Project Runway has been caught up in a legal battle for the past year. It all started with Lifetime Network making an offer for the prized show. Project Runway belongs to Weinstein Co., which decided to take the offer from Lifetime, despite the fact that Project Runway showed on Bravo until that point. NBC, which owns Bravo, filed a law suit over it. Their case: NBC had not authorized this decision, nor were they even given the opportunity to present a counter offer in order to keep Project Runway. Ultimately, they saw this as a violation of the contract between Weinstein Co. and NBC. And so the battle ensued.

This legal situation caused quite the commotion. The 5th season continued to air on Bravo as scheduled, but the 6th season ended up being delayed by a monumental proportion. Filming of the 6th season continued, but under rigorous restraints. Filmed on February 20, 2009, the season finale, in which the contestants debuted their collections at New York Fashion Week at Bryant Park, had to be done with the contestant’s identities in secret. Every previous year the final contestants were greatly celebrated, but those of season 6 had to live out their moment in the spot light like a bride running off to quietly elope with her love. Definitely not the exciting attention that is called for with such an event. But due to the legal battle, the show has still not aired and it was necessary to hide the competitors of the show from the public’s view. No one wants a spoiled season finale.

Filming season 6 wrapped up and yet Lifetime was not only unable to air their newly acquired show due to legal restraints, but they were kept from promoting it as well. NBC fought to push back the release of the show for as long as possible until finally a settlement was reached on April 1, 2009. Weinstein Co. agreed to pay NBC for the right to move Project Runway to Lifetime Network. The sum of the payment has been undisclosed.

Soon enough, the official premiere date for Project Runway Season 6 was announced. Beginning August 20th, 2009 Project Runway will show on Lifetime Network at 10pm/9pm central. Hooray for the triumphant return of this beloved fashion designer competition!

But wait, it gets even more interesting. NBC and Bravo may have lost their big money maker Project Runway, but they are not letting go without a fight. They have already aired a new show to compete with Project Runway. It appears on Bravo and is called Fashion Show. The premise is extremely similar to Project Runway and even appears in the traditional Thursday night spot. Fortunately, as for this first season of Fashion Show, it will not directly compete with Project Runway since it has begun this spring (that is, unless they play dirty and change the scheduling). Will it just be a cheap reality TV show knock-off or will it prove to be suitable competition? It’s hard to tell, especially since there are so many die-hard Project Runway fans.

But as far as the settlement of the legal battle, what a relief to finally be able to anticipate the late summer release of Project Runway Season 6. Mark your calendars for August 20th!