Greatest Sitcom Bracket
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Greatest Sitcom Bracket Championship
And then there were two. The championship match is set and will feature the two shows that have been the most dominant in this tournament: Seinfeld vs The Cosby Show. I'm not surprised by Cosby's appearance in the title match. I predicted them to be there in the beginning. But I thought Cosby would be facing off against I Love Lucy. Clearly I was wrong, as Seinfeld was able to knock off the perennial sitcom favorite. So now we have a clash between the gold standard of family comedies and a show about nothing. Let the voting begin! The winner will be announced on April 2.
Greatest Sitcom Bracket
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Greatest Sitcom Bracket
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Greatest Sitcom Bracket Final Four
Here we are, at the Final Four! In just a few short weeks, we have narrowed the field from 64 to 4. And there should be no argument about these shows being the last ones standing. Sure, there may have been other deserving shows, but these four rose above the rest. So now it's time to unveil who advanced and get down to voting for who will match up in the championship.
I Love Lucy and MASH advanced quite easily over The Dick Van Dyke Show and All in the Family. The other 1 seeds, however, were not so fortunate. Despite jumping out to an early lead, Friends ended up falling to Seinfeld in a very close vote, 10-8. Cheers also put up a good fight against The Cosby Show, which had been destroying shows up until this point, but ultimately fell in another 10-8 vote. So our Final Four matchups are as follows:
I Love Lucy vs Seinfeld
MASH vs The Cosby Show
If you thought the decisions were tough before, you're certainly in for it now.
Here's a look at the bracket, and the vote.
Greatest Sitcom Bracket
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I Love Lucy and MASH advanced quite easily over The Dick Van Dyke Show and All in the Family. The other 1 seeds, however, were not so fortunate. Despite jumping out to an early lead, Friends ended up falling to Seinfeld in a very close vote, 10-8. Cheers also put up a good fight against The Cosby Show, which had been destroying shows up until this point, but ultimately fell in another 10-8 vote. So our Final Four matchups are as follows:
I Love Lucy vs Seinfeld
MASH vs The Cosby Show
If you thought the decisions were tough before, you're certainly in for it now.
Here's a look at the bracket, and the vote.
Greatest Sitcom Bracket
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Greatest Sitcom Bracket Elite Eight
Well as the field is narrowed to eight it's nothing but chalk. All the 1 and 2 seeds advanced to the Elite Eight, although some had a harder time of it than others.
I Love Lucy, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Friends, Seinfeld, MASH, and The Cosby Show all advanced fairly easily, with Seinfeld and Cosby continuing to win by the largest margins. So clearly the double digit Cinderella shows couldn't compete with the true heavyweights. While we all love shows like Growing Pains and Full House, we still admit they are not the greatest ever.
The two shows that had closer matchups were Cheers and All in the Family, both needing a late push to win by a single vote. All in the Family was trailing Bewitched for much of the voting period, pulling ahead on the final day to secure the victory. And Modern Family gave Cheers a run for its money before falling just one vote short. I'm still surprised by Bewitched's performance. I really think that has been the surprise of the tournament so far, and its magical run almost continued into the Elite Eight.
But alas, we left with an all heavyweight lineup pitting the top two seeds against each other in each bracket. It also gives us a chance to see which shows are considered the tops in their respective decades as the brackets feature the top shows from 50-60s (I Love Lucy vs The Dick Van Dyke Show), 70s (MASH vs All in the Family), 80s (Cheers vs The Cosby Show), and 90s (Friends vs Seinfeld). And now it's time to narrow the field to four. My predictions are that Lucy, MASH, Cosby, and Seinfeld will advance, but as we all know, my predictions usually mean nothing.
So take a look at the bracket, cast your votes, share with friends, and come back in four days to see who advances!
Greatest Sitcom Bracket
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I Love Lucy, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Friends, Seinfeld, MASH, and The Cosby Show all advanced fairly easily, with Seinfeld and Cosby continuing to win by the largest margins. So clearly the double digit Cinderella shows couldn't compete with the true heavyweights. While we all love shows like Growing Pains and Full House, we still admit they are not the greatest ever.
The two shows that had closer matchups were Cheers and All in the Family, both needing a late push to win by a single vote. All in the Family was trailing Bewitched for much of the voting period, pulling ahead on the final day to secure the victory. And Modern Family gave Cheers a run for its money before falling just one vote short. I'm still surprised by Bewitched's performance. I really think that has been the surprise of the tournament so far, and its magical run almost continued into the Elite Eight.
