America's Next Top Model: Cycle 1 [DVD] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

I had never seen ANTM until the Fall of 2004, having missed the first two seasons. I have zero interest in fashion, but heard that, as far as reality shows, it was one of the most entertaining. It was always being talked about and quoted in Entertainment Weekly. So, during an ad break in one of the early episodes of LOST, I flipped over to ANTM. I've never flipped back to LOST and have been watching ANTM ever since.

The show is incredibly entertaining. And season 1 (which I had never seen until it was released on DVD) is a great season. You have all sorts of conflicts. The devout Christians vs the atheist being the biggest one.

The DVDs are well put together. Three discs. Four episodes on the first two and the finale on the final disc.

The only extras are three, short featurettes (each 5-10 minutes in length). One about the casting, one about the making of the show, and a final one about the two Jay's. They are fun, but nothing special. To be honest, when it comes to TV on DVD, I'm more interested in the show than any extras so I'm not upset with the set.

The set is well worth picking up. Even if you don't care about fashion or modelling. The cast makes the show work. A very entertaining series.

AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL (ANTM for short) was brought in during the Summer of 2003 for 9 episodes, and became a huge hit for UPN. And why not? The first season showed 10 beautiful women who ranged from an atheist brainy waif to a bald black lesbian and some Bible thumpers - all put through their paces and taught how to walk and pose - let the catfights begin! It was great television and a surprise hit that did well with women and men for being fun, smart, and interesting. The DVDs offer all nine broadcast episodes, a look at the casting process, a recap of the first season, and a feature on the two Jays (make-up man and catwalk coach). It's on three DVDs, and the shows look like when they aired (a little spotty in places, but bright and colorful). It takes a lot to be a model, and this show proved it. The girls faced bikini waxes, posing with snakes, nudity, and being set loose alone in Paris with tons of appointments and no directions. This is a great show no matter what you think of models! Great stuff!

Show the world how human you are. ~Tyra Banks

America's Next Top Model reveals the complex decisions, responsibilities and intellectual challenges models face on a daily basis. Not only are contestants required to navigate the streets of Paris, two even participate in a major fashion show.

The most exciting part of the show is definitely the challenges the contestants face. The desire to overcome all obstacles seems to be the key to traversing the distance between obscurity to fame.

During each show, a panel of fashion experts decides on who will be cut from the show. Dreams are dashed as beautiful women show weaknesses and character flaws.

The bikini wax session was a little much but did show what women have to endure for beauty. The models then endure cold temperatures to model swimsuits on a rooftop. While this does show endurance, it made me wonder why they didn't fly these girls to a warmer location for a weekend.

The physical stress was something I had never considered. The photo shoots were often very energetic and you can see why models need to be young. Robin is the oldest model and seems to play the roll of mom more than model for the most part. Her religious beliefs create an interesting interplay between Elyse and Adrianne who then become friends when Robin becomes a little too controlling. Elyse made me laugh quite a bit with her witty naughtiness and my heart went out to Adrianne who wanted to win like it was life itself and survives food poisoning. Fortunately they get to live it up in Paris later and Adrianne's amazing strength pays off.

Robin ends up in a Garden of Eden type setting (complete with a snake) and also has to make decisions about nude photo shoots. I thought the show went a bit far with the photo shoot in Paris, especially with such young participants.

The stress of competition brings out a great deal of insecurity and self-esteem issues become apparent. Enduring all the criticism alone would cause anyone stress. Tyra Banks is one tough cookie when it comes to dealing out the dirt on every wrong move and every fault. She completely scrutinizes every aspect of each photo shoot and I can't say she is wrong about anything she says to the girls. Her eye for detail is exquisite and she also tried to give the girls a boost in their confidence with carefully selected positive comments.

I remember the days of being 135 pounds and walking on a catwalk in a swimsuit and heels and I will say that these girls are ten times nicer than any of the girls I had to compete with back in my high school days. I wish I'd watched this before my last photo shoot because there were many elements about how to make your eyes more vibrant that I hadn't really considered. I knew eyes were important, but Tyra really emphasizes this point and also makes you think about how the world views intelligent women.

Tyra Banks has done young women a great favor by creating this show. Not only can women see dreams come true, they can see how to avoid nightmares. If you have strong religious beliefs, modeling has many challenges. You are in a no mercy environment where materialism is paramount and you are basically a canvas upon which the world of fashion wants to paint. I was shocked they would cut Adrianne because she was almost dying of food poisoning. That really disturbed me for various reasons. She could have easily completed the test they gave in 10 minutes, sometime later when she was feeling better.

I did gain a new respect for Top Models and the interviews show a full range of personalities and intelligence levels. Most of the contestants are more in competition with their own weaknesses than the other models. In this show, being late to a photo shoot can erase your chances in a heartbeat. As a model, your life is not really your own. Do you have to sell your soul for fame? You decide.

Fortunately there is not much "clawing" their way to the top and everyone seems to have normal problems like everyday women in the real world. I didn't even sleep last night, I just watched all six hours. It was that entertaining.

~The Rebecca Review