Andrea James

How the Producers Behind RuPaul’s Drag Race Went From Extreme to Mainstream

T.L. Stanley

November 15, 2015, 8:01 PM EST

On Fuse, Transcendent became the network’s top-rated new original series in the target demo, adults 18-34, when it launched last month. Its Wednesday night companion show, Big Freedia, in its fourth season, delivered the channel’s highest-ever season premiere in the 18-34 demo, according to Nielsen Live + 3 Day data.

[Chris McCarthy, general manager of VH1 and Logo] dubbed them “the Norman Lears of the LGBTQ community” and said their shows have “pushed the conversation” in popular culture and in entertainment. Had it not been for 2008’s Transamerican Love Story on Logo and other “360-degree” looks at trans issues, there would be no I Am Cait, he said.

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