Inspired Television Programming

Okay, so the Eagles lost the Super Bowl. It really wasn't that big of a surprise, really. Even the manner in which they lost wasn't terribly surprising. Philadelphia sports fans are long used to their teams' role of being the contender (as the Eagles were, in quarters 1-3), seemingly losing the will to fight (quarter 4's first 13 minutes), then mounting a comeback that inspires even the most cynical among us to have a shred of hope that They Just Might Pull It Out (14th minute of quarter 4), only to have those hopes dashed one more time in a hail of error and screw-up (15th minute of quarter 4).

But there was some really excellent television on last night. The Puppy Bowl. It was Animal Planet's answer to the Super Bowl (as all networks try to answer the Super Bowl, some with a more light-hearted effort than others), and it really was inspired television programming. It was three hours of puppies running around in a mock-up of a football stadium. That's it. Puppies. Playing. Sticking their paws in the water bowls. Doing puppy things. The only time we even heard a word was when the referree would come out to call a Puppy Penalty (whenever a puppy made a mess on the field). This guy in a referree suit would come out, throw a yellow hankerchief on the ground, blow a whistle, call a puppy penalty on whatever yard line is was near, then proceed to clean it up. Plus, Harry Kalas (legendary Phillies broadcaster and voice-over guy for NFL Films) took the action in and out of commercials.

But the genius of it was that it was largely uninterrupted footage of puppies. And that got me to thinking about something: you know what would be awesome to have, in this age of multiple digital channels coming from one station, so the number of digital channels is nearly unlimited? Atmospheric TV.

TV would become a far cooler place if we had what I'm calling Atmospheric TV. The idea is this: a place on your tuner wher eyou can go to just watch stuff. It's an impulse we fulfill when we sit out on a summer evening and watch traffic go by, or sit at the mall and watch people walk around, or go to the park to watch ducks in the water. We could have the People Walking At The Mall channel. Or the Massachucettes Avenue Pedestrian and Vehicle Traffic channel. And, of course, The Puppy Channel.

The Puppy Channel was introduced by a guy whose daughter works with This American Life, and was a discovery of Jennifer's devotion to the program (one that unfortunately hasn't caught on with me yet, though this may turn the tide). About ten years ago, this guy decided, while watching people watching puppies, taking time out of their work day to do so, that folks needed a rest-stop in their endless search for something to watch on TV. Hence the zen-like notion of the Puppy Channel was born. He tried shopping it around to the likes of Ted Turner and Rupert Murdoch, but found no takers. He gave up the sales pitch, but the idea of Puppy Channel lives on at the web site.

So what we need now, especially since bandwith (one of the reasons the Puppy Channel didn't take off a decade ago) is much less of an issue - digital subchannels and all that, in an era when Doug Hill can have his very own weather network - is all you folks with investment capital to throw around to start throwing it at people who want to produce Atmospheric TV. So how about it?