I thought the “Project Runway” producers had lost their minds, asking designers to create outfits out of car parts. And while the Saturn product placement was heavy-handed, the challenge turned out to be quite entertaining and gave the designers a chance to show their innovative side.

Outfits I loved: Korto’s gorgeous coat (I covet it and she should have won); Kenley’s air filter cocktail dress; Terri’s pants and top and, although less practical, Leanne’s cocktail dress.

Outfits I hated: Keith’s boring skirt and top; Blayne’s ill-fitting dress.

Best moment: A tie. 1) Guest judge Laura Bennett (love her!) saying “Excuse me?!” to Keith after he sassed under his breath. 2) Keith sniffling that he's trapped in Utah and doesn't get out much. I didn't realize they'd erected a fence on the Utah border to keep people in. I think New York is still accepting people if he wanted to move. What a whiner.

Front-runner: Korto

Most annoying contestant: Kenley, for not asking after the welfare of her model when she found out she’d dropped out. It was all about Kenley all the time.

— Kathy Lyford

A week after signing a deal with Kellogg’s, swimming phenom Michael Phelps has been set to host the season premiere of “Saturday Night Live.” Earlier this week, beach volleyball champ Misty May-Treanor (right) was announced as part of the lineup for the next “Dancing With the Stars.” And I have no doubt some company will also pursue cherubic gymnastics medalist Shawn Johnson.

As Phelps and May-Treanor begin to capitalize on their Games glory, I can’t help but feel for the other camera-ready Olympians who could have parlayed medal victories into endorsement deals.

Sprinter Lolo Jones (left) has the look of a spokesmodel. However, she fell short in her endeavors on the track and is destined to return to the relative obscurity of track and field.

And Jennie Finch (below), the stunner who pitched for the silver-medal U.S. women’s softball team, finds herself in a similar situation. Silver in a sport few Americans watch just doesn't translate into marketing gold. And Finch may not even have the next Olympics to look forward to; softball is off the Olympics roster until further notice.

Those are just two examples. Can you think of others?

Sports, like Hollywood, can be cruel.

— Kathy Lyford

I am far from a political expert. (For that you should visit my colleague Ted Johnson’s blog.) But I know great TV and it doesn’t get much more emotionally charged than Sen. Edward Kennedy’s speech last night at the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

It’s too bad the ratings were so low. Democrat or republican, people who didn’t watch really missed some compelling theater.

Here you have the most visible surviving member of America’s de facto royal family, recently stricken with brain cancer, appearing at the most crucial event of the year for his beloved Democratic party.

Nobody was sure what to expect. But in his first public appearance since his diagnosis, he was powerful and commanding. His speech was short but impactful and he brought those on the convention floor to their feet and to tears.

I’m an unabashed Obama supporter so I realize I’m biased. But I have to wonder what the republicans could possibly do next week to top this.

If you missed it, check it out here:

— Kathy Lyford

Our friends at the Paley Center for Media and TV Guide will co-host fall preview parties at the Paley’s BevHills location. The weeklong series of free public screenings offer a sneak peek at the new and returning shows of the fall season prior to their broadcast premieres.

The Fall Preview Parties begin at 6 p.m. with Q&A sessions beginning at 7 p.m. and screenings to follow. Screenings and parties are free with seats available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Hey, this may be the only way anyone’s going to get to screen the NBC shows before their debut dates!

Here’s the sked:

Friday, Sept. 5 Fox ("Fringe"; "Do Not Disturb")

Saturday, Sept. 6 CW ("Privileged" (pictured, right); "90210")

Monday, Sept. 8 NBC ("My Own Worst Enemy"; "Kath & Kim"; "Crusoe"; "Knight Rider')

Tuesday, Sept. 9 CBS ("Gary Unmarried"; "The Ex List"; "Worst Week"; "The Mentalist")

Wednesday, Sept. 10 ABC ("Pushing Daisies"; "Private Practice"; "Eli Stone"; plus a preview of "Life on Mars")

*Please note the schedule is subject to change*

TiVo, creator of the machine of the gods, has unveiled its top commercial and program rankings for June for both total and timeshifted viewing. (Tivo follows the industry standard for broadcast periods. So in this case it was May 26 to June 29.)

It seems if you’re an advertiser — particularly a studio hyping your upcoming pic — you ought to be lining up to place your spot on ABC’s “Lost” (pictured, right).

