"Project Runway" is back and bigger than ever – literally. This year, the show has expanded to a 90-minute format, which I haven’t yet decided is a good or bad thing. The extra half hour will certainly come in handy in the first few weeks – that exhausting period when we all try to wade through the sea of designers and try to figure out who’s who, what’s what, and why there are so damn many of them in the first place.

But can “Project Runway” continue to make the longer format work, especially once the field of designers gets down to the single digits? Let's hope so. Actually, there’s good reason to believe that that time will be used wisely, since the extra half hour is a product of the network’s smart decision to axe last year’s companion series, “Models of the Runway” – a somewhat pointless exercise that I still got sucked into toward the end for some unknown reason. It won’t be missed.

However, if the producers are unsure how to fill up that new block of time, I have a suggestion: Michael Kors Line-o-Rama! Just like all the great improv that ends up on the cutting room floor during editing of Judd Apatow’s films, I’m sure that each PR episode contains a ton of Kors zingers that the TV audience never gets to hear. Just imagine 30 minutes of rapid-fire, intricately bizarre Kors disses:

It looks like a baby clown hooker threw up all over it. It's like a sweatshop floor throw rug. It’s like Thunderdome-meets-Wal Mart. She looks like she has five asses. She looks like she's ready to go to Sunday brunch with Hitler. She’s like an albino martian Mary Kay salesgirl dropping acid at a furry convention…

You get the idea. I think it’s gold. (Hey Kors, feel free to use any of my lines, but I expect to at least get hooked up with some free threads.)

Anyway, on last night’s premiere, the spare time was put to good use, as the designer introductions didn’t feel as rushed as they usually do. Even with an extra contestant in the mix (17 total instead of the usual 16), I felt like I actually got a pretty good snapshot of each designer.

Heidi Klum loves throwing new twists at the designers, and she wasted no time in hitting them with the first one: none of them were officially on the show yet! Therefore, the first challenge was actually a continuation of the audition process, with Heidi warning everyone that no one was safe from elimination.

The first challenge began almost immediately upon the designers’ arrival on that lovely NYC rooftop. Tim Gunn asked each contestant to reach into their suitcases and fish out an item that they wanted to incorporate in their design. Then he threw another twist at them: everyone had to give their garments to the designer immediately to his or her right. What? That’s not twisty enough, you say? Well, how about this: those designs had to be ready for the runway in FIVE HOURS. Off-camera, Heidi and Tim twisted their non-existent mustaches and cackled maniacally.

Since the gang was short on design time, Mood brought the fabric to them. And waiting for the designers in the workroom were some old friends from last season: the HP Touchsmart notebooks! And although the accessory wall still remained, it no longer belonged to Bluefly.com. Accessories this year are being provided by PiperLime.com, a Gap brand.

Joining the regular panel this week was guest judge Selma Blair, who may have made some random list of best-dressed celebs, but certainly didn’t make the “most engaging celebs” list. Selma seems like a nice enough gal, but she made for a dull judge. Hopefully, this season has better guest judges up its sleeve.

After the runway show, one winner was crowned and six designers stood on the chopping block. Although Heidi threatened a possible multiple elimination, only one designer was sent home.

(L-R, Top Row) Valerie Mayen, Sarah Trost, Casanova, Gretchen Jones, A.J. Thouvenot, Andy South, April Johnston, Christopher Collins, Kristin Haskins-Simms, Michael Drummond, Ivy Higa
(L-R, Bottom Row) Jason Troisi, Peach Carr, Nicholas D'Aurizio, Mondo Guerra, McKell Maddox, Michael Costello

Let's meet this season's designers and find out how they fared with their first creations:

A.J. Thouvenout, 26 – A nice Midwestern boy who designs “party girl” fashions, A.J.'s first design for PR was a short, black MTV Video Awards-ready dress. Meh. (Safe) My Grade: C

Andy South, 23 – This Hawaiian native used to create pageant gowns, but now focuses on edgier, Asian-inspired designs. It seems like he’s also focusing on being this season’s Christian Siriano. I have no idea why he capped off his chic, all-black ensemble with a hat that looked like it was made from an upside down Reese’s cup wrapper, but that just ruined it for me. It also made me kind of hungry. (Safe) My Grade: C+

April Johnston, 21 – Having just graduated from design school, April is this season’s youngest cast member. Although she looks like a sweet, innocent Southern girl, she’s obsessed with “gnarly things,” and designs dark, gothic clothing. April’s “deconstructed” garment made Kors worry that maybe she couldn’t actually...well, construct. Heidi just labeled it a “hot mess.” (Hey, that’s Christian’s line!) However, the judges appreciated April’s modern aesthetic and gave her another chance. (Bottom Six)  My Grade: D+

Casanova, 33 – Definitely not a love God, this Puerto Rican-turned-New Yorker has a thick accent, thousand-dollar pants, a microscopic tie and questionable taste. The “dress” he designed barely covered his model, and Kors couldn’t decide if it belonged on a belly dancer, “a pole dancer in Dubai,” or a “conservative sexaholic.” Nina summed it up perfectly by calling it “fascinatingly bad.” Well, it would have been a perfect summation if she’d taken out “fascinatingly.” (Bottom Six)  My Grade: F

