Entertainment
Pregame with puppies: How to watch the 2026 Puppy Bowl
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There’s no better way to pregame the Patriots vs. Seahawks game on Sunday than with a puppy palooza. The longest-running call-to-adoption television event is back in 2026 with Puppy Bowl XXII. This year’s event includes 150 dogs from 72 shelters across the United States, Puerto Rico, and the British Virgin Islands, which marks a new record.
The reigning champions, Team Fluff’s lineup includes Benito, a Siberian Husky-Chihuahua from Puerto Rico, Showgirl, a Chow Chow-Rottweiler, and Chappell Bone, a Pembroke Welsh Corgi. They’ll take on Team Ruff, which includes Lobster Roll, a Bulldog-Border Collie, Brûlée, a Boston Terrier-French Bulldog, and Miso, an American Cattle Dog-Beagle, to get their paws on the “Lombarky” trophy. Prepare for adorable puppies, heartwarming adoption stories, and play-by-play commentary from sportscasters Steve Levy and Taylor Rooks. A special halftime exhibition game (new this year) with senior dogs on Team Oldies and Team Goldies will also surely tug at your heartstrings.
If you need some cozy and comforting content before the chaos of the Big Game, here’s what you need to know to watch the Puppy Bowl.
When is the 2026 Puppy Bowl?
Puppy Bowl XXII kicks things off on Sunday, Feb. 8 at 2 p.m. ET, making it the perfect pregame for the Big Game at 6:30 p.m. ET. A Puppy Combine pre-show will air just before the 22nd annual adoption awareness event at 1 p.m. ET.
How to watch Puppy Bowl XXII
Got cable? You can watch the 2026 Puppy Bowl on Animal Planet, TBS, or TruTV — take your pick. Those without cable have options as well. The event will simulcast on both HBO Max and Discovery+ streaming services. You can also opt for a live TV cable replacement service, which usually will give you a free trial. We’ve rounded up the best (and cheapest) ways to watch below.
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Best way to watch without cable: Get a free 7-day trial to Discovery+
free 7-day trial, then starting at $5.99/month
free 7-day trial, then starting at $5.99/month
Hands down the best option to watch the Puppy Bowl without spending a cent is to sign up for a free seven-day trial to Discovery+, either through Discovery+ directly or as a Prime Video add-on. After your trial, it’ll cost you either $5.99 per month with ads or $9.99 per month without ads unless you cancel first.
Best way to watch the Puppy Bowl and Super Bowl live: Get a Hulu + Live TV free trial
free 3-day trial, then $89.99/month
If you want to watch both the 2026 Puppy Bowl and the football game, you’re going to need a live TV cable alternative. Fortunately, most options offer free trials — including Hulu + Live TV. While you’ll only get three days for free, you really only need it for Sunday, Feb. 8, so that’s plenty. Just be sure to cancel your subscription before the three-day trial ends, or else you’ll be charged full price — *gasp* $89.99 per month. Other options include YouTube TV and DirecTV Stream.
Best HBO Max deal for most people: Save 16% on HBO Max annual subscriptions
$109.99 per year (save $21.89)
$184.99 per year (save $36.89)
If you don’t qualify for the trials above, or if you just want to commit to HBO Max for more than the Puppy Bowl, we recommend signing up for the annual plan over the monthly plan. The HBO Max Basic plan with ads typically costs $10.99 per month, but if you pay for an entire year upfront, that price drops down to just $9.17. You’ll pay $109.99 total for the year, which saves you about 16% compared to paying each month.
Rather go ad-free? The annual HBO Max Standard or Premium plans will also save you about 16% over their monthly counterparts. The Standard tier costs either $18.49 per month or $184.99 per year (about $15.42 per month), while the Premium tier costs either $22.99 per month or $229.99 per year (about $19.17 per month). Both tiers unlock ad-free viewing, but the Premium tier also adds 4K Ultra HD video quality, Dolby Atmos immersive audio, and the ability to download more offline content.
Best way to get HBO Max for free: Switch to Cricket’s Supreme Unlimited plan
Credit: HBO Max / Cricket
Free for Cricket customers on the Supreme Unlimited plan
One of the best ways to get HBO Max for free in 2026 is to switch your phone plan to Cricket’s $60 per month Supreme Unlimited plan. It includes HBO Max Basic with ads for free — a $10.99 per month value. When you open up the HBO Max app or website, you’ll just select Cricket as your provider and use your credentials to log in.
Best HBO Max deal for students: Save 50% on HBO Max Basic with ads
$5.49 per month for 12 months
College students can sign up for an entire year of HBO Max with ads for half price. Just verify your student status through UNiDAYS and use the unique discount code to drop the price from $10.99 to just $5.49 per month. After 12 months, the price will jump back up to the full $10.99 monthly fee unless you cancel.
Best HBO Max bundle deal: Get HBO Max, Disney+, and Hulu for up to 42% off
Credit: Disney / Hulu / HBO Max
$19.99 per month (with ads), $32.99 per month (no ads)
The Disney+ bundle deal that includes Disney+, Hulu, and HBO Max is one of the best deals in streaming. That lineup of streamers would usually cost you $34.97 per month if you paid separately for each, but you can bundle them for only $19.99. If you prefer to watch without ads, the bundle will run you $32.99 per month as opposed to $56.47. That’s up to 42% in savings for unlimited access to all three streaming libraries.
