She's (he's) back, in all her (his) glory

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TV This Week
She's (he's) back, in all her (his) glory
By Louisa Ada Seltzer
Feb 1, 2010 - 1:00:36 AM

"RuPaul's Drag Race" may be the campiest show on Logo. Its web site offers tips for choosing your own drag name and has an app that allows you to upload a picture to see what you'd look like as a queen.

The reality show, which returns for its second season tonight at 9 p.m., is exactly what it sounds like, a competition to find the most fabulous drag queen in the world, second only to RuPaul herself (or himself; both versions appear on the program).

She opens the show by declaring, "You bitches are the best America has to offer." Then the drag princesses, with names like Pandora Boxx and Jujubee, compete against each other in challenges such as reinventing their looks using nothing but household items.

As intentionally over-the-top and funny as those challenges can be, it's the personalities that make this show work, most of all RuPaul, who has somehow remained just barely relevant for nearly two decades, dating back to that ridiculous hit early '90s single "Supermodel."

Seeing RuPaul appear with another gay icon, guest judge Kathy Griffin, it's easy to see why this show was the highest-rated on Logo last year. Though its audience is small compared to other basic cable programs, "Drag" is getting enough media notice that it far outshines Logo's other offerings.

An interview with RuPaul appeared on WSJ.com yesterday, and Entertainment Weekly gave the show an "A." Meanwhile, other Logo programs like "The Robert Verdi Show Starring Robert Verdi," specials starring gay and lesbian comics and a myriad of gay films have not attracted anywhere near this attention.

Nor, for that matter, did the winner of season one of "Drag." The real reason for the show is to get RuPaul on screen, and everyone, even the wannabe contestants, knows that.

