# Super Bowl counter-programming: any OTHER alternatives? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 4, 2018, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-counter-programming-any-other-alternatives/808172 "2018-02-04T18:12:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2018, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-counter-programming-any-other-alternatives/808172/21 "2018-02-04T23:41:09Z")
Mix champagne and slim fast. It sure passes the time. ---
**Author:** ![Reluctant\_A](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@Reluctant\_A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reluctant_A)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2018, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-counter-programming-any-other-alternatives/808172/22 "2018-02-04T23:46:18Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > MLB will have Game 7 of the 2017 World Series. ESPN2 has a night of boxing and main ESPN has poker. > > A quick check of my cable guide shows multi episode marathons of The Simpsons, Furturama, Everybody Loves Raymond, How I Met Your Mother and The Andy Griffith Show. Non sitcom marathons include Without a Trace, Duck Dynasty, The Walking Dead, Storage Wars, and the original Disney version of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. If any of that stuff were relevant to my interests, I wouldn’t have started this thread. I’m not looking to step outside of my comfort zone; I want to stay firmly _within_ my comfort zone, but maybe try something within that space that I haven’t considered yet. The Dope is usually good for that sort of thing, but I guess this may be the exception. In fairness, though, I also have to stipulate that I haven’t really been forthcoming with what my interests _are_, either, so I suppose I’m to blame for this (what you all must consider to be) maddening exercise. My apologies. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2018, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-counter-programming-any-other-alternatives/808172/23 "2018-02-04T23:48:46Z")
There’s an **Air Disasters** marathon on the Smithsonian Channel. ---
**Author:** ![Reluctant\_A](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@Reluctant\_A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reluctant_A)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2018, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-counter-programming-any-other-alternatives/808172/24 "2018-02-04T23:56:02Z")
Let me also add that, even though I have come across as completely uncooperative and obstinate, I do sincerely appreciate everyone who _ **has** _ taken the time to offer suggestions, even though this thread hasn’t quite worked out how I was hoping. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2018, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-counter-programming-any-other-alternatives/808172/25 "2018-02-05T00:13:09Z")
> [@Reluctant\_A](#): > > Watch NBA basketball. Ew. Do you get the NHL Network? ---
**Author:** ![Reluctant\_A](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@Reluctant\_A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reluctant_A)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2018, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-counter-programming-any-other-alternatives/808172/26 "2018-02-05T00:20:31Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Ew. Do you get the NHL Network? I’ve never had occasion to find out. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2018, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-counter-programming-any-other-alternatives/808172/27 "2018-02-05T00:26:26Z")
Mrs. Mahaloth and I watch movies or TV like any other day. I put the Super bowl on my Ipad and keep an eye on it because I’m curious and it sometimes turns out to be kind of interesting. ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2018, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-counter-programming-any-other-alternatives/808172/28 "2018-02-05T01:07:49Z")
I am drinking wine and watching “The Worst Cooks in America” on the Food Network ---
**Author:** ![Reluctant\_A](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@Reluctant\_A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reluctant_A)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2018, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-counter-programming-any-other-alternatives/808172/29 "2018-02-05T02:18:56Z")
Anyway, thanks again to **silenus** , **StarvingButStrong** , **Guinastasia** , **ekedolphin** , **John Mace** , **RealityChuck** , **kunilou** and **Robot Arm** for their (presumably) sincere efforts to offer helpful suggestions. That they didn’t actually help me has more to do with my general asociality and borderline misanthropy than the quality of their advice. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2018, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-counter-programming-any-other-alternatives/808172/30 "2018-02-05T03:04:09Z")
For some reason, I never tire of _ **Forensic Files** _ on HLN when the pickin’s on TV are slim. Misanthropes, unite! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2018, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-counter-programming-any-other-alternatives/808172/31 "2018-02-05T03:11:03Z")
I went grocery shopping during the first half of the Super Bowl. Fewer crowds, lighter traffic. For some reason there was an unusually high number of goths & emos wandering about. Probably no more numerically than usual, they just stood out because all the non-weirdos were at home watching the game. ---
