A Tale of Two Drag Races Filmed During a Global Pandemic
I remember when RuPaul’s Drag Race debuted. This competitive reality series showcasing the talents of drag performers in America aired on the extended cable station Logo, which was dedicated to queer programming back in 2005. Drag Race joined the lineup in 2009, giving the network its first original hit show. The show is now so popular that Viacom moved the series from niche network Logo to the much more mainstream VH1 in 2017. There are spinoff series all around the world, many of which still feature RuPaul as the host and head judge.
2021 is a different year for television because of the global pandemic. You’ll be seeing the repercussions of COVID-19 play out for years in film and television. Covid protocols changed backstage and onstage areas of sets, how entertainers were permitted to interact, and how anyone not signed on for an entire series could be allowed to participate on set.
Drag Race has a long production timeline. The show usually films almost a full year before the season finale airs. Contestants on US seasons, for example, will usually sequester and film in the summer. By the next winter, the new cast is announced and by spring we have a new winner. Shortly after, the new batch of contestants will get their official notice to gather all the required looks in about two weeks, pack up, and fly to the studio.
So far in 2021, we’ve experienced two very different official Drag Race seasons: the second season of Drag Race UK and the 13th season of the US version. These wound up filming pretty much back to back, but not for the reasons you might expect.
Yes, production on the series does tend to condense the amount of time RuPaul, his best friend and fellow judge Michele Visage, their personal makeup/hair/costume teams, and producers work on the show. An All Stars season will film directly before or after a regular season, or the entire production will shift continents and keep the momentum going into an international series.
2020 was different. Drag Race UK filmed during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Contestants were already sequestered and competing on the show when an international shutdown began. That series only recorded four episodes before the contestants, cast, and production crew had to leave the studio and go into quarantine with the rest of the world. This production did not pick up for seven months, and returning to work or compete on the show required a negative COVID-19 test.
The US series did get to film a little later than usual in summer 2020. Another show (no spoilers here) also filmed immediately afterwards. Only then, seven months later, did the Drag Race team get to reunite and finish the second season of Drag Race UK.
The entire production changed. Plexiglass barriers separated the judges on set. RuPaul no longer walked through the workroom to talk to the contestants. Instead, they met with him on the opposite side of the long work room tables, sharing their progress on the next challenge from over six feet away. Production crew wore masks on set at all times and only the contestants who isolated together before filming were permitted to physically interact without protective equipment on. Some planned guest judges no longer appeared on the show and no one got any special visits onscreen.
On the newest US season, these protocols had already been established. Instead of the usual new guest judge each week, a rotating panel of Carson Kressley, Ross Matthews, Loni Love, TS Madison, Jamal Sims, and Nicole Byer filled out the judges panel. Other planned guests appeared via videocalls in the workroom. Only two extra guests appeared in person: makeup sponsor Norvina (president of Anastasia Beverly Hills) and actor Cynthia Errivo. Norvina appeared nowhere near the contestants and Cynthia Errivo had permission to visit a contestant having a panic attack backstage while wearing a face shield.
These two seasons are a time capsule of how television changed before and after COVID-19 shut down the entertainment industry. The 13th season of Drag Race was one of the first shows to go back into production after the shutdown; the second season of Drag Race UK is one of the only shows so far to directly address how the shutdown effected production.
How have the new protocols impacted the show? The seasons are filled with so much joy and pride. I have never seen RuPaul, the judges, and the fellow contestants consistently react and celebrate the weekly lipsyncs on the mainstage. These contestants are fighting harder than ever before in the contest. While digital drag performances are more common now, the first shows had only just started experimenting with a tip via Venmo format when these contestants were being called onto the show.
Frankly, the biggest difference is how much the contestants are relying on each other. I can’t imagine leaving my home to fly across the country when all medical advice says, “do not leave the house.” These contestants bonded quickly with their castmates. They were actually allowed to interact with these people without a mask on while filming the episodes. We know that there had to be Covid managers and protocols on set to make sure no one was infected, everyone was safe, and social distancing and masks were adhered to off camera. On camera, these people who had been isolated from human interaction for months at that point got to spend some time living like we aren’t in a global pandemic.
The US season produced some great drama in the first episode by pretending to eliminate half of the contestants (1v1 lipsync battles onstage judged by RuPaul). What actually happened was each contestant was guaranteed four episodes on the show: the premiere, the Winners episode (the losers had a whole sequence where they had to vote one of their own out, giving them all airtime and moving that contestant to the winners group), the Losers episode (where the winners appeared at the end to greet their competitors in person), and the first elimination episode.
This is a great kindness extended to the contestants that has paid off in a huge way. Even the earlier eliminated contestants have seen significant growth in their social media followings and press attention from their appearances on the show. This will only help their careers in the long run, as they all have excellent footage to include in a reel of them performing in multiple costumes onstage and showing off their personalities in front of the judges (those lipsyncs started with a get to know you Q&A onstage).
With Drag Race UK, things were quite different. The contestants could not return to set unless they had a negative Covid test. Sadly, one contestant did test positive for COVID-19 and was medically eliminated from the show. The series then invited three of the previously eliminated contestants back to compete for a second chance on the series. The only person not invited to that opportunity chose to leave the show right before lockdown started, but was allowed back at the season finale.
What was a great positive for the US series actually became a bone of contention on the UK series. The production treated the seven month shutdown of the series as time the contestants should have used to “elevate their drag.” I’ll say it: that’s incredibly cruel. Any of the contestants who only worked as professional performers had no income to rebuild their wardrobe in. Contestants whose fashion did not grow at the expected rate were torn apart on the runway for not “elevating” enough. Everyone did try to improve things as they could: working on new tricks, practicing their makeup, adding extra stones and beading to costumes; anyone who didn’t have outfits out of nowhere to top the fashion highlights of an entire US season of Drag Race were heavily criticized for it.
Ironically, it’s Drag Race UK season two that is largely being considered one of the greatest seasons in the history of the entire RuPaul’s Drag Race franchise. The contestants and challenges were sensational, and everyone on the show genuinely seemed like they could take the crown. The 13th season of the US version is being criticized for taking too long to eliminate anyone and lasting forever. So much for the value of kindness.
For what it’s worth, I enjoyed both of these seasons the same way I always enjoy this show. This is the largest platform for more mainstream drag performers to share their craft with the world. I watch to experience their creativity and problem solving skills as they all get pushed to try things entirely outside of their comfort zones as entertainers. If I don’t agree with a decision on the show, I can always support that contestant on my own after the series airs. I don’t have Tamisha Iman Signature High Tops money, but I sure was able to order one of her t-shirts after her run on the show ended.
The film and television industry is going to seem different for a long time. Reality shows are one thing; imagine all the changes being made to narrative shows about physical contact that will directly impact the presentation of romance and violence onscreen. Imagine how small casts are going to be and how large crowd events are going to disappear or be written around for everyone’s safety. That jarring switch between episode four and five of Drag Race UK season two is only the beginning of noticing a brand new world of production in the throws of a global pandemic.
