Endowed with a natural cat-letic ability, kittens competing in the Kitten Summer Games are peerless when it comes to events like the DeCat-lon, kitten track and field, and of course, wrestling.
Aired on the Hallmark Channel on Friday August 5 at 8 p.m., the same time as the Opening Ceremony in Rio, the Kitten Summer Games is alternative programming as competitive as the Olympics with the bonus of all the competitors are adopted to good homes.
The Hallmark Channel partnered with the North Shore Animal League and Last Hope Animal Rescue and Rehabilitation to field kittens to compete in the Kitten Summer Games‘ sporting events including kitten gymnastics with balance beam, uneven bars, rings and floor exercises; kitten de-CAT-lon with track and field, 100 meow-ter dash, pole vault and high jump; as well as kitten volleyball, tennis and wrestling.
Animal advocate Beth Stern is hosting the event. Sports announcers Mary Carillo and David Frei are providing commentary and background. No pun was left behind in the execution of the Games with cat-letes named John MacNMeow, Felina Williams, Nadia Come ‘N Scratch Me and Hissing Bolt.
According to Vanity Fair, the Kitten Summer Games is at the vanguard alternative television programming:
"The Summer Games is the latest in what has become an American-TV counter-programming tradition: heavily edited footage of playful animals, who are made to appear as if they were competing in sports. The Puppy Bowl invented the formula in 2005, and the Hallmark Channel joined the trend in 2014 with its annual spin-off, the Kitten Bowl.Like its puppy predecessor, the Kitten Bowl and this year’s Summer Kitten Games espouse goals of animal adoption and shelter awareness. All 90 of the participating “cat-thletes” in August’s event, which was produced in partnership with the North Shore Animal League America, have been adopted—and 1,000 cat adoptions have resulted from additional drives connected to the event."
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