But alas, we left with an all heavyweight lineup pitting the top two seeds against each other in each bracket. It also gives us a chance to see which shows are considered the tops in their respective decades as the brackets feature the top shows from 50-60s (I Love Lucy vs The Dick Van Dyke Show), 70s (MASH vs All in the Family), 80s (Cheers vs The Cosby Show), and 90s (Friends vs Seinfeld). And now it's time to narrow the field to four. My predictions are that Lucy, MASH, Cosby, and Seinfeld will advance, but as we all know, my predictions usually mean nothing.
So take a look at the bracket, cast your votes, share with friends, and come back in four days to see who advances!
Greatest Sitcom Bracket
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Greatest Sitcom Bracket Sweet Sixteen
As the NCAA Tournament starts in full force today, the Greatest Sitcom Bracket is narrowed down to sixteen shows. The latest round of voting provided some serious surprises. Let's take a look at the results.
In the MASH region, The 1-seed MASH had a close matchup with The Office, pulling away late to secure a 10-7 victory. I don't know if this is just reflective of The Office's current popularity or a lack of love for MASH. But a win is a win and we'll see how MASH performs moving forward.
The 4-5 matchup was also close with The Andy Griffith Show also winning by a score of 10-7 over Will and Grace. This is another instance of an older show beating out a newer one, but, honestly, there hasn't been a whole lot of consistency with that. I think this matchup was a coin flip going in so it isn't that shocking that it was close, but I did kind of think Will and Grace would win.
The next two matchups were decided by one vote. Bewitched pulled the upset over Family Ties, 9-8, and All in the Family squeaked by The Jeffersons by the same score. Both of these results surprise me. I didn't really think Bewitched would make it past the first round, let alone get into the Sweet Sixteen. Don't get me wrong, I love the show, even though they traded Darrin's halfway through the run, but I didn't think that many other people shared my love. Either way, I'm happy to see it advance. As far as the All in the Family vote goes, I'm not surprised by the end result, but I am surprised by how close it was. I thought it would cruise into the next round, but apparently The Jeffersons thought they could move on up into the round of 16. Even though they came up short, they gave a valiant effort.
The matchups in the Cheers region weren't nearly as close, although many started out close in the early stages of voting before shows pulled away late. Cheers bested Happy Days 11-6, and I still can't figure out why six people voted for Happy Days. This shouldn't have been that close. I'm a little worried for Cheers moving forward.
Modern Family really pulled away late against Golden Girls. Early on they were only up 5-4, and ended up winning 13-4. Yikes. As I mentioned before, it really is a funny show, so this doesn't totally surprise me. It will be interesting to see the Cheers-Modern Family matchup coming up.
In another upset That 70s Show pulled away from Roseanne and won 12-5. I mentioned earlier about old beating new, and now we have two straight cases of new beating old, so there really is no rhyme or reason for what's happening.
And in the one matchup that was never close, The Cosby Show destroyed I Dream of Jeannie 14-3. No surprise there, although I am sad to see Jeannie go.
So here's what the bracket looks like now
Greatest Sitcom Bracket
Looking ahead to the Sweet Sixteen, all 1 and 2 seeds are still alive, but there are no 3 or 4 seeds left. We also have three 11 seeds and a 12 seed left in the bracket. The only shows that have really won easily in their first two matchups have been Seinfeld and The Cosby Show. Could that be a precursor to a potential championship match? Perhaps. Either way, we have some intriguing matchups in this round, and I think I can safely say that anyone can win. If I were a betting man (haha, if), I would say that Cosby is probably the safest bet, but I'm not even sure about that. I think all four double digit seed have a chance to win. But enough with my conjecture, let's get to the voting!
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In the MASH region, The 1-seed MASH had a close matchup with The Office, pulling away late to secure a 10-7 victory. I don't know if this is just reflective of The Office's current popularity or a lack of love for MASH. But a win is a win and we'll see how MASH performs moving forward.
The 4-5 matchup was also close with The Andy Griffith Show also winning by a score of 10-7 over Will and Grace. This is another instance of an older show beating out a newer one, but, honestly, there hasn't been a whole lot of consistency with that. I think this matchup was a coin flip going in so it isn't that shocking that it was close, but I did kind of think Will and Grace would win.
