Shraman Mitra
Hulu’s ‘Drag Me to Dinner‘ is an exciting reality show in which two pairs of drag performers go up against each other to host the best dinner party. While each episode features two different teams, the parties are to follow a particular theme specified by the judges. Ultimately, after the judges attend both dinners, the best pair is congratulated as the winner and awarded the coveted Golden Grater trophy.
Following the theme of drag, the participants can often be witnessed adding their unique touches to the parties in the form of dramatic and, at times, spooky performances. Hence, while the occasional over-the-top drama made fans question the show’s authenticity, some have wondered if the results are determined before filming. Well, with viewers now eager to know the truth, let’s jump in and find out if ‘Drag Me to Dinner is fake or unscripted, shall we?
Is Drag Me to Dinner Scripted?
From its premiere, Hulu has presented ‘Drag Me to Dinner’ as an unscripted show, and we find no reason to believe otherwise. That said, readers should note that the narrative requires pre-planning, in some instances, to make filming more convenient. For a show to be unscripted, it has to do away with pre-written scripts and pre-determined results. Since the participants should be allowed to act of their own free will in front of the camera, the production team is expected to avoid influencing the narrative. Additionally, to keep a show completely authentic, one cannot rehearse a specific action before enacting it during filming, as everything has to be spontaneous.
‘Drag Me to Dinner’ passes its initial authenticity test as it brings together real-world participants, not actors who are paid to behave a certain way. Although the production team thoroughly vets the cast before filming, the drag performers featured on the show are stalwarts and have numerous awards and laurels under their belts. Naturally, their name carries a lot of weight in the drag community, and we even get to learn how each pair met and befriended each other before appearing on the show.
On the other hand, we can confirm that the competitive aspect of ‘Drag Me to Dinner’ is completely unscripted as nothing about it is pre-determined. Despite the participants getting to pair up before filming commences, they have no idea whom they might face in the competition. Additionally, the production team takes special care to keep the specific themes hidden until the judges announce it and the participants are given limited time to plan their parties. However, the show takes its first shortcut here as it skims through most of the planning phase to keep the narrative interesting.
Even though most of ‘Drag Me to Dinner’ is authentic, some instances employ planning or scripting. For starters, the production team pre-determines the theme for each episode before filming, as some drag performers might decide to put on a show or act they have previously rehearsed. Furthermore, though most of the judges’ reactions are spontaneous, they appear to have a team of writers who occasionally help them come up with witty remarks.
On top of it, the stories shared by the performers contain snippets from their actual lives, yet they rarely break characters or reveal their true identities on the show. Readers should also note that a network produces a show for profit and benefits massively from an increase in viewership. Thus, producers have the liberty of making minor edits during post-processing to amp up the dramatic nature of a narrative and make the show more attractive. Nevertheless, this rarely affects the unscripted nature, and ‘Drag Me to Dinner’ is as authentic as Hulu claims it to be.
Read More: Drag Me to Dinner: Where Are They Now?