A look at this week’s top TV draws
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 1
Time	Network	Program	Description
8 p.m.	ABC	“The Bachelor” (R)	Jake and the remaining five ladies take a trip to San Francisco.
8 p.m.	Fox	“House” (D)	Orlando Jones guests as Foreman’s brother.
9 p.m.	ABC Family	“Make It or Break It” (D)	Summer and Sasha ponder throwing a Valentine’s Day mixer.
9 p.m.	BET	“BET Honors” (A)	Gabrielle Union hosts the third annual awards show.
9:30 p.m.	CBS	“The Big Bang Theory” (C)	Sheldon gets a job with Penny at a restaurant.
10 p.m.	TNT	“Men of a Certain Age” (D)	A bookie exploits Joe’s golf skills.
10 p.m.	CBS	“CSI: Miami” (D)	Anthony Michael Hall plays a convicted killer on death row.
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 2
Time	Network	Program	Description
7 a.m.	ABC	“Good Morning America” (N)	John Travolta and former John Edwards aide Andrew Young guest.
8 p.m.	CBS	“NCIS” (D)	The squad tries to stop terrorists from detonating a bomb in D.C. Hmm, if it blows up at 8:59, "Lost" fans are gonna be super ticked.
8 p.m.	NBC	“Biggest Loser: Couples” (R)	Eliminated players show up and try to rejoin the competition.
8 p.m.	Fox	“American Idol” (R)	Victoria Beckham guests during Denver auditions.
9 p.m.	ABC	“Lost” (D)	Assuming the "NCIS" stopped the world from ending last hour, the highly anticipated season six opener begins.
9 p.m.	ESPN	“College Basketball” (S)	Two of the Big Ten’s best teams, Michigan State and Wisconsin, square off in Madison.
10 p.m.	CBS	“The Good Wife” (D)	Alicia defends a murder suspect in a civil case, but she thinks he might be guilty.
10 p.m.	BET	“The Michael Vick Project” (R)	Series premiere. Following the convicted dog fighter as he tries to reshape his image and career.
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3
Time	Network	Program	Description
8 p.m.	CBS	“Super Bowl’s Greatest Commercials” (A)	A countdown of the best spots ever to air on Super Sunday.
9 p.m.	Fox	“American Idol” (R)	Hollywood is right around the corner as the audition phase ends.
9 p.m.	ABC	“Modern Family” (C)	Actress Minnie Driver guests as an old friend of Claire.
9 p.m.	CBS	“Criminal Minds” (D)	A con artist kills the people he scams.
10 p.m.	FX	“Nip/Tuck” (D)	A common procedure on an actress goes wrong.
10 p.m.	MTV	“The Real World” (R)	Ashley gets into a fight with Andrew, which stirs memories of past abuse.
10 p.m.	USA	“Psych” (D)	Someone goes overboard during a river-rafting trip, and Shawn thinks it wasn’t an accident.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 4
Time	Network	Program	Description
7 a.m.	ABC	“Good Morning America” (N)	Comedian, singer and actor Jamie Foxx guests.
8 p.m.	CW	“The Vampire Diaries” (D)	Bonnie and Ben go on a date, but it doesn’t turn out well.
8 p.m.	TNT	NBA Basketball” (S)	Should be a fun one to watch between Miami and Cleveland.
9 p.m.	ABC	“Grey’s Anatomy” (D)	A patient of Bailey's and Meredith's wakes up in the middle of surgery.
9 p.m.	NBC	“The Office” (C)	Dunder Mifflin is bought out by a company whose CEO is played by Kathy Bates.
10 p.m.	CBS	“The Mentalist” (D)	A car saleswoman is found dead in the trunk of a Bentley. Was she selling Toyotas? People are pretty mad about the recall.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5
Time	Network	Program	Description
8 p.m.	CBS	“Ghost Whisperer” (D)	Margaret Cho plays a professor who’s haunted by a ghost secret admirer.
8 p.m.	CW	“Smallville” (D)	The Justice Society of America gets help from Clark, Chloe, John Jones and Green Arrow.
8 p.m.	Nickelodeon	“iCarly” (K)	Freddie gets a little too close to Gibby’s girlfriend.
9 p.m.	CBS	“Medium” (D)	No matter who Allison talks to, she keeps seeing the face of the same man. Maybe someone else has a ghost secret admirer, huh?
10 p.m.	Showtime	“Spartacus: Blood and Sand” (D)	Spartacus plots to battle Crixus in the main event of a festival.
10:30 p.m.	ESPN	“NBA Basketball” (S)	The Nuggets try to take down the Lakers in Los Angeles.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 6
Time	Network	Program	Description
Noon	ESPN	“College Basketball” (S)	Tough Big East matchup between Villanova and Georgetown.
8 p.m.	Fox	“NASCAR Racing” (S)	The Budweiser Shootout from Daytona International Speedway.
9 p.m.	BBC	“Demons” (D)	Season finale. Luke has bad dreams about the car accident that killed his dad.
9 p.m.	Food Network	“Food Network Challenge” (N)	Chefs make chocolate versions of the wonders of the world.
9 p.m.	ESPN	“College Basketball” (S)	Key conference game between Michigan State and Illinois.
11:30 p.m.	NBC	“Saturday Night Live” (C)	Ashton Kutcher hosts and Them Crooked Vultures perform.
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 7
Time	Network	Program	Description
Noon	NBC	“NHL Hockey” (S)	The sport’s current golden boys, Crosby and Ovechkin, face off in Washington.
2 p.m.	CBS	“Super Bowl Today” (S)	The season’s biggest game needs its longest pregame show.
2:30 p.m.	ABC	“NBA Basketball” (S)	The Magic travel to Boston for a game against the Celtics.
6:25 p.m.	CBS	“NFL Football” (S)	After all the talk, it’s Colts versus Saints in Super Bowl XLIV in Miami.
9 p.m.	HBO	“Big Love” (D)	Bill works endless hours in his attempt to win a state senate seat (and draw people away from the Super Bowl).
10 p.m.	CBS	“Undercover Boss” (R)	Series premiere. Executives pretend to be new low-level hires at their own companies. CBS pretends the show will actually start at 10.
A = awards show or special, C = comedy, D = drama, DD = daytime drama, G = game show, K = kids, M = movie, N = news/documentary, R = reality, S = sports, T = talk/variety show.