The next two matchups were decided by one vote. Bewitched pulled the upset over Family Ties, 9-8, and All in the Family squeaked by The Jeffersons by the same score. Both of these results surprise me. I didn't really think Bewitched would make it past the first round, let alone get into the Sweet Sixteen. Don't get me wrong, I love the show, even though they traded Darrin's halfway through the run, but I didn't think that many other people shared my love. Either way, I'm happy to see it advance. As far as the All in the Family vote goes, I'm not surprised by the end result, but I am surprised by how close it was. I thought it would cruise into the next round, but apparently The Jeffersons thought they could move on up into the round of 16. Even though they came up short, they gave a valiant effort.
The matchups in the Cheers region weren't nearly as close, although many started out close in the early stages of voting before shows pulled away late. Cheers bested Happy Days 11-6, and I still can't figure out why six people voted for Happy Days. This shouldn't have been that close. I'm a little worried for Cheers moving forward.
Modern Family really pulled away late against Golden Girls. Early on they were only up 5-4, and ended up winning 13-4. Yikes. As I mentioned before, it really is a funny show, so this doesn't totally surprise me. It will be interesting to see the Cheers-Modern Family matchup coming up.
In another upset That 70s Show pulled away from Roseanne and won 12-5. I mentioned earlier about old beating new, and now we have two straight cases of new beating old, so there really is no rhyme or reason for what's happening.
And in the one matchup that was never close, The Cosby Show destroyed I Dream of Jeannie 14-3. No surprise there, although I am sad to see Jeannie go.
So here's what the bracket looks like now
Greatest Sitcom Bracket
Looking ahead to the Sweet Sixteen, all 1 and 2 seeds are still alive, but there are no 3 or 4 seeds left. We also have three 11 seeds and a 12 seed left in the bracket. The only shows that have really won easily in their first two matchups have been Seinfeld and The Cosby Show. Could that be a precursor to a potential championship match? Perhaps. Either way, we have some intriguing matchups in this round, and I think I can safely say that anyone can win. If I were a betting man (haha, if), I would say that Cosby is probably the safest bet, but I'm not even sure about that. I think all four double digit seed have a chance to win. But enough with my conjecture, let's get to the voting!
Monday, March 17, 2014
Greatest Sitcom Bracket Round 2 Part II
Voting has concluded in the first two regions of Round 2, and we have quite a few surprises.
In the I Love Lucy region my predictions were pretty much as wrong as could be. First, I thought I Love Lucy would advance easily over Three's Company, but it turned out to be a lot closer. The final score was 8-6. I'm a little, no, a lot, shocked by that. How are that many people voting for Three's Company over I Love Lucy?! I'm flummoxed, but glad that Lucy advanced.
The next matchup featured the biggest blowout in this round of voting, with The Big Bang Theory destroying Murphy Brown, 12-2. I really thought this matchup would be closer. Now I'm wondering if Big Bang poses a serious threat to Lucy.
Next up, we have quite a big upset. Growing Pains took out The Mary Tyler Moore Show 8-6. This is the second straight upset for Growing Pains and puts our first double digit seed in the Sweet Sixteen. This is another surprise to me. Don't get me wrong, I like Growing Pains, but I didn't think it could beat MTM. I think it might have a chance to advance to the Elite Eight now, too.
In the closest matchup in this region Who's the Boss and The Dick Van Dyke Show finished in a tie, 7-7. As was established earlier, the tiebreaker comes down to my vote, which in this case was for Dick Van Dyke. Once again the Alyssa Milano effect gave some power to Who's the Boss, and maybe if voting was open longer it would have won. But it didn't, and now I'm wondering if DVD can take down the force that is Growing Pains.
The Friends regions featured a couple upsets, based on seed, but no real close results. Friends moved on easily over The Beverly Hillbillies 10-4. No surprise there.
As I predicted, Full House beat Sanford and Son by a score of 11-3. I think a lot of people have a soft spot for Full House. I'm really wondering if I completely under seeded it. I am very curious to see how the Friends-Full House matchup shapes up.
In another upset, but not really a surprise, The Brady Bunch beat The Honeymooners 10-4. Much like Full House, I think people have a soft spot for the Bradys. This also may have been under seeded, but it really didn't have the numbers to be seeded higher. But everybody knows who the Brady Bunch is, and you just can't measure that.
