I feel like Rate A Queen would be a GREAT all stars format! Like they decide the tops and bottoms and then the judges decide the winner and bottom 2. Hell they can even throw the beaver and make the winner able to save one of the bottoms
I feel like rate a queen would be way better then the stars because they didn’t know the next challenge which wasn’t the best way to decide who to block, but rate a queen is a great way for the queens to choose to be strategic or fair! And if you don’t know who’s rated you it gives more room for alliances and drama. People can betray alliances and no one would know
But they need to not alter the financial incentive for the queens competing. Prizes! At the end, for mini challenges and challenges, and also Ms Congeniality. Not spending all this time and money to play the game for charity… sorry, we can be charitable in other ways. And many of the queens are highly philanthropic in their giving back, their work w the communities, we know this. So why does it have to be the ultimate theme of the show? Ugh haha. And also different themes are a great idea, but we still need eliminations. Non-elimination seasons get tired for me, personally, and others I’ve heard from. AS7 was sweet, it was nice, but… it lost me after snatch game
all i wish for is i want them to NOT do all stars every year, bring back larger gaps between all stars. also, about the budget and "extravagance" of all stars, I disagree a bit, because I feel like the main season should always be bigger than all stars since all stars are for returning queens who did NOT win, this makes it so queens don't see all stars as the bigger goal than winning an actual season
I think this is a reason why as2 is regarded by a lot of fans as the best as season. There was such a big gap between 1 + 2 that they could really craft a powerhouse cast
Agree with bigger gap - HARD disagree that the budget should be smaller so the queens...dont really want to do it? These are returning queens who have now put in even more work, who know themselves and the industry better, and know their worth. They are larger in their career and they deserve a platform that reflects that caliber, imo
@@herefortheshrimp1469 i think what I'm trying to say with my opinion is more on the "extravagance" and not the budget. basically i want the all stars to be extravagant, but not to the level of the main season, so that winning the main season would be a bigger deal than winning an all stars, because i've seen many opinions that getting on all stars feels like a more rewarding state than winning a main season; cut to Bianca Del Rio: "if you do it right once, you won't have to do it a second time"
@@velky_reeds traditionally the point of all stars was literally to be more extravagant than regular seasons. It’s like survivor; it’s a collection of the most talent and therefore should be a bigger season, and be a bigger deal to win. The problem is the “All-Stars” identity started to get lost when the queens invited started to be less and less “All-Star like” (Even if they were talented and deserving of a second chance)
The fact that Dragula season 4, basically an indie show where the hosts provided the cash prize, and Drag Race season 13 had the same prize money in the same year is wild. Even now, Dragula is on a relatively small streaming platform with no ads and the hosts are still providing the prize out of pocket, whereas Drag Race is on a huge primetime syndicated network and has deals with a big streaming service and multiple high profile advertisers, yet they're still only offering $200k to Dragulas $100k
Yep! Took the tea outta my cup! And on that token, for RPDR UK, for example, I understand BBC is like PBS, so they can’t do the cash prizes. Thus it’s all for charity. Great. But I feel like they shouldn’t be trying to give the queens in America the same experience, if that’s part of it… is there a budget issue right now? Lol. Having no eliminations or doing a competition for CHARITY (and a paycheck of course), but no $100-200k prize? It kills my interest, just as a fan of these queens.
We can’t really compare the budget of both shows, the production costs are not the same. Just looking at digital marketing to take one example, Dragula’s team barely manage their online presence while WOW has teams of professionals doing the work all year. That being said, even if a RPDR season costs 5x, contestants should still get paid more because WOW makes a shit ton of money with advertisers, sponsors and events.
The gap between as1 and as2 was like, what, 3 years? They need to do this again to give these queens time to grow and to actually be entertaining competitors instead of fodder for whoever the producers think the fans want to win
I keep saying, they need to do different theme seasons. A Rookies Vs. Veterans season, where early outs like MIRAGE, Irene DuBois, Alyssa Hunter, and others would compete against newcomers, would be fun to see.
The problem of themes is that some fans already dream about "RuPaul's Black Race" season of only-black Queens which is racist in nature and not acceptable in any community or country. We really need Early-Out seasons to come, only 1st to 4th eliminated queens allowed and ones that succeded in 2nd chance like Shangela or Vanjie ineligible to compete, cause they would win everything.
