Last night, unlike most of my fellow Americans, I didn't watch the Superbowl. I did, however, watch some of Animal Planet's Puppy Bowl III. Why? Well, because I watched it last year–and few things are more hypnotic than watching a bunch of puppies playing on a miniature football field, set to soft music. It's the perfect thing to have on in the background on a Sunday afternoon while you're cooking, or cleaning your apartment, or drinking with friends and wondering what's become of your life.
Secondly, I found out that this year Puppy Bowl was going to feature a "puppy tailgate party", which is a magical combination of words–much like "goat first communion" or "duckling roller skating party"– that instantly piques curiousity and begs further investigation.
Turns out, the puppy tailgate party was exactly what it sounded like–a chihuahua shivering on a lawnchair, a doggie bartender, lots of barking at the "game", and many squeaky toys on a grill:
If you just watched that clip, and you're unfamiliar with Puppy Bowl, you might have some questions. You may wonder, "Is there more to Puppy Bowl than puppies playing on a field, with occasional cuts to the tailgate party, and the Kitty half-time show?" The answer is no, no there isn't more to it than that. In fact, there's less. Basically, it's just puppies doing puppy things for three hours, and then repeated on loop until you fall asleep.
If you have more questions, The Washington Post hosted an online Q&A; with one of the creators of Puppy Bowl that you can read here. (The question, "Why?" isn't fully answered, though.)
My favorite exchange:
Q: Have to know, as a producer myself, what was your favorite part about being involved in this show? Any hysterical moments?
A: I think the best part was just all the puppies…
What a coincidence: that was the best part about watching it too.