RuPaul’s Drag Race is serving the best competition on TV

The television landscape has been littered with reality competition shows since the debut of Survivor way back in the summer of 2000, garnering astronomical ratings for its season finale and becoming a cultural icon for future competition shows to emulate. Since then we’ve seen the good (The Amazing Race, Project Runway, American Idol [at least in its first couple of seasons], So You Think You Can Dance) and the bad (Paris Hilton’s My New BFF, Rock of Love), the guilty pleasures (Big Brother, The Bachelor, Dancing With the Stars, Splash, Beauty and the Geek), and even the spoofs (the awesome Burning Love).

But there has been one reality competition show that debuted quietly in 2009 on a small, specialty cable channel (Logo) that has become one of the top competition shows on television: RuPaul’s Drag Race. Seriously! The show follows the formula set forth by Survivor and American Idol – contestants compete against each other to win fame and fortune – but it went from being a very cheaply produced show with a niche audience (at best) to being a slightly less cheaply produced show with a growing audience each season (we’re up to season five with a bonus All-Star season thrown in to the mix). The show has even spawned a spin-off of sorts, RuPaul’s Drag U which brings back former contestants to help real women with self-image issues embrace themselves. Like Ru says at the end of each episode of Drag Race, “How in the hell you gonna love somebody else if you can’t love yourself?”

It’s that sense of love and family that has made RuPaul’s Drag Race a terrific show over the last five seasons. Anyone who knows drag queens knows that they can come with a lot of drama, especially if rivalries are in play. The first couple of seasons were almost like the Real Housewives shows with the competition element thrown in. These queens know how to throw a lot of “shade,” and in the beginning there seemed to be more bitchiness than game play, but as the show has grown so have the contestants.

The competition itself has remained unchanged – a group of queens compete to be America’s Next Drag Superstar – and the prizes have gotten better (now up to over $100,000 in cash and prizes), but we’re seeing more interpersonal relationships now and a real sense of family – something Ru has always tried to stress to his “girls” – as the production lets us see more into the non-game portion of the show (especially with the after show, Untucked). We see contestants talk about their lives, how they have been shunned by family or society, how the world of drag is in some cases the only supportive family they have, the real ups and downs of their lives, and even in the midst of a fierce competition, they truly bond and have become a new family. No matter what might happen on stage, they always seem to find common ground behind-the-scenes. They may not all be friends after the show is over, but they know that they will have each others’ backs after the experience.

The past five seasons have given us some great personalities – Pandora Boxx, Manila Luzon, Raja, BeBe Zahara Benet, Jujubee, Ongina, Raven, Latrice Royale, Sharon Needles, Chad Michaels – and this season has been particularly strong with a final three consisting of Alaska (Sharon Needles’ other half), Roxxxy Andrews and Jinkx Monsoon. There was conflict with Coco Montrese and Alyssa Edwards (they had a rocky past and were shocked to find each other on the show), but the only real issue now is the chasm between the “pageant girl” Roxxxy and comedy performer Jinkx (Alaska is also a comedy performer, but somehow managed to bond with Roxxxy and Detox, forming Rolaskatox early in the season). One has a very rigid idea of what drag is and the other is trying to broaden its horizons from simply lip-syncing to actually performing. And Jinkx can really sing!

If you haven’t tuned in yet, now is the time to get caught up before the finale on May 6th. Check out the recap show airing on Logo beginning Monday, May 29th to see what you’ve been missing. Once the new queen is crowned, you can also play with Ru and some of the Drag Race family in the new game Dragopolis, “the first ever mobile game serving drag queen realness.” The game pits RuPaul against the evil Apocalypstyk, who is trying to take over the show. Add-on games will feature former queens Manila Luzon, Pandora Boxx and Yara Sofia. The app will be available in the iTunes store after the finale airs (coming to the Android platform later in 2013).

RuPaul’s Drag Race may not seem to be a show for everyone – and if you don’t know drag lingo, you could be at a loss on occasion – but the show has gone from being almost a jokey spoof to a real competition serving up a lot of laughs and a lot of heart.