Fall TV -- America's Next Top Model

America's Next Top Model enters its ninth season this fall on the CW-or, in ANTM jargon, "Cycle 9." The show's basic formula will stay the same, of course. Tyra Banks, along with the other judges (Nigel Barker, J.Alexander, Twiggy, and Jay Manuel) will eliminate one girl from the group of potential models at the end of each show, based upon the girls' performances at various challenges. The number of girls left to compete dwindles down with each elimination until there is only one girl left, who is crowned as "America's Next Top Model." This lucky lady wins the Grand Prize, which is a $100,000 contract with Cover Girl cosmetics and a six-page spread and cover of Seventeen magazine. The winner will also be represented by Elite Model Management.

Nothing new here, right? All of this sounds just like every other season (or "cycle") of America's Next Top Model. So, why does this show keep getting good ratings? Why do viewers consistently tune in every week to watch this reality show? After eight seasons of this formulaic series, one would think that interest in ANTM would begin to wane. It hasn't, though, mainly because of the variety and creativity involved in the trials that the girls face each week. The show producers work hard to make sure that the photo shoots and other challenges the potential models must complete each week are interesting to watch.

"Cycle 9" opens up with some beautiful scenery. The potential models for this season will gather aboard a cruise ship for their first challenges. They will have to perform a lifejacket runway walk as well as a beach photo shoot-and this takes place before the final thirteen girls are chosen by the judges. Expect some bickering among the girls, as there is every year. The cameras love to catch the girls arguing, and apparently the viewers enjoy watching this type of dialog as well. After all, if you think back to previous seasons of ANTM, you will notice that much of the airtime of the girls talking is devoted to conflicts and problems between the models-the show producers have discovered that personality clashes get ratings.

ANTM is going a little bit green this year, starting with the second episode. After the top thirteen are chosen, they are moved into an environmentally friendly Los Angeles mansion (although that sounds somewhat like an oxymoron to me, as mansions by nature tend to squander a good deal of resources). But, aside from their abode, the models will also be focusing on another important environmental issue-smoking. We are all aware that smoking is bad for the health, of course; the girls will be showing this to us graphically in a photo shoot about the negative effects of smoking. This will certainly not showcase the girls' beauty, but this shoot will show the judges which girls are more than just pretty faces.

Runway walking was missing from most of last season, much to the dismay of many viewers. I suppose the producers of ANTM realized that they needed to bring runway walking challenges back to the show for "Cycle 9" because the third episode has one of these challenges. J. Alexander is the runway coach, as always, since that is one of his specialties. But this is no ordinary catwalk-the models must walk the runway in straightjackets! Not an easy task, I'm sure...especially for girls who are new to the runway.

Edgy photo shoots are a staple of ANTM, because 'edgy' pretty much equals 'interesting' to the viewers. So, the producers came up with a funky rock-climbing photo shoot for the girls for "Cycle 9." Shoots like these are difficult for the models, however; they have to remain focused on the task at hand while at the same time still looking pretty (or, at the very least, the model cannot have an ugly grimace on her face). Models will either nail the shot, or flop...there really isn't much of an in-between with these types of shoots.

As the season goes on, you can be sure that there will be more controversy in the model house. The challenges will get more difficult, and the judges will get pickier. There will be a lot of famous guests dropping in throughout the season, including "Cycle 8" winner Jaslene, Roy Campbell, fashion designer Collen Quen, and photographers Mike Rosenthal and Matthew Jordan Smith. Many more surprises are in store for the girls as well, including various special prizes for winning some of the challenges. You will have to tune in to see what all of these will be.

So, even though America's Next Top Model is, in essence, a rather formulaic reality show, the producers do try to ensure that each season has enough newness to set it apart from the previous seasons. This is certainly evidenced by the first three episodes of the series, as described above. Fans of the show will not be disappointed with "Cycle 9."