What To Watch On Super Bowl Sunday Instead Of Football (February 8, 2026)

Not a big fan of football? I feel you. As someone who embarrassingly only recently learned what a "first down" was (just call it an attempt instead!) but who shamelessly roots for her home team any chance she gets (the Philadelphia Eagles, go birds), I tend to seek alternate entertainment on Super Bowl Sunday. Sure, I'll be tuning in for the Bad Bunny concert bookended by football played between two teams that do not matter a whit to me personally, but if I may, here are some things you could watch on Super Bowl Sunday that aren't football.

The sort-of-boring answer here is the Puppy Bowl. This annual event, which airs on HBO Max and Animal Planet, brings adoptable puppies onto a football field to play around — complete with a halftime show starring kittens (also adoptable). Obviously, the Puppy Bowl rocks, but I will also admit that even someone who loves cute animals as much as I do gets a little bored when they all start pooping or falling asleep on the field. That's why my editors and I thought I could compile a little list of great stuff to watch on Super Bowl Sunday if you're not a devoted fan of the Seattle Seahawks or the New England Patriots. Check out these picks, switch over to Bad Bunny's halftime show, and then circle back.

The entertainment industry was absolutely gutted on January 30, 2026 when news broke that comedy legend Catherine O'Hara passed away at the age of 71. In recent years, the Canadian actress was better known for her small-screen roles, like her Emmy-winning turn as Moira Rose on "Schitt's Creek" and her hilarious supporting role as Patty Leigh on Seth Rogen's Hollywood comedy "The Studio." What she should be known for, however, is her collaboration with writer-director Christopher Guest, which resulted in four absolutely astounding mockumentary movies: "Waiting for Guffman," "Best in Show," "For Your Consideration," and "A Mighty Wind," all of which are now on Netflix.

I've gone on record here at /Film to say that O'Hara's best-ever performance was as the previously promiscuous Cookie Fleck (née Guggleman) in "Best in Show," where she and her future "Schitt's Creek" co-star Eugene Levy play a Floridian couple who bring their Norwich terrier to a prestigious dog show. Don't sleep on these other movies, though. "Waiting for Guffman" is a wonderfully absurd movie about the town of Blaine, Indiana putting on a perfectly horrible play for Blaine's 150th anniversary, and O'Hara is amazing as the batty travel agent Sheila Albertson. In "For Your Consideration," she plays the aptly-named actress Marilyn Hack, who takes a role in the schlocky fictional film "Home for Purim" in a blatant attempt to win an Oscar, and in "A Mighty Wind," she portrays Mickey Crabbe, a folk singer whose fame came alongside her now ex-boyfriend Mitch Cohen (Levy again). O'Hara was just recently honored at the real Westminster Dog Show for her work in "Best in Show," so if you're not acquainted with these Christopher Guest movies, there's no better time to watch them.

Okay, walk with me here: If you want to watch stuff that's tangentially related to football on Super Bowl Sunday, I'm going to ask you to watch one (1) episode of a great comedy series followed by, well, as many episodes as you like of a famous drama that's mostly about football. First, start off the festivities with "Brain Scramblies," one of the very best episodes of the vampire comedy "What We Do in the Shadows." In this half-hour episode from the FX show's second season, Staten Island vampires Nandor the Relentless (Kayvan Novak), Laszlo Cravensworth (Matt Berry), and Nadja (Natasia Demetriou) are baffled when their unassuming neighbor invites them to a Super Bowl party. That confusion turns to excitement, though, when they "figure out" that it's pronounced "Superb Owl" and is a gathering to celebrate one particular owl. ("That's the owl's egg," Nandor intones, pointing to the football on the invitation.)

After "Brain Scramblies" (which is streaming on Hulu), switch over to "Friday Night Lights," which you can find on Amazon Prime Video. If you, like me, barely know what football's whole deal is but love interpersonal drama in a small town, this show is perfect for you, since it centers around a fictional high school team in Texas named the Dillon Panthers. Plus, the cast is incredible: It's led by Connie Britton and Kyle Chandler and provided breakthrough roles for performers like Jesse Plemons, Michael B. Jordan, and Zach Gilford. Order some nachos and wings, crack a beer, and settle in for some fake football — and some love triangles.

Otherwise, the Super Bowl airs on Peacock and NBC on Sunday, February 8, with kick-off at 6:30 P.M.