@@shinotsurubushi6229Calling an only black queen season racist is tone deaf, call it unnecessary sure, but that's quite literally not the definition of racism. Also, I've never seen anyone propose that, it's giving fake. Uplifting black queens and showcasing a bunch of different types of black drag isn't going to harm white queens or their bookings. It's also not going to change the fact latine or Asian queens get underrepresented no matter what on the show anyway. It's not segregation, more than some people wanting more representation, which everyone else wants anyway. How many people said crown Nymphia because she's Asian and they wanted to feel represented? Was it racist of them to say that?
@@DiscordBeing no, that was early outs mixed in with people who went a long way. And that wasn’t necessarily the problem. The problem was mostly the clear favoritism for certain people over others and the obvious efforts to create drama rubbing people the wrong way. What I’m suggesting is a mix of early out girls (maybe ones who didn’t get the full Drag Race experience on the first time) competing against a new crop of DA’s. Hell’s Kitchen did a season like that, where they had half All-Stars from previous seasons (and one guy who was a mid-out due to a medical evacuation) against a new group of chefs. Maybe that can work here too.
i’m still waiting for a true early outs season! there are so many queens i’d love to see back (rock m. sakura, april carrion, kelly mantle, yuhua hamasaki, etc.)
Allegedly AS8 was meant to be an Early Outs season including Rock M Sakura, but as soon as either Jimbo or Kandy was confirmed Rock pulled out (can't remember the source tho)
@@gabbywills98 this is sad to hear and also production truly flopped if this is the case. They really need to either make themes for all stars from now on (early outs- sewing queens- global etc, one every year only) or stop doing all stars every year and widen the gap
They just need to stop doing all stars every year. When it was as2 and it had been four years between one and two it was super exciting and made for a really engaging season. Doing it yearly just makes the roster options get limited so quick, so either do it every two years or do themed seasons. Also having a non winners season that’s non elimination and competing for charity is so odd.
THANK YOU!!! I keep fucking saying this! All Stars every year makes no damn sense. It just becomes a collection of who's left and who's going to say 'yes.' To be honest, there's no one I am interested in on AS9.
@@AnitaNewportyer but I can’t see Ru doing the show much longer, I imagine season 20 will be the last. So not really any point stopping now as would probably only get one more season of all stars
The fandom also plays a part in it- spoiling everything, giving the queen shit for eliminating their faves. I think at this point, there really is no incentive for the queens to ever come back to allstars if they were portrayed really well the first time around
i think the main issue with the all winners format is no negative critiques. have a top 2 and bottom 2 lipsync, with the winner blocking one of the bottom 2 - everyone gets to say the whole season but theres variety
I agree. I honestly couldn’t even finish all winners because I found it pretty boring. There were no stakes which made it kind of boring to me, like theoretically a queen could bomb every challenge and runaway and yet the judges would still give only positive critiques and the queen wouldn’t have to worry about being sent home
The professional dancers on Dancing with the Stars earn 10k in wages (not "lottery" winnings) for every episode of the show that they stay on for. It's not about winning the trophy at the end, its wanting to stay on the job and keep getting paid. It is outrageous that the queens on drag race AND all stars are making like 400-800 dollars per episode... Its great that the AS9 girls are getting booking fees and stipends.
The problem are not the queens they are casting. Production doesn't appreciate the queens talents or recognize when they do well, to highlight their favorites. This happened many times on AS8.
@@itsdannyhoney She was in like 3 episodes, made the worst outfit on the ball episode, and the queens sent her home. I don't think production could do anything for her except rig the competition for her.
@@sunnygolightly9996 i agree she was the worst in the ball but she should’ve been in the top for the first two episodes. if she was, i think that would’ve saved her in the eyes of others
Honestly, they've done so many AS seasons with crazy casting, that they actually DO have a long roster of Top 4/finalists who haven't returned yet at this point. If they just upped the prize money for AS10 they could potentially have Gigi, Mistress, Rosé, Peppermint, Asia, Crystal, Luxx, Plane, and Lady Camden all on one season!
