Remember when Michael Phelps racing a shark became a television event? Now, I want you to imagine that level of fierce competition between man and beast and shrink it way, way down. That's how you get Human vs Hamster, an upcoming Max series that sounds like a 30 Rock joke but is in fact very real.
The competition show pits humanity against hamsters in a series of challenges appropriately scaled for each species. These include a hot dog eating eating contest, bowling, and pushing a car up a spiral slide. And of course there's a hamster wheel race, because any hamster competition worth its salt needs one.
Human vs Hamster's fever dream of a trailer introduces us to hosts Sarah Sherman (Saturday Night Live) and Kyle Brandt, along with "hamster expert" Brian Balthazar, who's here to tell us some fun hamster facts. We also meet our human contestants: firefighters, nurses, and even magicians who will compete in pairs.
Meanwhile, the furry stars of the show are not here to make friends. "Prepare to lose, filthy humans," a hamster squeaks in what I assume are very scientifically accurate subtitles. "I will devour the competition."
Maybe we do need to take hamsters down a peg after all.
Humans vs Hamsters premieres Nov. 21 on Max.
