Let the ball begin. HBO Max’s Legendary brings together eight of the most iconic, illustrious, and influential houses from the ballroom scene and makes them work for $100,000. These houses have made history voguing and now they’re here to make that money. Voguing, for those who have not seen the groundbreaking documentary Paris Is Burning or tuned into Ryan Murphy’s Pose, is a highly stylized genre of dance born out of the ballroom community in 1980s Harlem. Across nine episodes, the houses must compete in balls wearing only the most sickening looks to prove that they are legendary. MC Dashaun Wesley and DJ MikeQ keep the show moving, along with celebrity judges Law Roach, Jameela Jamil (who came out as queer as a result of landing this job), Leiomy Maldonado, and Megan Thee Stallion. We do not envy their jobs. The looks in the trailer alone range from pop-superstar glam to extraterrestrial realness, and, frankly, they all deserve to win. But this is not RuPaul’s best-friend race (or Drag Race, for that matter). Only the baddest will survive. Legendary streams via HBO Max on May 27. May the best house win.