And in the final matchup in this region Seinfeld dispatched Everybody Loves Raymond 10-4. This isn't a surprise either and sets up another intriguing matchup against The Brady Bunch.
So here's what the bracket looks like now.
Greatest Sitcom Bracket
And now it's time to move on to voting in the next two regions. I think the top two seeds in each region will advance easily, but I can't even begin to guess what might happen in the other matchups. Of course, based on the last round of voting, we've all seen how accurate my predictions are. No matter what it should be interesting. So please vote, and share with your friends.
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In the I Love Lucy region my predictions were pretty much as wrong as could be. First, I thought I Love Lucy would advance easily over Three's Company, but it turned out to be a lot closer. The final score was 8-6. I'm a little, no, a lot, shocked by that. How are that many people voting for Three's Company over I Love Lucy?! I'm flummoxed, but glad that Lucy advanced.
The next matchup featured the biggest blowout in this round of voting, with The Big Bang Theory destroying Murphy Brown, 12-2. I really thought this matchup would be closer. Now I'm wondering if Big Bang poses a serious threat to Lucy.
Next up, we have quite a big upset. Growing Pains took out The Mary Tyler Moore Show 8-6. This is the second straight upset for Growing Pains and puts our first double digit seed in the Sweet Sixteen. This is another surprise to me. Don't get me wrong, I like Growing Pains, but I didn't think it could beat MTM. I think it might have a chance to advance to the Elite Eight now, too.
In the closest matchup in this region Who's the Boss and The Dick Van Dyke Show finished in a tie, 7-7. As was established earlier, the tiebreaker comes down to my vote, which in this case was for Dick Van Dyke. Once again the Alyssa Milano effect gave some power to Who's the Boss, and maybe if voting was open longer it would have won. But it didn't, and now I'm wondering if DVD can take down the force that is Growing Pains.
The Friends regions featured a couple upsets, based on seed, but no real close results. Friends moved on easily over The Beverly Hillbillies 10-4. No surprise there.
As I predicted, Full House beat Sanford and Son by a score of 11-3. I think a lot of people have a soft spot for Full House. I'm really wondering if I completely under seeded it. I am very curious to see how the Friends-Full House matchup shapes up.
In another upset, but not really a surprise, The Brady Bunch beat The Honeymooners 10-4. Much like Full House, I think people have a soft spot for the Bradys. This also may have been under seeded, but it really didn't have the numbers to be seeded higher. But everybody knows who the Brady Bunch is, and you just can't measure that.
And in the final matchup in this region Seinfeld dispatched Everybody Loves Raymond 10-4. This isn't a surprise either and sets up another intriguing matchup against The Brady Bunch.
So here's what the bracket looks like now.
Greatest Sitcom Bracket
And now it's time to move on to voting in the next two regions. I think the top two seeds in each region will advance easily, but I can't even begin to guess what might happen in the other matchups. Of course, based on the last round of voting, we've all seen how accurate my predictions are. No matter what it should be interesting. So please vote, and share with your friends.
Friday, March 14, 2014
Greatest Sitcom Bracket - Round 2 Begins!
Voting for Round 1 is now complete! We are officially down to 32 sitcoms. But before we start voting in the second round, let's recap the final region from the first round, the Cheers region.
This was officially the region of blowouts. The closest matchup was decided by three votes. Cheers won easily over Mork and Mindy by a score of 8-3. This is no real surprise. Cheers is widely praised and well loved, while Mork and Mindy is just sort of there.
In what I think is a bit of a shock, Happy Days cruised by Gilligan's Island 8-3. While I'm not surprised that Happy Days won, I thought it would be a little closer. I guess there's not that much love for the seven lovable castaways. Meanwhile, everybody apparently forgot that Fonzi JUMPED A SHARK!!!!! Oh well.
Next, Modern Family destroyed Welcome Back, Kotter, 10-1. Again, I'm more surprised by the score than the outcome. Phil Dunphy is quite possibly the funniest character on TV right now, and when all is said and done could possibly rank in the top ten all time. Yes, he is that funny. If you don't watch Modern Family, you should.
The closest matchup in this region saw Golden Girls beat The Odd Couple 7-4. Both shows are very funny, but anything with Betty White should win. And it did.
