Legendary (TV series)

American reality competition television series

Legendary

Genre| Reality competition
Directed by| Rik Reinholdtsen
Presented by| Dashaun Wesley
Judges| Jameela Jamil
Law Roach
Leiomy Maldonado
Megan Thee Stallion
Keke Palmer
Theme music composer|

* MikeQ
* James Blake
* Ash B

Country of origin| United States
No. of seasons| 3
No. of episodes| 29
Production
Executive producers|

* David Collins
* Michael Williams
* Rob Eric
* Jane Y. Mun
* Josh Greenberg
* Renata Lombardo
* Shant Tutunjian

Cinematography|

* Bob Aumer
* Clint Childers

Running time| 50 minutes[1]
Production company| Scout Productions
Original release
Network| HBO Max
Release| May 27, 2020 (2020-05-27) –
June 9, 2022 (2022-06-09)

Legendary is an American voguing reality competition television series, exploring the world of ball culture. It premiered on HBO Max on May 27, 2020.[2][3] The series follows LGBTQ house members—predominantly from eight to ten houses—as they navigate through nine balls (dancing/voguing/walking events), with US$100,000 prize for the winning house. As such, the series was praised by GLAAD for featuring queer and trans artists "from the New York ballroom scene."[4]

In July 2020, HBO Max renewed the series for a second season.[5] It premiered on May 6, 2021.[6]

In June 2021, HBO Max renewed the series for a third season.[7] It premiered on May 19, 2022.

After three seasons, HBO Max canceled the series in December 2022 and removed it from their streaming service.[8][9] On January 31, 2023 it was announced that the series would be released on The Roku Channel and Tubi.[10] As of August, 2025 all three seasons remain available on Tubi and Amazon Prime.[11]

## Cast

[edit]

Each episode features a fashion and performance coaches responsible for polishing the houses' looks and moves on the dancefloor.

* Dashaun Wesley as Master of Ceremonies
* MikeQ as DJ
* Johnny Wujek as Fashion Coach (seasons 1–2)
* Tanisha Scott as Performance Coach
* Jamari Balmain as Assistant Choreographer (season 2)

Judges on Legendary Judge  | Season

|

1 | 2 | 3
Jameela Jamil | Main
Law Roach | Main
Leiomy Maldonado | Main
Megan Thee Stallion | Main |
Keke Palmer |  | Main

## Format

[edit]

See also: Legendary (season 1), Legendary (season 2), and Legendary (season 3)

The contestants compete in groups named Houses, from which members perform individually or in groups in pre-assigned categories in front of a panel of judges. For seasons 1 and 2, each House is allowed to include five members, including a leader called the Mother or Father of the House. The panel is composed by four permanent judges and a fifth guest judge that changes on each episode.

Most categories involve a qualifying round, in which the member or group representing each house first perform for the judges, who according to ballroom terminology show their approval by giving them a "ten", or their disapproval by giving them a "chop". To advance, a contestant must receive no chops from any judges. In the second round, contestants face each other in knockout battles until only one of them remains, who is named the winner of the category. The winner of each battle is decided by a majority of the votes from the judges.

As an exception, when a category involves all the members of a House, instead of a qualifying round and a battle round each house performs in front of the judges and receives critiques, and then a winner is determined by consensus from the judges.

After all categories are judged, the judges deliberate to decide which House had the best performance overall and name them the Superior House of the Week, and which two Houses had the worst performance. The Mother or Father of each House in the bottom names a member of the House to participate in a vogue redemption battle to be decided by the judges. The House of the winner of the redemption battle is allowed to remain in the competition, while the House of the loser of the battle is eliminated.

In the second season, a format change was introduced, with judges scoring each performance and the sum of the scores from the judges being used to determine the standing of the Houses.

## Episodes

[edit]

Season| Episodes| Originally released

|
|

First released| Last released
1| 9| May 27, 2020 (2020-05-27)| July 9, 2020 (2020-07-09)
2| 10| May 6, 2021 (2021-05-06)| June 10, 2021 (2021-06-10)
3| 10| May 19, 2022 (2022-05-19)| June 9, 2022 (2022-06-09)

## Awards and nominations

[edit]

Year  | Award  | Category  | Nominee(s)  | Result  | Ref.

