[Shaun]

Youtube video

90% sure that's Latrice Royale introducing her as well, so I'd imagine a couple of Drag Race cameos happen.

Netflix has released the first look at RuPaul Charles’ forthcoming scripted drag queen series AJ and the Queen — and it is fabulous as much as it is fierce.

The first teaser for the new comedy which is set for a January 10, 2020 launch date has RuPaul serving a whole lot of looks set to the tune of glittery fanfare that will make you strut and shablam.

Created by Charles and Michael Patrick King (of Sex and the City fame), AJ and the Queen follows Robert Lee (RuPaul), better known as the drag queen Ruby Red. He has the dream of opening his own drag club and after years of performing in clubs all across the country and saving every dime, he he finally gets his chance. That is, until he realizes he’s been swindled by a charismatic grifter (Josh Segarra) and his eye-patch wearing partner-in-crime, Lady Danger (Tia Carrere). With his heart broken and money stolen, Robert has no choice but to pick up the pieces and start over, and a cross country Ruby Red roadshow provides the perfect opportunity to do just that.

But when AJ (Izzy G.), a scrappy, streetwise 10-year-old escaping a difficult home life, crosses paths with Robert, he becomes a de facto parent. An unlikely pair must find a way to get along, navigate through tough times and learn from one another. Of course, while going through their drama, we get treated to a lot of fabulousness including a performance from RuPaul Charles in every episode.

The series co-stars Michael-Leon Wooley and Katerina Tannenbaum. King serves as showrunner and will executive produce alongside Charles and Jhoni Marchinko. MPK Productions produces in association with Warner Bros. TV.

[Shaun]

Full list of Drag Race cameos has been released by Entertainment Weekly (I've ordered them by the series they were in):

Ongina
Victoria 'Porkchop' Parker
Jujubee
Pandora Boxx
Manila Luzon
Alexis Mateo
Mariah
Chad Michaels
Latrice Royale
Jinkx Monsoon
Jade Jolie
Bianca del Rio
Ginger Minj
Kennedy Davenport
Katya
Trinity the Tuck
Valentina
Eureka O'Hara
Jaymes Mansfield
Mayhem Miller
Monique Heart
Vanessa Vanjie Mateo

[Shaun]

It is out now.













...and it is terrible!

[MB.]

I say this with the greatest admiration for RuPaul and everything she's done for the LGBTQ+ community: I would rather turn straight than watch this

[Ammi]

...I watched it and I turned straight..?...

[Ammi]

...no I didn’t watch it actually...just ignore me...

[Shaun]

The saddest thing is it's...Ru that's the worst thing about it. All of the cameos are fun little nods to the show that's reinvigorated her career, and the supporting cast are fine, but Ru's acting is just so bad And the writing is so lazy and corny, and full of all those fortune-cookie platitudes and mantras that she enforces on the queens in Drag Race.

She isn't able to evoke...emotion, really. The premise is a drag queen finally saving up enough money to open her own club, only for her boyfriend to run off with the money, and you...can't give a single tear? A little breakdown?

Her blind best friend is pretty great, and the child is a good actor, but there's nothing else of substance to this.

[MB.]

Originally Posted by Ammi

...I watched it and I turned straight..?...

I always feared this day would come

[Ammi]

...it’s strange that it should be lacking of the emotion with the storyline because that’s one of the key things about drag race...?...not only the touching workroom conversations that bond the queens and give us an insight into their lives...but how Ru herself touches below the surface of her queens...

[Ammi]

Originally Posted by MB.

I always feared this day would come

.....so did Mr Ammi...he’s shooketh...

[Shaun]

Originally Posted by Ammi

...it’s strange that it should be lacking of the emotion with the storyline because that’s one of the key things about drag race...?...not only the touching workroom conversations that bond the queens and give us an insight into their lives...but how Ru herself touches below the surface of her queens...

Unfortunately there've been enough instances of drag queens from the show talking, post-show, about the filming experience being very cold and Ru distancing herself from the girls (there's an infamous example involving Pearl) that the idea has probably set in on most Drag Race fans' minds that Ru is, unfortunately, a Hollywood phoney and all emotional instances on the show are basically currency to her as a reality TV producer.

Youtube video

I do believe she has a heart, and she's been incredibly supportive and emotional on the show before (the "we choose our own family" speech when Roxxxy revealed the bus stop story, the identification with queens like Trinity K Bonet overcoming their demons, screaming at everyone at the first ever reunion about standing up for themselves and proving the judges wrong)... but I can't help but feel she kinda checked out from the "Mother" title of Mother Ru a while ago.

[Ammi]

...crikey I didn’t know any of that, I’m new to drag race and I always thoughts she was genuine...the ladies seem so inspired by her and so connected to her...One thing that I’ve loved about her is that she has looked beneath the surface of behaviour that could have been dismissed as ‘diva’ and that’s created some really heart felt moments from the queens......but those are not genuine moments..?..

...I’ll go off and watch the vid and do a little rusearch, thank you for that.....

[Shaun]

Unsurprisingly...

[Saph]

Its a shame but it works well as a stand alone season tbh. Another series with AJ traveling with Ru would've felt a bit meaningless

[Jigs]

I really enjoyed this. I wanted to see a second season!