Confusing Cashmere Mafia and Lipstick Jungle

This was the week it finally happened. I confused Cashmere Mafia and Lipstick Jungle. I was watching both last night, one after the other, which probably had something to do with it. It's a mistake that I would not make again even if Cashmere Mafia wasn't done for the season.

Here's exactly what happened. Caitlin was in trouble with her boss for their makeup company having been dropped completely from the Fashion Week lineup. Caitlin was tasked with finding a designer in need of help. "Oh perfect," I thought "Victory is in trouble with her fashion designing and could surely use the boost."

It was so simple. It was so easy. I thought it was a little too obvious for the producers of the show to have concocted such a scheme; Victory has been in trouble for weeks and there Caitlin is, all of the sudden tasked with helping a designer during fashion week.

The only problem with my thought is that Caitlin and Victory are on two different shows. When I say "different" I don't mean different in concept, design, and execution as much as I mean different in name and network. Sure, they're vaguely different in the other three categories, but a quick glance at the television won't tell you which one you're watching.

The sad thing about it all is that Lipstick Jungle is head and shoulders better than Cashmere Mafia. I don't find either particularly exciting, but the NBC version is definitely superior. The characters are more interesting, the men drawn more fully, and the cast far, far more engaging. I have some serious problems with Kim Raver's Nico as being painted sympathetically for having an affair — that's something that would never be done if it were a man doing it — but the point is minor. Last night Nico made a terribly bad judgment call trying to buy off her boy-toy and the show didn't paint that in a positive light.

Article Author: Josh Lasser

Josh Lasser, formerly known as "TV and Film Guy," and complete with a Masters Degree in Critical Studies in said areas, gives his opinions on TV, Film, and Entertainment in general. All of which he does in a shameless attempt to try to get paid to do the exact same thing. …

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