I always remember Detox tweeting "Can we go back on having All Stars once in a couple of years now?" after All Stars 4, and she was SO right. Having it every 2 years would be better.
Another thing that really got me about the All-Winners season is that it was so random. For a concept like that, I would have waited until season ten! Really drum up some anticipation for that because that was so huge. Doing it for season seven was just so random. I agree with so much of what you said. All Stars feels like an afterthought when it should be a celebration of these queens that we love, that made the franchise what it is. The series definitely needs a refresh especially when the quality of the main series is getting better every time.
I’m sure they wanted AS8 to be another speciality season - Early Outs. Which is why the cast had Monica, Jaymes & Kahanna to name a few. Apparently they also got Rock and some others on too but when they switched it to a normal a lot of the early outs pulled out the season, which may be why the AS8 cast was so lackluster because they were scrambling.
I’d heard that it was specifically suppose to be two separate seasons. Early Outs and Fan Faves, but too many queens dropped out from both groups that we got left with the hodgepodge we did.
I feel like a difference in prize money between main and all stars seasons would almost discourage queens from doing well on the main season, because at that point you could be losing money by winning the main season.
1:10 hey! I loved AS All Winners 👑❣️🔮 19:18 although, agreed AS7 felt pretty regular in terms of episodes and challenges, specially that finale… the queens are what made the season grandiose, despite the lackluster production and mistreatment 🥲
My dream All Stars format is that they decide the Top 3 and the Bottom 3 and then the queens vote for the winner of the challenge and then on the main stage they find out the winner and then the chosen winner had to pick one of the BTM 3 to save and then the other 2 lip sync
I’ve been watching drag race since s3 on logo tv. Trust me having access to all these queens all over the world, learning about their queerness or their transness is amazing. If you don’t want to watch a season, then don’t.
I loved the AS7 format for an all-winners, but i deperately hope they don't keep the non-elimination format for every all-stars season. the stakes feel lower, theres not as much drama, and the cast is literally half of what it could be which sort of snubs some great queens of their opportunity...
The cast was excellent, challenges were strong, no obvious front runners, great storylines, and the lipsyncs were good. One of the best twists ever with the lip sync comeback episode. I don't really know what more you can ask for.
I think they should have a main all stars franchise with only heavy hitters competing every four or so years but in between those years have one episode specials showcasing other queens who didn't do as well in the show
I agree, having these every single damn year is a big factor . Like bruh,,,,,, it should be something special . Every 2-3 years at least. That’ll incentivize the queens more to get up and accept any offer since it’s only coming every so often. Also, having not be annual anymore would free up budgets for regular seasons more. This franchise is big enough for 500k grand prizes if not 1 mil………
Ok, in contrast: my heterosexual male roommate has recently taken up watching back seasons of drag race with me and he 100% prefers All Stars. His favorite was All Stars 3! I was shooketh!
Video idea: Of the years when we got an all stars season paired along with a regular season, i.e. (Season 8, All stars 2; Season 12, All stars 5; Season 13, All stars 6 etc.) which was the better of the pair and how did this impact the other season in retrospect. Love the new intro and keep up the great work🎉
They need a bigger gap between the All Stars instead of having one every year. Thats why they’re running out of the higher placing and more popular queens from their original run, so then we get the “some stars”. And when I say that, it’s not a diss or saying those queens who didn’t perform well originally don’t have potential or can’t show growth because we have been proven wrong on numerous occasions. I love a good redemption story. But if you don’t get enough big names in there, it’s harder to bring in the viewers because we want to see the big stars as well as our favorites.
I feel like part of the difficulty in getting queens to return for All Stars is two fold. One is having to eliminate other queens, but two is the risk of damaging their brand if they go out early, which is why there’s usually a sacrificial lamb cast that is just designated to go out first. Going back to the regular format fixes the first issue but not the second. My crazy idea is to do non-elimination, but only for the first half of the season, and then eliminate half the girls at the midway point. The top 4,5,6, whatever, queens automatically continue, while the eliminated queens have to compete in a lalaparuza for the last spot - that way we get to have a lip sync tournament for the season and also each eliminated queen gets a moment to have their exit. The season then proceeds as normal with a queen being eliminated each week until we reach the end.
I know that this will be like a snowball's chance in hell, but can you imagine if we will be having an All-Stars with like 12 queens from single digit seasons only. Like S1 to S9 only. Like a Reintroduction season. That would be a fever dream! ❤
I think Rate A Queen could be the fix to AS. You still have the voting aspect to it which could introduce drama, you still have the judges being able to avoid accountability but we remove the whole ‘voting out your friends’ part and we also reduce the chances of a wonky elimination order that sank seasons like AS3 and AS4. Aside from Rate A Queen, it runs like a normal season. Top three rated queens get high placements and Ru gets to pick the winner, bottom three queens are low and one is saved from elimination by Ru, other two lip sync. It would be worth a shot at least. If they wanna keep the non-elimination factor (which I think is a mistake) then they could also do Rate A Queen and do a point system or something, with the top rated queens lip syncing for the win. Make the placements known, like by a scoreboard in the werkroom and the gals will undoubtedly create drama. Main downside I could see though is if a queen is consistently rated low and is just always at the bottom, that could get very icky very fast.
honestly i can't imagine or understand how they thought having the queens eliminate each other was a good idea. not only does it mean that friends have to choose other friends to go (or stay), but it completely disrupts any momentum built up in a queens narrative, and makes for an unsatisfying story.
I don't think they can pull non-elim seasons off every year, it gets boring real quick, AS9 already received mixed reactions before it even aired. Change the format to something completely new with elimination and give the queens more stipend/appearance fee.
Considering production spent 600k already for the queens on AS9 they most definitely could increase the cast prize if they actually wanted to but who knows why they don’t. Cause I honestly thought we would never get a tie ever again due to financial reasons but after hearing how much they spent on AS9 is not an excuse anymore to increase the prize money.
It is because compared to other reality shows, this one generates a lot of money with less investment than other reality shows, which allowed them to always give the green light to new seasons.
One point I think you didn’t catch was that 100k from gigs and appearances gets taxed in the 25-40% range depending on state taxes and a lot of it can be cut down via deductions from work expenses. 100k from winning a season gets taxed at >50% because it’s considered lottery winnings and I don’t think deductions help that much
the main issue with all stars in my opinion is that it happens every year… if the seasons were spread out every few years and the budget was saved up (3 year gap but that money set aside for 1 big season) the fact there are also x vs the world seasons coming out more also doesn’t help
I definitely agree that All Stars shouldn’t be a yearly thing. The gap between All Stars 1 and 2 was perfect because there was enough time to build up enough cast members to come back. It also gives the reigning queens time to actually reign and shine
If they keep churning out All Stars every year we need themes. 1. regular all stars everyone wants, high profile queens, mostly finalists and MC, regardless of franchise 2. all winners non elimination or early outs non elimination, i.e. for charity, i.e. 3. global all stars solo and perhaps in country teams; UK, US, DU, Thai, etc that way we have regular all stars every 3-4 years and it feels deserved for entire cast, we have a goofy no risk season for winners/early outs to show off and we have a global season for everyone else.
Super agree that they need to start taking years between AS seasons. There was four years between AS1 and AS2 which gave the cast and audience time to rebuilt excitement after a lackluster first season. It should be like the Olympics, a special event. And less seasons would mean more Queens bringing their A game because it feels like a bigger opportunity.
What I like about the idea of non-elimination all-stars seasons (not only for all-winners): No "robbery" of amazing performances! I was soooo hyped for all-stars 8 snatch game.... Mrs. Kasha Davis AND Derienne Lake (together with Jimbo) in an all-stars snatch game: sign me up! ...and both got eliminated earlier... Some queens esp. On regular seasons can not show, what talents they have. Then on all-stars - where you already know more about your cast and could do even tailored themed seasons like many people wish for, e.g. seamstress/design season; comedy and acting season, etc. - you have queens that already proved their talents (on the show or outside of it) and you do not "allow" them to showcase/re-present them (i.e. "THAT's why I am all-star/here")... x.x (due to e.g. challenge order...)