Christopher Collins, 30 – This San Franciscan specializes in ready-to-wear designs. Heidi thinks he’s cute, but I think he kind of looks like a mannequin. Not my type. He turned in what was essentially a cute tropical print sundress, but I didn’t like the ruffled collar. (Safe) My Grade: B-

Gretchen Jones, 28 – A self-proclaimed “pseudo-hippie,” Gretchen lives in Portland, Oregon and creates Bohemian-style sustainable clothing. Although she had kind of a hideous garment to work with, she managed to design a simple, elegant black dress that wowed all of the judges, who unanimously awarded Gretchen top honors. (Challenge Winner) My Grade: A

Ivy Higa, 30 – “Project Runway” is now “The Ivy Show.” Ivy is “a force to be reckoned with.” Ivy is Ivy’s biggest fan. Ivy loves the sound of her own shrill voice. Ivy loves to speak in third person. Ivy thinks “implicate” means “incorporate.” Ivy almost got canned for “making pants out of pants” and not knowing how to style her model, but somehow survived the chopping block. Above all else, Ivy is itching for an ass-whooping. (Bottom Six) My Grade: D

Jason Troisi, 30 – This Italian wannabe stallion likes to mesh menswear and women’s wear. He also thinks bowler hats are intimidating but (on him, anyway) they’re just idiotic. Apparently, Jason’s straight because he couldn’t stop checking out his model’s boobs. That makes him incredibly professional, too! Also, he may not actually know how to sew. His idea of transforming a kimono was to turn it around backwards and wrap the sleeves around his model’s neck. Then he didn’t bother to hide all of the pins and staples he put in the fabric. Amazingly enough, the judges were “intrigued” and kept him in. (Bottom Six) My Grade: D

Kristin Haskins Simms, 39 – Philly native and owner of the Strangefruit line, Kristin incorporates her graphic design background into her apparel and “embraces mistakes.” Her runway design incorporated a kilt, so it looked kind of Scottish and kind of like a trash bag. I didn’t hate it though. It was kind of interesting. I think Kristin might end up doing well in this competition. (Safe) My Grade: C

McKell Maddox, 29 – The dreadlocked hippie from Utah revealed that she has a baby, whom she had to leave at home to be on PR. I immediately braced myself for a season of yet another person crying every five minutes about how hard it is to be away from home, but Heidi, who thought McKell’s design was “butt ugly,” mercifully spared us all the agony by aufing her. Still, I didn’t think it was the fair choice because her girly dress was a rather interesting idea and, with a few minor tweaks, would probably look cute on a teenager. Even the other contestants were surprised that she got the boot. (Eliminated) My Grade: C-

Michael Costello, 27 – A haute couture designer from Palm Springs, Michael opened his first store when he was 17. The judges put his design in the middle-of-the-pack, but I hated it. I’m not sure how Nina could have called out April’s design as “’80s streetwalker” and not noticed that Michael’s was pretty slutty, too. Maybe not to the streetwalker degree, but it was at least ‘80s high-priced call girl. (Safe) My Grade: D

Michael Drummond, 31 – Michael #2 is from St. Louis and specializes in knitwear. I wasn’t really sure what to make of his design, but it definitely caught my attention. The colorful, Native American-inspired design of the dress was different than anything I’ve seen on this show in a while. That doesn’t mean I’d wear it, but it’s worth a pat on the back. (Safe) My Grade: C

Mondo Guerra, 32 - This bow tie-loving dude from Colorado is clearly being positioned as this season’s “weirdo.” And I’ve already purged his design from my memory. All I remember is that it was some horrifying green thing. Apparently, the judges had no problem with that. (Safe) My Grade: F

Nicholas D’Aurizio, 32 – This former architect and accessory designer from New York is super sweet and bubbly, but he was dangerously close to tears on the runway. He may be this year’s Andre/Ricky. Nicholas’ idea was to mix eveningwear with sportswear, a concept that the judges loved, but thought it wasn’t executed well enough. Nina called the dress “a snooze,” but since it was well-made, Nicholas lived to see another day. (Bottom Six) My Grade: C-

Peach Carr, 50 – This season’s oldest (and best-named) contestant designs clothes for “ladies who lunch.” Peach seems like a pretty cool lady (I loved her remark about expecting to have a nine-year-old roommate), but I was a bit put off by her lack of direction. Not only did Tim basically tell her how to incorporate her “borrowed” garment into her design, but she kept asking the Garnier guy how she should style her model. Weird. Her black and white print dress (with red trim) was cute, but looked like any number of dresses on Macy’s racks right now. (Safe) My Grade: C

Sarah Trost, 27 – This quirky, Brigitte Nielsen-esque California girl designs fun, vintage-inspired apparel. My first reaction to her gray romper was, “Oh, someone’s making a porn movie about sexy maintenance workers,” but then I actually started to like it. It was definitely modern and hip. (Safe) My Grade: B-

Valerie Mayen, 29 – The Cleveland-based designer behind the Yellowcake line may get her own Lifetime movie after this is all over: she’s the poor girl who overcame the odds to make it in the fashion world. She seems nice enough. And her first design – a red and olive military-inspired minidress – was nice enough to keep her off the chopping block. (Safe) My Grade: C

I think the ones to watch this season will be Andy, Gretchen, Kristin, Michael D. and Sarah. And I’m thinking that Casanova and Mondo will be the ones whose weirdness brings in ratings and, therefore, last much longer than they should.

Auf wiedersehen - see you next week!