Project Runway episode 5 gives little face time to Dallas contestants

by Teresa Gubbins

Week five of Project Runway came and went on Thursday night with still no drama from Louise Black and Shirin Askari, the two Dallas contestants participating in the latest rendition of the fashion-themed series.

It looked momentarily promising when the action centered briefly on Shirin, whose aimless questions and immature chatter was presented as irritating to other contestants, including the bitchy foreign guy Vladimir Putin or whatever his name is. But it was a secondary plot point that quickly petered out.

The assignment was to make something out of newspaper. Hey, another opportunity to make a joke about how useless newspapers are -- except that joke is too tired to generate any laughs. Nearly everyone made dresses. Irina made a coat, and won. Recovered addict Johnny was sent home for a dress that didn't show much effort.

Perhaps the only development of note was the uncharacteristic outburst by avuncular Tim Gunn who criticized recovered addict Johnny for lying during the judging process. Gunn doesn't usually pass judgment, so it really stuck out.