‘Call Me Mother’ is part of a wave of reality shows with ‘RuPaul’ alumni produced by OutTV

Family comes first in the new drag competition series “Call Me Mother”.

The OutTV original pits three trawler teams against each other in a cavalcade of challenges to crown “Trawler’s First Son” with prizes worth $ 50,000. The format is inspired by the tradition of drag families, in which an experienced drag artist, the mother of the house, mentors the “children” as they learn how to paint their faces, pad their bodies and fasten wigs to withstand strong spanking. hair related.

“It takes a town and I believe that drag families are the people behind every queen,” says Farra N. Hyte, judge and choreographer for the series, which will premiere on October 25. “If you are in a family, you have a town helping you to present the best version of yourself.”

The Toronto veteran drag is the mother of House of Hytes, which includes a dozen drag queens, including “Canada’s Drag Race” judge and “RuPaul’s Drag Race” runner-up Brooke Lynn Hytes. “On set, I think I called Brooke every day,” Farra said.

“Call Me Mother” follows a format that has been compared to “The Voice.” Three drag moms: “RuPaul’s Drag Race” season 9 finalist Miss Peppermint, “RuPaul’s Drag Race UK” season 1 Canadian queen Crystal, and Montreal drag legend Barbada de Barbades, choose from 10 artists to adopt in their homes.

They then train their teams through a series of challenges until the winner is named. In a bittersweet twist, if a house is ready to be taken down, the mother herself chooses which of her children will be sent home.

The series highlights the diversity of drag art. Contestants include “goddess of the two spirits” Ella Lamoureux, drag king HercuSleaze, non-binary actor Toddy, and trans drag queen and activist Felicia Bonée.

It’s a far cry from when Farra started acting more than 20 years ago, when drag in Toronto was synonymous with female identity theft. When it came to her identity as a trans woman, Farra looked to the late Chris Edwards as a trans-drag role model.

“I thought, I would love to be like her, and I didn’t think that was possible,” he said. It was only when she felt more confident in her heels that she realized she could perform as Farra N. Hyte, a sequin-studded showgirl at night, and still live her life as a woman by day like Chantelle Carr.

“It has only made Farra N. Hyte stronger,” he said. “It gives me more confidence in my drag character.”

Dallas Dixon, “ET Canada” Pride correspondent and host of “Call Me Mother,” said the series includes “all the forms of drag you see when you go out. It’s time for us as drag fans to respect the fact that that there are more types of drag queens than drag queens. “

“Call Me Mother” is part of a wave of reality shows starring “RuPaul’s Drag Race” alumni produced by OutTV. The Canadian LGBTQ specialty channel’s original shows and streaming service also include the cooking series “Wigs in a Blanket.” starring Ginger Minj and Jiggly Caliente, and the court series “Judge Judy” -esque “Iconic Justice” starring Willam. Also announced is “From Katya With Love,” a reality dating series starring comedy duo Katya and Trixie Mattel.

“We used to license a lot of content, but that got more difficult over the years as streaming services got more rights,” said Philip Webb, OutTV’s chief operating officer. Having now launched its own streaming service, OutTV currently streams 80 originals, with around 20 yet to be released. Five years ago, Webb says, they made two or three a year.

“The more successful our streaming service becomes, the more granular and clear our data becomes,” Webb said. “Nielsen is not as reliable as a software buying tool.

“As we gather more information, we know what our audience likes. They like drag, but that’s not all they like. They really like the documentary. “He quotes.”Boy boy montreal, ”On the gay porn industry in Montreal, as an example.

Webb believes that “Call Me Mother” will offer something that audiences have not seen before. “There are similarities between all the competition programs,” he said. “But we set out to do something slightly different, something that we could show around the world, and I think we succeeded.”

“A lot of people say there is too much resistance right now,” Dixon said. “There’s a lot of drag out there, but you haven’t seen anything like ‘Call Me Mother’ and the drag artists we have on this series. It will make people see drag from a very different perspective. “