Is Shear Genius a cut above Top Design?

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Last night Bravo put Top Design out of its misery… er, aired the final episode, and launched its new high-end reality competition Shear Genius. In case you were wondering, Matt won on Top Design. Personally, I thought Top Design was a hot mess, easily the worst of Bravo’s reality offerings. I had a more favorable opinion about their newest entrant to the reality show pantheon.

**If you haven’t watched it yet, beware, there be spoilers ahead!

Shear Genius pits hair stylists against each other in head-to-head competitions. Pun intended. The show is hosted by former Charlies Angel Jaclyn Smith, who is looking older these days but just as gorgeous as ever. I’m not sure what qualified her to host a show about hair styling, except she’s always had great hair and I believe she has a line of wigs. Don’t ask me why I know that.

[img_assist|nid=3061|title=|desc=|link=none|align=right|width=360|height=275]As expected, the show is also chock full of gay men. Dr. Boogie is already quite successful (he’s styled the likes of Kimora Lee Simmons), and I’m pretty sure the man has probably twirled around a stage in a dress a time or two. I could be wrong, but he has rhinestone studded bandanas. Need I say more? Oh, and he flirted nonstop with Rene, the resident mentor. Anthony also set off my gaydar, although I can't point to anything in particular as to why. Jim is almost a caricature of a gay man, but he seems sweet enough. I wasn’t sure about Paul-Jean, but he got eliminated in the first episode so he doesn’t really matter now. My favorite of the bunch, and my new TV crush, is Theodore. He’s fricken adorable, sweet, and talented. He won the challenge last night with his fun hair show design featuring a treasure box that popped open when his model triggered it.

The show seems to be a cut above, but I’ll be following it to see how things develop. I’ll be sure to keep you posted. Oh, and Jaclyn’s line is much better than Jonathan Adler’s “See you later, decorator.” She sends our failed stylists off with a clipped, “That was your last cut.”

Did you see the show? What did you think? Who’s your favorite so far?