Roseanne won another blowout, 10-1, over Green Acres. I never really got into Roseanne, but it was a very popular show, hence the high seed. Green Acres was also popular, which is why it is in the bracket, but it didn't have nearly enough to get by Roseanne.
In an upset, That 70s Show beat out Frasier 8-3. Personally, I'm pleased with this result because I never really liked Frasier and I love That 70s Show. I wasn't sure it could win, though. I guess the voters like a bunch of stoner kids more than a neurotic shrink.
Another upset and another blowout saw I Dream of Jeannie defeat Two and a Half Men 9-2. Two and a Half Men has run for a long time, which shows that it must be popular, but I Dream of Jeannie is iconic and great. And the vote shows just that. It is still loved.
And in the final matchup of the region, The Cosby Show won in unanimous fashion over Wings. Cosby and I Love Lucy are the only unanimous winners from the first round. They are also my picks for the championship match. We'll see what happens.
So here is what the bracket looks like after Round 1.
Greatest Sitcom Bracket
So now let's move on to Round 2! The first round of voting will look at the I Love Lucy and Friends regions. In the Lucy region I think all the top seeds will advance. Although, I'm curious to see how the Murphy Brown-Big Bang Theory matchup plays out. In the Friends region, however, I see two possible upsets with Full House and The Brady Bunch. I would not be surprised to see either or both of those shows advance. But enough of my silly predictions, let's get to the voting!
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This was officially the region of blowouts. The closest matchup was decided by three votes. Cheers won easily over Mork and Mindy by a score of 8-3. This is no real surprise. Cheers is widely praised and well loved, while Mork and Mindy is just sort of there.
In what I think is a bit of a shock, Happy Days cruised by Gilligan's Island 8-3. While I'm not surprised that Happy Days won, I thought it would be a little closer. I guess there's not that much love for the seven lovable castaways. Meanwhile, everybody apparently forgot that Fonzi JUMPED A SHARK!!!!! Oh well.
Next, Modern Family destroyed Welcome Back, Kotter, 10-1. Again, I'm more surprised by the score than the outcome. Phil Dunphy is quite possibly the funniest character on TV right now, and when all is said and done could possibly rank in the top ten all time. Yes, he is that funny. If you don't watch Modern Family, you should.
The closest matchup in this region saw Golden Girls beat The Odd Couple 7-4. Both shows are very funny, but anything with Betty White should win. And it did.
Roseanne won another blowout, 10-1, over Green Acres. I never really got into Roseanne, but it was a very popular show, hence the high seed. Green Acres was also popular, which is why it is in the bracket, but it didn't have nearly enough to get by Roseanne.
In an upset, That 70s Show beat out Frasier 8-3. Personally, I'm pleased with this result because I never really liked Frasier and I love That 70s Show. I wasn't sure it could win, though. I guess the voters like a bunch of stoner kids more than a neurotic shrink.
Another upset and another blowout saw I Dream of Jeannie defeat Two and a Half Men 9-2. Two and a Half Men has run for a long time, which shows that it must be popular, but I Dream of Jeannie is iconic and great. And the vote shows just that. It is still loved.
And in the final matchup of the region, The Cosby Show won in unanimous fashion over Wings. Cosby and I Love Lucy are the only unanimous winners from the first round. They are also my picks for the championship match. We'll see what happens.
So here is what the bracket looks like after Round 1.
Greatest Sitcom Bracket
So now let's move on to Round 2! The first round of voting will look at the I Love Lucy and Friends regions. In the Lucy region I think all the top seeds will advance. Although, I'm curious to see how the Murphy Brown-Big Bang Theory matchup plays out. In the Friends region, however, I see two possible upsets with Full House and The Brady Bunch. I would not be surprised to see either or both of those shows advance. But enough of my silly predictions, let's get to the voting!
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Greatest Sitcom Bracket Part III Recap and Voting Part IV
Voting has now concluded in the MASH region, so let's take a look at the results before we move on to the final region.
In the 1-16 matchup MASH won, unsurprisingly. I'll be honest when I say that NewsRadio probably shouldn't have made the bracket, but it's one of my favorite shows and I had to fit it in. I figured it didn't matter much who ended up as the 16 seeds since they would likely get beat fairly soundly. And so far they have, but at least NewsRadio can say it made the field. It even picked up four votes!