|
|
|
|
|

2021

| Critics' Choice Real TV Awards | Best Competition Series: Talent/Variety  | Legendary | Nominated  | [12]
GLAAD Media Awards | Outstanding Reality Program | Nominated  | [13]
Guild of Music Supervisors Awards | Best Music Supervision – Reality Television  | Matthew Hearon-Smith  | Nominated  | [14]
MTV Movie & TV Awards: Unscripted | Best Competition Series  | Legendary | Nominated  | [15]
Best Fight  | Law Roach vs. Dominique Jackson | Nominated
Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards | Outstanding Contemporary Hairstyling for a Variety, Nonfiction or Reality Program | Jerilynn Stephens, Kimi Messina, Dean Banowetz, Kathleen Leonard, Suzette Boozer, Dwayne Ross, Tamara Tripp, and Johnny Lomeli (for "Pop Tart") | Nominated  | [16]
Outstanding Contemporary Makeup for a Variety, Nonfiction or Reality Program (Non-Prosthetic) | Tonia Green, Tyson Fountaine, Silvia Leczel, Jennifer Fregozo, Glen Alen Gutierrez, Sean Conklin, Valente Frazier, and Marcel Banks (for "Pop Tart") | Nominated
Realscreen Awards  | Competition – Talent & Studio-Based Competition  | Legendary | Nominated  | [17]
Television Critics Association Awards | Outstanding Achievement in Reality Programming | Nominated  | [18]
Webby Awards | Top Television & Film (Series & Campaigns): Social  | HBO Max for HBO Max's TikTok #LegendaryChallenge  | Nominated  | [19]
Top Diversity & Inclusion (Series & Campaigns): Social  | HBO Max's Legendary Voices  | Nominated  | [20]

2022

| Hollywood Critics Association TV Awards | Best Streaming Reality Show or Competition Series  | Legendary | Nominated  | [21]
Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild Awards | Best Contemporary Makeup in a Television Special, One-Hour or More Live Program Series or Movie for Television | Tonia Nichole Green, Tyson Fountaine, Glen Alen, and Valente Frazier  | Nominated  | [22]
[23]
Best Period and/or Character Make-Up in a Television Special, One-Hour or More Live Program Series or Movie for Television  | Tonia Green, Tyson Fountaine, Silvia Leczel, and Jennifer Fregozo  | Nominated
Best Special Make-Up Effects in a Television Special, One-Hour or More Live Program Series or Movie for Television  | Tonia Nichole Green, Tyson Fountaine, Sean Conklin, and Marcel Banks  | Nominated
Best Contemporary Hair Styling in a Television Special, One-Hour or More Live Program Series or Movie for Television | Jerilynn Stephens, Kimi Messina, Kathleen Leonard, and Dean Banowetz  | Nominated
Best Period Hair Styling and/or Character Hair Styling in a Television Special, One-Hour or More Live Program Series or Movie for Television  | Won
Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards | Outstanding Contemporary Makeup for a Variety, Nonfiction or Reality Program (Non-Prosthetic) | Tonia Green, Tyson Fountaine, Sean Conklin, Marcel Banks, Jennifer Fregozo, Silvia Leczel, and Glen Alen (for "Whorror House") | Won  | [24]
Television Critics Association Awards | Outstanding Achievement in Reality Programming | Legendary | Won  | [25]
Dorian Awards | Best Reality Show  | Legendary | Nominated  | [26]

