Top Design was destined to be less successful, I think -- at least with Top Chef, the final criteria, if nothing else, is going to be if it's edible. And with Runway, it's not going to matter how innovative a dress is if it makes the model look like a cow, or falls apart on the Runway. Interior design is a lot more subjective, unless you designed a room with, like, nowhere to sit or something, or a table suspended from the ceiling.

I liked the judge on Shear Genius, Sally Whatever. And the look on Frederick Fekkai's face when some of the models came out was priceless.

Interior design is a lot more subjective, unless you designed a room with, like, nowhere to sit or something, or a table suspended from the ceiling.

yes, this. It shouldn't have mattered if the judges liked it, if the client did. and all of the team challenges were irritating. Yes, you have to learn to work with other people, but you also tend to be able to choose the people you work with.

I've been told by New Yorkers that blueberries are NOT for bagels.

Is it time to re-tell the story of Breakfast At Panera at the first F2F?

Although Margaret was always classily dressed.

Yeah, Margaret could dress herself, but she was the worst offender on, as you say, letting her personal preferences overly inform her decision. Plus, I felt like on more than one episode, I caught her applying one aesthetic standard to one design, then criticizing another design using exactly the opposite aesthetic standard.

Yeah, Margaret could dress herself, but she was the worst offender on, as you say, letting her personal preferences overly inform her decision.

you're right. I think that she was also the kind of person who would let her personal feelings for a designer affect a decision.

Yes, you have to learn to work with other people, but you also tend to be able to choose the people you work with.

Exactly. The team challenges are always weird, because everyone wants to win, and everyone wants to shine, and in a team someone is always going to have to take a backseat. Especially on Top Design, it seemed ludicrous -- if someone wants to do mid-century modern, and someone else imagined Arts and Crafts, how do you make that work? At least with food, you can all agree on, say, chicken, and go from there.

Yeah, I watched Shear Genius, too, because it was after Top Design. Which I'm okay, whatever, about.

I really liked Sally. And I like her hair! I figured I could watch this show because I had a haircut I like and wouldn't be envying all the hair on the show. Turns out, not an issue! Hee.

But I liked Tyson a lot, I thought his first style was really wearable. When I first saw it I thought it would be too stylized, but they shook it out and it still looked great. I thought the bird of paradise was a great concept but a poor execution.

Also, totally right about Theodore's model. She was supercute and totally sold a really dumb idea. But I can't harsh on Theodore too much, 'cause he's from the town where I was born!

I dunno if I'll stick with it, but it was at least a little bit fun.

The windowless, doorless, three-walled rooms bugged me to no end. There's just no way to take an interior design contest that makes you work like that seriously. No designer will ever (or at a maximum will very rarely) have to work like that. And obnoxious unrealistic time constraints because they need the show to feel competetive and meet a certain pace (plus they need to finish shooting on schedule). No designer will ever show up to start work on a room or house and then have the client suddenly say "Oh, and SURPRISE! You have to finish everything in three hours."

Is it time to re-tell the story of Breakfast At Panera at the first F2F?

Is this where we get the phrase, "eat a muffin"?

Is this where we get the phrase, "eat a muffin"?

Do you mean, "Eat a muffin, Whitey!", that's from Rio.