Canada's Drag Race (July 2nd 2020)

The more episodes I watch, the less I love this version of Drag Race. The absence of RuPaul as the driving force is really felt. It feels more like a bunch of fans/amateurs getting access to a studio to put on their own bootleg version of the show.

The trouble is, none of the three judge/hosts are an adequate replacement for Ru. But they must realize this, since they bring in a guest judge/host each week, and the guest does Ru's parts on the runway and on the panel, moderating the others.

One would think that Brooke Lynn Hytes could handle Ru's role solo, but I can see why they had her share the job. Stacey Mackenzie is valuable as another voice on the judges panel. But neither of them have a commanding enough presence (or are comfy enough reading cue cards) to take center stage.

Which brings us to Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman. He's the "name" star with the big personality, but he's not the best or most qualified judge of drag queens. He also lacks tact in his critiques, which has enraged the fans on social media.

And there's the latest problem: Social media has become out of control over the show. There are petitions to get Jeffrey fired, and the hate thrown his way has been so loud and ugly that he has deleted his Twitter account. That's no good. All this does is make Ru or the production companies rethink whether they should keep putting out shows.

Here's an article about how Crave (the Canadian streaming channel that airs the show) is dealing with it:

Crave asks Canada’s Drag Race fans to stop posting “hateful comments” - NowToronto.com

As for the queens themselves, they're okay, but the Lip Syncs For Your Life are really subdued/boring compared to the US or even UK versions. They all just sort of stand there or walk around, with a few of them throwing in a split here and there. For me, it's an anticlimactic ending to each show.

I always hope any Drag Race spinoff will succeed. But this one will need some tinkering before there's a season 2.