AmericasNextTopModel-related stories
Posted Nov 19th 2009 1:30AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, Episode Reviews
(S13E11) I love how Tyra Banks creates revisionist history on
America's Next Top Model. Not only does she denounce Adrianne Curry's name, she now is ignoring the fact that Eva, who was 5' 6.5" won Cycle Three against "normal" sized models. That's an accomplishment.
This cycle's finale episode was less hectic than previous cycles because there were only two contestants, so the commercial, photoshoots, and model walks felt better paced. I like the concept, we should have final twos for the remaining seasons.
For the first time in a long time, I didn't mind if either Nicole or Laura won. Both took stunning photos.
Continue reading Review: America's Next Top Model - America's Next Top Model Is... (Season Finale)
Posted Nov 12th 2009 3:48AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, Episode Reviews

(
S13E10)
America's Next Top Model continues to chug along with its petite models. At this point, the girls are pigeon holed into their story lines: Nicole - the awkward one, Laura - the southern belle, Erin - the prissy high schooler, and Jen - the sweet girl with an eye problem. They basically repeat something that fits their storyline.
Though I haven't mentioned this until now, what is up with Jen having these overly loud, sugary interviews? Screaming "Why Me?" followed by her squealing excitement for Laura picking her. It's almost as if she knows that she was stunt-cast and decided to have a fun time before she got eliminated.
Continue reading Review: America's Next Top Model - Hawaii Hip Hop
Posted Nov 5th 2009 2:36AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, Episode Reviews

(
S13E09) We're down to the final five on
America's Next Top Model and one thing that
Top Model is doing better this season than
Project Runway is capitalizing on their location. Sure, Laura may look like a tomato during interviews, but at least Hawaii is being represented through their beaches and sugarcane plantations.
This week's challenges were basically recycled from previous seasons. A falling challenge (similar to Season Six's Falling Fairytale photoshoot) and an underwater challenge (which was done in a pool in Season Two for Quench Water). Both proved to be more interesting because of the beautiful location.
Continue reading Review: America's Next Top Model - Dive Deeper
Posted Oct 29th 2009 12:59AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, Episode Reviews

(
S13E08) I don't know how
America's Next Top Model's photoshoots continue to grow more and more insane. This week, Tyra decided to turn the model hopefuls bi-racial. Surprisingly, the photos didn't turn out bad, just not model-like.
You know it's never good when a boring character gets a character. The mathematician Brittany caught the bitch bug and complained about how immature Erin was for the rest of the episode. Guess what happened at the end of the episode? I would rather have gotten the "fading away" edit that Tyra loves so much.
Continue reading Review: America's Next Top Model - Let's Go Surfing
Posted Oct 22nd 2009 1:00AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, Episode Reviews

(
S13E07) I love watching episodes of
America's Next Top Model where contestants think they are amazing and crash and burn by the end of the show. This week, the challenge for the would-be models was the dreaded CoverGirl commercial.
The past few episodes have really become "Let's root for dorky Nicole, dyslexic Laura, and droopy-eyed Jennifer." They don't get bitch edits and even Rae finally realized how cool Nicole's dork-chic can actually be. Sundai and Erin complain about everything, while Brittany and Rae are forgettable. Since all three are favorites, I doubt that Tyra will pick them to win.
Continue reading Review: America's Next Top Model - Interview 101
Posted Oct 15th 2009 12:33AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, Episode Reviews

(
S13E06) This season of
America's Next Top Model continues the petite challenge by turning the girls into Anime/Video Game ninjas. Who suggests these photoshoots? I'm convinced that Tyra pulls things out of a hat.
The girls start the show with a whole ton of hating on two contestants. On
America's Next Top Model: The Musical, Laura is portrayed as a backwards hick. On
Survivor: Top Model, Nicole has been voted off for her monotone personality. This basically sets up the rest of the episode: the negative girls Sundai and Kara bitch, while the good models Nicole and Laura shrug it off and do well.
Continue reading America's Next Top Model: Petite Ninja Warriors
Posted Oct 8th 2009 11:00AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, Episode Reviews

(
S13E05)
Benny Ninja invaded America's Next Top Model this week trying to teach the girls how to emote with their bodies. As long as he doesn't try creating stupid words like "Smize" or "H2T," he's good in my book. All the girls felt really bland this episode, probably because Bianca is gone and she's not ruffling any feathers.
Mr. Ninja needed some help and called on Lil Mama and the JabbaWokeeZ. Lil Mama? That's like trying to get Kim Kardashian to judge models. Wait, she is? I knew Tyra Banks was insane, but all the guests this year take the cake.Continue reading America's Next Top Model: Dance with Me
Posted Sep 9th 2009 10:32PM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, Episode Reviews

(S13E01/S13E02) America's Next Top Model's casting special has always been a little ironic because all the contestants have been revealed on
the official CW website. Nonetheless, the girls arrived at a hotel to be sorted. Instantly, we're given a snarky gay man who takes the girls' names. He never shows up after that scene.
Tyra wants to make sure that short models get a chance this year as she looks for the next petite model. None of the girls are taller than 5'7", but to give all of the girls a shot, none of the short girls are plus-sized.
Continue reading America's Next Top Model: How Short Can You Go / The Early Bird Gets A Makeover (season premiere)
Posted Sep 9th 2009 9:04AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, Early Looks

