''Human vs Hamster'' is a

reality competition Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

show on the streaming service

Max Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (American dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (British dog), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of the OBE) * Max (gorilla) ...

, produced by

Chip Chip may refer to: Food * Chip (snack), thinly sliced and deep-fried gastro item ** Potato chips (US) or crisp (UK) * Chips (fried potato strips) (UK) or french fries (US) (common as a takeout side) * Game chips, thin chip/French fries * Choco ...

and

Joanna Gaines Joanna Lee Stevens Gaines ( Stevens; born April 19, 1978) is an American interior decorator, television personality, and author. She co-hosted the home renovation show '' Fixer Upper'', which began airing on HGTV in 2013, alongside her husband Ch ...

Magnolia Network Magnolia Network is an American basic cable network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery in partnership with Chip Gaines, Chip and Joanna Gaines, the founders of lifestyle company Magnolia. It broadcasts personality-based lifestyle programs related ...

. The eight episodes of its first season were released on November 21, 2024. It is hosted by

Sarah Sherman Sarah Nicole Sherman (born March 7, 1993), also known professionally as Sarah Squirm, is an American comedian, actress, and screenwriter. Sherman is known for using surreal and body horror comedy. She became a featured player on the NBC sketch ...

and

Kyle Brandt Kyle Robert Brandt (born January 24, 1979) is an American television host, media personality, and actor. He is one of the hosts of '' Good Morning Football'' on NFL Network. He was executive producer of ''The Jim Rome Show'' from 2009 until 2016 ...

and features

Brian Balthazar Brian Wayne Balthazar is a TV personality and the executive producer and developer of several programs on broadcast and cable television. As a pop culture pundit, journalist, entertainment expert, and trend forecaster he has frequently appeared on ...

as the show's "resident hamster enthusiast".

Game play

Each episode features two pairs of humans, each grouped by a shared profession (nurses, firefighters, flight attendants) or hobby (pub trivia competitors, beauty pageant entrants, magicians). The human pairs compete in a series of challenges — some against one another, but most against one of the "Hamstars", a group of 10

hamsters Hamsters are rodents (order Rodentia) belonging to the subfamily Cricetinae, which contains 19 species classified in seven genera. They have become established as popular small pets. The best-known species of hamster is the golden or Syrian ...

with '' American Gladiator''-style identities. The physical challenges are timed and scaled to both human and hamster sizes. The Hamstars are named Ham, Warrior, the Professor, Shadow, Gnasher, Romeo, Lightning, Kevin, Diamond, and Astro. Human teams receive $1,000 for winning a challenge, and the team that wins the most money advances to the

Habitrail Habitrail is a brand name for a hamster cage made by the Hagen corporation. It is a series of translucent plastic tubes and "houses" for use in home terrariums, designed specially for hamsters. The design of the Habitrail is modular and can be ...

-inspired finale, Escape the Cage, which pits a team member against a hamster in a multistage obstacle course.

Production

''Human vs Hamster'' was one of four unscripted series sold by

to Max, described as "ambitious large-scale competitions" and "out-of-the-box social experiments".

Chip Gaines Chip Carter Gaines (born November 14, 1974) is an American actor, producer, television personality, contractor, and author who, along with his wife Joanna Gaines, stars on the show ''Fixer Upper (TV series), Fixer Upper'', which began airing on ...

said the show was inspired by seeing

Jason Kelce Jason Daniel Kelce ( ; born November 5, 1987) is an American former professional football center who spent his entire 13-year career with the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). Kelce played college football for the Cinci ...

celebrating shirtless after a touchdown scored by his brother

Travis Kelce Travis Michael Kelce ( ; born October 5, 1989) is an American professional American football, football tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Chiefs in the third round of the 2013 NF ...

in a January 2024 NFL playoff game. However, the show was already casting contestants more than a month before the game. The show was packaged by A. Smith & Co., known for similar

shows such as ''

Floor Is Lava ''Floor Is Lava'' is an American television game show created by Megan McGrath and Irad Eyal, hosted by Rutledge Wood. It premiered on Netflix on June 19, 2020. Format The show's premise is based on that of the children's game of the same nam ...

'' and ''

American Ninja Warrior ''American Ninja Warrior'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''ANW'') is an American sports entertainment reality show based on the Japanese television reality show ''Sasuke (TV series), Sasuke,'' which also serves as a successor of ''American Ninja C ...

''. Episodes were taped in the

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district of

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Episodes

Reception

''Human vs Hamster'' received positive reviews. ''

Decider Decider is both a real word and a "Bushism". It may refer to: * ''Decider'' (website), a pop culture website operated by the ''New York Post'' * '' Bill Maher: The Decider'', a stand-up comedy special * Decider (Turing machine), a Turing machin ...

s Joel Keller rated the show a "Stream It" (as opposed to a "Skip It"): "Don’t get us wrong: Human Vs. Hamster is silly as hell. But it’s fun to watch, and host Sarah Sherman takes the show just as seriously as it deserves to be taken." The critic

Andy Dehnart Andy Dehnart (born August 26, 1977) is an American journalist and television critic. He may be best known as reality television's "longest-standing critic" for his online journalism, as he is the creator of the genre's first tracking website, reali ...

called it "a seriously silly throwback to ’80s and ’90s game shows" that "consistently delivers a solid mix of comedy and challenges". Tara Ariano from ''

Cracked Cracked may refer to: Television * ''Cracked'' (British TV series), a 2008 British comedy-drama television series that aired on STV * ''Cracked'' (Canadian TV series), a 2013 Canadian crime drama series that aired on CBC * "Cracked", a Season 8 ( ...

'' said the show "delivers exactly what you would probably hope from such a goofy title": "There are lots of reasons to root against humans at this point in history. ''Human vs. Hamster'' is arguably the most socially acceptable and low-stakes reason to do it, ''and'' offers the fuzziest alternative to root ''for''". As Gail Sherman of ''

Boing Boing ''Boing Boing'' is a website, first established as a zine in 1988, later becoming a group blog. Common topics and themes include technology, futurism, science fiction, gadgets, intellectual property, Disney, and left-wing politics. It twice wo ...

'' put it, "Everything is terrible right now, and humans trash-talking hamsters about a hamster-ball bowling competition is just hilarious".

External links

''Human vs Hamster''
* *

References

{{Reflist, 2 Game shows Max (streaming service) original programming 2024 American television series debuts 2020s American game shows American English-language television shows