Five things you could watch instead of the Super Bowl

Puppy Bowl 2020
Puppy Bowl 2020 (Image credit: Joseph Keller/iMore)

The Super Bowl airs on Sunday, February 2, starting at 6:30 PM ET, and it's set to be the big television event of the night, with the San Francisco 49ers facing off against the Kansas City Chiefs. But if football isn't your thing, or you don't care because your favorite team isn't in it, there is plenty of alternative programming for you to check out.

From a game full of puppies to new episodes of cable dramas, here's are five things you can watch instead of the Super Bowl LIV.

Animal Planet, 3:00 PM ET

The Puppy Bowl XVI

Puppy Bowl XVI (Image credit: Animal Planet)

Animal Planet's Puppy Bowl is perhaps the best piece of counter-programming to the Super Bowl every year. Once again, see Team Fluff and Team Ruff face off in a battle of cuteness, fur, and, inevitably, leaking on the field. Puppy Bowl XVI originally airs at 3PM ET, but expect it to repeat through the day, including during the big game.

How to watch the Puppy Bowl if you've cut the cord

AMC, 8:00 AM ET

Breaking Bad - Season 3

Breaking Bad (Image credit: AMC)

In the runup to the cable network's premiere of El Camino, AMC is running marathons of every season of it's hit drama every Sunday. On February 2, that's Season 3 of the Albuquerque, New Mexio-set crime drama. The season should run from 8:00 a.m. until about 10:45 p.m. ET, more than enough time to cover the whole spread of the Super Bowl.

TNT, 6:30 PM ET

Catch Me If You Can

Catch Me If You Can (Image credit: DreamWorks)

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks, this comedic cat-and-mouse crime film follows Frank Abagnale, a young forger who travels around the world, using various identities and fake checks to scam people out of money, all while staying a step ahead of the FBI agent sent to chase him.

Syfy, 4:45 PM ET

Futurama

Futurama (Image credit: 20th Century Fox)

Skip the game and catch the Futurama marathon on Syfy instead. When a pizza delivery boy named Fry accidentally gets trapped in a cryogenic freezing chamber, he wakes up 1,000 years in the future to a world full of aliens, robots, and more.

HBO, 9:00 PM ET

The Outsider - "Tear-Drinker"

The Outsider (Image credit: HBO)

In this adaptation of the Stephen King novel of the same name, police in a small town investigate a brutal crime that threatens to tear the town apart. In this episode of the limited series, Holly returns from New York with some revelations in the case and looks for clues connected to a similar case in Dayton, Ohio.

What are you watching?

Will you be tuning in to the big game, or finding some alternate programming of your own? Let us know in the comments.

January 2020: Updated for Super Bowl LIV.

Joseph Keller

Joseph Keller is the former Editor in Chief of iMore. An Apple user for almost 20 years, he spends his time learning the ins and outs of iOS and macOS, always finding ways of getting the most out of his iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac.