When your critically acclaimed, reality show is 37 seasons in, as with Phil Keogan’s “The Amazing Race,” it’s essential to keep your audience on edge while not deviating from the core format that brought the show its success in the first place.
“We try to mix things up a little bit in terms of keeping everybody on edge,” Keogan says. “Being 37 seasons in, that’s our challenge constantly, to be consistently good and but not deviating away from the format, which at its core works.”
Keogan stopped by Variety’s Virtual FYC TV Fest: The Nominees 2024 alongside Tom Campbell, executive producer of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and Sam Rees-Jones, executive producer of “The Traitors.” The trio spoke with Variety’s Michael Schneider about their work and the biggest challenges in the reality television space.
For Rees-Jones, whose “The Traitors” is only just kicking off as it heads into the production of its third season, he noted how “brilliant” it is that players have been able to craft more complex strategies as the rules of the game have become more established by the show’s airing and people’s exposure to it.
“The Traitors,” which sees a group of guests try to solve a murder mystery game in an ancient castle in Scotland, is currently in the midst of its Season 3 production. Rees-Jones commented on the shift he’s been able to see in his contestants’ adopted strategies between Seasons 2 and 3.
“There’s something really brilliant about the players knowing more about the game because their strategies get more complicated, more complex, which is really exciting to watch,” Rees-Jones says. “So you have better faithful strategies, better traitor strategies. So it’s a joy to watch as they come into the game knowing a little bit more and trying to push the needle a little bit.”
He went on to say: “The cast is the most important thing in the building block. What we love about our formula is that the game changes when those castle gates open. Season 3’s journey was completely different from Season 2’s and Season 1’s. It’s been exciting to watch how different people take on the challenge in different ways.”
Campbell reflected on the challenging journey of bringing “RuPaul’s Drag Race” to life, recounting how 17 years ago, the show was initially rejected by many networks despite positive feedback due to concerns about ad sales.
Ultimately, Logo, a then-fledgling network, embraced the show, and while it initially seemed like a step back from RuPaul’s past fame, it proved to be the ideal platform for queer voices to share their stories.
He acknowledged the long road to success, noting that it took eight seasons before the show was even nominated for an Emmy: “It was never our goal, but it’s an awfully lovely thing for the people that work so hard for the queens who aren’t just contestants but they’re performers. So being on the show gives them this world platform.”
“It’s been a pleasure to year after year to reinvent the show and for people to find it, and I think people are still finding it, and that’s the exciting thing,” Campbell said.
Watch the full interview above to hear about what it was like for the cast of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” to meet Vice-President and now presidential candidate Kamala Harris.