Project Runway: The Complete 2nd Season (DVD)

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The problem with reality TV is that it's hardly ever real. You get the feeling that the wannabe actors or have-been celebrities who participate in them are just as aware of the cameras as a runway model. As a result, their behavior couldn't look or feel more staged. That's why I was skeptical when I popped in the first episode of "Project Runway: The Complete Second Season." Never having seen the program before, I'm not sure what I expected. But what I got was a surprisingly intelligent and addictive reality show that combines the best of what "Survivor" and "Trading Spaces" have to offer. Yes, the participants know the cameras are running, but they're also too busy working on their creations to care a whole lot. And that lends an air of legitimacy to the whole thing. They want to be successful designers, not celebrities, and it shows.

Like "Survivor," "Project Runway" begins with 16 contestants and offers weekly challenges, after which one of the competitors is eliminated—though two bite the dust in one special episode, and in another the winner is given "Survivor"-like immunity. But while the challenges in "Survivor" are all contrivances that have nothing to do with real life, "Project Runway" has everything to do with the contestants' lives. The 16 participants are all fashion designers or recent fashion school graduates hoping to make it big, and this show promises three finalists the chance to show their work at the Bryant Park tents at the famous Olympus Fashion Week in New York. The winner gets a career and instant notoriety: a fashion spread in Elle magazine, a mentorship with the design team from Banana Republic, a 2007 Saturn Sky Roadster (hey, they have to get from place to place), and $100,000, courtesy of Saturn, to launch their own line of clothing.

Like "Trading Spaces," the show is all about design—fashion, not interior—and the contestants have a budget, a deadline, and someone from the show checking up on them from time to time. Since the contestants work in space provided by Parsons, The New School for Design, that person is Tim Gunn, the likable chair of the school's fashion department. As in "Survivor," the competitors are forced to live and sometimes work together, and as in "Trading Spaces" we see them shop for materials and sketch out their designs. While we get some on-camera interviews of the contestants talking smack about each other and also see footage of them getting on each other's nerves, the Jerry Springer element is really downplayed. It's refreshing that 80 percent of the focus is squarely on their designs and the work itself. Tensions aren't tweaked for the sake of ratings, the way you sense that they are in "Survivor" or "Fear Factor" or any number of shows. These are people with talent and a dream, and the show recognizes and respects that.

Lingerie model Heidi Klum is the host—a step up, certainly, from "Survivor"'s Jeff Probst. At the risk of sounding sexist, Klum looks "hot" on the DVD cover, and though she's pregnant throughout this season she also looks hot on camera. Her outfits are surprisingly chic, and pregnant women who watch this show are going to rethink how they look and feel. The way Klum struts her stuff makes you realize that she's just as comfortable with her pregnant body as she is her slender one, and she oozes charm and sweetness, even when she has to bid one loser each week her trademark "Auf wiedersehen." That's accompanied, of course, by the fashion world double-cheek fake kiss kiss where no skin actually seems to touch.

At the start of each episode Klum struts onto the stage-set runway and addresses the contestants: "As you know, in fashion, one day you're in . . . and the next day you might be out." Then she proceeds to tell them about the design challenge they face, and the cameras cover all the fashion-world survivors throughout the process. When contestants return with their models, who walk the runway while real-life fashion industry icons (not B-list celebrities, as happens with other reality-show judging) determine who's in and who's out, it can get pretty interesting. I didn't see the first season, but apparently this second-season group is quite willing to get into verbal jousts with the judges. And there's a nice cross-section of people included here:

Diana Eng, a painfully shy 22-year-old Asian nerd from New York whose parents are into math and science and wish she'd join them.

Zulema Griffin, a 28-year-old African-American woman from New York who qualifies to wear an "I heart NY—You got a problem with that?" t-shirt.

Chloe Dao, a 33-year-old fashion designer from Houston who already has her own shop and is as wholesome as can be.

Heidi Standridge, a 25-year-old granola eater from Atlanta who's full of childlike naiveté.

Nick Verreos, a 38-year-old fashion design instructor from L.A. who endears himself to other contestants by his willingness to help whenever he can.

Raymundo Baltazar, a 24-year-old recent fashion school grad who's already started his own line of irreverent clothing, "Young Balls."

Santino Rice, 30, an arrogant freelance fashion designer who emerges as the contestant you love to hate, or hate to love, as he annoys, talks major smack, but also entertains the troops with his impressions and songs.

Daniel Franco, a hyper-sensitive retread from Season One who was the first one cut and made it this time because apparently he was still among the best out of thousands of applicants.

Guadalupe Vidal, a 29-year-old freelance designer who has a multi-cultural background, a Bruce Lee haircut, and a flakey personality.

Kirsten Ehrig, a 37-year-old lawyer by day and swimsuit designer by night.

Andrae Gonzalo, a 32-year-old designer who has a "Forget it Jake" line and wears his emotions on his sleeve.

Daniel Vosovic, a 24-year-old recent fashion school grad who also recently came out of the closet to his parents, which gives him plenty to talk about with the other male contestants.

Kara Janx, a 29-year-old freelance designer who has a British accent and tends to come unglued under pressure.