Puppy Bowl

Puppy Bowl is an annual three-hour television show on Animal Planet. Shown the afternoon of the Super Bowl, it attracts over 8 million viewers. [ [http://groups.google.com/group/rec.arts.tv/browse_thread/thread/705e4ad597c7a32d Puppy Bowl IV draws over 8 million dogged fans] ] It features a number of puppies playing in a model stadium with no audience, minimal commentary by Harry Kalas and instant replay shots and "bowl cam" (shots upwards through the transparent bottom of a special water bowl built into the stadium floor). As of 2006, a half-time show the "Bissell Kitty Half Time Show" is also included featuring a group of kittens taking the field on a large scratching post for 30 minutes. The first Puppy Bowl was shown in 2005.

The puppies featured in Puppy Bowl are from shelters, and the show contains information on how viewers can adopt rescued puppies and help their local shelter. The bowl seems to have an age limit of 4 months, so there have been no recurring players.

According to the show's producers, the inspiration for Puppy Bowl as counter-programming for the Super Bowl came from the popular "Yule Log" Christmas program. [http://www.zap2it.com/tv/zap-story-puppybowl-superbowl,0,5312226.story]

Puppy Bowl II averaged 690,000 viewers for its broadcast (a 23 percent increase over Puppy Bowl I). Five million people in total watched Puppy Bowl II throughout its three airings. Puppy Bowl III increased on that record by 12 percent to 7.5 million viewers. A total increase of 36 percent from its insertion back in 2005.

Puppy Bowl III aired on February 4 2007, with the addition of the Tail-Gate Party. Puppy Bowl IV aired on Animal Planet on February 3 2008. It was the first Puppy Bowl broadcast in HD. Puppy Bowl V is scheduled to air on Animal Planet on February 1 2009.

Information

Bowl-Cam - A camera at the bottom of the puppies' water bowl, with a wide-angle lens allows viewers to watch the puppies drink water up close.

Puppy Penalty - When a puppy relieves itself on the floor, a referee blows a whistle, calls "Illegal Motion", and throws a flag over the droppings.Note: also known as "personal foul"

Puppies are given a wide variety of chew-toys and bones to play with, and they are free to tackle, bite, and do as they wish. Jazz music is added in to the clips in post-production. When a puppy drags one of the football-shaped toys into the end zone, a puppy touchdown is declared.

Timeouts are called if the water bowl needs to be refilled, or if the puppies begin to fight.

Instant replay - when there is a moment during the playtime displaying things such as a puppy's agility, viewers see an instant replay of the event.

Bissell Kitty Half-Time Show

Starting with Puppy Bowl II, at the 1 hour 15 minute mark, the puppies leave the field and a large scratching post is brought out with a wide variety of kittens for the Bissell Kitty Half-Time show. This features kittens playing for 30 minutes with lights, laser pens, balls of yarn, scratching post, flint sweepers, and a wide variety of other toys. The grand finale of the Puppy Bowl II Half-Time Show was a confetti blast that sent most of the cats running away scared. Puppy Bowl III did not show the cats' departure from the field. The halftime show of Puppy Bowl IV (2008) was only fifteen minutes in length.

Tail-Gate Show

In Puppy Bowl III, the Tail-Gate show was a group of dogs sitting around outside "Animal Planet Stadium" watching TV's and eating like a common tailgate. This group of dogs is cut to throughout the entire Puppy Bowl to show reactions to certain plays.

Puppy Games

A spinoff of the Puppy Bowl, the 2008 Puppy Games, was aired opposite NBC's primetime airing of the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympics on August 8, 2008. The games included swimming, gymnastics, boxing and soccer, and kittens were used for the "opening ceremony". John Ramey and Mary Beth Smith (Becca Lish) served as the play-by-play announcer and color commentator for the event.

ee also

* The Puppy Channel

References

External links

* [http://animal.discovery.com/convergence/puppybowl/puppybowl.html Official Puppy Bowl Website]
*imdb title|id=1000147|title=Puppy Bowl II
*imdb title|id=0991168|title=Puppy Bowl III
* [http://shopping.search.discovery.com/Discovery/?N=0&Ntk=all&Ntt=puppy+bowl Purchase Puppy Bowl DVDs]