When earlier this week, we got about twelve IM’s all lamenting the cancellation of Lipstick Jungle, we thought, “Who watches Lipstick Jungle?”
Lots of you, it turns out. So grieve not: The Times reports today that rumors of the show’s end were entirely premature, and that so many viewers tuned in last Friday via their TiVo’s (which was not counted the first time around) that the network executives have decided to definitely finish out the series based on Candace Bushnell’s novel, and may even order up another season for next year.
Lessons to be learned here: Many viewers do not watch television on real time anymore (a lesson we thought everyone learned from Gossip Girl), and people actually do have control over what’s offered to them as entertainment.
So the next time we complain about reality TV invading the fashion world, we’ll know to just shut it, because we’re really the ones egging it on anyway by tuning in.
You didn’t think Carried died with the movie, did you?
Because if you did, you might be so glad to know she’s back - but younger.
Candace Bushnell and Harper Collins have teamed up to bring you, The Carrie Diaries, a two-book deal that explores Carrie’s life as a teenager, and the series of horrible, awkward dates she went on and the cute, but slightly stupid boy from her geometry class that she pined endlessly for in between scenes in Theater.
The books come out in 2010, sure to be followed by that replacement to Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants Darren Star’s been praying for.
Hold on to your Maddens, girls!
We hear from a TV source that the very silly Cashmere Mafia has been laid to rest.
If the internal gossip bleeding proves true, it means Candace Bushnell has won this battle with Darren Starr - remember, both her Lipstick Jungle show and Darren’s woolly production are based on previous Bushnell books.
The move also marks the first time (maybe) that Patricia Field hasn’t been able to save or at least salvage a production from total boredom - remember her costumes for Hope and Faith? They basically rescued the whole show.
Those wondering what Lucy Liu will do with her spare time might jet over to Germany, where the actress is giving an exhibit of her paintings next month.
Maybe she and Iekeleine can have a joint show at Gagosian?
Now that Cashmere Mafia is on the killing line, its rival show Lipstick Jungle is getting ready for a big debut… at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week.
The show, developed by Candace Bushnell after her former SATC partner, Darren Starr, struck out on his own, will premiere on February 7, right in the middle of New York’s runway jams. And we hear the show’s PR team is taking hard advantage of the paparazzi swarming The Tents:
On January 31, the Lipstick Jungle crew (including Brooke Shields… actually, she’s the only real famous person involved…) will hit Saks Fifth Avenue for a launch party - “coincidentally” timed a week before their show airs, giving US Weekly exactly seven days to harness those photos for a good cause.
We hear Ms. Shields is also confirmed for the Michael Kors show, and that producers are scrambling to arrange good photo opportunities for the other cast members, to make them seem as fashionable as possible.
That means Kim Raver could show up at Nanette Lepore or Temperley, while we hope Lindsay Price arrives at Cynthia Rowley - after all, her character, Victory Ford, is based on Ms. Rowley herself!
Our favorite How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days scene is Kate Hudson in the Conde Nast lobby, while Anne Hathaway’s building in The Devil Wears Prada actually belonged to InStyle. And while Carrie Bradshaw really did get to work at Vogue in Sex and the City, most other TV “magazines” are somewhat fabricated.
The latest example can be seen this week at Marie Claire, where the crew of Lipstick Jungle is filming scenes with “editor” (or rather, actress) Kim Raver.
The fashion team has even called in clothes for a fake run-through on set, and editors have been instructed to ignore the myriad cameras that have essentially taken over the Hearst Building.
Will the upcoming scenes be more riveting than what happens in The Hills’ fashion closet?
Well, obviously - except the Jen-Bunny-sex-tape-phone-call, which was so silly, it was indelible.
With the tepid reviews that Cashmere Mafia is getting, TV addicts (and fashion industry pros) are now looking to Lipstick Jungle as a possible contender for a Girl Power drama.
Based on the book by Candace Bushnell, Lipstick Jungle was actually developed with help from the writer (as opposed to C.M., which is produced by Bushnell’s former partner on Sex and the City, Darren Starr).
The show stars Brooke Shields and our new girl-crush Lindsay Price, but we hear today it’ll feature another Manhattan face:
The soap opera starlet and aspiring socialite Leven Rambin, whose Patrick McMullan files are starting to rival Tinsley’s.
Leven has two Emmy nominations for her work on All My Children and she’s seventeen years old. We expect she’ll play the daughter of Nico O’Neilly (played by Shields), which was a small but symbolic role in the novel.
