Call Netflix’s Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Docuseries What It Is: ‘Cheer’ Season 3

Greg Whiteley has a new sports docuseries at Netflix that really isn’t new at all. The seven-episode (at 45-minutes apiece) “America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders” will premiere this summer on Netflix. The streamer first announced the series on Thursday, when it also put out a teaser (below).

Greg Whiteley… Netflix… cheerleading docuseries… Why does this all sound so familiar? Oh yeah, it’s because Whiteley is the guy behind Netflix’s two-season docuseries “Cheer” (as well as the equally excellent five-season “Last Chance U”).

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Fans of “Cheer” have been not-so-patiently waiting for a third season, so… isn’t this just that? Why not call “America’s Sweethearts” what it really is: “Cheer” Season 3. That’s what we want.

There’s plenty of precedent here. While “Cheer” Seasons 1 and 2 focused on competitive collegiate cheerleading (mostly) at Navarro College (also in Texas!), Whiteley’s precursor “Last Chance U” not only changed schools — it changed sports. Originally a junior-college football docuseries, “Last Chance U” converted to a junior-college basketball docuseries for Seasons 4 and 5. Why not just graduate “Cheer” to follow a professional football cheerleading squad this season?

It is possible the Dallas Cowboys — referred to as “America’s Team” and an absolute TV ratings juggernaut for the NFL and its broadcast partners — and their very famous cheerleading squad is being viewed as the stronger branding for such a program. Starting from scratch, that would be accurate. But Whiteley is not starting from scratch: he’s midway through a killer mat routine.

“Cheer” has an existing fanbase of Netflix subscribers and the brand is far more culturally relevant (and certainly of higher quality) than that other Cowboys cheerleader reality show, the long-running “Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team.” After 16 seasons, “Making the Team” on CMT ended, opening the locker room door for Whiteley and Netflix. Upgrade!

IndieWire asked Netflix reps if “America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders” was considered at any point for a third season of “Cheer.” We only kind of got an answer.

“‘America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders is not associated with ‘Cheer,'” a rep responded. “We are continuing to do more series with [Whiteley],” the person continued, pointing to their upcoming Boston Red Sox docuseries collaboration.

We also inquired about the futures of “Cheer” and “Last Chance U,” but did not receive a response on that. Not encouraging.

Maybe it is time to move on. There is a black mark associated with the “Cheer” show, and it is as bad as it gets — but it has nothing to do with Whiteley or Netflix. Jerry Harris, the breakout stunter from “Cheer’s” first season, was arrested on child pornography charges in 2020, between Seasons 1 and 2. Harris achieved crossover fame after the first season, and was in much of the second season. Whiteley explained his hard choice to IndieWire in January 2022, which is when “Cheer” Season 2 premiered.

“I spent some time puzzling over just what percentage of our audience will know the story. We shot for almost an entire season before those allegations even came out. And so he’s a member of that team. Of course, he shows up in the footage,” Whiteley said. “And I just kept thinking that the audience, if they know the story, it’s going to be so weird. And they’re going to be asking the filmmakers, ‘What happened? Are they going to acknowledge this? Are they just going to pretend it didn’t?’ And so, the solution ended up being, ‘Let’s address it right up front. We know that this happened. This is coming. We’re going to explain it later.’”

Season 2 indeed acknowledges Harris’ arrest up front and devotes most of its fifth episode to the developing legal situation. The episode includes interviews with the journalists who broke the story of the (then) allegations against Harris and with the parents of twin boys who were (at the time of the taping, alleged) victims in Harris’ crimes.

In June 2022, five months after the second season of “Cheer” launched on Netflix, Harris pled guilty to federal charges related to soliciting child sexual abuse imagery and illegal sexual conduct with a minor. He is serving 12 years in a federal prison in Oklahoma City.

So, for now at least, no “Cheer” Season 3. Instead, it is “America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders,” which follows the 2023-24 Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders squad beginning with auditions and training camp and ending when the Cowboys season predictably (sorry, I’m a Giants fan) ended in the NFC Wild Card Round.

Netflix says “America’s Sweethearts” will provide “unfiltered access into this iconic team and franchise.” The program will “document the personal stories behind the uniforms — revealing the drive, hustle, and drama among the cheerleaders and coaches.”

We’re sure it will be good; time will tell if it’s “Cheer” good.

“The kind of access and creative freedom we need to make the kind of work we want to make is not easy to come by—especially when dealing with a brand as large as the Dallas Cowboys,” Whiteley said in a statement provided to media.

There’s that “brand” thing.

“To their infinite credit, the Cowboys offered unfettered access for the year we filmed the DCC and left us alone,” Whiteley continued. “The result is an authentic portrait of one of the most storied and beloved institutions we have in American pop culture.”

“America’s Sweethearts” hails from One Potato Productions and Boardwalk Pictures, in association with Campfire Studios. Whiteley executive produces alongside Adam Leibowitz of One Potato Productions, Andrew Fried and Dane Lillegard of Boardwalk Pictures, and Ross M. Dinerstein and Rebecca Evans of Campfire Studios.

Watch the trailer here:

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