There was a time when no TV network would try and counter-program the Super Bowl. The audience was just too large and no network wanted to "waste" a new episode of a show airing it a time when few people would be watching.
But 21 years ago, the Puppy Bowl was launched and that puppy-filled faux sporting event continues to bring in an audience and has even sparked a couple of knock-off competitors.
This year, the Puppy Bowl kick-off show was directed by Jay Jackson and I had the opportunity to speak with him for a few minutes about the project.
The following interview has been lightly edited for clarity:
I'm curious about how you approach your job. This is an annual program that has been happening for two decades. So it already has a tested framework. So from your perspective, when you agree to direct the show and sit down in that first planning meeting, what do you have to work with and what were you wanting to accomplish?
Well for me, Rick, it was my rookie season on Puppy Bowl. So this is the first time I had done it and Warner Brothers and Discovery tasked us with re-imagining what the kickoff show would be like. They wanted it to make it kind of more puppy centric and kind of get to know the backgrounds and these puppies a little bit better, profile them a little bit more.
So that was one of the things. We have 10 dogs, 10 pups that we end up profiling in the kickoff show. The other idea was just drawing on my experience in football.
We designed a kind of football combine for them to go through to show off their skills a little bit. I've been to the NFL Combine in Indianapolis quite a few times. So you'll see some similarities there in this show, but there's also some very canine-centric kinds of things that we put them through in the course of going through this puppy combine.
And at the end of it 10 pups actually get drafted to either Team Ruff or Team Fluff. So we did re-imagine the show. I think it'll be a great show to watch.
You get the chance to really understand these pups. And we also really get to see how cute they are.
I think you go in with a mindset knowing that'll happen. And while we have it structured to a certain point, there's also the ability to pivot and capture what's unfolding in front of you too, and tell that story. That was our objective as well.
I think that's basically the gist of it. I've worked on like sports documentaries. And I've also worked with thoroughbred racehorses and profiled them for documentaries and other specials. Sometimes it's easier working with animals than it is working with athletes.
It strikes me that with a show like the Puppy Bowl, you really have top take it seriously. You can't go into it being snarky or just thinking "Okay, these are just dogs. I'm just going to do this thing and get it over with. You have to be legitimately committed to making the best show you can do.
True. You approach it like any other job. And it helps that we're really well scheduled when it comes to getting the Puppy Bowl shot and delivered. We follow a very good structure with that. There is some wiggle room on some different things. But after 21 different years, it's pretty well set and it's streamlined really well.
I was brought in at the end of August. I had a mutual friend that I used to work with at NFL Films who was executive producer on a Puppy Bowl. So I was recommended to work on Puppy Bowl 21.
While you were working on this, what was the biggest surprise for you? I'm assuming you had seen the show in the past, so you sort of know what it looks like. And as you said, you're having to reinvent the show, but at the end of the day, was there something where you thought "This is an issue that I didn't realize is going to be a problem" or "I thought this was going to be a big challenge, but it turned out to be really easy."
It strikes me that when people watch the Puppy Bowl, you want it to hit just the right tone, the right feel. I don't think being respectful of the dogs is the right phrase, but you want to treat them on air nicely, not to make fun of them, to treat them sort of like actual human beings. I'm just wondering, is that a difficult thing to do as, as you're putting the show together? Did you ever think "I don't think this quite came off the way that it should, or I think that maybe we need to be a little bit more cognizant of how this comes off."
Well, I think one of the things that really helped was that we had the ref Dan Shatner, who was the referee for the Puppy Bowl. He was also the scout for both Team Ruff and Team Fluff. And he and Victoria, who was our animal expert on the show, they put the pups through all these different drills and you'll see that sometimes things don't go the way you plan.
And there's actually some humor and some comedy and levity involved with the way things turned out. But it's a fun process. It's fun to see pups doing these six different combine events that we put the pups through.
And there's some similarities to the NFL Combine, but there's also some really like canine-centric courses that we make them run through. But no, I think people will enjoy it because there is some levity and some fun as well with what goes on the field with the combine.
