UPN Shows Less "Top Model"

Fri., Feb. 27, 2004 12:15 AM PST by Sarah Hall

Tyra Banks wants the aspiring models on her hit reality series America's Next Top Model to "show what they got."

However, in post-wardrobe malfunction America, it seems that UPN, which airs Top Model, might want Tyra's toadies to show a little less of what they got.

In the show's first season, Banks submitted her ranks of wannabes to televised Brazilian bikini waxes, outdoor swimsuit shoots in the frigid New York winter and, with just a handful of girls left, a nude photo shoot. One striving model refused to participate in the shoot for moral reasons and was eliminated.

Banks could sense the potential for drama, and in season two, the models were subjected to a nude photo shoot in the very first episode.

Dressed as "Eves" in body paint and selectively placed baubles, the girls poised with their "Adams"--nude male models--in a psychedelic recreation of the Garden of Eden.

Again, one girl sat out the shoot, proclaiming her desire to remain "Christ-like." (She paid the price by being the first to be eliminated.) The rest of the girls poised willingly, and the shoot resulted in colorful, nude full-body shots that were posted in the models' online profiles at the UPN Website.

That is, the portfolios contained full-body shots up until this week, when the photos were cropped to show only close-ups of the models' painted faces.

Reached for comment on why the changes were made, UPN spokesperson Joanna Lowry said only, "Yeah, we updated the site, but we're not going to comment on it beyond that."

The changes to the site came about shortly after Viacom President Mel Karmazin issued a blanket no-indecency rule for the company, which includes UPN, as well as CBS, MTV and Infinity Broadcasting among others.

Karmazin has been under fire ever since the Janet Jackson's infamous wardrobe malfunction at the Super Bowl.

After the halftime show that provided spammers with copious amounts of content, gun-shy CBS broadcast the 2004 Grammy Awards on a five-minute delay--the first delay in the history of the awards.

Over at the Peacock, executives decided to follow suit, announcing that the Academy Awards, too, will be aired with a delay Sunday, albeit one of only five seconds.

Shortly after the Super Bowl, Karmazin was called to testify before Congress regarding the halftime show and, despite fervent apologies, was attacked by furious lawmakers who accused him of knowing of the stunt beforehand.

Karmazin requested a definition of indecency from members of Congress and pledged to ensure that appropriate moral standards were adhered to in the future.

Last week, Karmazin reportedly warned the top brass at all 180 Infinity radio stations that they would be fired if they failed to comply with the company's new "zero tolerance" policy on obscenity.

Infinity is home to Howard Stern, and former home of defunct radio shock jocks, Opie & Anthony, who were fired for hosting an on-air sex contest.

Stern is already feeling the brunt of new decency standards.

Leading radio syndicator Clear Channel yanked Stern's radio show from stations in six markets this week after Tuesday's show yielded an incident deemed offensive.

"Janet Jackson is now forgotten, and I'm on the front page of every newspaper," Stern groused Thursday.

You know things are getting interesting when the self-proclaimed King of the Airwaves starts complaining about publicity.