It’s been 25 years since Rhapsody in White’s shocking loss at the Mayflower Kennel Club Dog Show, but Jane Lynch is still game for more Best in Show.
Lynch, who played taskmaster dog trainer Christy Cummings in the 2000 mockumentary comedy film, opened up to PopCulture.com following the 25th Best in Show anniversary, revealing that while she’d be “surprised” to see a second chapter for the cult classic, she’s not ruling out her return.
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“I think that [filmmaker Christopher Guest] would never do [a reboot],” Lynch admitted, adding, “I would be surprised if he did. I think it should just live. Some things don’t need to be rebooted — just leave ’em alone.”
The actress then added, “However, if I was offered to do it again, I would say yes. Of course!”
Looking back on her time filming Best in Show, which also starred Eugene Levy, Jennifer Coolidge, John Michael Higgins, Michael Hitchcock, Michael McKean, Catherine O’Hara, and Parker Posey, Lynch said there’s nothing else there’s nothing else in her career that compares to just how “individual it is.”
The Emmy winner also recalled being “nervous” entering into the largely improvised world of Guest’s mockumentary style. “Best in Show was my first Christopher Guest project,” said Lynch, who went on to appear in Guest’s A Mighty Wind and For Your Consideration. “It’s all improvised, and so it’s a huge unknown; there’s only so much you can do to prepare for it.”
Despite all her preparations, Lynch said she was still asking herself, “What if everything that comes out of my mouth is stupid and unusable?” that first day on set, but was comforted by scene partner Coolidge, who was going through a similar journey as a first-timer. “It was nice to have somebody to hold hands with while you’re going through this for the first time,” the actress recalled.
It may have been a quarter of a century since Best in Show debuted, but Lynch thinks it “holds up” due to the “timeless” nature of Guest’s style of comedy — “taking a subculture of people who are vying with each other to be top dog, if you will.”
“We laugh at them and go, ‘Oh, those ridiculous people,’” she continued. “But we know deep down inside that we’re like that somewhere in our life, too. That’s why we can laugh. And so that’s why I think it holds up.”
A similarly timeless tradition is the National Dog Show presented by Purina, which returns to NBC this Thanksgiving. “It’s become something that everybody does, and they look forward to it,” Lynch said of watching the National Dog Show during the holidays. “Everybody loves dogs, and you get to sit around the TV with the whole family. I think it’s become this whole family tradition thing.”
This year, Purina is giving fans a chance to win not just their very own Busy Bee toy — which was famously lost in Best in Show — but also a digital copy of the film. You can enter to win one of 2,500 Busy Bee dog toys by downloading and signing up for the MyPurina app, visiting the Rewards Catalog, and redeeming the National Dog Show Busy Bee Sweepstakes Entry item. Winners will be selected by Dec. 12.
The National Dog Show, hosted by the Kennel Club of Philadelphia and presented by Purina, airs Thursday, Nov. 27, from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. in all time zones on NBC.
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