Did you see the Project Runway finale last night? I won’t give away who won, of course, but I will say this… it was really bizarre to watch the finalists step out during the Bryant Park runway show and thank the crowd. After all, it was widely reported that during last February’s Fashion Week, the final designers were nowhere to be seen.

That means that at some point, the producers created a dummy Bryant Park show so that Althea, Carol Hannah, and Irina could pretend to wave at everyone. They had the models come out and walk the runway with the designers, as though the entire crowd were there to celebrate their big day. But the crowd wasn’t there. If you watch the final episode of this season, you’ll notice that the judges and the designers are never in the shot together at Bryant Park, and that you never see a wide shot of the designers as they strut the tent. If the cameras did pull back, I’m assuming you’d see the designers were talking to twenty people and a lot of empty chairs.

I understand, of course, that it makes better television to suggest the designers actually got to address the masses at Fashion Week, and a few years ago, that fake-out would have fooled us all. But information is so accessible now that even casually interested fans can learn which parts of the runway show were bogus. That makes watching the show really weird. There are so many elephants in the room that it’s like being at a circus.

I have to go to work, so I’ll stop here for now… but did anyone else think it was surreal to see this half-dummy finale?