Along with Desire, Fashion House is part of an intriguing experiment brought about as a direct response to the merger of UPN and the WB into new network the CW. With two networks becoming one, dozens of former local WB and UPN affiliates were left without network programming to air. Enter MyNetworkTV, a sort of miniature version of a broadcast network that would provide content modeled after the popular Spanish-language genre of the telenovela.
The way it works is this: Two hour-long soap operas (in this case, Desire and Fashion House) run new episodes five nights a week at 8 and 9 p.m., with weekly recaps running on Saturdays (the local MyNetworkTV affiliate is KVMY, Cox Channel 12). They last for 13 weeks, 65 episodes, and then wrap up and are replaced by two new shows. The format has been successful around the world, especially in Latin America, and the major networks have all flirted with adapting it in some capacity.
There are expansive casts and multiple overlapping storylines, although each show focuses on a few core characters. On Desire, it's brothers Louis (Nate Haden) and Alex (Zack Silva), who are on the run from the mob. On Fashion House, it's a split between fashion magnate Maria Gianni (Bo Derek) and young, idealistic designer Michelle Miller (Natalie Martinez).
Both shows are more than just based on popular Spanish-language programs—they're direct translations, recycling the old shows' scripts in a new language. Production values are midway between the rudimentary, flat video of daytime dramas and the slick flash of nighttime soaps like Melrose Place and The O.C., but the acting is strictly amateurish. Fashion House has a little more spunk thanks to desperate veterans like Derek, Tippi Hedren and Morgan Fairchild, and juicier plotlines.
The shows are structured based on the assumption that people aren't watching every day, or even for the entire episode, so practically every other scene features an extended flashback to something that happened the previous day, or even just 15 minutes earlier that night. While this would be annoying to someone who actually did watch every day, it has helped greatly to facilitate my shameful interest in Fashion House, since I can turn it on once or twice a week and fall quickly into the rhythm of its relentless sexual liaisons, icy betrayals and bitchy takedowns.
The appeal is still more ironic than genuine, but the producers of these shows have to know that the only way they'll succeed is with a keen sense of camp. By getting pros like Derek, Hedren and Fairchild, Fashion House has a looser, more confident feel, and, unlike Desire, derives its humor from its over-the-top scenarios rather than any honest attempt to be funny.
Neither show has attracted much of an audience since premiering in early September, but it's far too early to call MyNetworkTV's experiment a failure. During the summer, when popular network shows are in repeats, the empty calories of telenovelas could be exactly what people are looking for. I'd certainly spend more time watching Fashion House (and feeling sort of bad about it) if there weren't so many other, more substantive shows I wanted to catch. As it is, I'm sure I'll tune in at least once this week to see if acting titans Fairchild and Derek share an emotionally powerful scene, or at least totally act bitchy to each other while wearing ridiculous outfits.