Entertainment

Don’t Freak Out But Rainn Wilson's New Netflix Show Is About Professional Dog Dancing

by Leah Groth
Netflix

We Are the Champions is a new Netflix show produced by Rainn Wilson, and has an entire episode devoted to competitive dog dancing

2020 has been a doozy of a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a dumpster fire of a recently extinguished Presidential Election, and all of the social, racial, and political turmoil surrounding it all. Luckily our one saving graces has been Netflix. From Tiger King to Cheer, Netflix is literally the gift that keeps on giving, exposing us to all sorts of amazingness in life we didn’t even know existed. Their latest masterpiece? A docuseries examining all of the truly bizarro competitions that take place around the world, one of which is professional dog dancing. Oh and it’s narrated by Rainn Wilson, because we do deserve some nice things.

We Are the Champions, executive produced by none other than The Office‘s Rainn Wilson and debuting on Netflix on Tuesday, November 17, is focused on all of those odd competitive events that make you go, “Whattt?” Season one will feature cheese rolling, chili eating, fantasy hair styling, yo-yo, frog dancing, and yes, dog dancing.

A promo for the dog dancing episode was released on Monday, and it is everything you would hope it could be when you hear the words “competitive dog dancing.” There are wagging tails, fancy accents of discerning judges, and lots of eccentric humans dancing with their canines like they are on Dancing with the Stars.

The episode centers around the Open European Championship, basically the equivalent of a beauty pageant, but instead of girls answering questions about world peace, playing the flute, and strutting around in ballgowns, it features German Shepards, Poodles, Golden Retrievers, and yes, rescue dogs, performing commands and executing a perfectly choreographed dance with their human counterparts. Did we mention some of the dogs even wear jewelry?

We Are the Champions joins the best dog dancers in the world at the Open European Championship (OEC), where the dogs master over 400 commands in a single four-minute routine. Whether it’s heelwork or freestyle, these dogs prove that they’re the perfect dance partner,” reads the episode description obtained by Variety.

In case you can’t wait to watch humans and dogs dancing together, we found a few clips from previous years of competition, including this sultry duet of an Australian Shepard dancing with its owner to Phil Collins hit song “In the Air Tonight.”

Though some people and their dogs opt for more classical dances.

Dog dancing is definitely a niche genre, but we are here for it. And, we are also really psyched to experience a Yo-Yo championship as well.

We are the Champions celebrates weirdness, finds beauty in idiosyncrasies, and demonstrates what it really takes to rise to the top — heart,” Wilson told Variety about the show. “As a self-proclaimed expert on the unconventional, I’m excited to introduce viewers to these small-world competitors with big-world dreams because, in this time, we could all use a hero — be it a dancing dog or the world Yo-Yo champion.”

We Are the Champions will debut on Tuesday November, 17th on Netflix.