I think All Stars 2 was also so big because people waited almost 5 years for the season. If they had all stars every 2-3 years I think there would be a lot more hype behind the season
You know I could've sworn there a period in time where the All Stars seasons were shown in the fall/winter of a year, while the main seasons were in spring/summer. That setup made sense in terms of giving the audience a breather and an opportunity for queens to roll out and get themselves out on the road after showing up in their season, All Stars or otherwise
Commenting before watching, but the confusion I've had for years now about them doing All Stars so frequently is... what's the end game? Do they keep doing All Stars seasons until every Queen has a chance to win it? If every Queen is a winner, are any of them?
A 4 year cycle but with every year getting a regular and a "special" season could work. Rotate something like Year 1 - All Starts, Year 2 - Spin off, Year 3 - Global All stars, Year 4 - Spin off back to year 1 - All stars. Spin offs could be celebrity drag race, design season, lip sync season, queen of universe, big brother, snatch game season, where are they now documentary, drag race live the tour I dunno anything. some could be a one off or some could be so good that for a while they take that year 2 spot. also maybe make global all stars like the olympics/eurovision where a different country gets to host it each time
I have said it before, A good idea would be to bring back Drag U. This time it would be the top tier Drag Race girls training virgin queens. The virgin queens would then compete for a spot on regular Drag Race.
AS1 gave us a blueprint on casting. All Stars should be every 4 years where they cast the RunnerUp, Ms. Congeniality, and the Surprise Queen that could compete. AS1- after S4 AS2 - after S8 (Queens from S5-S8) AS3 - after S12 (Queens from S9-S12) AS4 - after S16 (Queens from S13-S16) Themed seasons should, happen during the 2nd year of gap between all stars. I think that could have kept the show format interestinf
I think they're keeping the top2 format for vs the world, the lip sync assassin for Global All stats and the non elimination for All stars. That way they have 3 shows running with the different formats
I agree that allstar season should be once in every 2/3/4 years. And I also think that drag race as a reality tv format itself is starting to be over saturated. Instead of wasting potential by doing annual allstar seasons, maybe it’s time for the production team to let it rest for a bit, so that other non-competition IPs (such as We’re Here) can shine even brighter.
Ps. I’d love to see WOW create something new during the allstar’s gap years, such as hiring queens with acting/improv talents to actually make films/plays/mini-projects.
They could fix all of this by doing all stars like every 3 years. To me that is the major root of all problems. That way the pool of queens to choose from is larger, they can budget more, and convince a lot more heavy hitters to come back. Sorry not sorry, but I’m over like half the cast being people I barely remember anything about. I’m sure they’re lovely gals, but baby I’m here to be entertained. I think the occasional early out or 2 is exciting, because I mean we got the goddess that is Kylie. but yeah it’s very oversaturated. And you’re totally right. Not sending anyone home is most likely the only reason they could convince someone like Vanjie or Gottmik to come back, because let’s be real they don’t need drag race at this point in their career. It’s primarily fan service at this point.
For me All Stars should be every 3 years. They should then give them enough money to get the runner ups from the previous three season, the fan favourites and the congenialities. No one else unless they truly became an All Star after Drag Race by working their ass off like e.g. Trixie. Then in years without a regular All Stars, experiment. Do All Winners. Do Legends. Do Global. Do Redemptions for early outs. Maybe Heroes vs Villains? Do an all Design season! As for Global, I think it would make sense for instead of Espana All Stars for it to be expanded for all Spanish speaking queens. You'd have all the cast of Spain and Mexico but also so many US queens who struggle because they are ESL and their English is fairly poor. Perhaps France could do something similar as well.
One of the things I love about LMD, the Mexican drag competition, is the effort and trust they put in their queens. How each year they strive to do better by them and to keep improving the show. This is clearly reflected in the cash prizes for each season: 1 - 50,000 MXN 2 - 100,000 MXN 3 - 150,000 MXN 4 - 250,000 MXN 5 - 500,000 MXN 6 - 600,000 MXN AS1 - 1,000,000 MXN (1 f* million!) Sure those are in Mexican pesos, but compare that to the stagnation in DR prizes where not even inflation was compensated 😅
i think laila mcqueen and maybe kimora blac also confirmed they were contacted for an early out all stars season. its my personal theory that all stars 8 had so many early outs bc those queens already agreed to the season but they didnt have enough early outs so the cast turned out the way that it did
Having All Stars every year is so boring even for queens. "I'll go next time" is something they must think, or after someone they think is set to win. Katya and Ginger going right after their seasons was probably bc "oh it's a once in a lifetime opportunity again". Also AS2 is good bc it's nice to see queens that are GOOD at drag race so we do need that
It's far too frequent. The idea of an All Stars is to take the best of the bunch from each season, which I felt they did with AS1 + AS2, but then it's now just any queen who wants to do it. They should do 2/3 regular seasons, then get the queens from those seasons into an All Stars season, then repeat this every few years. Also, AS9 is 50% from S11 and S14, like why. It's easily the most random bunch of queens ever, it's ridiculous...
