The Emmy Award-winning competition series, Drag Race, made a big move when it jumped from VH1 to MTV, promising the biggest season yet. However, fans and alum of the show have been disappointed to see that the current season’s episodes have been cut from 90 minutes to 60 minutes of airtime. Many have pointed fingers at the new Todrick Hall-led reality show, The Real Friends of WeHo, as the culprit for the lost time.
But according to Drag Race alum Willam, the real reason for the shorter episodes is MTV’s desire to air Drag Race reruns in one-hour time blocks. In her podcast, Race Chaser, Willam explained, “Somebody wrote online that [MTV] are planning on repeating Drag Race, and showing it repeatedly in an hour format, so that’s one of the reasons it’s a shorter episode.”
It is understandable that fans and alum of the show are disappointed with the shorter episodes, especially since the new reality show The Real Friends of WeHo has not been well-received. The show debuted at #69 among original cable programming with only 186,000 viewers, whereas the preceding episode of Drag Race ranked at #6 on the same chart with 578,000 viewers.
One can’t help but wonder if there were other options that could have been explored. Willam pointed out, “Why can’t they just do a two-hour format, and have Untucked be a half hour and then have the other thing (Real Friends of WeHo) be 90 minutes?” Regardless, the decision has been made and fans will have to adjust to the new format.
It is a shame that the show’s move to MTV has resulted in shorter episodes, but hopefully, the reruns in one-hour time blocks will bring in even more viewers and keep the legacy of Drag Race alive.