Let's face it, in the short time now that NBC has contracted with the Kennel Club of Philadelphia to telecast their show after the Macy's Day parade on Thanksgiving Day there have been at least two apparent instances of bad faith by NBC towards Philadelphia specifically and the sport generally insofar as using the dog show for other NBC related projects are concerned. Two or three years ago there were the ugly and embarrassing incidents by a cast member of the Sopranos with reference to the French people and the French Poodle. Some thought these were acceptable and funny remarks, I thought them vulgar, upsetting and disturbing and so wrote in my report of the show then and editorially as well. I can still see the look of shock on Paul Edward's face as the Soprano character screamed and yelled off colored remarks outside of the poodle ring. Well I guess that was soon forgotten or ignored or what have you but now comes the latest NBC provoked incident at Philadelphia.
BRAVO is an affiliate of NBC's. NBC as we all know was filming for the parade telecast at Philadelphia. This was announced in the Premium List, told to at least the Group judges and indeed Philadelphia may have written the group judges about this in advance. Nothing was ever said prior to or during the show that Bravo would also be filming a portion of its very contentious and controversial "SHOWDOGS MOMS AND DADS". What was told to the Philadelphia judges and officers according to my source was that an affiliate would be filming there but never according to this source were they told what was to be filmed. Indeed, and I repeat, those who were judging and being filmed also were not told of any ancillary filming either! It is also true that one of the Philadelphia officials had a major confrontation about the attitude of those doing the ancillary filming but that is secondary to the point at hand. How could this filming have gone on without anyone being appraised?
It's not as though this ancillary BRAVO filming was just panning the crowd as a matter of public domain. The fact is that prominent dog personalities were directly filmed doing their job without any prior notification such as signage or documentation anywhere that BRAVO was at work! That everyone knew NBC was filming is one thing but at the very least there was a moral obligation to let participants know what was really going on. Indeed for the Chairman of the Board of AKC to be photographed without his permission or his knowledge of a series so highly critical and misleading about the competitive side of showing dogs borders on negligence. The inference of his appearances on this show is that he gave tacit approval to the show content, which of course is not the case at all!
Now then the high standards and great tradition of the Kennel Club of Philadelphia itself are at stake here and don't get the idea that the subsequent abrupt change in any officers was the result of this filming. Those changes were strictly intra-club maneuverings. No moneys can be worth those results notwithstanding the 21 million people who may have seen the dog show thereafter on NBC! The BRAVO reality show has been an unconscionable slur upon our family which is unforgivable. And lets not forget about the sponsor either. Where do they stand on this matter? They should let NBC know how displeased they are with those happenings...
I am told the Philadelphia officers have spoken to NBC and that NBC is both embarrassed and assures everyone it will never happen again. Well lets hear it publicly, I say, from everyone concerned. The attitude that this great parade exposure overcomes BRAVO is unacceptable to my mind anyways. Perhaps I stand alone as I did with the Soprano incident but you know as well as I do, give people that proverbial inch and you know what they will take!
On another matter in the altogether and with regard to club politics, which is an area we always try to stay out of, of late there has been a rumored tendency in certain parent clubs as opposed to all-breed clubs to let apparent political disputes between parties influence breed judging at shows. This kind of attitude as far as I know may exist and even run rampant in the UK. This is particularly true because of the great power the breed clubs have over who may judge and who gets what assignments. Nonetheless it is rare that one even hears of these kinds of incidences certainly not with all-breed clubs in America. Of late perhaps a Parent Club judge or two or three has taken to reward victors or even losers in the ring by pointing to dogs whose owners may have supported the judge’s cause in a club election or breed standard dispute. Maybe this is something for the Delegate's parent Committee to look into! What do you think?
Gene was at Shoreline and the Hound Show this past weekend and tells me the show grounds which I believe are a first time usage in San Juan Capistrano are just beautiful. How nice to hear that for a change -- new good grounds. Lets hope now that the history of dog people in abusing good grounds will not happen here as well! •
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