America's Next Top Model: Tyra, you so crazy! No, seriously, you're completely insane.

I am an unabashed fan of "America's Next Top Model."  I got into it a few years ago when I had nothing to do and spent an entire weekend watching an ANTM mega-marathon, and have followed it ever since.  Every season (and for some reason there seems to be two seasons a year) I find myself watching a new group of fresh-faced ladies who are whittled down over the season until there is one winner.  I eventually settle on one or two contestants who become my favorites.  Last season it was Claire until she suffered a bout of "crazy-bitch-syndrome," then it became Anya and Katarzyna; so far this season I'm rooting for Marjorie, the at-times painfully awkward home-schooled French girl, and Elina, the bisexual mom-hating vegan/animal-liberation activist (I have been waiting for her to become the latest House Bitch, but to my great surprise/relief she hasn't -- ironically that honor has gone to Elina's not-so-secret crush Clark).  And of course there is Isis, the first pre-op transgendered contestant in ANTM history.  You can make all the jokes you want, but the biggest joke so far has been on the other "real" girls, as Isis has continually delivered better pictures than most of them.

But nothing has compared to the craziness that is Miss Tyra Banks, the creator/host of ANTM.  Each year she seems to get more and more insane.  This year she opened the series with an extended skit about a futuristic modeling factory (including some truly awful CGI effects) and pretended to be a robot looking for "bank-able models."  Sigh...  But that was damn near normal human behavior compared to this week.  To emphasize the fact that it was makeover week, she had Ms. Jay come out dressed like the evil stepmother from "Snow White," who then gave her an apple, which she ate and then pretended to fall asleep.  Then Mr. Jay came in, dressed as Prince Charming, gave Tyra a kiss that woke her up, and then proceeded to carry her out of the room as she told the girls... well, nothing actually.  They didn't find out it was actually makeover week until the next day.  And what exactly does recreating "Snow White" have to do with makeovers?  Nothing (although it apparently allowed Tyra to dress up in an incredibly goofy outfit and act like the Good Witch from "The Wizard of Oz" while describing each girl's makeover).  It was just another excuse for Tyra to act like her crazy self.

But I'm not complaining.  Everybody knows crazy makes for good television.  Besides, unlike other crazy celebrities, Tyra always seems to be in on the crazy.  And it's pretty hilarious to watch the contestants clearly being forced to act like they don't get that it's fake (nothing beats watching thirteen wannabe models pretending to react to terrible CGI effects).  So shine on, you crazy ex-supermodel; you're keeping television interesting for the rest of us.