Three episodes into its fifth and final season on Bravo, Project Runway may be teetering on its stilleto heels.

Early ratings numbers from Nielsen indicate the show—Bravo’s crown jewel, the inspiration for the its slew of creative competition programming, and the subject of an ongoing lawsuit between NBC Universal and Runway’s producer, The Weinstein Company—isn't pulling in the viewers it traditionally has.

The first three episodes have brought in just 2.9, 2.6, and 3.3 million viewers, respectively. That averages out to 2.9 million, significantly lower than the overall average number of viewers for seasons three and four, which both approached four million.

Of course, complete season totals include the highly-rated finales, so the comparison isn’t entirely fair. And a Bravo spokesperson pointed out, rather testily, that compared to last year, season five’s second and third episodes were up a respective 20 percent and 18 percent among total viewers.

Still, the fifth season premiere—the all-important interest gauge for the upcoming season—was the first since Runway’s second season in 2005 not to gain on the previous season’s opener. Season three debuted to 2.4 million viewers, season four debuted to 2.9 million, and season five’s opening…matched that, losing momentum.

Possible explanations for the lack of viewer enthusiasm include a spate of ponderous contestants (including one designer who seems to work exclusively in black leather, and another who constantly refers to himself in the third person), unimaginative challenges (the season premiere featured a supermarket challenge recycled from an earlier season), an earlier timeslot (the show has aired at 10 p.m. for the bulk of its tenure on Bravo, and now it’s airing at 9 p.m.), or plain old Runway-fatigue, which wouldn’t be surprising after four episodes of the show strutting its stuff and trademark bitchiness.

All of this bodes poorly for Lifetime, which paid The Weinstein Company a reported $20 million deposit for the rights to the show earlier this year.

After spending that kind of money, the network is understandably expecting a hit of the caliber that Runway has so far been. Executives there might be wise to re-think the formula before attempting to transplant the show wholesale. A Lifetime representative contacted for this story declined to comment on any aspect of the move, even the show’s projected air date, which has been reported elsewhere as November.

While the change of network certainly could inject the show’s fans with fresh fervor, the recent ratings indicate the distinct possibility that Runway may have to find another way to, as Tim Gunn himself might say, make it work.