Bravo Deep-Sixes the Fab Five
In a press release subtitled “This Not-To-Be-Missed Fifth Season Is a Heartfelt Goodbye to Unibrows, Nose Hairs, Pleather, and the Fabulous Five,” Bravo officially announced last Friday the forthcoming end of Queer Eye, one of the most popular and influential TV shows ever in either the style or reality genres. Legions of fans must now prepare to say sayonara to Ted Allen (Food & Wine Connoisseur), Kyan Douglas (Grooming Guru), Thom Filicia (Design Doctor), Carson Kressley (Fashion Savant), and Jai Rodriguez (Culture Vulture), the self-improvement virtuosos who, since their debut in July 2003, have helped to make queer all right in the eyes of many who would never have thought they could receive useful advice from, let alone relate to, gay men. The last ten-episode season of the series, appropriately titled Queer Eye: The Final Season, is preliminarily scheduled to begin this summer in June.
All is not totally lost, however, since Fab Five interior decorator Thom Filicia has already scored a new half-hour design reality series on the Style Network. The show, Dress My Nest, premieres on March 28, and it will feature Filicia analyzing participants’ wardrobe fashion sense to mete out his customary sage suggestions on making one’s home a better and more personalized place to live.
Fans of Project Runway, Bravo’s other popular, Emmy-nominated fashion reality series (Queer Eye actually won for Outstanding Reality Program in 2004), have reason to get excited, as well. That show’s resident fashion wizard, Tim Gunn, has his own freshman series to look forward to later this year when the basic-cable station premieres Tim Gunn’s Guide to Style, which will flow from his book, Tim Gunn: A Guide to Quality, Taste & Style, to be published this May. Viewers will have the opportunity to witness Gunn, the Chair of the Department of Fashion Design at New York’s venerable Parsons The New School for Design, deliver his excellent design advice as he counsels participants on relevant issues. Fashionista wannabes and gonnabes, mark your calendars.
Queer Eye and Thom Filicia photos courtesy of Bravo
Tim Gunn photo courtesy of Dara Kushner/Ingoff
