Say it ain't so. Could Tim Gunn not be back for the next installment of Project Runway?

It's a chilling thought and, while it might pale in comparison to the real troubles of the world today, it's one that gives this Runway obsessive a bit of a difficulty breathing. (Rest assured, Heidi Klum, Michael Kors, and -- say it with me -- Nina Garcia are all locks for next season.)

This week's edition of industry bible Entertainment Weekly has the story. According to the article's writer, Nisha Gopalan, Bravo -- the style-hungry network behind Project Runway -- is chomping at the bit to get started on the fourth season of the sartorial challenge. One speed bump in the road to Season Four just happens to be Tim Gunn himself.

Whah? You'd be right to ask that, especially given that I can't imagine a single episode of Runway sans Gunn, much less an entire season. While Gunn's not commenting one way or another, he's a busy guy as the chair of the fashion design department of the prestigious Parsons School of Design. Previous seasons have been filmed around Gunn's schedule, most notably during the breaks between semesters. (No school vacation for him.)

But waiting for Gunn to become available would mean pushing the start of production to sometime in May 2007. And that would mean waiting for a summer premiere of Season 4, quite a long wait for Runway devotees. For me, Gunn is the heart and soul of Runway and I'd rather wait even a full calendar year for another season of the show with walking lexicon Gunn intact than get a Runway with someone else as the host. (I hear Katie Lee Joel is available.) In all seriousness, it's Gunn's reserved but complimentary approach to mentoring the designers that gives the show its depth and personality. Who else would get all choked up right before the end of the season and the Bryant Park fashion shows?

A spokesperson for The Weinstein Company, the studio behind Project Runway, made the following statement: "As we have in past seasons, we will find a way to work around everyone's schedules, and are confident the team will be back."

Hmmmm. Let just hope that they're able, in the words of guru Tim Gunn himself, to make it work.

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Jace is an LA-based television development and acquisitions junior exec who watches way too much television for his own good and would love a TiVo for every room in the house. (He’s halfway there.) His blog, Televisionary, can be found at televisionary.blogspot.com. Televisionary has been named a finalist for Best Culture Blog in the 2006 Weblog Awards.

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