The 8-9 matchup was a little closer, but The Office pulled away late and ended up winning 10-6 over Mad About You. This isn't too surprising. I'm not sure how many people still remember Mad About You, whereas The Office is still very popular.
The next two matchups were very close. The Andy Griffith Show took out How I Met Your Mother by a score of 9-7. I haven't jumped on the HIMYM bandwagon, even though I know many people who swear it's the funniest show on TV. Andy Griffith on the other hand is just an absolute classic, and it's nice to see it still has the chops to take down a current show.
Our next close matchup featured Will and Grace versus The Munsters. Will and Grace ended up winning by one vote. The Munsters, like The Addams Family, only ran for two seasons, but has remained in the public eye since its initial airing. It's another classic. Will and Grace, however, was a hugely popular show which won a lot of awards. We'll see how it does in the next round against The Andy Griffith Show.
In our next matchup, Family Ties took out Married with Children 10-5. This was a little surprising. I thought Married with Children might make this a little closer, but it clearly wasn't enough to challenge Alex P. Keaton.
The next matchup was actually quite surprising. Even though The Fresh Prince of Bel Air was the lower seed, I fully expected it to beat Bewitched. But Bewitched got out to an early lead and the Fresh Prince was never able to catch up, finally falling 9-7. I really thought the popularity of Fresh Prince and the fact that Bewitched has been out of syndication for some time would lead to an upset. I see I was wrong, and I'm good with that because I love Bewitched.
In the 7-10 matchup, The Jeffersons beat Night Court 9-5. The Jeffersons is actually one of the longest running sitcoms in this bracket and has one of the most recognizable theme songs. I'm sure that had something to do with its victory.
And finally, in what could only be expected, All in the Family took down A Different World. If I were to handicap this region, I would say All in the Family and MASH are on a collision course with each other. But, who knows, I'm sure there could be some more surprises.
Here is what the bracket looks like after the MASH region has completed.
Greatest Sitcom Bracket
And now it's time to finish off the first round and start voting in the Cheers region. There's a lot of classic shows in this region, so I'm excited to see how the voting turns out!
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In the 1-16 matchup MASH won, unsurprisingly. I'll be honest when I say that NewsRadio probably shouldn't have made the bracket, but it's one of my favorite shows and I had to fit it in. I figured it didn't matter much who ended up as the 16 seeds since they would likely get beat fairly soundly. And so far they have, but at least NewsRadio can say it made the field. It even picked up four votes!
The 8-9 matchup was a little closer, but The Office pulled away late and ended up winning 10-6 over Mad About You. This isn't too surprising. I'm not sure how many people still remember Mad About You, whereas The Office is still very popular.
The next two matchups were very close. The Andy Griffith Show took out How I Met Your Mother by a score of 9-7. I haven't jumped on the HIMYM bandwagon, even though I know many people who swear it's the funniest show on TV. Andy Griffith on the other hand is just an absolute classic, and it's nice to see it still has the chops to take down a current show.
Our next close matchup featured Will and Grace versus The Munsters. Will and Grace ended up winning by one vote. The Munsters, like The Addams Family, only ran for two seasons, but has remained in the public eye since its initial airing. It's another classic. Will and Grace, however, was a hugely popular show which won a lot of awards. We'll see how it does in the next round against The Andy Griffith Show.
In our next matchup, Family Ties took out Married with Children 10-5. This was a little surprising. I thought Married with Children might make this a little closer, but it clearly wasn't enough to challenge Alex P. Keaton.
The next matchup was actually quite surprising. Even though The Fresh Prince of Bel Air was the lower seed, I fully expected it to beat Bewitched. But Bewitched got out to an early lead and the Fresh Prince was never able to catch up, finally falling 9-7. I really thought the popularity of Fresh Prince and the fact that Bewitched has been out of syndication for some time would lead to an upset. I see I was wrong, and I'm good with that because I love Bewitched.
In the 7-10 matchup, The Jeffersons beat Night Court 9-5. The Jeffersons is actually one of the longest running sitcoms in this bracket and has one of the most recognizable theme songs. I'm sure that had something to do with its victory.
And finally, in what could only be expected, All in the Family took down A Different World. If I were to handicap this region, I would say All in the Family and MASH are on a collision course with each other. But, who knows, I'm sure there could be some more surprises.
Here is what the bracket looks like after the MASH region has completed.
