NEW YORK — WEDNESDAY'S episode of “Project Runway” begins the drawn-out reveal of who will be the next winner of the popular fashion design competition: Jerell, Kenley, Korto or Leanne.
But the more pressing question hanging over the show is this: After "Runway's" fifth season concludes Oct. 15 on Bravo, how long will viewers have to wait for its return?
The future of the reality show is in limbo, the subject of a bitter lawsuit between Bravo's parent company, NBC Universal, and the show's producer, the Weinstein Co.
"I think they're going to be sad if they have to wait," host and executive producer Heidi Klum said of the program's fans. "And, of course, we will be sad too. But we're all sitting in the same boat. We don't really know what is going to happen."
Executive producer Harvey Weinstein was planning to show the next season of "Project Runway" on Lifetime Television, which struck a lucrative deal for the rights to the program. But NBC Universal sued, claiming the Weinstein Co. breached its contract by shopping the show to another network. Two weeks ago, a New York state Supreme Court judge granted its request for a preliminary injunction to stop Lifetime from airing or promoting the show or its new spinoff, "Models of the Runway."
While the parties haggle in court, production is nearly complete on the sixth season, set in Los Angeles instead of New York, with guest judges such as Lindsay Lohan, Eva Longoria and Rebecca Romijn assessing the work of a new batch of designers.
But barring a settlement agreement, it appears highly unlikely that "Runway" will be back on the air in January in time for a finale at New York Fashion Week in February, as Lifetime had hoped. That means it would be delayed until at least late summer so the finalists could show their collections at fashion week in September. (In a statement, the network said it is confident the series will eventually land on its schedule, adding that, "regardless of the legal outcome, Lifetime is well-positioned for growth.")
If NBC prevails, the situation is more complicated. It's all but certain that the show wouldn't go back to Bravo, the network on which it became a hit. That's in no small part because Weinstein has "a particular dislike" for Lauren Zalaznick, the NBC Universal executive who oversees Bravo, as Judge Richard B. Lowe noted in his Sept. 26 ruling. Before their negotiations ended, NBC Universal and Weinstein were discussing airing "Runway" on a different network, perhaps even as part of NBC's prime-time schedule.
