• by David Goetzl , April 16, 2008

No matter what the fate of "Project Runway," the personality that some say is the show's sine qua non will continue to star on Bravo. A second season of "Tim Gunn's Guide to Style" is set to return to the network this season.

The "Guide to Style" series has different producers than "Runway," and the fashion guru has no exclusive contract.

The affable, amiable Gunn serves as a mentor to the aspiring design stars on "Runway," while playing the role of makeover coach on "Guide to Style." In each episode, he helps a person grapple with "fashion dilemmas."

"Runway" producers, the Weinstein Co., have a deal to shift the popular series to Lifetime starting this fall, although Bravo parent NBC Universal is suing to prevent the move. "Guide to Style" is produced by Stone & Company Entertainment.

Bravo has not yet released an air date for the second go-round of "Guide to Style," which debuted last year and is based on a book Gunn wrote. "Runway" is scheduled to debut on Lifetime in November, so Bravo may look to draft off it and launch its series later.

The announcement that Gunn looks to be a dual-network star (he will continue on "Runway") came at a Bravo upfront event Tuesday.

Held a day after Lifetime had a similar event trumpeting "Runway's" apparent acquisition (which Gunn attended), Bravo chief Lauren Zalaznick declined comment, partly because of the ongoing litigation. Barring some sort of NBCU legal victory, "Runway" will finish its run on Bravo this summer.

Overall, Bravo said it would add a fourth night of original programming--Mondays--and increase original programming hours by 45% this coming year.

Returning series include "Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D List" for a fourth season on June 12, and a second season of "The Millionaire Matchmaker." Also coming back are seasons two and four of "The Real Housewives of New York City" and "The Real Housewives of Orange County," respectively. And "Top Chef" will be back for a fifth season.

New series include "The Real Housewives of New Jersey." The "Real Housewives" franchise was started with the Orange County edition in 2006 to capitalize on the buzz surrounding both ABC's drama "Desperate Housewives" and MTV's reality series "Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County."

In development are two fly-on-the-wall-type series--one about a successful New York restaurateur and another focusing on a group of Miami trendsetters.