If You're Not Watching The Rachel Zoe Project...

Then darling, why not?

We admit that we weren't exactly on the edge of our seats waiting for the show to debut, but it has worked its way under our skin and now we consider it must-see reality television. We can't say we were ever Rachel's biggest fans in the world before this show but now all we want to know is how we can get our resumes to her. Seriously, Lorenzo weeps at this show in a "What have I done with my life/it's not too late to join the circus" manner that Tom finds vaguely disturbing.

Too often, reality shows revolve around people that not only aren't interesting enough to warrant them, but all too often have deluded themselves into thinking they're more interesting than they actually are. You know which ones we're talking about.

Not so with Zoe. Say what you will about her profession and her standing in it, the fact is, the life of a top Hollywood stylist is pretty damn interesting and entertaining. Sure, it's not curing cancer, but there's a trainwreck-in-motion fascination with watching a high-strung stylist with high-strung assistants careen around trying to find the perfect frock for her no doubt high-strung clients. And even Rachel in her calm moments can survey the wreckage and declare it nowhere near as important as "world hunger." Even if we don't believe she really thinks that, her sense of humor about the insanity and inanity of her life is funny and surprising. "When I started in this business I was 21 years old. I was the girl trying to break through security and trying to get in and even getting a standing seat let alone a seat. Seating in the front row at fashion shows that 's a big part of the dream for me." Lorenzo, whose favorite movie is Working Girl, cheers her through his tears.

Joining her in the fun are assistants Taylor and Brad, both of whom are straight out of Central Casting. Taylor is from the "angry, unapproachable rock/punk/goth chick "file ("Taylor doesn't have friends. She doesn't like people.") and Brad is of course a page straight out of "acerbic, high-strung queen." The thing with the genre of reality television that can best be summed up as "follow a rich/famous person around all the time," is that more often than not, the rich/famous person in the title isn't all that interesting on their own and the key to making them pop off the screen is giving them a strong set of sidekicks. Mission fucking accomplished.

If we had to sit through an hour of Rachel complaining about...well, everything, and saying "I die!" every time something pleases her, honeys, we'd be fighting over the remote in seconds. Think of it like this: if you've ever watched Absolutely Fabulous (and if you haven't, what the HELL are you doing reading this? Go!), Rachel is basically Edina and Taylor and Brad are Pats and Saffy. That's pretty much all you need to watch the show.

And then there's the clothes. If you love fashion TV, then this is a feast. Again, Lorenzo wept a bit. "Stores lend us on approval until we decide what works. We take them to set, we do a fitting with the clients, we pick a few options, then we buy what we need and return the rest to the stores." That's Lorenzo's idea of heaven.

In last week's episode (and continuing in tonight's) Team Zoe is off to New York for fashion week. You would think they were storming the beaches of Normandy. "I need a ton of options. I'm looking at great blouses there are great for press interviews, I'm looking for great shoes, great bags...I'm looking for everything I can use to style my clients." Of course there's the usual reality show shenanigans of playing to the camera, "heartfelt" confessionals, and manipulated situations, but watching them rush from show to show trying to catch Michael Kors, Oscar de la Renta, Marc Jacobs, Calvin Klein - and still trying to find time to see lesser known designers and get to look at their collections while still in the studio -"There's only one sample. Nothing has been produced for sale purposes, for stylists, for private clients, nothing has been produced for buyers. There's literally one. Everyone needs to share that collection and it's next to impossible." - darlings, by that point, Lorenzo is curled up on the floor and questioning his own fabulosity.

But you'll love it! Promise!


Check out the preview for tonight's episode:



[Screencaps: Projectrungay.blogspot.com - Videos: Bravotv.com]