No, it's not like that. But these pups need a little bit more bathroom breaks than probably regular athletes do.
If they come back to you after this is over and ask if you'd like to do it again, would you like to come back next year? Do you have some thoughts on something you'd like to do different?
No, not at all. And I think it's because our focus is to be advocates, to help get the word out and get these pups adopted.
I'll leave you this question. You talked earlier about being a dog lover, about your entire family being a dog-loving family. So was there a dog or tow in particular where you thought "Wow, this is really cute dog or this is a really fun dog. If I didn't have a dog already, this is one I might go for."
I have a 14 year old Beagle named Fred. And so there was a lot of temptation to actually adopt and bring him home a companion or a friend. Maybe that'll happen next year.
The Puppy Bowl returns for the 21st year on Sunday, February 9th at 2:00PM ET/11:00AM PT and will be simulcast across Animal Planet, Discovery, TBS, truTV, Max and discovery+.
As you mentioned, you've done traditional sports programming before, and athletes are notoriously difficult to deal with. But you're dealing with puppies, who may or may not do what you want them to do, or may do things you're not expecting. How does that complicate the process?
I think you go in with a mindset knowing that'll happen. And while we have it structured to a certain point, there's also the ability to pivot and capture what's unfolding in front of you too, and tell that story. That was our objective as well.
True. You approach it like any other job. And it helps that we're really well scheduled when it comes to getting the Puppy Bowl shot and delivered. We follow a very good structure with that. There is some wiggle room on some different things. But after 21 different years, it's pretty well set and it's streamlined really well.
When did the planning for this year's show start?
I think it was just the newness of it. I was just a rookie and I didn't know much about the process of putting together the Puppy Bowl.
I worked plenty of Super Bowls, but when I wasn't on site at the Super Bowls, I have two daughters and they would always have the Puppy Bowl on. So we're a dog-centric family here.
So it's a natural thing for me to be a help, be an advocate for these pups and to help really showcase them so they can go from shelter to stardom. That really is the objective and to get the word out to call for adoption on these animals.
I worked plenty of Super Bowls, but when I wasn't on site at the Super Bowls, I have two daughters and they would always have the Puppy Bowl on. So we're a dog-centric family here.
And unlike dealing with athletes, you don't have to worry about dog agents coming in and asking for something.
If they come back to you after this is over and ask if you'd like to do it again, would you like to come back next year? Do you have some thoughts on something you'd like to do different?
That's a possibility for sure. I definitely have some ideas. I think being a rookie, you build off of those ideas and you come up with a stronger and better show.
I would love the opportunity to do Puppy Bowl 22 or the kick-off show. I think that would be great, but I'd like to see the response for this one. I'd like to see what people think after they watch on Sunday.
I can't imagine there's a lot of anger from viewers. The Puppy Bowl doesn't strike me as a kind of show where people are going to send off some email. "I hate this. Why are you doing this this way?"
I would love the opportunity to do Puppy Bowl 22 or the kick-off show. I think that would be great, but I'd like to see the response for this one. I'd like to see what people think after they watch on Sunday.
I can't imagine there's a lot of anger from viewers. The Puppy Bowl doesn't strike me as a kind of show where people are going to send off some email. "I hate this. Why are you doing this this way?"
No, not at all. And I think it's because our focus is to be advocates, to help get the word out and get these pups adopted.
I'll leave you this question. You talked earlier about being a dog lover, about your entire family being a dog-loving family. So was there a dog or tow in particular where you thought "Wow, this is really cute dog or this is a really fun dog. If I didn't have a dog already, this is one I might go for."
I have a 14 year old Beagle named Fred. And so there was a lot of temptation to actually adopt and bring him home a companion or a friend. Maybe that'll happen next year.
The Puppy Bowl returns for the 21st year on Sunday, February 9th at 2:00PM ET/11:00AM PT and will be simulcast across Animal Planet, Discovery, TBS, truTV, Max and discovery+.
