It may be down to Nathan, Ondine and Preston going head-to-head in tonight's finale of Top Design (10 pm/ET), but TVGuide.com caught up with last week's cast-off Eddie to chat about what inspired him to audition for a reality show, as well how his big boss lady, Martha Stewart, feels about on having an employee on the series.
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Top Design
Top Design
10 pm/ET Bravo
The curtain falls on the home-decorating reality show (as do the shades, blinds and drapes).
Read on for previews of Bones, Dirty Sexy Money, Dancing with the Stars and Criminal Minds.
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Johanna, Cologne, Ashlie and DyShaun, Stylista
Stylista
9:02 pm/ET CW
The Apprentice meets Project Runway tonight in the CW's newest reality show, which mixes business with fashion.
Read on for previews of the World Series, Ghost Hunters, Criminal Minds and Top Design.
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Todd Oldham, Top Design
The Magical Elves (the team behind Project Runway, Top Chef) are sprinkling their fairy dust on the new season of Bravo's Top Design (Wednesdays at 10 pm/ET) to shake things up — including Todd Oldham's move to his new Tim Gunn-esque mentoring role. We caught up with the design guru to get his take on Season 2 changes, contestants clashing and the new "hottie" host, fashion model India Hicks.
TVGuide.com: What made you switch from your hosting gig in Season 1 to solely mentoring in Season 2?Oldham: It was just about the only room my schedule would allow! I was excited it worked out, and that I was able to do my very favorite part, which is mentoring. It was really fun to show up and help wherever I could — or leave them alone, because that can be just as helpful. TVGuide.com: How was it doling advice ou
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Shear Genius host, Jaclyn Smith by Mitch Haaseth/Bravo Photo
Bravo has ordered second seasons of both Shear Genius (Jaclyn Smith will return as heavenly host) and Top Design, to begin casting shortly and debut next year.... ABC has ordered Wipeout, a reality pilot in which 50 contestants navigate "the world's largest obstacle course" en route to a $50,000 prize, says the Reporter. The show is described as "Fear Factor with none of the gross" — but all of the implants!.... USA Network has extended its contract for WWE Monday Night Raw by two years, through 2010.
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"Was there any question, really, people? Seriously." — Matt.No, Matt, no indeed. Both his and Carisa's final projects were gorgeous and inspired personal visions. But Matt dependably exuded his polished, sophisticated and serene self — an aesthetic that's a bit older and more refined than Carisa's, and a better match with the tastes of Elle Decor's Margaret Russell. Though Todd told them they'd have two months for this challenge, let's be honest: They really only had five days. Two months of conceptualizing and formulating a plan and phoning the PDC, yes, but five days to install flooring, walls, paint, furniture, kitchen cabinets and appliances, curtains, etc, throughout a 1,700-square-foot loft in downtown Los Angeles. Two months later and three days away from the deadline, both found themselves over budget at the PDC and behind schedule back at their respective lofts, despite the added carpenters (did you see Sarah?) and crew. Both finalists chose black floors that look...
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Top Design champ Matt Lorenz
Consistency paid off for Chicago-based designer Matt Lorenz, 32, who on Wednesday night won the final challenge on Bravo's Top Design. In the first-season finale, Lorenz was pitted against his pal Carisa, but eventually came out on top.
Now, he's extremely relieved to finally be able to reveal to family and friends that he's the champ, although his 4-year-old daughter did walk into her preschool after the March 28 episode announcing that Daddy had "won." "I had to explain to her and to her teachers and classmates that I won the challenge that night, not the show," Matt chuckles. "I had to be sure that was clear."
Matt points out that while Bravo's portrayal of the tense group of competitors was very accurate, "I don't think people realized how truly exhausted we were
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Oh, Matt, don't scare me like that! Why that momentary crisis of confidence? I was quite surprised he wasn't more gung-ho about tonight's task. Granted, designing a high-end living room inspired by an Elle Decor cover for $7,500 total was a tall order. Still, chic luxury is his shtick and he's succeeded with a limited budget several times in this game. And surely he knows how to spell "Los Angeles." Clearly, the pressure was finally getting to him.Indeed, by the end of the second day, every member of the Design trinity had pulled a Goil/Jan Brady by freaking out over some aspect of the challenge. Carisa made a biting but hilarious crack about Andrea's wall color ("nothing says happy like gray"), and suddenly Andrea realized she'd wasted time and effort (not to mention some embroidering) painting her room's gray walls with another horribly neutral shade of gray. Carisa's drama centered on her carpenter (as usual), as they bickered over divergent visions of the back wall's stone aesth...
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Opening tonight's show with a trip to the Viceroy Hotel to see Kelly Wearstler's handiwork was evidence that while her sense of taste may be lacking on her person, it's not half bad when adapted for walls and furniture. But there wasn't much Wearstler worship before the contest's final four focused on their latest task: Design a luxury hotel suite for a high-end/boutique hotel that incorporates a natural element. (Each randomly chose between earth, air, water or fire.)With three days (positively lengthy for this show), Goil still had his weekly nervous breakdown, and Carisa was pouting yet again (though with an added cocky smirk, I noticed). Andrea's verbal claws were sharper this round, talking a little trash about her competition and bemoaning her assigned "earth" element. As for Matt — please, someone just give him this competition already! He quietly designs sleek, cohesive high-end visions, and the nice lad works well with others, too. His focus shifted entirely to his ca...
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Question: I'm curious to see what your opinion is of Top Design now that the season is well under way. As a huge Project Runway and Top Chef fan, I really wanted to like this series, but I think it's pretty bad. The designers are boring, the judges are boring, the hosts are boring, the challenges are boring. I don't see anyone with the charisma of Tim Gunn or Michael Kors, and I can't remember who the contestants are an hour after the show ends. Plus the judging at times has been incomprehensible. You can't tell what the judges are looking for or why one design is "in" and another "out." Plus, "See you later, decorator" has to rank as the lamest exit line, worse than Martha's goodbye letter on her version of The Apprentice. I can't even say that I'm learning something or getting ideas of my own because they show so little of the design process. How much more fun would it have been if instead of doing the "fake" rooms for those students, the show had gone into a college dorm and had ...
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