According to rumors, production was looking to make two possible all stars: early outs and fan favorites But because the majority of queens rejected they merged the concepts, and added to the mix calling Cheryl and Jimbo, with only Jimbo being the one who accepted.
With how many Emmys the show has won and how popular it is, I think 500k should be the base prize for a winner on the regular season or all stars. 1M for all winners
I’ve been a fan of your channel for a long time and I’m genuinely insanely happy to have been able to work with you! You were super sweet and patient the whole time and I couldn’t be more thankful 🤍
I don’t think there is such a thing as “too much drag race.” I really love drag race… the more I get the better ! Also for the girls who are casted for all stars who aren’t too big, all stars can help them build a career again just like it happened with Jessica Wild for example !
The writing was on the wall when Allstars 2 got so popular, could immediately tell that oh shit, they're gonna milk allstars for all it's got until it's not even interesting even more and that happened really fast. Sad for some queens but real is real, allstars is only interesting when big talent is on it.
i think the first thing is that putting out a new season every year was a big mistake, and secondly, yes, the bazillion international seasons make it so that the international seasons feel smaller and unimportant instead of greater??? which they should???? and every fan out there is pitching a million different themes for the all stars since forever, they should start theming the seasons, lol
It’s true. I actually recently finished watching the last episode (didn’t watch the makeover) of AS8 after months of not finishing the season. Totally forgot it existed. And then watched to see Jimbo win and thought to myself that duh, I could of just watched the first episode and now how it’s gonna end.
Number one thing they need to do is stop making it a yearly thing. If there's fewer chances to go back for an all stars season, queens might be more enticed to return. Change the format, either eliminate the lipsync assassin format or make the lipsync assassin also be competing for the 10K tip and the assassin chooses the song. And up the ante on the production. First couple of season were fine on the lower end of the budget spectrum, it was new and experimental. By now, it should be treated better.
I would swap the price money - so regular season 500k and all stars 250k cause why would a queen even try to win the main season when they can just come back and win 500k
I wish they would space the seasons out a little bit. Maybe have an all stars season every 3 or 4 years. And they need to increase the budget. Right now, all stars feels like a shitty budget spinoff of the main series. Another issue is with the queens self-editing and being more “camera-aware” (mostly cause of the rabid fanbase), which makes for boring reality TV. So producers need to give the queens incentive to compete and get competitive.
the reason Survivor gives you $1,000,000 is BECAUSE you have to eliminate other people. That level of playing a game demands a lot of mental toughness and coming to terms with yourself and your own opinions. I think it's not that serious to send someone home and they should keep doing it. I think if the winner of the challenge had to choose two people to then lip sync for their life and Ru chose who stayed and could save them both it would be a little more fair. But I think part of being an All-Star is the point that you need to be willing to "fire" someone so to speak. Send them home because at the end of the day there's just only room for one. That being said I am excited for every All-Stars because I just love the excitement of seeing more drag! As soon as one season ends I anticipate the next. Same for the main series. It's also nice that they both air before Pride season so all the queens can take advantage of that time for their brand recognition. I wish for this charity season that each week a winner is chosen and they win a cash tip. At the end of the show each queen's winnings are matched and then donated to charity. So they all win money if they win challenges and then Ru can have the tax break for donating to charity lol. Each week could be like $10-25k for main challenges and like $2-5k for minis. They could also judge runway separately and offer three chances to win each episode. Honestly... that could literally just be the new format for All-Star seasons because it would incentivize Queens to excel at every challenge as much as possible.
