Bruce Cameron and Cathryn Michon—the husband-wife team who wrote the screenplay for A Dog’s Purpose, a film starring Dennis Quaid, based on Cameron’s bestselling novel of the same name—discuss how the book has yet again become a New York Times bestseller (this time, recently reaching #1 on both the Paperback Trade Fiction and Mass-Market Fiction lists). 
A Dog’s Purpose, the book and the film, tells the story of a dog who’s reincarnated through several lives, and how he’s seeking to sort out his purpose through each of those lives. The couple recall how a pivotal moment while they were dating—Michon had explained that she was so crushed by the loss of her dog, Ellie, that she couldn’t envision ever getting another dog, while lifelong canine lover couldn’t envision life without a dog—led Cameron to spin the Purpose yarn while he and Michon were on a drive, with his own purpose to erode her resistance to resuming dog ownership by suggesting dogs we lose may be reincarnated into dogs we meet later in our lives. It worked! They 
now share their lives with an ultra-cute dog named Tucker. 
And the tale from that drive went on to become the core saga of the book, and then of the film—and they addressed the differences of writing the screenplay, given that so much of the breadth and depth of the book necessarily must be jettisoned. They also spoke to the movie studio’s sweeping promotional support of A Dog’s Purpose, the dogs appearing in the movie (the TMZ clip was posted a few hours after this interview, so we did not discuss it, but Cameron, director Lasse Hallstrom, producer Gavin Pallone and the studio have all released statements about the situation), Josh Gad’s work as the voice of the dogs’ soul, how they approached collaborating on this project, and more. (www.adogspurposemovie.com)
ALSO: I spoke briefly with Alana Rogers, of Pig Advocates League (PAL), who provided an update on the so-called “Polk Pigs”—the 100-plus pigs that were seized in August from a Polk City facility, where the proprietors were charged with 138 counts of animal neglect and three counts of felony animal abuse. Most have found homes, but 30 still need homes, and meanwhile, remain temporarily housed at Rooterville, a sanctuary in Melrose, FL. (www.pigadvocates.com, https://rooterville.org/ )
COMEDY CORNER: Matt Braunger’s “Panda Butler” (www.mattbraunger.com)
MUSIC: Rebekah Pulley’s “Talking Animals Theme,” instrumentals
NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: The TV Theme Players’ “The Green Hornet Theme” (aka “Flight Of The Bumblebee”)
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