Remodeled

Modeling Industry veteran Paul Fisher is attempting to change the way the modeling world works but changing it from the inside out. The Network is his brainchild; a way to make a conglomeration out of hundreds of smaller modeling agencies to ensure that they don’t get taken advantage of or get swallowed by the larger agencies. More importantly he’s trying to give models a healthier more reliable atmosphere to grow in. The CW’s latest show Remodeled follows Fisher as he visits struggling agencies under his Network umbrella and attempts to help them get back on their feet and become a jewel in the network crown.

When I first saw the show slotted in my deadlines I had no idea what it was going to be. I figured that maybe it was going to be another home remodeling show, likely due to the reduced scheduling of the Extreme Makeover show making room for up and comers. I hit Youtube and looked up the advert for the show and the first thing I thought of was Gordon Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares as Fisher starts knocking model photo’s off the wall in one agency shouting, “This is not a model, this is not a model, this is not a model.” The formula is similar; Fisher helps a struggling agency, remodels their office, gives them everything they need to make it work and leaves them to their own devices.

Watching the show for the first time was a bit of a different story. Fisher, accompanied by his Gothed out assistant who poses just about as much as the models, can be brutally honest, but not Gordon Ramsey brutal. Of the two shows I watched I felt like Fisher had every right to go ballistic but he managed to put across his thoughts in a logical calm manner with heart, barely losing his cool at anytime. Of course it can be said that the way Fisher behaves might be due to camera’s being on him at all times, but he genuinely seemed like he really had his heart in the right place to get his struggling Network agencies straightened out.

Another aspect of the show were three models that Fisher and his crew (JT & Olga) plucked from the streets, prepped, and brought to New York for Fashion Week. Their mission in New York was to get the models casting interviews and get them booked to walk the runway for a major name. This was a bit of exposure for the modeling world and you got to see the models going through the interview process where designers honestly told them the truth about their walk, their look, everything. If you’re an aspiring model and you have yet to go through this stage, take notes, sometimes it’s not pretty. In any case the show manages to shine the spotlight on the way in which the industry holds their models to a certain standard, the way in which Paul and his crew handle the models through hope as well as hopelessness, and gives us an inside look at Fashion Week. As odd as it was, I went into the show thinking all kinds of bad about it before even giving it a shot, seeing as it comes from the CW, a station that I find pretty shallow, but the show’s not bad at all. I’d watch it again and suggest others give it a shot. As always final judgment is yours. Enjoy.