4 Quadrant Podcast Ep 5: Special ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 2’ Edition With Nigel Smith

Every once and awhile 4 Quadrant will break from awards season and take a deep dive into another corner of the pop culture universe.  No, don’t worry.  You’ll still get a healthy dose of Oscar and awards season talk with this week’s special guest, Nigel Smith of The Guardian and formerly of Indiewire.  However, for the fifth episode of 4 Quadrant you can also expect a very extended chat about the greatest reality competition show on television. A show that if you follow me on Twitter you have probably realized I’m a might big fan of.

“RuPaul’s Drag Race”

The show’s second “All Stars” season recently wrapped (the 10th for the show overall) and Nigel and I talk in-depth about what became an incredibly entertaining and unexpectedly surprising ride.  In case you were unaware  (and you might be) “All Stars 2” was the biggest hit in Logo’s history and we’re guessing the only reason  third “All Stars” season hasn’t been announced yet is recent Emmy winner RuPaul and production company World of Wonder are trying to get every little penny they can from Logo and Viacom before signing on the dotted line (“All Stars 2” simulcast on VH1 pumping up Thursday night ratings on that network as well).  Or they are waiting until after the reunion special airs on Thursday night to give the fanbase something to gag over.  In either case, it didn’t stop Nigel and I from picking what queens we’d like to see compete on “All Stars 3” (come through Ongina!).

READ MORE: $ Quadrant Podcast Ep4: Best Picture, “20th Century Women” With Kyle Buchanan

At best, our convo might convince you to catch up with the series or if you’re a member of the Television Academy, remember it next Spring when nomination ballots are due.  At worst, we’re probably very entertaining and more and more drinks are consumed as the night goes on…

(Oh, and as promised for those listening, here’s “All Stars 2” breakout Tatianna performing Demi Lovato’s “Confident.”)

0:00-27:00
Ranking the current top 10 Best Picture contenders as well as thoughts on the recent Gotham Awards nominations, AFI FEST and more.

27:00-1:21:00
An increasingly inebriated conversation about “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars” season 2 including our picks for the queens who should compete on the inevitable season 3.

You can listen to the entire episode embedded in this post or on iTunes. 

For more from Nigel Smith, follow him on twitter at @nigelmfs
For more Oscar buzz and movie industry insight (and an occasional Drag Race tweet) follow Gregory Ellwood at @TheGregoryE