Tag: Project Runway

‘Under the Gunn’ tries to capture ‘Project Runway’ attention, but ultimately fails

This blog originally appeared on elkharttruth.com on April 17, 2014. The latest season of “Project Runway” premieres Aug. 17.

Spinoffs have become a huge part of TV culture, especially in the last year or two.

Whether it’s because it’s a way to capitalize on what’s already good or just a lack of original ideas, we are stuck with spinoffs.

One such spinoff is “Under the Gunn,” a Lifetime reality competition that’s a spinoff of the hit design show, “Project Runway,” hosted by Heidi Klum.

“Under the Gunn,” which aired its season finale April 10, was supposed to center around “Project Runway” mentor Tim Gunn, the beloved fashion instructor and mentor who is a big component of the success of “Project Runway.”

Many people voiced their excitement about the show on social media, mainly because it was all about Gunn.

But ultimately, that was not what “Under the Gunn” turned out to be.

Yes, it was a design competition. It had the usual drama, mess ups and down-to-the-wire moments. But Gunn didn’t mentor that much during the show’s 13-episode run.

Gunn served as a host and a mentor to the three true mentors of the show: Anya Ayoung-Chee, Mondo Guerra and Nick Verreos.

The trio of “Project Runway” alumni were the ones who actually mentored the contestants. They were the ones who walked around asking designing questions and pushing the designers to the next level.

The idea was that once all of one mentor’s contestants were eliminated, the mentor would be eliminated as well. But, predictably, each mentor was represented in the finale. The last four standing were: Asha Daniels (Mondo), Shan Keith Oliver (Anya), Sam Donovan (Mondo) and Oscar Garcia-Lopez (Nick), who was named the winner by judges Jen Rade, Rachel Roy and Zanna Roberts Rassi. Heidi Klum and actor Neil Patrick Harris were guest judges for the finale episode, which saw each designer complete a mini collection.

While viewers got to watch Anya, Mondo and Nick grow as mentors, I wanted to see Gunn mentoring more. That’s what he does on “Project Runway,” and that’s why people love him.

Gunn has a flair for mentoring. It’s his gift. He’s tough, but kind. He makes people question their work, he makes people laugh and he makes designers fulfill their potential.

His signature fashion, critiques and motto, “Make it work,” are what makes “Project Runway” so fun to watch.

And that was missing on “Under the Gunn.”

It’s not that Gunn was a bad host. It’s just this: He’s a better, more entertaining mentor.

Couch potato sometimes: How I workout while watching TV

Raise your hand if you hate working out.

Now raise your hand if you love watching TV.

Of course, I can’t actually see you, but I’m guessing many people would raise their hand on both accounts. I know I would.

Yes, working out is good for you, but I don’t get a runner’s high. I don’t even get a runner’s medium. I just know to stay in shape and to lose weight, I need to exercise.

But I also have little to no motivation, and no one to work out with. But last summer I discovered a “Bachelorette” workout, and I was in.

No, I don’t love the show, but it can be addicting to watch people try to fall in love…knowing they’ll probably break up within a year of the finale.

When I first tried the “Bachelorette” workout, it was tough. I was not prepared to do 100+ squats, 10 for every rose given out (it was early in the season). But by the end of the two hours, I was sweating…without feeling frustrated.

I did something I love (watch TV for an extended period of time) while doing something I need to do (exercise). And it worked.

After one or two weeks of this, I got two friends to join in with me. We’d meet after I got off work, set the workout list by the TV, and made sure to hold each other accountable for doing the exercises (and also questioned whether something counted or not…I mentioned it was tough, right?).

It was quite effective. One of the girls had no problems fitting into her wedding dress, and I lost some weight and gained some muscle. All around a win-win.

I started looking up other TV workouts, as I call them. BuzzFeed has a huge list, but I alter them to fit what I need or add to them for a more intense workout.

Alternatively, most shows (or even movies) have a drinking game associated with it. I altered a “Friday Night Lights” drinking game into a workout for watching the show. (Crunches for every time you saw a jersey did wonders for my abs.)

I will say the most effective TV workouts are for reality competition shows, like “Bachelorette,” “Dancing with the Stars,” or “Project Runway.” There’s more regularity to these shows because of their format, so you’ll get a more well-rounded workout.

On the flip side, you can always add to the workouts. I altered one for “Gilmore Girls,” and well effective some episodes, I wasn’t doing many exercises for other episodes. But my aforementioned group of friends has done one for “Drop Dead Diva,” and we’ve added a couple extra exercises as we’ve progressed in the show.

They say it’s not good to watch TV for hours on end. But if you workout for at least part of it, you’ve earned some quality couch potato time. At least in my book.