Nickelodeon’s SpongeBob-themed Super Bowl might be the best way to watch, at this point

polygon.com:

The best Super Bowl of 2024 wasn’t broadcast by CBS out of the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. It took place beneath the crystalline cartoon waters in Bikini Bottom.

For the first time ever, CBS Sports and Nickelodeon teamed up to provide viewers with an official alternate broadcast of the big game. This year, those tuning into the 2024 Super Bowl on Sunday had an option to choose between watching the standard telecast or a Nickelodeon broadcast hosted by none other than SpongeBob SquarePants and Patrick Star. While I appreciate the standard telecast for all its blockbuster-sized commercials, I’m here to tell you that Nickelodeon’s broadcast is my new standard, whenever the rights-holder stars align.

Over on Nick — the actual channel, as the event wasn’t streamed — animated versions of SpongeBob and Patrick hosted the show alongside CBS Sports analyst Nate Burleson and announcer Noah Eagle. While the two professional sports announcers brought classic NFL banter to the game, a lot of the commentary also consisted of the two animated characters (played by Tom Kenny and Bill Fagerbakke, respectively) singing songs like “Best Day Ever” and telling tons of corny jokes.

The broadcast included other flourishes edited into the live footage by the production team. Nick’s game gave the digital first-down line a pineapple pattern. Touchdowns resulted in either a deluge of Krabby Patties lobbed into the roaring crowd or a stream of classic Nickelodeon green slime “poured” over everyone in the seats. At one point, Larry the Lobster walked right onto the field and did a “personal foul” in his pants.

The animation didn’t end at the sidelines. Nickelodeon would routinely cut away to a digital audience of the bug-eye anchovies from SpongeBob cheering on the teams. Throughout the game, the broadcast showed footage of animated fish-inspired personas of various celebrities like “LePrawn James,” “Billie Eelish,” and “Herring Styles.” A few famous faces, however, went without