Bravo Scrapes Bottom

Those Bravo ads that have popped up on virtually every available bus shelter and subway-station wall in the last week or so? Yeah, they’re a sign that the ever-reliable supplier of gay-themed broadcasting and James Lipton close-ups is officially scraping the bottom of the barrel. They’re advertising the channel’s latest reality TV competition, Shear Genius, which will feature twelve hairstylists tested on technical and creative capabilities. (It premieres April 11, immediately following the season finale of Top Design.)

For those keeping score, Bravo has now segued us seamlessly through three Project Runway clones — Top Chef to Top Design to Shear Genius (originally titled, naturally, Top Hair) — with each new concept abiding by the law of diminishing returns. Competitive haircutting? Really? And yet, let’s face it, even if Shear Genius doesn’t mark the glorious return of host Jaclyn Smith — who will likely play a Richard Karn–ish figure while Heidi Klum does Richard Dawson — people will probably watch this thing. Which means Bravo will be back with another. Top Knitter? Top Cable Guy? Project Stenography? We can’t wait to find out. —Amos Barshad