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ShowsRuPaul's Drag RaceSeason 9

Season 9

Drag Race's VH1 debut, and the format's biggest production- scale jump to date. The premiere opened with Lady Gaga at the judge's table, a signal of the cultural altitude the show had reached. The cast leaned charismatic and varied across drag styles, and the workroom-and-runway shape held its weight under the bigger network treatment. RuPaul Charles hosted alongside Michelle Visage and a rotating fourth chair. The season reset the franchise's reach without flattening its craft.

Filmed
Los Angeles, California
Premiered
Mar 24, 2017
VH1 · Friday 8/7c
Episodes
14
Format
Standard format
the VH1 move season
Cast size
13 players
Host
RuPaul Charles
On this page4 sections
  1. 01The take
  2. 02Where it sits in the canon
  3. 03Adjacent in the canon
  4. 04Also appears in
01The take

Bigger reach, same craft.

02Where it sits in the canon

The #03 slot.

Slot #03 of 18 in the RuPaul's Drag Race Editor's Canon. Season 9 takes the third slot because it is where the franchise reset itself without losing what made it. The VH1 move bumped the production scale, but the show kept the workroom-and-runway shape that made the earlier seasons work. The cast leaned charismatic and varied, with performers who knew how to play to the larger audience VH1 brought without performing for it. Lady Gaga opened the season as guest judge, signaling the cultural altitude the show had reached. RuPaul Charles and Michelle Visage anchored a season that proved scale and craft did not have to trade against each other.

No spoilers. Every page is reviewed before it goes live.
04Also appears in

Cross-references.

Hosts working the roomlist · 19 entriesMoving daylist · 11 entriesThe season never needed a villainlist · 17 entriesNew network, same rulebooklist · 13 entriesThe finale broke its own season's rulebooklist · 15 entriesRuPaul's Drag Race: the season structure never holds stilllist · 11 entriesRuPaul's Drag Race — Editor's CanonEditor's Canon · #03