The contestants may be beautiful; Tyra Banks may mean well; but the dozen writer/producers for American's Next Model are NOT pleased.

The workers are protesting management's refusal to allow them to unionize by staging a strike outside production offices in Los Angeles. They all wore red shirts and carried signs that said such witty things as:

• Reality Needs a Rewrite
• Tyra is union. Why not me?

What are these writer-producers after? The greedy professionals are actually demanding healthcare, residuals, pension, better pay and writing credits (they're currently credited as producers). The writers argue that they should receive similar treatment as writers in other genres, such as dramas and comedies.

Ah, yes. Those that come up with the storylines and character developments on Lost are truly akin to whomever puts words on the teleprompter for Tyra to read.

So far, executive producers are steering displeased horde toward government mediation, but the writers say that's a stall tactic to get them to conclude the next two seasons before firing them all.

As America's Next Top Model continues along in its seventh season, this issue could become more important than which contestants have fake boobs. Actually, that's not true at all.