Discovery Communications — the parent company for Discovery Channel, TLC, and Animal Planet — will hold its upfront presentation this afternoon in New York, and Deadline has a rundown of all the new shows and specials that the channels will announce. Of course, because TLC is involved, there’s some great fodder (“Extreme Christmas Trees”), but the highlight for me is a new show coming to Animal Planet called “Puppies vs. Babies.”
From cute and cuddly to adorable, hilarious and outrageous, newborns and zooborns are the most fussed over subjects on the Internet, and America just can’t get enough of them! Every other day, a star is born in cyberspace, and the question remains: who is the best?! PUPPIES VS. BABIES finds out with three one-hour episodes, taking the 16 most popular clips from that week and pitting them against one another in three rounds of playful competition for the coveted number one spot. With judging panels ranging from experts to comedians and even people off the streets, PUPPIES VS. BABIES is taking the vote to the masses and settling this showdown once and for all!
I absolutely love this idea, although I’m destined to be disappointed by its execution, because you KNOW that the powerful baby lobby is gonna make sure that puppies won’t win every time. In fact, I could do without the babies altogether. “Puppies vs. Kittens” would be better. Or hell, just make it ALL puppies. Call it “Puppies vs. Puppies” and put two 12-week-old puppies in an arena. And they could wear little plastic gladiator outfits and chew on each other for half an hour, or maybe take a nap. Why am I not in charge of Animal Planet’s programming?