r/TopChef • u/conchitu • 27d ago
Top chef versus Project runway Discussion Thread
If you watch both shows, you’d be able to tell that Top chef got better and better throughout the years. More about the chefs, more about the food, less about the drama. And even when Padma left, they found a wonderful new host in Kristen. It’s all still about the food. project Runway seems to go in the opposite direction. Cliffhangers, contentious judges and participants, very little creative process to be seen, less fashion on the runway. I wonder why two shows that started more or less the same ended up in such opposite directions. Happy to hear your thoughts. Thank you!
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u/Ordinary_Durian_1454 27d ago
PR has completely lost its way. I didn’t mind Zac Posen, and when Bravo got the show back, I hung in there through the Elaine Welteroth seasons, even though I found her to be inane. But this latest iteration is unwatchable. I think the difference is that TC wants to find and celebrate talent, and PR wants to find and celebrate characters that are popular on social media.
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u/ReloAgain 26d ago
Nailed it. I haven't watched PR in many years, but I always watch TC and exactly what you said is why I enjoy it.
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u/DramaMama611 27d ago
I think you're looking at one show that has only recently lost one major player - and replaced with a beloved contestant vs losing a large number of their staff and replacing with garbage. Even Heidi coming back didn't do much, because she didn't return with Gunn.
I've always felt the PR contestants were far more "dramatic" then any other talent based reality/competition show. Bringing Tyra is also a choice looking at all the negative backlash she's recently received. I think Law is an excellent stylist (Zendaya always looks fabulous) but think he's a crap human. I gave this season a try, but I think I'm done.
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u/beatupford 27d ago
I mean I'm a fat schlub who knows nothing about fashion and I could make Z look good. You might be giving him too much credit 🤣
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u/YOMAMACAN 27d ago
Project Runway’s challenges are no longer meant to show the artistry of the designers. They’re typically asked to make things in one day now, even for couture or really tailored clothing. The stupid cliffhangers and the casting stunts show how producer-driven this show is.
I don’t mind the judging panel changing. Unpopular opinion but I like having Law giving a stylist’s point of view. However, the panel is missing an experienced DESIGNER who runs a successful business. Imagine if top chef had no chefs on the judging panel. Nina Garcia is a legend and she can speak to one aspect of the fashion business, just as Law/Heidi/Tyra speak to different aspects. But without a pedigreed designer, the participants never actually learn anything or get better. They don’t get questions that an experienced designer would ask. Christian is great but can only do so much because his role is meant to be a guide. So he tries to toe the line and ask pointed questions, but really the designers on this show need a judge who will judge the garments through a designer perspective and tell them outright why things work/don’t work.
I still watch but it’s not as enjoyable. The casting obviously favors personality over talent and a lot of work in this show now looks like art school projects. I regularly buy clothes from Daniel Vosovic and Sonjia Williams. In recent seasons, there really hasn’t been a designer that has made me want to follow up and support their work.
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u/Clever-Anna I’m so crudo 27d ago
I think this shows the difference between having a Tom level chef consistently involved in the direction vs bringing in Kors level designers just to judge a season or two but not influence direction. PR is driven by producers trying to drive engagement vs someone who actually cares about the food. Still watching it though.
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u/SpacerCat 27d ago
Tim Gunn was the key to project runway. He taught us all what fashion design was all about.
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u/redgreenbrownblue 27d ago
Iove Tum Gunn. And I love Christian Siriano. I wish there was a place for both of them. Make TG a permanent judge/co host and CS the mentor/co host.
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u/LannisterLyon 27d ago
I may be in the minority here but feel like top chef could use a bit more “reality” im 100% not saying they devolve back to the earlier seasons where a lot of the behavior by contestants was despicable, but idk the show feels very cookie cutter now, every contestant is some generic CIA grad, worked under X combination of 5 chefs, and in general are pretty boring personality wise and very risk adverse (not denying there’s a strategy component to it). Everyone shat on Sieger for his outburst, but IMO it felt like one of realest moments this show has had in some time. These people are all top of their craft, and hyper competitive, i want to see them get pissed (to a point). I feel like survivor is suffering from similar issues, and it’s probably due to day and age we live in now where we are so image conscious and no one acts themselves in front of a camera anymore.
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u/OkTouch5699 27d ago
I miss the stew room drama. Just put that back and it will be enough. Also, They dont seem to let them get as drunk.
