'Puppy Bowl' 2020: How one rescue dog made it to the big game, with Whitney Cummings' help
LOS ANGELES – Star quality can be tough to identify. That is, until you meet a young talent whose embodiment of the X factor is so obvious, it practically emanates from his coffee-colored eye patch to his curlicued white tail.
Jack, a chihuahua/poodle mix, was the clear champion from the start of “Puppy Bowl” tryouts. The playful new Animal Planet segment features comedian and animal activist Whitney Cummings auditioning three puppies to move on to the network’s 16th annual "Puppy Bowl," Sunday's Super Bowl for for dog lovers (3 EST/noon PST).This year, the show features 96 puppies from 61 shelters across 25 states.
As the "Pup Close" segment was taped on a sunny September afternoon in the Hollywood Hills, the inquisitive, white-haired Jack competed against Ivan, a sedate, bowlegged dark gray meatball with a flat face and Daphne, a feisty, cow-spotted cutie. (All were adopted through the California-based Love Leo Rescue).
Cummings, who has four dogs of her own – she calls her home a “revolving door” for fostering dogs – took the four-legged fur babies through rounds of toy throwing and hurdle navigating, while deadpanning dog-themed jokes for her unpredictable and unamused co-stars.
Why perform for such a ruff crowd? Cummings says it's because rescue dogs "were kind of my friends growing up.
"I was really socially awkward and weird, and dogs don't judge you and they don't criticize you and they don't bully you. They're sort of always unconditionally there," she says, offering photos of her brood, which includes a dog she found scared in a junkyard and others she adopted from shelters.
"They got me through a lot of stuff: Parents getting a divorce, turbulence and chaos in the house," she says. So Cummings did her part to help other dogs find their furever homes by drafting a "Puppy Bowl" athlete.
With Cummings behind him, a boom mic above him and a videographer crouching in front, Jack trotted through a red tunnel with the confidence of Leonardo DiCaprio on a red carpet. Did the camera crew want to reset and shoot Jack’s galavanting again from a new angle? No problem: The good boy had more takes in him, the same run in the same way. He gave Animal Planet editors plenty to work with.
When Cummings gave Jack a toy football, he knew exactly what to do: Paw the ball toward his tiny teeth, dramatically turn away from Cummings and directly face the camera.
“Yet another man in my life that’s more interested in football than me,” Cummings joked, but in truth she was impressed. "He's perfect," she said.
Daphne was more interested in a nap than the tunnel. Ivan tried to eat the hurdle he was meant to jump over.
So the winner was obvious. Jack was named the new member of “Team Ruff” (competing against “Team Fluff” at the "Puppy Bowl"), and is in the running for the MVP (Most Valuable Puppy) title and the "Lombarky Trophy."
Jack continued to ham it up for the camera, licking Cummings' face as soon as she pronounced him the winner.
“Does he understand me?” said Cummings, who tied a “Team Ruff” bandana around his neck. “You’ve had a big day,” she said. As if on cue, Jack stopped licking, leaned on Cummings' arm, showed his puppy eyes and then closed them.
“Well, this is my pick … I think it’s obvious that Jack is the choice,” she said.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Puppy Bowl' 2020: Behind-the-scenes of tryouts, with Whitney Cummings
