There isn't much real about the career of a model -- jets, champagne and clothes worth more than most of our cars.

But that hasn't stopped supermodel Tyra Banks from hosting and co-producing the new reality series, America's Next Top Model, which debuts Tuesday on the Life Network (7 p.m. and 11 p.m. on b).

Perhaps it's because Banks is so obviously passionate about the business that Top Model is surprisingly good.

Getting a peek behind the scenes of this seemingly glamourous business is interesting, despite the fact the show borrows much of its format from Survivor.

Like successful reality shows before it, there's a predictable cast of characters: the personable comedian, the small-town fish-out-of-water, virgin and mother hen.

Banks guides them all through tough assignments with affection.

"Some of these girls you wouldn't look at twice on the street, but I'll know what I can make them into," Banks promises on the show, which eliminates one woman each week.

The top 10 girls get to live in a New York City penthouse and while they're pampered, they also experience a fair amount of ego busting.

While learning the truth about the modelling world is entertaining, viewers could and should have been spared the legs-spread-in-the-air footage of the models getting bikini waxed.