America's Next Top Model

PW-Philadelphia Weekly - Philadelphia, PA, USA - Several sub-species fall within the reality TV genre: everyday theatrics of extraordinarily narcissistic young’uns, celebrity voyeurism, makeover madness, competitive something-or-other (cooking, design, dating, parenting), and best of all, a combination of all the aforementioned.

The reason America’s Next Top Model has made it to season, or “cycle” 10, as Tyra calls it? Because it’s got all the makings of great melodrama, and never deviates from its prescribed script of catfights, C-list celeb cameos, hair extensions and instructions from Ms. Banks to “smile with your eyes” if you wanna win.

For its 10th season the show returns to New York with another crop of leggy hopefuls. All the usuals are back, but with different names and generically pretty faces: the plus-sized (translation: normal-sized) girl who’s sure to be booted before the end; the self-righteous trash talker; the sullen punk who seems too smart to take criticism from folks with crap taste in music; the crazy who asks others if they wanna see her pubic hair; and the “issue” girl (this time it’s female genital mutilation rather than autism, psoriasis or blindness). So far the token lesbian’s under wraps, but with some slick editing and the sleeping situation (i.e., bunk beds and one giant mattress), she’ll likely surface soon.