After 13 seasons and a slew of spinoffs, RuPaul's Drag Race is still going strong and, in many ways, is better than ever. It’s hard to believe the show, which began on a niche cable network with a noticeably small budget, has come so far and turned into such a huge crossover success. RuPaul's Drag Race has definitely come a long way from when it first started.
While there have also been six All Stars seasons and a number of international versions, the 13 regular seasons are the core of the franchise, and one has its particular strengths and weaknesses. And while everyone has their favorite seasons and queens, there are some that are generally seen as better than others.
Updated Sept. 7, 2021 by Paul Ciampanelli: Since this article was originally published in 2019, RuPaul's Drag Race has aired two more exciting regular seasons. Season 12 and 13 now take their place in this ranking. Sickening, no?
Season 1
It’s hard to place too much blame on season 1 for being the worst season, because it was the first and kicked everything off. Clearly, the show didn’t have a very big budget back then, and it didn't look destined for the success it enjoys today.
It’s poor production quality and that infamous blurry filter make it noticeably lower quality than anything else in the franchise, but it will still always hold a special place in fans' hearts because it started the whole Drag Race phenomenon.
Season 13
Season 13 of RuPaul's Drag Race is most notable for being long. With 16 episodes, it's the longest season of any version of Drag Race to date. And it felt long. When there were no queens eliminated from the competition until the fourth episode, fans suspected they were in for a slog, and they were right. The queens in season 13 were by and large not interesting enough to support the season's interminable length — Gottmik, who was a breath of fresh air, is a major exception — and the eventual winner was unexciting.
Season 7
This was a season that is still talked about as being one of the worst. Many people were unhappy with Violet Chachki winning the crown. People were also pretty disappointed in the final three. It’s kind of a shame this whole season was such as mess, because some beloved queens made their first appearances on this season, including Trixie Mattel and Katya. Sadly, neither of these two made it to the final three, but luckily these RuPaul's Drag Race queen were able to move onto better things.
Season 11
Season 11 featured a few strong queens. Seeing Miss Vanjie return from season 9 made the season fun, and queens such as Yvie Oddly and Silky Nutmeg Ganache made for many dramatic moments as well as some exciting runways. But all in all, it was awfully middle-of-the-road season, and the finale felt like an afterthought. This season had its moments, although many of the judges' decisions were strange, and none of the queens seemed like obvious breakout stars destined to became fan favorites.
Season 2
Season 2 was definitely more put-together than season 1. The series started to figure out what it was and put things in motion to become more successful. However, it’s still early on in the show's history, so things overall were still rough around the edges.
However, there were some iconic moments and queens from this season including Raven and Tatianna and their lip-sync skills. Viewers also first met fan favorite Shangela in this season. Even though she left after the first episode, she would come back for more in later seasons and leave her mark on Drag Race herstory.
Season 8
Season 8 wasn’t bad, and it was an improvement over season 7, but it definitely wasn’t one of the best of the franchise. Overall, it was average and largely forgettable. Bob the Drag Queen is an excellent winner, and he is definitely a consistent comedy queen, but her win seemed predestined because her talent was so large compared the rest of the competition. Overall, many of the queens on this season weren’t as memorable as those from other seasons. So while little from this season stands out as particularly bad, it's also not particularly memorable.
Season 10
This season was overall a strong one. The queens on this season were generally strong competitors. Plus, there were so many iconic moments from this season such as Miss Vanjie leaving. With queens like Monet X Change, Monique Heart, and Eureka, this season is an easy one to remember. While fans were disappointed the winner wasn’t someone more diverse, there’s no denying that Aquaria was an amazing queen throughout the show who was very talented.
Season 12
Season 12 had the odds stacked against it from the start when contestant Sherry Pie was disqualified before airing for her behavior outside the show. The season was already wrapped, so Sherry Pie was present, but edited around. The awkwardness of that could have tanked the whole season, but it didn't. And the credit for that goes to the other fierce queens such as Heidi N Closet, Gigi Good, Jaida Essence Hall, and Crystal Methyd. Even the finale, which was filmed over Zoom due to COVID-19 restrictions, could easily have failed, but the talented cast turned it into a unique and truly fun ending to a weird and wonderful season.
Season 9
Season 9 was packed with some great (and terrible) queens. Fans will never forget the moment where Valentina didn’t take her mask off during the lip sync. There were a lot of dramatic moments in this season. When Sasha Velour won with her amazing lip sync at the end, it was a triumphant moment. While having a four-way lip sync isn’t the best way to determine the winner, Sasha’s performance was so great it’s hard to be too mad at the way the finale was structured.
Season 3
While season 2 is when the show really started to figure out how to be successful, season 3 is when the show really came together. The show finally figured out how to make their challenges more interesting.
Plus, this is the first season that Michelle Visage became a regular judge which made for a better judging panel. Raja won this season, but the season also introduced us to some other great queens such as Manila Luzon who was the runner-up.
Season 4
Season 4 was a great, dynamic season, and it’s definitely a good one to start with for those who have never seen the show. This season is when RuPaul’s Drag Race really started to become a hit. Plus, there were a lot of strong contestants with interesting personalities. Sharon Needles won this season, and she's’ pretty hard to forget. Other queens on this season included Latrice Royale, Cameron Michaels, and Willam. Overall, this season had some of the fan’s favorite queens.
Season 5
Season 5 is another season that had an amazing cast of queens. The lineup from this season is easily one of the best, maybe even the best. RPDR brought us queens like Alyssa Edwards, Roxxxy Andrews, and Alaska. Jinkx Monsoon won this season proving that even a "weird" queen can still make it to the top.
Overall, the challenges were good, and there were intense rivalries as well as super funny moments.
Season 6
Season 6 was one of the strongest seasons. It’s generally agreed as one of the best. This season was super funny, and this was largely thanks to Bianca Del Rio who easily deserved her crown. Besides everyone’s favorite comedy queen, fan-favorite Adore Delano and the talented Courtney Act also made it to the top three. There were many dramatic moments in season 6 of RuPaul's Drag Race, some amazing challenges, and a cast that contained real star personalities. This is a season fans love to watch over and over again.