For the thirteenth season of
America's Next Top Model nothing really has changed. The girls stand even less of a chance of being a successful model this season because of their well-advertised height deficit. Fans of the show will find the same exact program since
ANTM has been part of the CW lineup. I guess after twelve cycles, it's inevitable that we'd see a lot of the same.
Top Model will also be emphasizing the word "petite" for the height-challenged girls. There are points of bad overdubbing where the Jays voiced over the word "petite" because they didn't originally use it. If this season does well, it may become the catalyst for "
America's Next Top Plus-Sized Model."
Continue reading America's Next Top Model cycle thirteen -- An early look
Posted Aug 25th 2009 4:42PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Reality Shows, Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, OpEd, Smallville, Reality-Free, Gossip Girl

The CW certainly seems to have embraced their new goal of pushing the entire network in a very "female" direction. They've scheduled their new fall preview special on Sunday, August 30 at 6:30 PM, smack between a special spotlighting the top ten moments from
The Tyra Banks Show and their red carpet coverage of the night's Daytime Emmy Awards.
That's nestled in a huge bed of estrogen from where I'm sitting. No wonder a show like
Reaper didn't make it if this is the new demographic The CW is seeking. The manliest shows on the network are
Supernatural and
Smallville, and both of those do well with the ladies, certainly better than Sock did. Other than that, it's
Gossip Girl,
90210,
The Vampire Diaries, America's Next Top Model -- how did this happen?
It's almost all teen dramas now, and it's definitely skewing female. They managed to abandon comedies and African-American featured shows in one fell swoop by canceling
Everybody Hates Chris and
The Game, and they dumped the hellishly fun
Reaper. All that's left is pretty people pouting. Is this what America wanted out of our fifth network?
Posted Aug 18th 2009 12:03PM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Reality Shows, Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, Reality-Free

Is television taking up too much of your time? Do you find yourself spending night after night on the couch, spending hours of quality time clutching your remote in the hopes it will lead you down the primrose path of perfect entertainment? Have you wasted entire days of your life decreasing the firmness of the coils in your couch with your ever increasing ass planted firmly in front of the idiot box?
If so, maybe a more physical activity would perk up your droll and dull life. Why not put down that remote, throw that
TV Guide in the trash compactor and pick up that video game controller for a few hours of TV-related interactive entertainment? Because exercise is for people with no creative thought for self-entertainment.
Here is just a sample of some TV show game spinoffs headed to an XBox, Playstation or coffee table near you.
Continue reading Not wasting enough time watching TV? Try these upcoming TV games
Posted Jun 11th 2009 3:00PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, The Amazing Race, American Idol, Survivor, Big Brother (US), Dancing With The Stars, Celebreality

Considering how prevalent reality television is these days, it's got to be a pretty daunting task to try and put together a comprehensive list of the best and worst of all time. But
Entertainment Weekly thinks they've done just that. They've compiled the
top 20 reality shows of all time, but also the
ten worst reality shows of all time. All in all, they did a pretty damned good job.
I completely agree with the top six, but they lose me with
Jackass at number seven. I have never understood the appeal of filming morons doing stupid things on purpose just to be stupid. But there were some shows missing from the list completely, like
Little People Big World, So You Think You Can Dance and
Beauty and the Geek. Surely those shows are better than
The Hills and
The Real Housewives of Sesame Street, or whatever franchise they're spinning now.
Continue reading EW declares the all-time best and worst of reality television
Posted May 13th 2009 7:04PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Comedy Shows, Programming, OpEd, The Amazing Race, The Apprentice, CSI, House, Lost, Smallville, Grey's Anatomy, The Office, 30 Rock, Reality-Free, Fringe, The Big Bang Theory, Parks and Recreation

Do the American people really like watching their favorite shows this way? Assuming you have more than one or two shows you enjoy following, this week is daunting to say the least and beyond exhausting. Just last night I had a three-hour finale of
The Biggest Loser and that awesome
Fringe finale. In the past few days we've said goodbye to
The Amazing Race,
The Apprentice,
Cold Case,
The Unit,
Brothers & Sisters,
The Big Bang Theory,
House and
Castle. And that's just on the major networks.
Over the next two days we have
America's Next Top Model,
Lie to Me,
Lost,
Bones,
My Name Is Earl,
Smallville,
Parks & Recreation,
CSI,
Grey's Anatomy,
Hell's Kitchen,
The Office,
Supernatural and even
CSI: NY on a special night. And it goes on through the weekend. In an era where ratings are slipping, how can it make good business sense to put all of these finales on against one another all within a few days of each other. I know they've always done that, but I just don't think it makes sense anymore.
Continue reading We're barely halfway through and I've already got finale fatigue!
Posted May 8th 2009 1:01PM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, Watercooler Talk

It's finally that time when Tyra has three contestants left on
America's Next Top Model. After weeding out the competition, we are left with Allison, Aminat, and Teyona. Like every finale, the girls will have to complete a Cover Girl commercial/photoshoot, and then the final two will have a runway walk-off.
Who has the upper hand? None of them. Each contestant is missing a piece of the model puzzle. None of the winners ever had every aspect down, bringing it all down to the decision of Tyra Banks. Let's take a look at some of the advantages, disadvantages, and outlying factors that will affect the girls in the final episode.
Continue reading America's Next Top Model: Who will win?
Posted Apr 4th 2009 2:03PM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, The Amazing Race, American Idol, Survivor, Dancing With The Stars

This week, reality television maintained some normalcy. The outliers in
Survivor,
Dancing with the Stars, and
Hell's Kitchen went home. Although I'll lament the loss of Mel and Mike in
The Amazing Race, I believe that all the remaining teams deserve to be there.
Speaking of teams, the
Survivor Secret Alliance still has the numbers. With the merge inevitable, we'll see if one of the best alliances ever created will stick together. As long as Coach goes home, I'll be satisfied. More analysis after the jump.
Continue reading Weekly Reality Awards
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