Project Runway Afterthought

I watched Bravo's rebroadcast of the final Project Runway episode again yesterday, and I take it all back: I think Uli should have won.

And a question in the back of my mind still lingers: Has Project Runway jumped the shark? I mean, think of all of the pointless drama, non-episodes, text-messaging crawl, ringtone downloads, and the now-borderline cliche catchprase, "Make it work". Hmm ... say it ain't so, Bravo.

Kerry Lauerman of Salon writes:

Is [Project Runway] a show designed to discover new talent, as it claims, or to simply elevate experienced designers who can't snag seed money from LVMH on their own?

Which is exactly what I have been asking all along. I mean, I'll still watch, but will all of my rooting for the underdog be in vain, as we know in the back of our minds that the prize may inevitably go toward the already-established, small-scale fashion house (e.g. Lot 8, Cosa Nostra)?