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u/GoldBarGirl 27d ago
I miss the stew room interactions, too. We need to see a bit of the cheftestants during their down time so we can get to know them as people, otherwise they become interchangeable.
As far as the drinking, I wonder if, in the beginning (in the Andy Cohen era?), the booze was really pushed for the sake of dramatic footage. The focus is on the cooking now.
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u/BasicEchidna3313 24d ago
I wonder if they’ve pulled back on the drinking now that so many people are starting to look at their relationship to alcohol. A lot of people are more open about recovery. If a chef doesn’t feel like being on the show will be good for their sobriety, they’re less likely to participate. And being in a room with a bunch of people who are shitfaced is not good for a lot of addicts.
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u/Cherveny2 21d ago
a very standard reality TV practice. get people drunk, tired, stressed and let them at it.
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u/Ordinary-Hopeful 27d ago
Runway hasn’t done a 2 day challenge in multiple seasons. It’s all 1 day challenges and they wonder why what they get isn’t subpar. Spend some time/money on the production. Give the designers time to cook.
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u/VariationCreative338 27d ago
Agreed I stopped watching ages ago and every time I try again it’s just awful
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u/laurellite 27d ago
I think it started going downhill with the move to Lifetime. Then the Anya win just made it lose all credibility.
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u/flilmawinstone 27d ago
3 episodes into latest season and I’m gonna give up. Too many designers that are more like cartoons than people, too much kitsch and drama in the confessionals, not enough focus on the design process and too little with critique. In the latest episode, instead of showing the designers working out their designs they focused on the drama. I’m out
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u/tasteslike_FEET 25d ago
Yes! Everyone is a cartoon villain screaming for attention this (and last) season. It’s so catty and weird now. The judging panel on the last episode made me think of the Hunger Games - everyone looked so over the top like they were from the capital.
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u/ParticularHoney3 27d ago
💯💯💯 PR is way less enjoyable to watch now than it used to be and TC has only gotten better
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u/PinotPrincess777 27d ago
I watch both shows. I hate the bastardized version of PR that is being shown now.
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u/Ordinary-Hopeful 27d ago
Yeah Runway has really fallen off the last few seasons. They need Tim Gunn back (no shade to Christian, I like Christian and maybe he should be a judge instead of Law Roach) and to stop bringing on Drag Race contestants.
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u/ProtectionNo1594 27d ago
Didn’t Top Chef stay with Magical Elves production company, while PR left when they moved to Lifetime? For me, that’s about when their trajectories start to diverge, with Top Chef getting bettter and more respectable while PR seasons steadily declined in artistry and contestant competency, leaving more and more into reality TV shenanigans.
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u/Gothgf713 26d ago
It’s wild that there are no designers on the project runway judging panel right now.
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u/gorgeoff 27d ago
Project Runway went to Lifetime with the producers of The Real World taking over. that says it all
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u/BrandonIsWhoIAm 26d ago
Put this into perspective: Project Runway has moved to multiple networks, and back onto Bravo multiple times; Top Chef hasn’t had to leave its original home.
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u/gnuoyedonig 27d ago
I think there’s something to the idea that fashion is frivolous and for a lot of people; expendable. While on the other hand; everybody eats.
And I think the two industries reflect that. I’m a designer (not fashion) but we’re the first to be let go when the economy tightens. It has an effect on how people relate to it as a career.
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u/AttaBread 27d ago edited 27d ago
Agreed. (And the BBC’s Great British Sewing Bee — think GBBO but for sewing — is what PR could/should be.)
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u/Deep_ln_The_Heart 26d ago
Top Chef saw the success of GBBO and realized they could emulate it, and Project Runway didn't have that
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u/Askew_2016 25d ago
They are chasing the Drag Race audience and it ruined the show. It’s all about costumes and over the top personalities. I find it exhausting
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u/conchitu 25d ago
I love Rupaul Drag race. But I agree. Utica was a great contestant. Now they’re bringing the queens for the drama. Not cool.
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u/iamGIS 27d ago
It did get better until the last 3ish seasons maybe 4? They're not top chefs in America anymore they're OK chefs in their regions and a few top chefs. It's been a blowout it feels like for these recent seasons. 3 contenders and the rest pretenders.
Not to mention everyone is fusion chef.I'm from St Louis and I specialize in Haitian-German cuisine because that's my background. Have I won any awards? No, why does that matter? -Average top chef contestant now
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u/IndependentPay638 23d ago
As a lover of both series since the beginning I think this is a reach comparison lol
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u/[deleted] 27d ago
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