I’m skeptical about everything and so I must admit I side-eyed the fact that RuPaul’s Drag Race, newly shifted over from LGBT network Logo to its Viacom brother Vh1, was given a similar Friday night slot to Amber Rose’s nowhere to be found talk show. How you gonna do cultural icons like that?
But as it turns out, 8 p.m. on a Friday night was a boon to the RuPaul premiere, as was, no doubt, Lady Gaga’s debut as a guest judge and mentor on the show, in a surprise scene that had the queens (and us) tearing up a little. (Jezebel liveblogged the premiere with guest drag/nightlife performers Dusty Shoulders and Rify Royalty.)
Also owing, perhaps, to RuPaul’s long-awaited/long-deserved Emmy, Deadline reports that the Season 9 premiere was the series’ biggest episode yet, logging almost one million viewers and tripling its ratings from seasons prior.
Again, Gaga’s tweets probably didn’t hurt in rounding up the 65.7 million monsters who follow her on Twitter, and hopefully the push from both Logo and Vh1 will expand the viewer base so this show never gets cancelled, ever. Next week’s guest judges are Lisa Kudrow (I definitely need to see that!) and the B-52s; we’ll be watching religiously, as ever.