Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model is the latest three-episode docuseries from Netflix.  It takes a look at the history of the groundbreaking reality show that was once loved and which has since been declared problematic.  It features interviews with some of the  models, most of whom share some very harrowing stories about how they were treated while appearing on the show.  (Shandi Sullivan’s story epitomizes everything that is exploitive about reality television.)  Producer Ken Mock talks about how the show’s format was inspired by the first season of Making the Band.  (Ken seems to be under the impression that O Town is currently a beloved cultural institution.)  Jay Manuel talks about being a part of the show and how he was treated by Tyra Banks after he tried to leave.  J Alexander talks about how, after he suffered a stroke, Tyra never reached out to him.  Nigel Barker pretends to be ashamed of some of the challenges that he photographed and judged.  We get clips of TikTokers watching the show during the COVID lockdown and complaining about …. well, everything.

Tyra Banks is also interviewed.  The series paints Banks as a villain and yet, she not only consents to be interviewed but actually seem to enjoy it.  That’s because Tyra Banks isn’t stupid.  She apologizes without actually apologizing because she understands that a real apology would be seen as a sign of weakness, even by those demanding one.  Even more importantly, she understands that reality television demands a villain.  It demands someone who can say outrageous things with style.  It demands someone that people will watch so that they can be shocked and scandalized.  While being interviewed, Tyra mentions that she’s trying to put together at least one more season of America’s Next Top Model.  If you look at the online reactions, you’ll find a lot of people and entertainment reporters who claim to be angered by her audacity but let’s be honest.  If Tyra gets her 25th season of America’s Next Top Model, most of the people complaining about the show will watch.  The sites that are currently posting lists of the “Most Disturbing Revelations From Inside America’s Next Top Model” will recap the entire season and post galleries of “Tyra’s Most Outrageous Looks.”  They might complain about it.  They would definitely make room in their reviews to post the usual litany of complaints.  (To be honest, whenever I hit those paragraphs, I always skip over them because it’s always the same thing.)  They might claim to hate the show but they would still recap it and they would still get the clicks and they would accept the money the comes from those clicks.

For all the criticism to be found in this docuseries, it was ultimately a commercial for America’s Next Top Model.  There’s a reason why you can find the first sixteen seasons on Disney Plus, Hulu, and Pluto TV.

Oh yeah, I thought as I watched, I remember the crime scene photo shoot!  Yeah, you’re right, that was totally insensitive.  And the photoshoot were the girls had to pretend to have an eating disorder!  That was so messed up!  And which episodes were those again?

In the end this docuseries doesn’t so much inspire outrage as much as it inspires nostalgia for a time before outrage.  Some people would consider that to be a good thing.  Some people definitely wouldn’t.  But the end result is the same.  The viewer wants to go back and rewatch, either to bask in the nostalgia or to have an excuse to get angry.

As for the docuseries itself, it’s only three episodes long.  The first episode and the first half of the second episode are effective.  Then, the series falls apart as it tries to cram ten years worth of scandal and drama into the remaining 90 minutes.  The interviews with Jay Manuel are interesting, though Jay seems to be even worse than Tyra when it comes to dodging responsibility for the show’s more infamous moments.  (He says that he asked not to take part in a blackface challenge but, significantly, he did not threaten to quit.)  My heart broke for Miss J and for Shandi Sullivan and for Dani Evans, the model who was ordered to close between her front teeth.  There was so much wrong with America’s Next Top Model and yet, we’ll all be watching Season 25.

And if Tyra offers him enough money, she can probably get Jay Manuel back.