Greatest Sitcom Bracket
And now it's time to finish off the first round and start voting in the Cheers region. There's a lot of classic shows in this region, so I'm excited to see how the voting turns out!
Saturday, March 8, 2014
Greatest Sitcom Bracket Part II Recap and Voting Part III
We are halfway through the first round now after voting has concluded in the Friends region. Let's take a look at some of the matchups and then open up voting in the next region.
The 1-16 matchup was actually a lot closer than I ever imagined, even though it wasn't actually that close. But Friends only won by a score of 9-4. That's right, The Facts of Life received four votes! That floors me. Nonetheless, Friends still advances.
Speaking of close matchups, the next two were both decided by a single vote. First, The Beverly Hillbillies took out Malcolm in the Middle 7-6, proving that the classics still have some staying power. Personally, I grew up watching reruns of The Beverly Hillbillies and think it is absolutely great. I wasn't sure how popular it would be among my readers, though, especially going up against a more recent show. And while I'm glad to see it advance, I don't think it gets past Friends in the next round.
In our next close matchup Full House took down Home Improvement in an upset by seed only. I knew this one would be close. Both shows are great. I think Full House has more of the nostalgic feel, and appeals to more people, though.
And facing Full House in the next round will be Sanford and Son, who beat Arrested Development 8-5. This was an interesting matchup because Arrested Development has a huge cult following and Sanford and Son has been out of syndication for a while. Personally, I don't get the big deal with Arrested Development. I'm glad to see Sanford and Son take it out and give the classics some more love.
The bottom half of the bracket was not nearly as close. The Honeymooners easily knocked out 3rd Rock From the Sun. That was fairly predictable. 3rd Rock was very popular in its first few years, which is how it earned its spot in the bracket, but I don't think it has the staying power that The Honeymooners has.
In another upset, The Brady Bunch easily dispatched Taxi (pun intended). I think The Brady Bunch is a sleeper in this bracket. It may do some damage. People love that show.
And in the most lopsided victory of this round Everybody Loves Raymond knocked out Maude 12-1. Again, this doesn't surprise me because I'm not sure how many of my readers are familiar with Maude. Raymond is going to have a tough matchup in the next round, though.
Seinfeld won, which comes as no real surprise, but what is surprising is that Designing Women managed to pick up two votes. I guess there's something to be said for southern women. In any case, the show about nothing moves on.
So here is how the bracket looks after the first two regions completed voting in Round 1.
Greatest Sitcom Bracket
So now we move on to the next region, the MASH region. There's a lot of old vs new shows in this region so I'll be interested to see how things turn out. Please keep voting, and share with your friends, too!
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The 1-16 matchup was actually a lot closer than I ever imagined, even though it wasn't actually that close. But Friends only won by a score of 9-4. That's right, The Facts of Life received four votes! That floors me. Nonetheless, Friends still advances.
Speaking of close matchups, the next two were both decided by a single vote. First, The Beverly Hillbillies took out Malcolm in the Middle 7-6, proving that the classics still have some staying power. Personally, I grew up watching reruns of The Beverly Hillbillies and think it is absolutely great. I wasn't sure how popular it would be among my readers, though, especially going up against a more recent show. And while I'm glad to see it advance, I don't think it gets past Friends in the next round.
In our next close matchup Full House took down Home Improvement in an upset by seed only. I knew this one would be close. Both shows are great. I think Full House has more of the nostalgic feel, and appeals to more people, though.
And facing Full House in the next round will be Sanford and Son, who beat Arrested Development 8-5. This was an interesting matchup because Arrested Development has a huge cult following and Sanford and Son has been out of syndication for a while. Personally, I don't get the big deal with Arrested Development. I'm glad to see Sanford and Son take it out and give the classics some more love.
The bottom half of the bracket was not nearly as close. The Honeymooners easily knocked out 3rd Rock From the Sun. That was fairly predictable. 3rd Rock was very popular in its first few years, which is how it earned its spot in the bracket, but I don't think it has the staying power that The Honeymooners has.
In another upset, The Brady Bunch easily dispatched Taxi (pun intended). I think The Brady Bunch is a sleeper in this bracket. It may do some damage. People love that show.
And in the most lopsided victory of this round Everybody Loves Raymond knocked out Maude 12-1. Again, this doesn't surprise me because I'm not sure how many of my readers are familiar with Maude. Raymond is going to have a tough matchup in the next round, though.
