HOME / ENTERTAINMENT / TV

'Legendary' Season 2: Release date, plot, judges, host and all you need to know about HBO Max's show on ball culture

The show managed to strike a chord with audiences and the streaming app has ordered another season of the show. Here's everything you need to know about it

BY YASMIN TINWALA

PUBLISHED JUL 12, 2020

'Legendary' on HBO Max has been renewed for Season 2. News of the renewal dropped on July 9, the same day the semi-final and final episodes dropped on the streaming app. "Legendary was a HBO Max day one premiere," said Kevin Reilly, the chief content officer of HBO Max and president of TNT, TBS and truTV. "We knew we had something special and are proud that critics and audiences alike have embraced the series. Bringing this incredible world back for a second season furthers our commitment to high quality, compelling storytelling." Here's everything you need to know about Season 2.

Release date

So far there are no confirmed dates for the release of the new season. However, this season is expected to be bigger as the show moves out of Stamford, Connecticut, as it arrives at the West Coast in Los Angeles.

Plot

The show is inspired by ball culture and sees "houses" battling one another in a number of functions where they're judged upon their abilities to stick to the theme of the category. Categories involve fashion (self-explanatory), face (house members are judged on their face symmetry, clear skin and proper teeth), body (confidence) and others.

The challenges also include vogueing, a competitive style of dancing that was created by Black and Latin transgender performers in the latter years of the 19th century. The inspiration for the dance was drawn from models posing in magazines. Performers are judged on their ability to bring all 5 elements of voguing within their performance, namely — hand performance, catwalk, duckwalk, spins and dips and floor performance.

Host

Dashaun Wesley

Ballroom legend Dashaun Wesley is the emcee of the show and his unique style of commentating lifts the atmosphere of the ball by notches. He's been hosting balls for many years now and on 'Legendary', he also dons the hat of a reality show host. Wesley, who belongs to the House of Lanvin, in an interview explained how the two roles are different.

"I've been commentating and hosting balls for many years, and now that it’s on this platform and I get to grab that microphone and do it with 14 cameras around, it changes the dynamic. Now, I have to educate not only those who are there watching at the moment but those who are watching on screens. What I did as a host was make sure I connected with everyone, so they understood what was going on as it was happening," he said to Vulture.

Judges

All four judges — Law Roach, Megan Thee Stallion, Jameela Jamil and the wonder woman of voguing, Leiomy Maldonado — will be returning to judge the second installment, according to a HBO press release.

Creators

The series is executive produced by David Collins, Rob Eric and Michael Williams of Scout Productions, the Emmy-winning team behind the hit Netflix reboot of the lifestyle series 'Queer Eye'. Renata Lombardo and Shant Tutunjian also serve as executive producers on 'Legendary'.

Participating houses

Season 1 saw participation by eight iconic houses — House of West, St. Laurent, Ninja, Ebony, Gorgeous Gucci, Escada, Lanvin and Balmain. Whether they all return for Season 2 or new houses are called upon to participate, we will find out soon. Check this space for more updates.