2023

| Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild Awards | Best Contemporary Makeup in a Television Special, One-Hour or More Live Program Series or Movie for Television | Tonia Green, Tyson Fountaine, Silvia Leczel, Sean Conklin  | Won  | [27]
Best Period and/or Character Make-Up in a Television Special, One-Hour or More Live Program Series or Movie for Television  | Tonia Green, Tyson Fountaine, Jennifer Fregozo, Glen Alen  | Nominated
Best Special Make-Up Effects in a Television Special, One-Hour or More Live Program Series or Movie for Television  | Tonia Green, Tyson Fountaine, Marcel Banks, Sean Conklin  | Nominated
Best Contemporary Hair Styling in a Television Special, One-Hour or More Live Program Series or Movie for Television | Jerilynn Stephens, Kimi Messina, Dean Francis Banowetz, Lalisa Turner  | Won
Best Period Hair Styling and/or Character Hair Styling in a Television Special, One-Hour or More Live Program Series or Movie for Television  | Jerilynn Stephens, Kimi Messina, Johnny Lomeli, Suzette Boozer  | Nominated
GLAAD Media Awards | Outstanding Reality Competition Program | Legendary | Nominated  | [28]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Hadadi, Roxana (May 21, 2020). "HBO Max's Legendary puts the ballroom community in the spotlight". AV Club. Archived from the original on June 5, 2020. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
2. ^ "Watch the Trailer for HBO's New Voguing Competition, 'Legendary'". www.out.com. 2020-04-21. Archived from the original on 2020-04-25. Retrieved 2020-04-25.
3. ^ Petski, Denise (2020-02-05). "Jameela Jamil Replaced By Dashaun Wesley As Host Of Voguing Competition Series 'Legendary' – Update". Deadline. Archived from the original on 2020-05-06. Retrieved 2020-04-25.
4. ^ Where We Are on TV: 2020-2021 (PDF) (Report). GLAAD. 2021. p. 42\. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-01-15. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
5. ^ Otterson, Joe (2020-07-09). "'Legendary' Renewed for Season 2 at HBO Max". Variety. Archived from the original on 2020-07-11. Retrieved 2020-07-09.
6. ^ Bosselman, Haley (2021-04-17). "HBO Max's 'Legendary' Season 2 to Premiere in May (TV News Roundup)". Variety. Archived from the original on 2021-04-18. Retrieved 2021-04-18.
7. ^ White, Peter (June 17, 2021). "'Legendary' Ballroom Competition Series Renewed For Season 3 At HBO Max". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on June 17, 2021. Retrieved June 18, 2021.
8. ^ White, Peter (December 6, 2022). "'Legendary' Canceled At HBO Max After Three Seasons". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on December 6, 2022. Retrieved December 6, 2022.
9. ^ "'Raised by Wolves' & 'The Time Traveler's Wife' Among Other Titles Being Removed from HBO Max as Warner Bros Discovery Lines up FAST Plans". 14 December 2022. Archived from the original on 3 January 2023. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
10. ^ Spangler, Todd (January 31, 2023). "Roku and Tubi to Launch Warner Bros. Discovery Free, Ad-Supported Channels, Featuring HBO's 'Westworld' and More". Variety. Archived from the original on January 31, 2023. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
11. ^ Legendary - watch tv show streaming online. Retrieved 2025-08-05 - via www.justwatch.com.
12. ^ Lewis, Hilary (June 2, 2021). "Critics Choice Real TV Awards: 'RuPaul's Drag Race' Leads With Five Nominations". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on April 20, 2013. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
13. ^ Beresford, Trilby (January 28, 2021). "GLAAD Media Awards: 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom,' 'Happiest Season' Among Nominees". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on July 23, 2021. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
14. ^ Tangcay, Jazz (February 25, 2021). "'Promising Young Woman,' 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom' Among Guild of Music Supervisors Awards Nominees (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on March 10, 2021. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
15. ^ Amore, Samson (May 17, 2021). "2021 MTV Unscripted Movie and TV Awards: Complete List of Winners". TheWrap. Archived from the original on July 23, 2021. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
16. ^ "Legendary - Emmy Awards, Nominations and Wins". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Archived from the original on July 23, 2021. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
17. ^ "Realscreen Awards 2021 Winners & Nominees". Realscreen. Archived from the original on July 23, 2021. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
18. ^ Hill, Libby (July 15, 2021). "2021 TCA Nominations: TV Critics Embrace 'Ted Lasso' and 'I May Destroy You' — Full List". IndieWire. Archived from the original on July 15, 2021. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
19. ^ "HBO Max's Tiktok #LegendaryChallenge". Webby Awards. Archived from the original on July 23, 2021. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
20. ^ "HBO Max's Legendary Voices". Webby Awards. Archived from the original on July 23, 2021. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
21. ^ Verhoeven, Beatrice (2022-07-07). "'This Is Us,' 'Succession,' 'Severance' Lead 2022 HCA TV Nominations". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 2022-07-07. Retrieved 2022-07-08.
22. ^ Tangcay, Jazz (January 11, 2022). "'Suicide Squad,' 'Coming 2 America' and 'Eyes of Tammy Faye' Lead Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild Nominations (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on January 11, 2022. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
23. ^ Hipes, Patrick (February 19, 2022). "Make-Up Artists & Hair Stylists Guild Awards: 'Coming 2 America', 'Cruella', 'Being The Ricardos' Lead Film Winners; 'SNL' Tops TV". Deadline. Archived from the original on February 20, 2022. Retrieved February 21, 2022.
24. ^ "Juried Award Winners Announced for 74th Emmy Awards". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Archived from the original on August 11, 2022. Retrieved August 11, 2022.
25. ^ Hailu, Selome (August 6, 2022). "'Abbott Elementary' Tops 2022 TCA Awards". Variety. Archived from the original on September 22, 2022. Retrieved August 6, 2022.
26. ^ Coates, Tyler (August 17, 2022). "'Abbott Elementary,' 'The White Lotus' and 'Yellowjackets' Among Top Winners at LGBTQ Critics' Dorian TV Awards". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on March 14, 2023. Retrieved May 29, 2023.
27. ^ Pedersen, Erik (January 11, 2023). "Make-Up Artists & Hair Stylists Guild Awards Nominations: 'The Batman', 'Elvis', 'The Whale' & More". Deadline. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
28. ^ Complex, Valerie (January 18, 2023). "GLAAD Announces Nominees For The 34th Annual GLAAD Media Awards". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on January 18, 2023. Retrieved March 31, 2023.

