really, take them out of the equation and the shows are just as good, or, you know…bad…without them.

But “Big Brother” without the Chenbot is just a bunch of crazy, white trash drunkards trapped in a house with cameras. Now, I’m not saying I wouldn’t watch that show too, but a huge part of what makes “Big Brother” so awesomely watchable is that cool, shiny-haired Chenbot!

So…any way you look at it, our girl got straight-up robbed this week, yo!

I guess our only consolation is that the tenth season — yeah I said tenth, you got a problem with that Emmy voters?! — of “Big Brother” started last week, so that gives us all summer long to enjoy the strangely lifelike beauty of our favorite Chinese robot! And better yet, the show airs three nights a week…yah!

Emmy or not, long live the Chenbot!

“Project Runway” struts to Lifetime

In a shocking turn of events, it was announced this week that Bravo TV’s Peabody Award-winning reality series “Project Runway” is catwalking down the cable dial to Lifetime. Yep, Lifetime: Television for Women. I know…talk about a “hot trannie mess!”

Even weirder still is that NBC Universal (Bravo’s parent company) just sat by and let this happen. I mean, come on…”Runway” isn’t just the top-rated show on basic cable, but it’s a pop culture juggernaut that is well worth any price that savvy shyster Harvey Weinstein asked for it. To let an iconic show like that slip away, to Lifetime of all places, is just plain stupid.

Of course NBC was quick to sue the Weinstein Company for breach of contract, but with the ink already dry on the Lifetime deal, it all sounds like too little too late to me. And the fact that Lifetime has already announced that Season 6 will premiere on their network this November — Season 5, which is currently casting, will air on Bravo — pretty much seals NBC’s fate.

So, like many “Runway” fans, I guess we’re gonna have to follow Tim and Heidi over to Lifetime. There is still no word on whether regular “Runway” judges Michael Kors and Nina Garcia will be making the move as well, but barring any last-minute courtroom theatrics, the deal is done.

Basically, it sounds like the greedy bastards at NBC Universal (yeah, you heard me, Ben Silverman!) gambled that they could renew “Runway” on the cheap and lost…big time. Ha ha…suck it, NBC! Sorry, guess I still have a little residual strike rage going on…

In any case, I salute you, Harvey Weinstein! You stuck to your guns and got a way better deal — rumored to be somewhere in the range of $150 million for five years — with a network that aside from desperately needing a hit show, just might actually appreciate the goldmine that is “Project Runway”.

So, this November, you can bet your ass we’ll be enjoying some rocking new episodes of “Runway” on Lifetime…um, you know, right after we finish watching that baby-switching movie with Emily Watson and Dermot Mulroney.