For me the summer television season will always be about the wonderful world of Julie Chen and Big Brother. That being said, there are plenty of other options to enjoy. In particular I have to give thanks to the Oxygen network. And yes, I like those reruns of Mad About You and AbFab just as much as the next guy, but I wouldn't face public ridicule by admitting I regularly watch the network committed to bringing edgy and innovative entertainment for women for some syndicated programming.

No, I am talking about The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency, the reality series that follows, you guessed it, Janice Dickinson as she tries to make a living running her own, ummm, modeling agency. I have resisted writing about it because I was afraid I wouldn't have enough time to give it the attention it deserves, but a few persistent readers have persuaded me that I need to make the sacrifice, and Umnata says he's here to help. The show has been going on for several weeks already, so let me take this chance to catch up. Luckily, Oxygen is saturating the airwaves with the show from now until Wednesday, so you'll have many chances to catch up as well.

First off, I have to say that I was not a huge fan of Janice Dickinson. GASP! I know, I know, being a huge fan of ANTM, how can I not love her? Well, I couldn't stand Janice because she was always more worried about letting you know amazing she was before anything else. She was Valentino's muse. I GET IT. Just because you were trendsetter in the industry doesn't give you cart blanche to act like a coked out whore. Janice may have been gorgeous once, but right now she's about one plastic surgery away from complete disaster, and we are supposed to act like we don't notice.

That being said, the ANTM judging panel has not been the same for and when you get right down to it, she was always about helping models get better. Some may question her motivational tactics, but her idea was that modeling was a difficult business, and if there was somebody who was going to have to teach them exactly how cutthroat it is, it might as well be her.

This is what it takes to get Janice's makeup ready in the morning

The reason I like the Janice Dickinson modeling agency is that I think it gets us the real Janice, and I have to say, I am starting to fall for her again. On the Surreal Life, she was a caricature of herself. On her own show, she is just as crazy, but it feels more authentic. It could be that I am just a sucker for good editing, but the show makes me think that I am looking at an actual human and not some edited representation of one. Janice says that the reason she wants to do this is to be able to provide for her children and so there are real consequences if she fails.

The show features a lot of parts about Janice that you don't normally get to see. For me, the most interesting part was to see Janice as a parent to her two children, Savannah Dickinson and Nathan Fields. Seeing her various antics on The Surreal Life, whether it be calling handicapped bowlers retards or sticking her ass out the window of a van, made me wonder what kind of parent she would be. There are so many spoiled kids in this town, I figured that hers would be the same.

Now perhaps Janice is playing nice for the camera, but in the scenes where she is actually parenting, she seems to be doing a fairly good job, and is much more concerned that her kids are doing well in school than the possibility of them following in her footsteps in the fashion world. Now, quite obviously, this is a case of do as I say, not as I do, but I really believed that she would be having little botox parties for her daughter's friends and helping her son pick out a proper water bong. Who would have guessed that Janice is actually sort of responsible?

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Posted by J-Unit on July 3, 2006 8:44 AM