**Author:** ![Reluctant\_A](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@Reluctant\_A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reluctant_A)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2018, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-counter-programming-any-other-alternatives/808172/32 "2018-02-05T03:36:57Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > I went grocery shopping during the first half of the Super Bowl. Fewer crowds, lighter traffic. > > For some reason there was an unusually high number of goths & emos wandering about. Probably no more numerically than usual, they just stood out because all the non-weirdos were at home watching the game. This makes me wonder what the cross-section of ‘goths’ and ‘sports fans’ is? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2018, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-counter-programming-any-other-alternatives/808172/33 "2018-02-05T04:48:54Z")
> [@wonky](#): > > The game takes up one channel. I’m a little baffled how having one channel dedicated to a game you’re not going to watch somehow creates a vortex of boredom. It’s not like the old days of presidential debates. Too late for my advice to have an impact on tonight’s viewing, but with the exception of a couple of channels explicitly counter-programming (like Animal Planet with the Puppy Bowl silliness), most channels (and sports leagues) realize that the Super Bowl is going to suck the oxygen out of the room, so they don’t put live sports or new content on against the game. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2018, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-counter-programming-any-other-alternatives/808172/34 "2018-02-05T05:25:48Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Too late for my advice to have an impact on tonight’s viewing, but with the exception of a couple of channels explicitly counter-programming (like Animal Planet with the Puppy Bowl silliness), most channels (and sports leagues) realize that the Super Bowl is going to suck the oxygen out of the room, so they don’t put live sports or new content on against the game. As a result, we get marathons of crap like _ **American Pickers** _ and _ **Ancient Aliens** _. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2018, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-counter-programming-any-other-alternatives/808172/35 "2018-02-05T05:29:19Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Too late for my advice to have an impact on tonight’s viewing, but with the exception of a couple of channels explicitly counter-programming (like Animal Planet with the Puppy Bowl silliness), most channels (and sports leagues) realize that the Super Bowl is going to suck the oxygen out of the room, so they don’t put live sports or new content on against the game. I was a bit disappointed with the Puppy Bowl this year. The refs missed a blatant pass interference call and the schnauzer really should have gone through the concussion protocol. I did like the hamster-powered scoreboard. I wonder where they got a crazy idea like that. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2018, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-counter-programming-any-other-alternatives/808172/36 "2018-02-05T14:11:21Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Too late for my advice to have an impact on tonight’s viewing, but with the exception of a couple of channels explicitly counter-programming (like Animal Planet with the Puppy Bowl silliness), most channels (and sports leagues) realize that the Super Bowl is going to suck the oxygen out of the room, so they don’t put live sports or new content on against the game. You know, I did the thing in this thread that pisses me off when I see it. I commented without knowing the full story. Sorry, OP. I knee jerked when I should have asked more questions. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2018, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-counter-programming-any-other-alternatives/808172/37 "2018-02-05T16:20:55Z")
> [@N9IWP](#): > > Unlike the OP I have plenty of stuff in my Netflix queue. If the Packers were playing I’d watch, and I’d probably watch if the Vikings made it. > Since neither made it is Netflix time for me. > > Brian They were on at our house. We watched the Nov 2012 Cardinals at Packers game. We don’t mind football reruns. Plus, no commercials. (I only have games the packers won. We debated watching SB XLV but we did that a couple years back.) I don’t mean to sound like I’m attacking the OP, but if one can’t find something worth watching on 300 cable channels, streaming services, DVDs, movie theaters, etc I’m not sure anyone can help. ---
**Author:** ![Reluctant\_A](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@Reluctant\_A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reluctant_A)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2018, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-counter-programming-any-other-alternatives/808172/38 "2018-02-05T20:03:34Z")
My interests trend towards the narrow to start with, plus I have a job that provides a lot of idle time, so it doesn’t take me long to get through all the stuff that interests me. Yeah, there might be 300 channels, but only about six of them air programming that I care about. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-counter-programming-any-other-alternatives/808172.md?page=1)