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Run Through

4/ 8/08

5:15 PM

Next ‘Project Runway’ Challenge: A Lawsuit! (Pun Intended)

Harvey's takin' Klum to Lifetime!Photo Illustration: Everett Bogue; Photos: Getty Images, Hulton Archive/Getty Images

We learned yesterday Project Runway is moving from Bravo to Lifetime. This made us nervous: We've said the show needs a new format and all, but — Lifetime? We didn't mean we wanted to "fem it up" with, like, a pink runway, or more Heidi Klum screen time or whatever other scary estrogen tampon stuff they've got in mind. However our fears eased when we learned NBC might thwart the Lifetime sale. Yesterday the network filed a lawsuit against the Weinstein Company because they claim NBC had rights to the show over the "No. 1 network for women." NBC says Harvey Weinstein promised them first rights to the program (they have e-mails!) but sold the show to Lifetime without giving NBC an opportunity to make a counter offer. Not only that, the Weinsteins sold the show on February 7 but kept up negotiations with NBC for two more months after the sale. The idea of Harvey Weinstein doing an unnecessary song and dance makes us chortle, but the reason the show went to Lifetime instead of NBC in the first place might have us on the floor very soon.

The New York Times reports:

NBC Universal also contends that the Weinstein Company improperly bundled the renewal of “Project Runway” with a package of unsuccessful movies that company has produced and failed to sell elsewhere. (The titles include “I Could Never Be Your Woman,” “Death Defying Acts” and “The Girl in the Park.” )

When NBC Universal declined to pay a high price for the deal, NBC Universal asserts, Weinstein made a deal with Lifetime, a network that needs a hit reality show — and one willing to buy the movies included in the deal.

So Lifetime is the only network that would accept a crap heap of movies from the Weinstein Co. We always kind of wondered where they got them. Now if we could only figure out who on earth enjoys watching them…

Bravo’s Parent Sues for ‘Runway’ Rights [NYT]
'Project Runway' Struts Over to Lifetime. Not So Fast, Says NBC. [WP]
Related: Breaking: ‘Project Runway’ Moves From Bravo to Lifetime

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Edited by Amy Odell

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