Entertainment
Score up to 64% off at EcoFlow and snag free solar panels with your purchase.
SAVE 64%: Between May 6 and May 17, you can score up to 64% off at EcoFlow and snag free solar panels with your purchase.
Get up to 64% off plus a free solar panel with purchase
I live in an apartment, so I don’t exactly have a “whole home” to back up. But if there’s one thing I hate, it’s losing power. There goes the AC, the internet, the food in the fridge — it’s a total nightmare. If you actually own a house and have been putting off buying a backup power system because it’s pricey, I have some good news.
The DJI Power 1000 Mini portable power station just launched — U.S. availability is pending
Right now, EcoFlow is running a Mother’s Day Sale through May 17 with discounts as high as 64%. They’re also throwing in free hardware to sweeten the deal: All single orders between $600 and $3,000 come with a free 45W solar panel, and orders over $3,000 come with two free 160W solar panels. If you’re looking for something more portable, their RAPID Power Banks are also up to 53% off right now.
Just keep an eye on the countdown clock — it’s for the Flash Sale items that have even better, limited-time price cuts. If you miss the flash window, the standard Mother’s Day and Home Improvement deals (including a $700 installation discount for larger systems) are still valid through mid-May.
Mashable Deals
Here are a few of the best deals I’ve spotted so far:
Entertainment
Maddies Secret trailer reveals John Early as youve never seen him before
Comedian John Early makes his feature directorial debut with Maddie’s Secret, an offbeat homage to melodrama that he wrote and headlines as its eponymous heroine.
As an aspiring food influencer, Maddie Ralph (Early) is passionate about her cuisine. And at first glance, she’s got a picture-perfect life: a loving husband (Eric Rahill), a devoted best friend (Kate Berlant), and a job at a culinary content studio called Gourmaybe. But as the title suggests, there’s a side to Maddie she can’t stomach sharing with her loved ones. And this secret could kill her.
Out of the movie’s premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival last fall, I cheered Maddie’s Secret, writing in my review for Mashable, “The film is silly and strange, but even amid campy bits, sincere. So, you’ll laugh at its parody elements, but may well be genuinely moved by Early’s commitment to this strange and splendid film.”
I also said “John Early is a better ingénue than Sydney Sweeney,” comparing Maddie’s Secret to another earnest (but less entertaining) TIFF offering, Christy. And I stand by it.
Maddie’s Secret opens in theaters in New York on June 19, and in Los Angeles on June 26.
Entertainment
Pride is almost here! Check out the best dating apps for LGBTQ women.
We know Pride is all year round, but there is something special about the month of June. We’re not there quite yet, but if you want a main squeeze for all the parades and parties, you gotta start looking now. How about on a dating app?
As a lesbian, you probably know all about them. Lesbian Americans (along with bisexual and gay Americans) are far more likely to have ever used dating apps than straight Americans: 51 percent to 28 percent, according to the Pew Research Center.
There are a few reasons why LGBTQ people might turn to online dating more quickly than straight folks. For one, you might live in an area without a thriving LGBTQ community, and in-person dating may be hard. If you don’t know other lesbians to begin with, how can you meet more IRL to date? (Sometimes, lesbian spaces can also be co-opted by The Straights.) Unfortunately, in-person dating may also be less safe, depending on where you live.
Hookup apps for everyone
AdultFriendFinder
—
readers’ pick for casual connections
Tinder
—
top pick for finding hookups
Hinge
—
popular choice for regular meetups
Thankfully, we live in a time where we can find people like us with a few swipes. Lesbians are welcome on major dating apps, and there are also niche ones specifically for lesbians and other queer women and people. But which one to choose?
How to find the best dating apps for lesbians
Niche lesbian dating apps aren’t your only option for finding love.
Credit: Stacey Zhu / Mashable
In Mashable’s recommendations below, you’ll find both general dating apps and apps specifically for queer people. As the former appeals to the general population, you’ll find more users in these spaces. The caveat, however, is that when you swipe on other women, you might find those coupled with men who are looking for another woman to have a threesome with (aka unicorn hunters). No judgment here, but that’s probably not what you’re looking for. Then again, people of all types are on dating apps like Tinder and Hinge. You never know who you may come across.
Then there are apps specifically for the community, like HER and Lex. If you yearn for a smaller dating scene, head for these apps. While there’s no “Grindr for lesbians” — we go into why in the FAQ section — these apps are more so like stepping into your neighborhood lesbian bar than an app like Bumble.
You can also try multiple dating apps, as each one below has a free version. You can filter by the gender you identify with and are looking for, and sometimes, as with OkCupid, there are many options to choose from.
Diving into the dating pool isn’t easy, but the water’s fine. Check out our guide below for the full rundown of our recommendations and dating app reviews.
Score up to 64% off at EcoFlow and snag free solar panels with your purchase.
Maddies Secret trailer reveals John Early as youve never seen him before
