Drag Race Fans Excitedly Await the Return of 90-Minute Episodes

Season 15 of ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ returns to Paramount+ in the U.S. and WOWPRESENTSPLUS internationally with never-before-seen content in full-length, or, in this case, extended episodes.

After what seemed like a pipe dream, fans are receiving something they previously thought impossible.

Nearly a week after a separate iteration of the show, ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 8,’ ended its latest season, it was announced that every episode from season 15 will be extended to 90 minutes and not just the previously aired final part of the season.

A short video, featuring the likes of previous winners and contestants, as well as guest judges and a voice-over from Michelle Visage, confirmed that episodes will be available to stream on the 9^th of August. This announcement comes after previously airing much of the season as 60-minute episodes on MTV.

For years, Drag Race fans have been accustomed to 90-minute episodes followed by a 30-minute untucked episode, but Drag Race’s transition from VH1 to MTV brought about a few unforeseen changes. First, Drag Race and its companion Untucked episode would not be aired back-to-back, and second, the episodes would now be 60 minutes instead of the 90 that fans on the show had grown accustomed to. While some viewers were okay with the change, it seemed as though the majority were not.

From the outside looking in, it may not have seemed like that big of a deal, but, for super fans of the show, this was world-shattering. Walkthroughs with the host in the ‘Werk Room’ were removed or shortened to only focus on queens that were central to the plot of the episode, and the runways moved so quickly that it felt like you could miss a queen’s look if you blinked.

Many fans took to social media to voice their concerns and complaints about the change, with some even faulting the shows that aired between Drag Race and Untucked. They cited that they were concerned that several queens weren’t getting enough airtime in the edit that the 60-minute episodes gave.

Memes and jokes ensued, with RuPaul, the show’s host, even joining in the festivities where she made a TikTok asking where her 90-minute episode length had gone. After months of backlash, it was announced that fans would get their full-length episodes back, but this change only affected the show’s final stretch of episodes. Now, after much outcry, and nearly 3 and a half months since season 15 ended, a full season of 90-minute episodes is back on the block.

With another Emmy nomination under their belt this season, it only feels right that fans will be able to relive, or experience for the first time, why Drag Race continues to be an inspiration to so many. Season 15 crowned Sasha Colby, a legend in the drag world both in and outside of drag race, marking its first-ever Trans winner in one of the show’s main seasons, as Kylie Sonique Love was the first trans woman to win in All Stars 6, a spin-off. The show also went out of its way to focus on the ever-rising anti-LGBT+ laws and rhetoric that are affecting queer people in day-to-day life, both locally and abroad, with the ‘Wigloose’ Rusical episode.

Fans will have to see if the currently unannounced season 16 returns to MTV with 90-minute episodes from the jump, but, if it doesn’t, streaming services may offer a glimmer of hope that they will eventually be able to watch their favorite queens uninterrupted. They’ll just have to wait and see what the Drag Race gods have in store.