I think we can all agree that reality T.V. is bad, worse than bad actually; it is quite possible that reality T.V. shows could unleash a chain of events that will ultimately be responsible for the destruction of society as we know it. That being said, be sure to check out Project Runway, Wednesday nights at 10:00 pm on Bravo. So far on the thrilling third season a contestant has been thrown off the show for cheating, designers were flown to Paris, and now four contestants (as opposed to the usual final three) will be showing a collection at fashion week.

Let me explain for those of you who have not been watching. The premise of the show is “so you want to be a designer?”. At the start of the season, last July, the good, the bad, and the ugly of the amateur fashion world flocked to New York City to audition for Project Runway. Fifteen contestants were chosen, and each week one is eliminated based on their performance in a weekly challenge.

Challenges vary from designing for dogs, to creating dresses out of trash, to making a couture dress from scratch in just twenty four hours. The designers’ creations are then judged by a panel of judges including Elle magazine’s fashion director, designer Michael Kors, and of course the show’s host, Victoria’s Secret model Heidi Klum. These judges select a winner to each challenge; they also decide who is eliminated. To work on their designs contestants use the space in Parson’s School of Design, part of New York’s own New School. The head of design at Parson’s, Tim Gunn serves as the contestants mentor throughout the show. So far all but four contestants have been eliminated; these final four will show at fashion week. One of them will be selected the winner, they will be given several rewards among which is the chance to start their own line.

Here is a brief introduction to the final four, for anyone who now wants to catch the season finale on October 18. Uli is a talented designer, but has designed the same floaty, colorful, crazy patterned dress in varying lengths for the majority of the challenges. Everyone loves Michael, just last week he won the “Fan Favorite” award, his designs are good but sometimes lack an avant garde feel. For Laura, the forty something architect turned designer, stakes are high and necklines are low as she struggles to make the big career change by producing the same colorless, tasteless design week after week. Everything about Jeffrey screams “punk rock” from his faux hawk to his tattooed neck. He isn’t the nicest guy on the show, but he has the talent to back up his harsh words. Although he has been accused of designing clothes that only Gwen Stafani would actually wear, his designs are cutting edge, and nobody can say he doesn’t take risks (see the dress made entirely of recycled paper, the bright yellow plaid couture evening gown, and the pleather leggings).

Basically the only reason I condone the watching of Project Runway is because it is not your average reality show. Contestants have to put in a hard day’s work, and often a hard day’s night, to stay on the show, and as a result viewers tend to be a lot more interested in the designs contestants are producing than in the obnoxious drama and trash talking that seems to be as unavoidable on reality T.V. as it is in the girl’s bathroom of any middle school. Also, the show does explore at times what it means to be a part of the fashion world, for example the commendable everyday woman challenge, in which the contestants designed for each other’s mother’s and relatives. Most of the contestants, even one’s who had a history in design, had never made a dress for a woman who wasn’t a size two.

So look out for Project Runway, being Bravo’s only successful program, its reruns are on practically twenty-four seven, and there are two new episodes left in the third season, so there’s still time to join in the suspense of who will win (in case my bias isn’t already painfully obvious, I favor Jeffrey to win, Michael for runner up, and I wouldn’t mind if Laura dropped off the planet). If you want to jump on the reality T.V. band wagon, but it all makes you a little nauseous, Project Runway is probably the right show for you.