Lifetime series is an offbeat good time in rural America
By Tom Conroy Jul 29, 2010
Most reality shows have something at stake: fame, weight loss, prize money, the success or failure of a big work project. Others tell us something we didn’t know: how designers make dresses, how celebrities live day to day, what happens when people stop being polite and start being real.
Lifetime’s new series “On the Road With Austin & Santino” has little inherent drama and isn’t informative, but it’s so lighthearted and kindhearted that it should serve as a pleasant way to detox after all the backstabbing and trash-talking on “Project Runway.”
In the first episode, airing tonight at 10:30 p.m. (following the season premiere of “Runway”), two of the most memorable also-rans in “Runway” history, Austin Scarlett and Santino Rice, start a 14-episode mission to dress and style small-town women for special events.
Their first client is a rodeo trick rider named Sadie Lynn Carter, whom they meet as she’s practicing some amazing stunts in a corral on a ranch in Weatherford, Texas. She’s a member of an equestrian team called the Cowgirl Chicks, and she wants the guys to create a look for her for the group’s annual Cowgirl Ball.
Sadie says she’s worn heels only once in her life, for her sister’s wedding, and didn’t even go to her senior prom. She and Austin bond over having been former high school outcasts.
Though Santino is best known for his snarkiness during season 2 of “Runway” — and especially for his imitation of the designers’ mentor, Tim Gunn — on this show, we see a kinder, gentler Santino. He praises Sadie for being “totally invested in her art.”
The comedy springs mostly from the two dandies’ encounters with rural America, but it’s mostly sympathetic. Austin finds common ground with Sadie’s stepfather, a rodeo clown, over the fact that they both wear makeup. Later, he shows remarkable poise while trying to learn some trick-riding techniques.
When the two designers go shopping for materials, Austin is impressed by the array of products in a cowboy supply store, including glitter for horses. Santino decides he can make do in a general store where the only fabric offered seems to be gingham.
This being rural America, there is doubtless a Wal-Mart nearby, but we don’t watch shows like this for their journalistic integrity.
Unlike “Project Runway,” “On the Road” basically skips over the process of creating clothes. Once Santino shows Austin the fabrics he’s selected, Austin decides they won’t do. Still best known for having created a dress out of cornhusks in the series premiere of “Runway,” he pulls down a pair of lace curtains, and the next thing we know, he has nearly finished a look for Sadie.
The most suspenseful moment comes when Sadie is asked to choose between Austin’s dress and the two created by Santino. Austin, who could be described as unflappable if it weren’t for his trademark flap of hair, makes a decision that will surprise viewers used to the cutthroat action on “Runway.”
The two stars’ comic styles don’t quite mesh in the premiere, but their rhythm will probably improve as the season progresses.
Sadie’s mother and sister get all sentimental telling her how happy they are that she’s having this big moment. When we actually see her stepping out in her new look, however, the Cowgirl Ball turns out to be a low-key affair that one might suspect was staged for this show so the Cowgirl Chicks could get some publicity.
It’s probably best not to think like that and just enjoy the sweet humor. After all, “Happy trails!” is a nicer way to end the evening than “Auf Wiedersehen.”
Tom Conroy is a Connecticut writer and longtime TV critic.
