Meow? Is anybody home?

Reality TV goes to the cats in Animal Planet's "Meow Mix House"

Riveting reality television has seen its share of catfights. Just tune
in to MTV's groundbreaking hit "The Real World," and there's bound to be a conflict among the housemates threatening to turn physical.

But on Animal Planet1s "Meow Mix House," promoted as a mix of "The Real World" and "The Apprentice," real fur could fly.

Show organizers in New York City devised a kitty penthouse complete with scratching posts, sofas and other scaled-down amenities even some humans can barely afford. Then, with the help of animal rescue organizations from around the country, 10 homeless cats were flown in to populate the feline palace. Passersby can view the cats at 425 Madison Ave., and every lazy move can be seen through Webcams available at www.meowmixhouse.com.

However, all is not catnip and toy mice. Each week competitions are
held, including "best sleeper" and "best mouse-catcher," according to
Reuters news service. Votes from the show's "panel of experts" are then tallied to boot off the least popular feline, who is banished to live with a loving adoptive family while enjoying a year's supply of Meow Mix. Meanwhile, viewers can place online votes for their favorites to win the "viewer's choice award."

Only on "Meow Mix House" can you lose a sleeping competition and be
rewarded with the chance to sleep almost indefinitely for the rest of your existence. That fate almost seems more enjoyable than the grand prize. The winning kitty will become Meow Mix's official "Feline Vice President of Research and Development." (Move over, Donald Trump.)

It sounds like the folks at Meow Mix have done a lot of production work for what amounts to a once-weekly three-minute show. But perhaps they know something about television viewers many of us can't bring ourselves to admit.

According to Reuters, officials with the cat food company say they want the show to promote cat adoption, and, obviously, the Meow Mix brand. But this show, perhaps more than any other show on Animal Planet or elsewhere, sharply focuses on our mostly-ludicrous need to humanize companion animals. And we'll watch every minute of it with enthusiasm.

The show1s Web site is cheery bordering on cheesy, just like the show
itself. It literally looks like a bright yellow animated Meow Mix cat food box. The site's introduction reminds viewers that this is the company responsible for MeowTV, an online television channel for cats, and Meow Café, a New York City feline eatery. I don't know a lot about the world of cat food promotion, but I'm guessing Meow Mix is king (and there's big points for creativity).

Dig a little deeper and you'll find that each cat has a biography page
and his or her own Weblog. Zen is the calm one, Opry is from Nashville and loves country music and Bambi is the feline equivalent of a desperate housewife.

According to Reuter's, Meow Mix's Keith Fernbach said the show's
producers "try to give [each cat] a personality for TV."

It's true that companion animals have personalities to some extent. But at what point does anthropomorphizing become crazy rather than endearing?

We've created a dollhouse for living creatures where we can gawk at them and manipulate them. Someone logs onto the Internet to write a Weblog from a cat's point of view, creating a character and consciousness that exists, yet really doesn1t.

Cats obviously don't know the difference between country and hip-hop,
but we're claiming that Opry loves it.

Am I the only one who thinks this is a little weird?

Weird or not, any show that has the potential to increase cat adoptions is worthwhile in my opinion. I'm just thankful "Meow Mix House" is a three-minute quasi-advertisement instead of a full-fledged production. But I wouldn1t be surprised if that changed in the future.

"Meow Mix House" airs Fridays on Animal Planet for the next nine weeks.