I don't think I've ever felt sorry for a television show, but I'm feeling a bit sniffly for Project Runway. Off it went to Lifetime and Los Angeles. Much lawsuit wrangling later, the show debuted and it featured some of the best designers to date and it seemed like no one really noticed. At least not like they did back in the day. Back in the Bravo days.

The finale last night had the right contestants showing their collections in Bryant Park. I thought they all deserved to be there. Even Althea, after her final challenge flameout. How could I root against a Midwestern girl!

It looked like they all had great collections. No horrible failure to perform like poor Michael Knight from several seasons ago. And even though Irina was such a piss-ant through much of the show, I'm glad she won. She had the best collection in both point-of-view and execution. She really put on a nicely edited, focused show. And frankly, who needs a bunch of bright colors? Apparently only the judges. Or maybe they just felt like they needed something to complain about so the outcome wouldn't be too evident.

And in true Project Runway form, the guest judge was a wise -- although not flamboyant choice: Suzy Menkes of the International Herald Tribune. Suzy isn't exactly a TV personality -- more life Suzy, more life! -- but she has seen more collections than most anyone I know. She has seen designers come and go and she has seen business dissolve into dust. She knows what she's talking about. And the woman loves new talent. Really, I don't know where she gets the energy. I think she's got an Energizer Bunny in her closet tipped over in haze.

Anyway, I suppose I'm just sad that Project Runway produced three female designers -- and there are so few leading labels now -- with lots of promise in the one season that seemed to fade into the shadows, the one season that didn't have people breathlessly gathered around the water cooler. Maybe it's because none of them was a sardonic little elf that overused the word "fierce." Or maybe none of them had a tattooed neck and a propensity to make people's mother's cry. When Irina is your show's worst villain, that's pretty mild. A sour puss doesn't make much news. And when her father started crying upon hearing that she'd won, well, I practically had a little Hallmark weep-fest.

So cheers to Althea, Carol Hannah and Irina. Hope you have terrific careers.

I hate Robert Pattison. Not the guy personally. I hate the entire obsession with him, the non-stop stories, blather, photos, everything. Ok, so he is popular. His movies do well. But the media, won't stop talking about him. And they have set the guy up as some kind of swoon-worthy sex symbol or babe of the moment. This is where I'm clearly on my own. I don't get it.

I don't see what makes him so swell. Is it the fact that about every five seconds I get an e-mail from assorted fashion houses telling me that they have provided clothes for this premiere, that TV appearance or his most recent trip to Starbucks? I'm bracing myself for February, when he will undoubtdedly be an unavoidable presence at every fashion show.

Yes, I woke up this morning feeling like a grump.

I'm also curious to know if people out there are excited, breathless with anticipation, over the Obamas' first state dinner next Tuesday. The guest list is in the range of 400 people. As far as I know, there aren't any plans to live broadcast the soiree on C-Span. So I'm wondering, how excited can people get over an event limited to so few people? The guest of honor is the prime minister of India. Quick, quick.....who can name him? Manmmohan Singh (I might have muffed the spelling of the first name. I'm working from memory, here.) Is he married? Yes. Kids? Three daughters.

But it's not like he's Queen Elizabeth II or France's Nicolas Sarkozy with his pop singing former model wife. And by that I mean, it's not like he's got resonance outside of the world of political wonkiness.

What's the hunger level for state dinner coverage beyond Michelle Obama's choice of wardrobe. Just curious. Rest assured, I will be there. Behind the rope line. Shouting questions: Who made your dress? And, you there in the tuxedo just back from Asia, just when are you going to get around to world peace?

So I was completely stunned by the blandness of Sarah Palin's style on "Oprah," yesterday. What happened to the sexy-power-pretty vibe that Palin was throwing off throughout the campaign? And I mean that in a good way. During the campaign, she managed to pull off a look that was a combination of pretty girl and barracuda. In fact, pundits kept talking about how her vaguely sexy look was part of the attraction as well as one of the reasons that some folks went on the attack. I'm thinking about all those signs held up by Republicans proclaiming her America's hottest governor.

When she met up for her schmooze fest with Oprah, she couldn't have looked more like a boring, bland, boxy politician. She even had on sheer black pantyhose of the sort that made her look like a cross between a librarian circa 1980 and a school counselor. She was wearing black pumps and a black skirt and a teal blazer that wasn't particularly fitted and basically looked like it only had a passing acquaintance with her figure.

Was this her attempt to re-make herself as sober and serious and filled with gravitas? It was hard not to ignore that she dutifully skirted Oprah's question about whether she's considering running for president in 2012. Why can't politicians just answer the darn question? Doesn't everyone assume that they've ALL given it some thought?

But even more to the point....why does anyone care about a possible presidential campaign three years from now? Can't we just worry about the 5 million problems confronting us right now?

But I digress. Back to the frocks. It seemed like Palin had sort of erased one of her signature characteristics. The power of pretty.

There's something weirdly disturbing about Carrie Prejean and her media appearances. She comes across like she has been coached to within an inch of her life to always keep a smile on her face -- and to hold up her book for the camera whenever possible. How do these people talk without disturbing those creepy grins?

 

I'm not sure who thinks it's a good idea to keep grinning like, uh Miss USA, when you're accusing Larry King of being inappropriate. It's not as if Larry is the grand inquisitor. He's a fairly genial guy who pretty much steers clear of blind-siding his guests. And yet there's Prejean with her shark like teeth glinting white even as she's professing how she is now under attack. Frankly, I think it was Prejean who was behaving inappropriately. Larry's question about why she settled her lawsuit was fair. So was taking viewer questions, which is a standard part of his show. Who does Miss Carrie think she is that Larry should reinvent his entire format just so she won't get her feelings hurt by a tough question from a viewer? 

 

I wonder if she'd have kept smiling if Larry said something like, "So Carrie, when did you realize you could dine out on this Trumped up controversy to the tune of a big ole book deal?" It's as if she can't stand the thought of looking unattractive -- and upset -- for five seconds. She has to keep smiling beautifully through the trauma. Which of course makes it hard to believe that there's really a problem. She's just creating a scene, a news blip. So she can continue to whine about how she and other conservative women are under seige. 

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