Puppy Bowl VII to get ruff on the gridiron (and at Cinefamily) »

SUPER BOWL ISSUE: This weekend, one of sports' great annual events will return to the field. Yes, Animal Planet will air Puppy Bowl VII, the seventh installment of the Super Bowl's cutest counterprogramming. While it may not match the NFL's yearly 300-pound ratings monster, the Puppy Bowl has proven itself a winner with audiences, watched by more than 8.6 million unique viewers during 2010's marathon screenings.

Though YouTube has long since proven the inexhaustible audience for all things cuddly, the Animal Planet extravaganza will have a few new additions this year to keep viewers from pawing at the remote control.

“This year, we have chicken cheerleaders and a puppy cam, a puppy point-of-view camera,” said Andrew Schechter, the Puppy Bowl's referee and a four-year Bowl veteran as well as an Animal Planet producer.

The latest Bowl will also have an animal version of a stadium “kiss cam,” including “user-generated video of people kissing their pets, pets kissing other pets — the most precious moments our users submitted,” according to Schechter.

The Puppy Bowl's 47-dog lineup features all shelter animals (as are the chickens and the halftime show kittens), taken from across the country.

“Animal Planet worked in conjunction with Pet Finder — we found animals from 30 shelters and rescue groups,” Schechter said, encouraging viewers to adopt needy animals, puppies and otherwise. “It's a fun show, obviously, and it has a tongue-in-cheek tone, but when it comes down to it, the message is the awareness of shelter animals.”

L.A. residents convinced by the cuteness can do just that Sunday at Cinefamily, which will screen the Puppy Bowl as well as host Fairfax neighbors Bark N' Bitches, who will be in attendance with a group of rescue pooches looking to meet their new masters.

As for the Bowl itself, it took two full days to film the two-hour playoff. Schechter wouldn't give away any tips on this year's MVP, but promised a game “clean in every sense” — minus the “puppy fouls, the dirty part of the job.”

“The Puppy Bowl ref can't play favorites or divulge such confidential information, but this group of puppies is the cutest, most rambunctious group we've had yet,” Schechter said. “The puppy penalties are flying, the action is great.”

-- David Greenwald

Puppy Bowl VII

Where: Cinefamily, 611 N. Fairfax Ave.; Animal Planet (channels may vary)

When: Sunday, 3 p.m.

Info: (323) 655-2510, www.cinefamily.org; http://animal.discovery.com/tv/puppy-bowl/

Photos, from top: Puppy Bowl VII players take the field; the kitten halftime show. Credit: Animal Planet