Ru Paul's Drag Race

So let's switch gears from yesterday and baseball.

Spanning the dial to bring you the cheesiest in reality shows, I have uncovered a gem. Many thanks to my daughter Annie for turning me onto this little beauty. RU PAUL’S DRAG RACE on Logo. Logo is the gay network although I think this show is even too gay for them.

RU PAUL'S DRAG RACE follows your standard reality competition format with contestants put through various challenges and one getting eliminated every week. Except they’re all drag queens and the grand prize is $25,000, a P.R. firm’s services for a year, and various and sundry drag queen gigs. Not exactly life-changing but certainly enough to warrant these guys humiliating themselves on national television.

We get to meet the drag queens in and out of costume. And we see Ru Paul not in drag. That was a first for me. Out of the wig and gowns he looks kinda like the villain in PRINCESS AND THE FROG. The contestants all go by their drag queen names. So Pandora’s Box is pitted against the likes of Jujubee, Raven, and Tatiana.

They live together in a house with big steel doors and exposed rivets on the wall. I half-expected to see the Gimp from PULP FICTION chained to the floor. Imagine my disappointment.

The first challenge was called “the Queen is Right”. It was “the Price is Right” except with items drag queens would consider essentials. So they had to guess the price of white tube socks, pepper spray, duct tape, brass knuckles, and a human hair wig. These items were displayed by muscular male Chippendale-type models who were bare-chested except for neck ties, The winner got to call his mother. I swear, I’m not making this up.

Then they all had to play the “Snatch Game”. Gene Rayburn is rolling over in his grave. The queens were expected to impersonate a celebrity of their choice – complete with costume and make up of course. So they went as Carol Channing, Beyonce, Pink, Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Whitney Houston (the Bobby Brown Whitney, not Clive Davis version), and Ru Paul. The 200 pound man who did Carol Channing was a riot and the guy who did Britney looked so authentic he could actually pass for Britney Spears until he got out of a car.

They had to answer “Match Game” type questions like “Slutty Sally was so slutty, when she rode on a disco stick she…” Everything about this show just screams class.

Then there was a runway competition. One by one these bruisers came out in flamboyant ridiculous gowns, cat suits, and Jackie Kennedy outfits.

The bottom two were selected and to help Ru Paul make his final decision they had to “Lip Sync For Your Life”. Cat woman stripped down to bra and panties and did cartwheels with such force the stage almost collapsed.

He proved to be the loser as Ru Paul delivered the soon to be famous catch-phrase, “Sashay away!”

And my favorite moment – this is what got me hooked – Ru Paul asks one of the drag queens, “Where did you get your sense of humor from?” to which he replies, “My father passed away.” That’s it. I’m setting my DVR for a season pass right now.

RU PAUL’S DRAG RACE. For good delicious jaw dropping entertainment you gotta check it out, “Squirrel friends”.