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In thinking about my favorite stupid media, I couldn't help but think about my favorite competitive reality shows. High-falutin though some of them may be, at its core, the reality show is stupid media. There's little difference between folks competing to be the next big fashion designer with nods to Marc Jacobs, Zac Posen, and Vivienne Westwood, and people eating bugs on "deserted" islands when the featured activity is really the over-the-top-ness and bickering that goes on between competitors.

In other words: I can talk your ear off about how RuPaul's Drag Race parodies and subverts the genre while making a commentary on the absurdities of gender, but at the end of the day, we're still watching grown people "throwing shade" and dressing Barbie dolls in cake frosting.

I actually don't watch that many reality shows--okay, "that many" might be a relative term, since I have about 10 that I watch on a semi-regular basis. Let me rephrase: not many reality shows are "destination" viewing for me. But I couldn't resist the draw to write about one that I do watch. And my mind immediately turned to America's Next Top Model.

God, I love that show. It's amazing. I can't put my finger on why I love it. Really. Is it the bizarre-ness of the photo shoots? Is it the in-fighting? Is it the insanity of the challenges? (My favorite was when they had to do an interview in an Aussie accent. Because they'd ever need to do that in real life?) The sometimes-fab/sometimes-utterly-awful makeovers? Who knows. Probably all of the above.

I wanted to start again from the very beginning. I've heard it's a very good place to start. But for some reason, ANTM isn't available on Netflix Instant! What the hell?

Fortunately for you and for me, Cycle Seventeen (Jesus) starts on September 14. And...it's...Top Model All-Stars! I can hardly contain my excitement. Happy half-birthday to me! And, in turn, to you, since I'll be blogging about it. I can't wait.