‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Announces Return to 90 Minute Format, Starting March 10
RuPaul's Drag Race via Instagram Reading Time: 3 minutes
After learning that RuPaul’s Drag Race will air in a shorter time slot than before, fans were quick to express their violent reactions. After a few weeks of 30 minute long episodes, fans began begging MTV for a longer format. The show has listened, and Drag Race returns to 90 minute long episodes beginning March 10.
RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 15 Ditches One Hour Format
Since season 10, RuPaul’s Drag Race has become 90-minute long each episode, paving way for more art and drama for its queens. However, with the show’s major shift from VH1 to MTV, such runtime was changed into an hour max. Their “supersized” two-episode premiere was indeed bomb. Yet, when it returned to airing 60-minute episodes, fans were unpleased, to say the least.
On Thursday, February 9, RuPaul’s Drag Race announced that they would be ending this format. Although they didn’t say it was due to fan dissatisfaction, it’s implied.
According to Drag Race fans, the 30-minute cut was an injustice to the queens, since it barely showcased their costumes on the runway. Additionally, the same robbed the judges to opportunity to make extensive comments similar to previous seasons.
Originally, MTV decided to shorten the runtime due to their new show, The Real Friends of WeHo. As described, this series is an “unfiltered and honest look at a select group of friends living, loving, and pursuing their passions in the West Hollywood community.”
In the past few weeks, The Real Friends has been receiving intense backlash. Hate further intensified because some Drag Race fans think that the Emmy-winning series could’ve been longer if not for the new show.
Why Fans Were Unhappy About the Show’s Shorter Runtime
Understandably, the Drag Race cannot cut the performances or workroom content as the storyline needs to develop. This however resulted to lesser moments in the runway which is, of course, a bummer for both fans and divas. On Reddit, fans expressed their discontentment over the issue.
“Seriously, I love hearing the queens go on about what they’re serving and how awesome they feel in their looks,” one fan wrote. “Come on, MTV.”
Truly, the runway is an “important feature” of the show. Hence, it’s totally understandable why fans are whining over the fact that each queen only has eight-second exposure per episode.
“I love these girls from what I’ve seen, there’s definitely some talented queens,” another fan wrote. “But it’s going to go down as one of the least memorable, quotable, memorable seasons because it’s just an empty shell.”
Ultimately, fans want RuPaul’s Drag Race to go back to its usual runtime. Meanwhile, fans who think it’s impossible to happen suggest for at least a YouTube extended cuts.
