Project Runway Expands to 90 Minutes: Can Lifetime Make This Work?

I'm a militant Project Runway defender, but I can't deny that seasons six and seven have been its weakest. Everything from Lifetime's casting to the unimaginative challenges to the studied formula is a snore compared to seasons 1-3, when contestants snuck some spontaneity (and the occasional pattern book) into the fold. That's why it seems bizarre that Lifetime, aware of the show's sagging ratings, has expanded Runway to 90-minute episodes for its eighth season. While that extra half hour will make the Project Runway/Models of the Runway lineup a solid two-hour block, will it actually help revive Runway?

As I see it, the only way an extra 30 minutes can assist Project Runway is by forcing the uninspired Bunim-Murray team to shake up each episode's identical itinerary. It could mean tougher challenges, multiple eliminations per episode, and longer (read: angrier) consultations with Tim Gunn. In fact, maybe Tim will be forced to make two runs of the workroom -- the first as himself, and the second dressed as a fashion icon of his choice, like Amelia Bloomer. Or, better yet, maybe they'll give Tim half the day off and let Runway vets like Nick Verreos or Laura Bennett force the designers to defend their work. I'll take anything that ensures whip-smart screen presences remain a part of the show.

But I fear that Lifetime, still afraid to tangle with Bravo's immaculate concept and viewership, won't change much of anything. They'll give us more workroom non-dramas, more confessionals that assure us everyone is working hard, more un-telegenic contestants dishing the same soundbites about "the toughest challenge yet." I spent all of season six wondering how the next episode would fill an hour alone -- whether I'd have to sit through more of Carol Hannah Whitfield's producer-orchestrated crush on Logan Nietzel or Irina Shabayeva's gripes about every single contestant since nothing else was occurring. If Lifetime is heading down a bleaker path of languid repetition, you can bet this will be the show's worst season.

So let's remain optimistic. This season is a ripe opportunity for change. At the very least, perhaps we'll see more of the runway judging, which has felt truncated in the past two seasons. Thirty minutes is plenty of time for Michael Kors to outdo (or add to) his greatest design appraisal ever, of season two contestant Raymundo Baltazar's doll dress: "She looks like barefoot Appalachian L'il Abner Barbie." We finally have time for Michael to explain if L'il Abner's mother home-sewed the dress for him, or if his tunic and knapsack look "dyed to match."

· Klum: Season Eight Episodes will be 90 Minutes Long [Blogging Project Runway]