We've come a long way, baby

Did you catch last night's episode of Project Runway, the fashion-design reality show on cable TV, in which the medium for the evening was newspapers?

The group, down to a dozen challengers from the original 16, had to create out of paper. The designers were allowed muslin as a base, but newsprint (virginal on the spool, or real editions of the LA Times) had to compose the bulk of their garments.

Here's the video from Lifetime of the evening's winner and the trench coat she produced, which guest judge Tommy Hilfiger pronounced reminiscent of Chanel.

The journey to finished product reminded me of the quirky opening that ran with early episodes of the TV series Lou Grant. The drama, which debuted on CBS in 1977 and won many awards in its five years, chronicled life at a fictional big-city paper, the LA Tribune. Ed Asner (left) was the tough-as-nails city editor.

In the opening credits, as the actors were introduced, a humorous side text followed the paper's newsprint from forest to printing plant to the floor of the family bird cage.

See it here (after a sponsoring commercial). It still makes me smile.