NBC’s coverage of the U.S. Open golf tourney, which Tiger Woods (pictured below) won in dramatic fashion, was no slouch either, taking three of the top 10 slots for commercials in total viewing. (Apparently many of those viewers were feeling Woods’ pain, as they stayed tuned in through the Aleve ads.) Unfortunately, with Woods recovering from knee surgery, it’ll be next year sometime before there’s another golf tournament where advertisers could reap these kinds of results.

It’s when the company measured only those ads for timeshifted (delayed) viewing, that “Lost” really dominated. Of course, delayed viewing for major sporting events such as the U.S. Open is much more rare. Rabid fans like to watch sports as they happen, trust me.

“What is particularly impressive is that every commercial in the top 10 for timeshifted viewing aired during the ‘Lost’ season finale — in fact, the top 86 commercials for timeshifted viewing aired during ‘Lost’ (episodes during this period),” said Todd Juenger, VP-g.m. of TiVo audience research and measurement. “The top 5 spots in timeshifted viewing were all for movies.”

Fans of Fox’s “So You Think You Can Dance” really busted a move as well. The reality competition for hoofers landed in slots 3-10 for total viewing and 2-9 for timeshifted viewing in the program rankings.

Other notes of interest:

• Coppertone made the list of least forwarded brands at No. 7, a sure sign of summer.
• The American Petroleum Institute and CITGO Petroleum both made the list — more evidence that the price of gas is top of mind.
• Meineke made the list for the third consecutive month.
• Research data for June also revealed that viewers fast-forwarded through network promos at high rates. Tivo surmises that one reason might be that network promos are perceived by some viewers as program content not paid advertising.

Check out the charts on the next page. And if you’re a real numbers nerd and need to know how Tivo arrives at these numbers, read the small print at the bottom of the post. Just don’t ask me to explain it.

— Kathy Lyford

Aside from “Mad Men,” which I couldn’t wait to see (for a recap visit Cynthia Littleton’s On the Air blog), all regular programming has been put on hold for me during the Olympics. I’m a Games geek from way back. I can’t get enough.

How I ever watched it in the days before Tivo is a mystery. My trusty DVR, which proves its worth on a daily basis, is truly a Godsend for the Olympics.

NBC is doing a whole lot right in its coverage of the Games; and the ratings have been stellar. There is no better drama than that provided by athletics. But there is certainly room for improvement.

Some notes from the sofa:

• I settled down on the couch late Friday night to watch the primetime coverage that I’d recorded. It was a full 71 minutes into the recording before I was able to watch an actual race that took place that day. Of the four hours taped there was less than an hour of actual sports — not including replays of previously viewed events.
• Michael Phelps was gracious enough to provide the net all the drama it could handle for the first two-thirds of the Games, but now what? None of the track and field participants have been hyped the way Phelps and the American women’s gymnastics team were pre-Games. I’d have trouble even coming up with the names of any athletes in other sports — and I follow this stuff. There’s only so much Phelps rehashing and interviews NBC can do before people start to get antsy.
• Speaking of other sports, you’d think that nothing took place at all during the Games so far except for swimming and gymnastics. For all the touting of massive amounts of coverage “across all its platforms and networks,” the Peacock has been woefully remiss in showing any variety or directing viewers to the various options. Saturday afternoon I was able to catch up with some more obscure sports like rowing, beach volleyball, cycling, distance running and even trampoline (who knew?). But primetime has been entirely focused on the marquee sports. I expected there to be a crawl occasionally or at least a periodic announcement telling viewers where to find coverage of other sports. But no.
• So, what’s a fan of the more obscure sports to do? Well, I’m here to tell you, don’t go to the NBC website. I visited the site to see where I might find some equestrian coverage. I was greeted with the results of the still-to-air uneven bars competition. Thanks NBC. You ruined tonight’s coverage for me. Click on “equestrian” or one of the other less popular events and you will see the current standings and results before you can even get to the schedule, if you even still want to watch it by that point.
• The commentators need to decide who is really the “biggest sports star in China.” So far they’ve attributed that status to diver Guo Jingjing, gymnast Cheng Fei and hurdler Liu Xiang, who was forced to withdraw due to injury.
• I am truly sad to be watching the first Olympic Games in my lifetime sans Jim McKay, who died a couple of months ago. I really miss his insight and calming presence.

What do you folks think of the coverage so far?

— Kathy Lyford