Since the moment Cheer tumbled onto Netflix in January, everyone’s become obsessed with the cheerleading documentary series. Simone Biles wants to join the Navarro cheer squad, Ellen DeGeneres had the crew perform their 2019 nationals routine on her show, and the entire cast has joined their friend Gabi as certified cheer-lebrities on social media. Seriously, Cheer even got the SNL treatment with a scathing sketch about getting on the mat.
Luckily, we have plenty of updates about what our favorite tumblers, flyers, and stunters have been up to since Daytona. Lexi, Jerry, Morgan, and La’Darius are back at the junior college (although it looks like Jerry may have a new job as a professional “mat talker”), while Gabi is competing with Miami’s Top Gun Cheer squad.
The binge must go on, so here are eight more shows to watch instead of sitting around, waiting for news on season two….
If you need another moving docu-series:
Last Chance U (2016–)
Last Chance U is basically Cheer but with football, which isn’t surprising considering it was directed by the same person. This series also follows players who join elite programs at the junior college level, but unlike Cheer—which stresses multiple times that there is no real future in cheerleading as a sport—these athletes have a chance to go on to major NFL careers. The stakes are incredibly high, and the pain the athletes face to make feels achingly familiar. Watch on Netflix.
If you’re all about the blood, sweat, and tears:
Spinning Out (2020–)
The new Netflix drama centers on the world of competitive ice skating, but the athleticism, showmanship, and costumes aren’t the only things the series has in common with Cheer. The characters in Spinning Out are fraught with traumatic family lives, interpersonal conflict, and athletes who’d rather mask brutal injuries than miss out on competing. Watch on Netflix.
The one thing Spinning Out has that Cheer doesn’t is a pretty steamy love triangle…if you’re into that sort of thing.
If you watched Cheer because everyone was watching it:
Don’t F**k With Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer (2019)
This documentary series has nothing to do with Cheer, but Netflix users are just as likely to have recommended it to everyone they know. Don’t F**k With Cats follows a group of amateur internet detectives working together to catch a depraved, violent killer.
