Reality judges range from wise to wacko

The Alternately Unhinged and In-Control Judge
Paula Abdul may be best known for her wacked-out moments, but she's not always nutty. More often than not — and in fact, for nearly all of "American Idol 7" — she was in control. For Paula, that means offering comments that are rarely critical and instead babbling on with typically meaningless platitudes instead of providing feedback. Still, the fun of Paula as a judge is that she may say something ridiculous, or bawl, or stand up and dance and clap in her weird way, at any second.

These occasionally unhinged judges are the most fun because they're unpredictable, at least until their unpredictability becomes predictable. Janice Dickinson on "America's Next Top Model" fits into this mold, although her crazy moments as a judge on "Top Model" (she judged the first four seasons) involved going off on the girls rather than being supportive.

"So You Think You Can Dance" judge Mary Murphy absolutely belongs in this category, as she alternates between deafening shrieks and smart critiques, although Bruno Tonioli on "Dancing with the Stars" is perhaps the best current example. While he's unquestionably an expert and gives reasoned, well-informed critiques of the dances, he's also out of control. That's generally verbal: His comments are frequently bawdy or suggestive, with not much left to the imagination, and it's his unpredictability — and, in some cases, his Italian-accented unintelligibility — that gives "Dancing" judging segments their life.

The Judge Who Seems Embarrassed to be on a Panel with Crazier Judges
Sometimes judges don't quite seem to know why they're on a reality show but go along with it anyway, like they're hoping it's all a bad dream.

Nigel Barker, photographer and "America's Next Top Model" judge, always seems dignified and composed (unlike his fellow judges), and remarkably has never once crawled under the table to hide. He had a similarly embarrassed-seeming colleague in 1960s modeling legend Twiggy during her time on the show.

Randy Jackson arguably fits here, even though he's evolved into a one-note joke of a judge himself even as he's tried to distance himself from Simon's cruelty and Paula's inanity.

The Third Wheel Judge
Even the best judges can occasionally find themselves overshadowed temporarily by the others on the panel, but for some judges, that's a way of life. They're neither great nor terrible, straitlaced nor crazy. They're not necessarily bad at their jobs, they just tend to fade into the background.

On "Top Chef," Gail Simmons tries hard and generally offers relevant feedback, but she's no Tom Colicchio, and when guest judges such as the outrageous Anthony Bourdain show up, she gets lost in the shuffle. Heidi Klum is that way on "Project Runway," too; her feedback isn't bad, but doesn't quite have the same punch of Michael Kors' or Nina Garcia's, and the editors tend to use her less than the other judges.

A subset of this group is the "May Be Great at their Jobs but Suck at Being on TV Judge," and Bravo has a number of these as a result of their repeated cloning of "Project Runway." The network has a number of of judging opportunities but not many qualified candidates, which explains "Make Me a Supermodel"'s entire panel — including Tyson Beckford and Niki Taylor -- who are all very flat and dull.

Tyra Banks
Let's face it: Tyra Banks gets her own category because she simultaneously fits into nearly every other category and none of them. She has first-hand knowledge, dedication to her show, apparent passion for her models' careers and lives, and the ability to go completely nuts at any second. (She also has a great partner in runway coach J. Alexander, who's also known as Miss J, and they play off each other like a great comic duo.)

The best example of Banks' split judging personality came during cycle four of "Top Model," when she lectured exiting model Tiffany — and then when Tiffany talked back, took about a half-second to go from a conversational tone to screaming ("I was rooting for you, we were all rooting for you! How dare you!"). It was frightening and exceptional television. She seems to be getting somewhat bored during recent seasons, but she still stands as a model judge.

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