Let me try to explain ‘UNHhhh’: The post-verbal web series starring two drag queens

In the mix of watching various videos half-awake at 2 a.m., I stumbled on to UNHhhh two years ago. It’s an odd name for a show, but it’s post-verbal. Get into this gig.

Since then, I have it playing in the background every time I work. I check the WOW Presents YouTube channel first thing every Thursday morning for the new episode. I have yet to cough up a fee to see the WOW Presents Plus app’s uncensored versions, but I know it won’t be long till I cave in.

I’ve memorized lines from the show and slip them in my conversations casually, even when I’m talking to someone who’s not part of the fandom. Oh, honey, you don’t know the half of it.

If people loved doing “I’m the Kylie, you’re the Kendall,” I’ve asked my close friends who also watch the show if they’re the Katya to my Trixie.

I can’t explain to you why the show has a grip. In this attempt to analyze UNHhhh, I hope to decipher why I’m hooked.

Released in 2016, the web show’s premise is nothing complicated. Drag queens Trixie Mattel and Katya Zamolodchikova sit in a green screen studio and talk about a particular topic that boils down to 10-15 minutes’ worth of entertainment. It’s said that the on-screen kiki chemistry was a case of serendipity. When Trixie and Katya did an episode of Fashion Photo Ruview, another WOW Presents production, people in the comments section demanded more content from the duo.

Trixie and Katya are two of the most successful queens from the RuPaul’s Drag Race franchise. Alumnae of the reality show’s seventh season, their combined accomplishments consist of world tours, music hits, mainstream media features, and makeup collaborations.

You don’t necessarily have to be a fan of RPDR to appreciate UNHhhh, but you’ll miss out on an inside joke or two.

UNHhhh’s earlier seasons revolved around common themes: “Fashion,” “Childhood,” and “Religion.” As the seasons went by, they went for more nuanced concepts, such as “Dental Artistry,” “Shame,” and “Apologies.”

In 2017, Viceland picked it up for the spin-off The Trixie & Katya Show that lasted one season. You can get perspective on that troubled time via the documentary Moving Parts. The film followed Trixie reveling in her comedy tour and winning RuPaul’s Drag Race All-Stars season 3 while dealing with Katya’s drug addiction. Moving Parts is a good supplement to understand the sincerity behind UNHhhh.

Trixie and Katya have the right mix of wit, irreverence, and friendship that make their conversations something you never get tired of listening to. I can’t be the only one who does this as there’s an average of three million views per episode, and there’s an UNHhhh podcast available on Spotify.

I prefer replaying the videos. The graphics by editors Jeff Maccubbin, Ron Hill, Christopher Smith, and Kurtis Meyers heighten the jokes as it taps into meme culture. It can be a visual representation of your brain as it absorbs the hodgepodge of pop culture references, news items, and stupid TikTok videos on your feed.

Good episodes consist of insightful comments and funny moments, neither of which are preachy nor trying too hard. Watch “Straight People,” “Toxic Masculinity Part 1”, and “Masculinity Part 2” if you have no idea what’s up. These episodes serve as a litmus test if you’re cool enough to be part of the show’s cult following.

The seasonal shows like “Happy Halloweenie” and  “A Very Mary UNHhhhliday” are part of my holidays every year.

Bad episodes? We don’t know her. Not even the episodes where Trixie and Katya go insanely off-tangent from the subject. Give the episodes “Shopping” and “Caughtny Act” a play, so you’ll understand why that isn’t a problem for this show.

There is something to be said about an online world welcoming of two drag queens giving us their hot takes on life and sharing their unfortunate one-night-stands. (See episode 7, “Worst Hook-Up,” to make you feel better about bad dates.) In our Reddit-sharpened reasoning, who else but drag queens can string together the randomness of our existence? RuPaul did once say, “Drag has always served a purpose. The purpose is to remind people to not take themselves too seriously. We mock identity. A lot of people get angry… Identity is not to be taken seriously. We show people we’re shape shifters. We are God in drag. That’s our role—is to remind people of that.”

UNHhhh‘s sensibilities, based on the overwhelming response, fills a void in our society. It’s evident in how it sparked new iterations. There’s the I Like To Watch series on Netflix’s YouTube channel, where Trixie and Katya react to new series and film drops. The format became so well-received that Netflix UK & Ireland replicated it with The Vivienne and other RPDR girls. There’s also The Bald and The Beautiful podcast. The two also came out with a book Trixie and Katya’s Guide to Modern Womanhood, a New York Times bestseller.

I do believe that these two queens are what help keep the universe together. Otherwise, why would WOW Presents create Trixie and Katya Save the World? From May to August 2020, the show helped tide fans over as COVID-19 halted regular UNHhhh production.

In all these ventures, Trixie and Katya carry over references from UNHhhh. They create a universe where we laugh at just about everything but understand one other, in and out of drag.

I’ve spent around 700 words now, and I feel—much like what Trixie and Katya do—that I’m just rambling. Perhaps, the best explanation of why UNHhhh is so good comes from this exchange during the “The 100th Episode Milestones.”

Trixie: I do think that YouTube has gotten really serious, and that you and I are a good antitheses to that. ‘Cause, this show is a 100 percent stupid.

Katya: But also a 100 percent glamourous.

Trixie: Yeah! Where else can you get absolute 90 percent ridiculous, 10 percent wisdom delivered to you in this kind of packaging?

Katya: And a 120 percent sexy.

 

Honey, that sounds like a formula many have attempted, but only a few have achieved.