For every Maude, there’s a Joanie Loves Chachi. For every Frasier, there’s a Joey. And for every Facts of Life, there’s a Golden Palace. In other words, for every decent one, there are dozens of spin-offs that suck the big kielbasa.
So when we heard that RuPaul’s Drag Race was giving birth to RuPaul’s Drag U, we were a little skeptical of the reality spawn. But if the first episode is any indication, we had no reason to worry our pretty little heads about anything. The show’s hilarious, heart-warming and full of drama, but still sassy enough to keep from crossing into schlocky “Move that Bus!” territory.
In Drag U, real women are turned into their drag diva alter egos thanks to highly sophisticated, NASA-developed technology: the Dragulator.
They’re given a drag name, a fierce new look and it’s up to drag favorites (like Ongina, Jujubee and Tammie Brown) from the first two seasons of Drag Race to find the biological ladies’ inner superstars. There’s in-fighting and sabotage among the drag queens, but it’s all to help make their protégés winners.
We were worried that some of the down-on-their-luck women or those with low self-esteem would be unprepared for the bitch-eat-bitch world of drag, but they all proved tougher than we expected and truly embraced this opportunity to live the glam life, even if only for a few minutes of lip-syncing on stage.
And even though most of them wouldn’t probably hit the Olive Garden after their makeovers, they should be able to take away some of the swagger that comes with wearing sequins and giant wigs.
In the end, Drag U is a feel-good show with bite. Ad dare we say, we like it even better than the original. Don’t get us wrong, we love RuPaul’s Drag Race, but this show has exactly what the first two seasons seemed to be missing most: vaginas heart.
RuPaul’s Drag U premieres tonight on Logo
www.logotv.com
