On this eight-part reality series, ten average young women were selected to be groomed as professional models, with the winner landing a cover in Marie Claire magazine and a big-bucks modeling contract. Sequestered in a single Manhattan penthouse for the duration of the series, the wannabes were carefully coached in the attitudes, responsibilities, rigors, and occasional disadvantages of the glamour industry. On each episode, a handful of the contestants were eliminated by a panel of celebrity judges, among them supermodels Tyra Banks (who created and co-produced the series) and Janice Dickinson, fashion editor Beau Quillan, and designer Kimora Lee Simmons. America's Next Top Model premiered May 20, 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi