‘Project 24’ Has Potential for Frumpy Mom

Friday, March 7, 2008

Page 11

AT THE SIDEBAR (Column)

‘Project 24’ Has Potential for Frumpy Mom

By J’AMY PACHECO

I’m not really much of a television watcher. My affinity for staying up late to watch E.R. ended about the same time that I had to start getting up before dawn to drive my daughter to school.

Although we recently got TiVo, a nifty little box that is supposed to let us do things like record programs, fast forward through commercials and pause for bathroom breaks, I’m so far past my television addiction days that I rarely use it.

There are two programs, however, that I go out of my way to record and watch. One is an unlikely choice for a frumpy, middle-aged mother like me, but I actually look forward to seeing it each week.

It’s called “Project Runway,” and airs Wednesday nights on the Bravo Channel. Hosted by supermodel Heidi Klum, the show essentially pits people who are good with a sewing machine against one another to determine who will become America’s Next Top Fashion Designer. I’m not sure how I became hooked on the program, but I know it had to be by accident.

My idea of high fashion is making sure my panty hose are in the same color family as whatever I’m wearing. My daily clothing choices are dictated by what’s clean and doesn’t need to be ironed. On weekends, I don’t go near my hot rollers or makeup drawer. I can’t remember the last time anybody said to me, “My, you look stylish today” without laughing afterward.

“Project Runway” is sort of like the mega-hit “Survivor.” The main difference is that the show’s contestants keep their clothes on (mostly), stay in comfortable apartments, eat well and have to create unique and well-made fashions in order to stay alive.

Contestants have been asked to create high-fashion out of materials as diverse as recyclables, denim and candy wrappers. They’ve had to create outfits for high school girls going to the prom, dogs, beauty queens, movie stars, female professional wrestlers and each other’s mothers.

The drama comes from the fact that the designers live and work in close quarters, and are given little money and even less time to complete their creations before they are paraded down a runway and judged by professionals in the fashion industry. Every week, somebody gets kicked off the show. The final three get to put on fashion shows at a big New York fashion event, and the winner gets funding to launch a new line of clothing.

Although some elements of the show push it toward an R rating, I admit I’ve allowed my ordinarily sheltered 12-year-old to be my viewing companion. We love watching “Project Runway,” and find ourselves getting emotional when contestants we like get sent home.

The second show I watch is called “24.” It’s about a troubled guy who works for an anti-terrorism agency in Los Angeles, and who gets hurt a lot.

My brother nagged me to check out the show, and finally loaned me the first season on DVD. I was hooked immediately. I’m almost caught up to the current season, which is year seven.

The show is violent, exciting, and hair-raising. If I watch two episodes back-to-back, I end up with a stomachache from stress. But it’s so worth it.

In “24,” perpetually victimized New York is spared the usual onslaught of bombings, bioterrorism and every other scary thing. It’s Los Angeles that gets plagued, nuked, shot up, crashed into and anything else a now-paranoid mom like me could imagine.

But it’s so good that I look forward its stomach-aching excitement.

What is most surprising to me about these two shows is that they couldn’t be more different from each other – although both involve human beings doing their best under challenging conditions. In one, people get “offed” in some creative and surprising ways. In the other, they get “auf’d” and set along with good-bye kisses. But I like them both equally.

I think “Project Runway” should have its next season designers create fashion for anti-terrorism action figures like 24’s Jack Bauer. They could call it “Project 24.” I can’t imagine anything cooler than a blending of my two favorite shows — one that uses handguns, the other that uses glue guns. One uses needles filled with chemicals that make people scream out the truth; the other uses needles filled with…well, thread.

I don’t watch a lot of television, but I’d sure watch that. (Which probably has a lot to do with why I’m not in charge of deciding what gets to air on television.) I’d even stay up late for “Project 24.”

Even if it gave me a stomachache. (And I’m guessing it would.)