Wednesday, April 1, 2009

'Project Runway' Season 6 Returns This Summer !

'Project Runway' lawsuit settled; season 6 to air this summer on Lifetime


After being orphaned for almost a year due to legal deadlock, the sixth season of Project Runway has finally found a home: on Lifetime, where it will air this summer. "NBC Universal, The Weinstein Company and Lifetime have resolved their disputes," read a statement released today by NBC Universal, which owns Bravo, Runway's home for five seasons. "The Weinstein Company will pay NBCU for the right to move Project Runway to Lifetime. All of the parties are pleased with the outcome." (When The Weinstein Co. announced last April that Runway would be moving to Lifetime, NBC Universal sued for breach of contract. Eventually, The Weinstein Co. countersued NBC Universal for allegedly failing to properly promote season 5, and Lifetime then sued both parties.)
Also in a statement, Lifetime Networks President and CEO Andrea Wong said: "I couldn’t be more excited that Lifetime will bring its viewers an amazing, all-new season of Project Runway this summer. As the highest-rated cable network for women, Lifetime is the perfect home for this outstanding program as well as its companion series, Models of the Runway. All of us at Lifetime are thrilled to move forward with Heidi, Tim, Nina, Michael, The Weinstein Company and the entire Project Runway team."
As for Harvey Weinstein, the Bravo statement quoted him as saying, "'I want to personally congratulate [President and Chief Executive Officer of NBC Universal] Jeff Zucker and NBCU on their success in the litigation and thank Jeff for resolving this in a professional manner. We look forward to working together on our ongoing projects.'" And in a statement of his own, Weinstein looked forward to not only the next five seasons of Runway (on Lifetime), but also spin-off shows Models of the Runway and Project Pygmalion. "With these upcoming shows and the success of our new series The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency on HBO, we are very excited about the continued growth of The Weinstein Co’s television division," Weinstein said. "We are also looking forward to working with NBC Universal on the upcoming theatrical release of Inglourious Basterds and the continued development of other projects together."

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