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Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders to be covered in new reality show on Netflix

Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders

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Netflix will air a new documentary series this summer that profiles the ever-popular Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders.

Called America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, it will follow the 2023-24 Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders squad from start to finish — kicking off at auditions and training camp and continuing all the way through the NFL season.

The seven-episode series is from a team with experience on the topic: Emmy Award-winning director Greg Whiteley and the team behind Cheer and Last Chance U. A release promises that viewers will get "unfiltered access." It'll premiere on June 20.

"Led by longtime director Kelli Finglass, the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders opens their doors to document the personal stories behind the uniforms – revealing the drive, hustle, and drama among the cheerleaders and coaches. For many, it’s a dream to make the team - but that’s only just the beginning," the release says.

Executive producers are Greg Whiteley and Adam Leibowitz of One Potato Productions; Andrew Fried and Dane Lillegard of Boardwalk Pictures; and Ross M. Dinerstein and Rebecca Evans of Campfire Studios.

The cheerleaders were previously the subject of Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team, a series that ran for 16 seasons on CMT. But Whiteley, who is also director as well as executive producer, says that the Netflix series will bring new insight.

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

The series covers not only the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders' history but also how they differed from other cheerleader squads, says Charlotte Jones, Dallas Cowboys Executive Vice President/Chief Brand Officer and Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders President.

“We went into this understanding that the opportunity to transparently share the journey of our season, and the emotions, challenges, and joy experienced along the way, is exactly what our fans and viewers would want," Jones says. "It’s also part of the reason that, for decades, the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders have earned their place as being 'often imitated, but never equaled'."

Movie Review

The Magic Faraway Tree is a whimsical family lark that fails to take root

Photo courtesy of Vertical Entertainment

Andrew Garfield, Delilah Bennett-Cardy, Claire Foy, Phoenix Laroche, and Billie Gadson in The Magic Faraway Tree.

With kids and families always on the hunt for entertainment, it’s typically a safe bet for a movie studio to offer up something new, even if it is a film based on an old property. The Magic Faraway Tree, based on a series of books that started in the 1930s, is a very old property, one that its filmmakers have tried to liven up with a few stars, a lot of whimsy, and a boatload of CGI.

The Thompson family, led by stay-at-home dad Tim (Andrew Garfield) and breadwinner mom Polly (Claire Foy), are forced to move to a rundown country home when Polly gets laid off. The kids - Joe (Phoenix Laroche), Fran (Billie Gadson), and Beth (Delilah Bennett-Cardy) - are used to the perks of city life like wifi and electricity, and each of them rebels in their own way to their new lot in life.

Fran, enticed by a fairy named Silky (Nicola Coughlan), is the first to venture out of the house, making her way to a magic tree that transports her to a world full of strange characters like Moonface (Nonso Anozie), Saucepan Man (Dustin Demri-Burns), Dame Washalot (Jessica Gunning), and more. Her adventures there not only broaden the world she thought she knew, but may be the key to helping her ailing family.

Directed by Ben Gregor and written by Simon Farnaby (Paddington 2, Wonka), the film is a pleasant enough lark, but it fails to fully capture the imagination. The five-member family has a lot going on, from an initially-mute Fran to a domestic situation that raises more questions than it answers. The film tries to incorporate an anti-technology message through Tim’s hatred of a smart refrigerator (voiced by Judi Dench!) and the kids' addictions to devices, but it’s quickly shed in favor of other options.

Once Fran makes it to the Magic Faraway Tree, there’s a nice shift in the storytelling, but it’s unclear what the ultimate goal is. It’s a good idea to have Fran, the youngest of the children, convince her older, more cynical siblings about the virtues of the magic world, but the conflict in the real world doesn’t seem to rise to the level needed for the escape the tree provides.

There also seems to be a missing link in the storytelling for viewers to understand the importance of the fantastical characters. The visuals of seeing Moonface and his crescent moon-shaped hair, a man with a suit full of banging pots, and more are fun for a while, but not enough to carry the whole film. A last-minute revelation feels like it was something that should have been disclosed much earlier to help strengthen the emotions of the story.

A two-time Oscar nominee, Garfield is making his first foray into family movies (if you don’t count playing Spider-Man), and while he does a good job, he doesn’t make the best fit for the semi-goofy role. The same goes for the Emmy-winning Foy, who isn’t given much of anything to do. The movie puts the story on the shoulders of the three child actors, and while each of them acquit themselves well, none of them are so outstanding as to be noteworthy.

With nearly 90-year-old source material, The Magic Faraway Tree needed to be something truly special to stand out in the 21st century movie world. Unfortunately, it features a mostly forgettable story that features some fun visuals, a couple of cute kids, and not much else.

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The Magic Faraway Tree is now playing in theaters.

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