Tomorrow will go down in history as the day the Tyra Banks Show died. The former model premiered her talk series five years ago with great aspirations: She wanted to empower young women, develop an honest relationship with her viewers and maybe, in the process, become a media empress like Oprah. And while she did achieve some entertainment success and empowered a misguided youth or two, the Tyra Banks Show will be remembered most for its loopy host and her crazy ideas. Who else would go undercover as a homeless person to score crack, don a fat suit just for the fun of it, or feel up a guest? The answer: No one. So grab your Kleenex and join Movieline as we remember nine of the most bizarre experiments conducted by Tyra.
9. Booty Judging
Tyra sure did have a funny way of empowering women. In this episode, she memorably lined up a few female audience members in skintight pants, pinned numbers to their backs, and then allowed males to judge their derrieres.
8. Tyra (Literally) Falls For Porcupines
No further explanation necessary.
7. Vaseline Giveaway
Tyra ripped a page out of Oprah's playbook and gifted her entire audience with bedazzled tubs of Vaseline. That's kind of like a free car, right?
6. English Tyra Asks Robert Pattinson to Bite Her
Even Twilight heartthrob R-Patz seemed startled by Tyra's special request, if only because of the creepy accent that accompanied it.
5. Ugly Discrimination
In this groundbreaking segment, Tyra uglied up some audience members and marched over to Sephora to see how employees would respond to what society sees as "ugly" features.
4. The Great Rabies Scare of 2010
Leave it to Tyra to try to overcome the rabies stigma by pretending that she had become infected on a morning jog and foaming at the mouth.
3. Gay For Pay
In this classic episode, Tyra tried to understand why straight men would get into the gay porn industry.
2. Tyra Gets the Prison Treatment
One time, Tyra wanted to get the "full prison experience" so she submitted herself to a dramatized strip search. After watching this, you will never be able to hear the phrase, "I need you to squat and cough three times" without remembering this. I promise.
1. The Infamous Vulva Puppet
Remember when Tyra invited a vulva puppeteer to explain to the audience how the female anatomy works? Tyra explained that the puppet is helpful because "It makes 'it' cute and sweet and not scary." And then she told her own personal hand mirror story. This video is not for the faint of heart.