The New Generation Reinventing Bar TV Watch Parties

Drinking’s down, restaurants are closing left and right in Los Angeles and it seems like everyone has communities online they can talk to about whatever media they’re into. And yet viewers of certain reality television shows are making the weeknight trek out of their homes to bars across the city in order to tune in alongside other fans. Across the City of Angels, during pride month and beyond, one can find an overwhelming sense of enthusiasm for queer media consumption.

More specifically: reality television watch parties have returned to relevance in major metro areas.

West Hollywood, the gay history-filled hamlet in Los Angeles, has a storied relationship with rounding their community together for shared viewings. Institutions like The Abbey, Hi Tops and Rocco’s have aired everything from queer film and television to reality tv to sports. No matter the event, an overwhelming sense of pride is in the air at these shows.

While the demographic making up these weekly WeHo watch parties may be evolving, Angelenos communally drinking and partying has been key to forming the identities of the diverse neighborhoods the city is known for. More still, the bars that host watch parties take on new meaning for these events, acting as the third spaces Gen Z bemoans the loss of, creating connections between folks over common media passions.

On Friday, June 19, outside of The Abbey, gaggles of Gen Z girls stood dressed to the nines in Chapel Roan-ian outfits and different drag artists’ merch, with their faces beat beautifully to match. They showed up to see Willam and Katya host a pre-show panel for RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars.

Madison Rothschild, 23, is a caregiver and made the event her first watch party. “I’ve always wanted to go. But Katya hosting sounded so amazing,” Rothschild says. She came with her friend Logan Period, 25, who works as a model. “Maddie got me into Drag Race,” Period says. “I don’t pay attention to that much pop culture, but I always get excited when my friends want to go to shows like this”.

Others outside, waiting to watch, were more seasoned attendees. Rebecca Tront works in government and came with her friend Elena Dinguis, who interns at a law center. The pair met through their shared love for Drag Race and the fanpages (@elenitaellie and @rbeccaxcx) that they manage on what they referred to as “Drag Race Twitter”.

“We go out every week,” Dinguis says. “Especially if it’s local queens hosting”.

For this season of All Stars, they watch the episodes when they come to streaming on Thursdays, then spend their time at the bar on Fridays socializing with the other guests. In addition to The Abbey, they brave bars like Beaches Tropicana and Precinct in DTLA to watch the show.

“I actually live in Anaheim,” Tront tells PAPER. “I drive like, almost two hours to get to the bars every week. But I’m happy to do it. The gay bar in my neighborhood closed earlier this year.” The two were waiting on an ever bigger group of friends before going into The Abbey. “I DMed a group of like, 20 other friends of ours. They’re all coming,” Tront explains. “We always go out afterwards on the strip here, there’s so many other bars to go to.”

Though the birth of the sports bar long pre-dates the inception of these more modern watch party archetypes, that energy has remained throughout communal viewings lifetime. Fans used to gather for Game of Thrones episode airings, which paved the way for examples of the most contemporary, dissected fictional television programs, like The Summer I Turned Pretty to draw crowds to consume it conjointly.

Making the trek to bars, by yourself or in a group, has to be worth it. The spectacles must be, well, spectacular. So though the World Cup may be worth the drive and money spent on drinks, whole other sects of civilians are placing onus on their own interests, like pre-recorded concerts or fashion shows, and finding the spots putting them on the screens.

Modern Los Angeles’ Drag Race watch parties are infectiously fun, bringing people to bars in neighborhoods outside of West Hollywood. At Akbar in Silver Lake, the more scenic, I Love LA-featured corner of the city, Violet Bascope, a 23-year-old cosmetology student, made their habit of coming to the club to watch their favorite show clear. They were joined by their friends, Ivory Murns, a luxury luggage repairer, and Cambry Dawdson, who works at a tattoo shop.

“We come really often,” says Bascope. “We love the culture and the energy. We’ve been keeping up a lot with this season, in particular.”

“I had always seen it happening growing up,” Murns explains. “I was born and raised in West Hollywood. So it’s fun that for the past few years, I’ve been old enough to go.”

Their group loves the energy of Eastside watch parties.

“It’s infectious, seeing other people reacting. Whether you agree with their opinions or not. It’s so exciting to watch how people respond to the outfits and judging in real time,” Bascope tells PAPER, back at Akbar. “I love the camaraderie of it. Even if I disagree with people, seeing their perspectives is so nice,” says Murns.

They don’t come out for shows outside of their favorite, Drag Race, but consume more reality TV from the comfort of their couches. “I love The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,” says Bascope. “I haven’t seen any watch parties for it around here, though. Even if there were, my style is pretty alternative, so I’m not sure how well I would fit into the crowd at a Mormon Wives watch party,” they laughed.

“We would love to go, but it would not be our scene,” Bascope explains.

Madeline Biebel owns Reality Bar, a pop-up that hosts live viewing parties of reality television at bars in Los Angeles. Biebel’s idea for Reality Bar was sparked in 2021 when she and her friends wanted somewhere fresh to stream The Bachelorette finale.

“Why do I have to clean up the charcuterie board every time and buy bottles of wine that we never finish?” Biebel wondered. “Can’t I just go to a bar like someone who watches football?”

She asked her local bar, Founders Ale House, if she could switch the sports off for the night.

“They laughed in my face at the idea. One day I convinced them,” she tells PAPER. “My friends and I showed up, then there were some guys sitting on the patio who asked if they could join. I was like, ‘of course’.”

Biebel has expanded on her original idea, partnering with the bars Beaches West Hollywood and The Palm and The Pine for her bigger parties. Now, Reality Bar averages two watch parties weekly. On Wednesday, February 25, Reality Bar threw their Survivor: 50 premiere watch party at The Palm and the Pine in Hollywood.

Since its inception, Reality Bar’s scope has exceeded just the LA bar scene. “Reality Bar has grown into official partnerships with FOX, ITV Studios, and ABC/Disney, allowing us to produce officially licensed events for series including Love Island USA, The Masked Singer, Fear Factor, The Floor, and Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro. It's been exciting to help create a new category of entertainment experiences that benefits both fans and the hospitality industry,” Biebel adds.

As previously mentioned, and as anyone who was of drinking age at the time will tell you, Drag Race viewing culture has had people’s eyes glued to common screens for nearly two decades. Wherever Drag Race and watch party culture in general is headed, fans everywhere are going to keep popping out for it in LA and beyond, if those Roscoe’s Tavern viewing party feeds are to be believed. Now, the crowds might be different than the old days. They’ve diversified, if only by simply remaining true to the traits that established them as the fun, fruity, supportive strip of bars where anyone in LA can be themself and yell at some drag queens on television.

Though watch parties in LA lean youthful, they are otherwise completely diversified in the content they’re making accessible, and the kinds of people they draw as a result. If there’s one thing in common across all these events, it’s that they encourage the exploration of multimedia interests for people both in and outside of the city’s limits.

Not to mention, it helps support a struggling restaurant and bar industry. In converting these haunts, old or new, into third spaces for the night, ones that surround a common interest, the bonds between neighbors and friends in attendance are becoming tighter and tighter.

On that note: Though Reality Bar and watch parties like it are growing, Biebel has noticed her clientele’s diversity within them. She explains that “One thing that's surprised me is how broad the audience is. While our events generally skew female, competition shows like Survivor and Big Brother tend to draw a more balanced crowd—and Love Island USA brings in more men than people expect.”

“Newer series tend to attract younger audiences, but legacy franchises like Survivor and The Bachelor bring together everyone from people in their twenties to longtime fans in their fifties.” Biebed jokes that “We’ve had people try to bring their babies as well.”

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