## External links

[edit]

* LGBTQ portal
* Television portal

* Legendary on HBO Max
* Legendary at IMDb

* v
* t
* e

TCA Award for Outstanding Achievement in Reality Programming

2010s|

* The Amazing Race (2011)
* So You Think You Can Dance (2012)
* Shark Tank (2013)
* RuPaul’s Drag Race (2014)
* The Chair (2015)
* Making a Murderer (2016)
* Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath (2017)
* Queer Eye (2018)
* Queer Eye (2019)

2020s|

* Cheer (2020)
* Couples Therapy / Deaf U (2021)
* The Amazing Race / Legendary (2022)
* Jury Duty (2023)
* The Traitors (2024)

* v
* t
* e

Ball culture

Culture|

| Film and television|

* Paris Is Burning (1991)
* How Do I Look (2006)
* Kiki (2016)
* Strike a Pose (2016)
* My House (2018)
* Pose (2018–2021)
* "Pilot"
* Legendary (2020–2022)
* CBX: Canadian Ballroom Extravaganza (2022)

|

Dance|

* Vogue

Language|

* Banjee
* Kiki
* Throw shade
* Yas
* Slay

Houses
and
members|

| The House of Amazon|

* Amazon Leiomy (founder)

|

The House of Aviance|

* Mother Juan Aviance (founder)
* Aviance Records (label)
* Erickatoure Aviance
* Jean-Philippe Aviance
* Kevin Aviance
* Kim Aviance
* Nita Aviance
* Tamsier Joof Aviance

The House of Corey|

* Dorian Corey (founder)

The House of Dupree|

* Paris Dupree (founder & inventor of vogue)

The House of LaBeija|

* Crystal LaBeija (co-founder)
* Kia LaBeija
* Pepper LaBeija

The House of St. Laurent|

* Octavia St. Laurent

The House of Xtravaganza|

* Angie Xtravaganza
* Danni Xtravaganza
* Hector Xtravaganza
* Jose Gutierez Xtravaganza
* Lorena Xtravaganza
* Luis Camacho
* Venus Xtravaganza

Related topics|

* African dance
* African-American culture
* African-American dance
* Cross-dressing ball
* Imperial Court System
* "Vogue"
* Blond Ambition World Tour
* African-American LGBTQ community

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* e

HBO Max original programming

Current|

| Live-action|

* Conan O'Brien Must Go (since 2024)
* Hacks (since 2021)
* Peacemaker (since 2022)
* The Pitt (since 2025)

|

Animation|

* Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake (since 2023)
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Continuations|

* Harley Quinn (since 2022)
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Upcoming|

* Portobello (2026)

Ended|

| Original|

* Adventure Time: Distant Lands (2020–2021)
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* Rap Shit (2022–2023)
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* Scavengers Reign (2023)
* Selena + Chef (2020–22)
* The Sex Lives of College Girls (2021–2205)
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* Station Eleven (2021–2022)
* Stylish with Jenna Lyons (2020)
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* Tiny Toons Looniversity (2023–2025)
* Young Love (2023)

|

Continuations|

* Clone High (2023–2024)
* The Convict (2024)
* Doom Patrol (2020–2023)
* Esme & Roy (2020–2021)
* Gen:Lock (2021)
* Infinity Train (2020–2021)
* The Other Two (2021–2023)
* Pennyworth (2022)
* Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? (2021)
* Search Party (2020–2022)
* South Side (2021–2022)
* Summer Camp Island (2020–2021)
* Titans (2021–2023)
* Warrior (2023)
* Young Justice (2021–2022)

Films|

| Released|

* On the Record (2020)
* An American Pickle (2020)
* On the Trail: Inside the 2020 Primaries (2020)
* Class Action Park (2020)
* Unpregnant (2020)
* Charm City Kings (2020)
* The Witches (2020)
* Superintelligence (2020)
* Let Them All Talk (2020)
* Locked Down (2021)
* Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021)
* LFG (2021)
* Women Is Losers (2021)
* Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts (2022)
* A Christmas Story Christmas (2022)
* Bama Rush (2023)
* Glitch: The Rise & Fall of HQ Trivia (2023)
* Turtles All the Way Down (2024)
* Am I OK? (2024)
* Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story (2024)
* 'Salem's Lot (2024)
* Caddo Lake (2024)
* Sweethearts (2024)
* The Parenting (2025)

|

Upcoming|

* Aztec Batman: Clash of Empires (2025)

Unreleased|

* Batgirl

See also|

* HBO Go
* HBO Now
* DC Universe
* List of exclusive international distribution

* Category

*[No.]: Number
*[Ref.]: Reference(s)
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