Puppies, kittens and fish take on Super Bowl

“Fish Bowl II,” 6-10 p.m. Sunday, NatGeoWild

For years, most TV networks counterprogrammed the Super Bowl with repeats. Why bother competing against a monstrosity that draws more than 100 million viewers?

Then a decade ago, Animal Planet came up with an inspiring bit of whimsy: stick a bunch of cute shelter puppies on a mini football field and call it the Puppy Bowl. It was an idea so ridiculous, it worked.

Executives at the time said they were inspired by the old Yuletide log TV stations would air on Christmas. The very first airing of “Puppy Bowl I” drew a modest 150,000 viewers. But word spread and by last year, more than 10 million people watched at least a few minutes of it throughout the day.

And the show itself has gotten more elaborate over the years, reflecting the growth in actual Super Bowl festivities.

There’s a kitty halftime show featuring Katty Furry, who will sub in for the real Katy Perry on NBC. The cheerleaders are dwarf goats. There’s a “rufferee” and a sideline reporter. Special effects include a slow-motion cute cam, a water bowl cam and a kiss cam.

“We’ve upped the absurdity of it all,” said Melinda Toporoff, an Animal Planet executive producer for “Puppy Bowl.”

For instance, they are now keeping score between teams named Fluff and Ruff. Whenever a puppy pushes a chew toy into the end zone, his team scores a touchdown. And they’ve added a fantasy football league.

The 85 puppies are from all over the country — including two from Atlanta Underdog Rescue: Jack Russell pups named Crimson and Cherry.

About 100 hours of video of the puppies was taped in October over two days, and it’s taken even more hours to turn it into a semi-coherent “game.”

The success of “Puppy Bowl” led to two pigskin rivals last year: Hallmark Channel’s “Kitten Bowl” and the even daffier “Fish Bowl” on Nat Geo Wild.

Hallmark’s 92 kittens taking part in “Kitten Bowl” are also rescues with two well-known sportscasters providing “play by play”: Mary Carillo and John Sterling. There is also a “purrking” lot where adult cats tailgate. And Hallmark is even selling trading cards featuring the kitties.

Nat Geo Wild opened last year with Goldie the goldfish in a fish bowl in a studio. This year, Goldie is visiting a farm, so chickens, cows and pigs can “interact” with the star and his clown fish buddies.

“Last year, it was the buzziest, trendiest thing we had ever done,” said Geoff Daniels, general manager for Nat Geo Wild. “People couldn’t believe we actually did something so outside the bowl.”

This year, he plans to keep it simple with no narration — just farm-friendly, banjo-heavy music.