Seinfeld won, which comes as no real surprise, but what is surprising is that Designing Women managed to pick up two votes. I guess there's something to be said for southern women. In any case, the show about nothing moves on.
So here is how the bracket looks after the first two regions completed voting in Round 1.
Greatest Sitcom Bracket
So now we move on to the next region, the MASH region. There's a lot of old vs new shows in this region so I'll be interested to see how things turn out. Please keep voting, and share with your friends, too!
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Greatest Sitcom Bracket Part I Recap and Voting Part II
OK, the first round of voting is complete, so let's have a look at the results!
In our first matchup, the juggernaut that is I Love Lucy easily dispatched ALF. There's not much to say about this result. I think I Love Lucy is probably the favorite to win the whole thing, so I don't see it getting tripped up anytime soon, if at all.
In the 8-9 matchup, Three's Company coasted to a pretty easy win over Alice. This may be more of a case of name recognition for my audience, as I'm not sure how many of my readers are familiar with Alice. Either way, it's a good showing for Three's Company, but it will be up against a monster in the next round.
The third matchup was much closer, as The Big Bang Theory squeaked by with an 8-5 win over Newhart. I'm a huge fan of The Big Bang Theory, and I also think Bob Newhart is one of the funniest comedians out there. His guest appearance on The Big Bang Theory are absolutely hilarious as well. If these two matched up twenty years from now, the outcome might be different, though, as I think Big Bang has more of an advantage seeing that it is currently airing and is fresh in the minds of voters.
Another relatively close vote in the 4-13 matchup, with Murphy Brown taking down The Addams Family 9-5. The Addams Family only aired for two seasons, but is probably one of the most iconic shows out there. Most people are familiar with the show and this was actually my upset pick in this region. But I guess I was wrong.
Moving to the bottom half of the bracket, The Mary Tyler Moore Show won fairly easily over Laverne and Shirley. I was actually surprised that Laverne and Shirley ended up being such a low seed, but the numbers just weren't there.
In our closest vote in this region 30 Rock and Growing Pains actually tied at 7 votes apiece. How do we break a tie in this bracket? Well, as the commissioner, my vote will count as two, and in this case, I voted for Growing Pains. Sorry, Liz Lemon fans, but we have our first upset of the tournament, with the 11-seeded Seaver clan taking out the 6-seeded 30 Rock.
I thought the 7-10 matchup would be a little closer, but Who's the Boss won pretty convincingly over Coach. I think Alyssa Milano probably had something to do with that.
And in the last matchup in this bracket, The Dick Van Dyke Show took out Spin City. Like I Love Lucy, DVD is another juggernaut. This was no surprise.
We have some intriguing matchups in the next round, but I see the heavyweights all advancing easily. Of course, I could be totally wrong. I'm curious to see what will happen in the Murphy Brown-Big Bang Theory matchup, though.
Here's what the bracket looks like after the first round of voting.
Greatest Sitcom Ever Bracket
And now it's on to the Friends region! Cast your votes and share with your friends (haha, see what I did there?!). I'm really interested to see how the Home Improvement-Full House matchup turns out. This region will be open for three days before the next one opens up.
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In our first matchup, the juggernaut that is I Love Lucy easily dispatched ALF. There's not much to say about this result. I think I Love Lucy is probably the favorite to win the whole thing, so I don't see it getting tripped up anytime soon, if at all.
In the 8-9 matchup, Three's Company coasted to a pretty easy win over Alice. This may be more of a case of name recognition for my audience, as I'm not sure how many of my readers are familiar with Alice. Either way, it's a good showing for Three's Company, but it will be up against a monster in the next round.
The third matchup was much closer, as The Big Bang Theory squeaked by with an 8-5 win over Newhart. I'm a huge fan of The Big Bang Theory, and I also think Bob Newhart is one of the funniest comedians out there. His guest appearance on The Big Bang Theory are absolutely hilarious as well. If these two matched up twenty years from now, the outcome might be different, though, as I think Big Bang has more of an advantage seeing that it is currently airing and is fresh in the minds of voters.
Another relatively close vote in the 4-13 matchup, with Murphy Brown taking down The Addams Family 9-5. The Addams Family only aired for two seasons, but is probably one of the most iconic shows out there. Most people are familiar with the show and this was actually my upset pick in this region. But I guess I was wrong.
Moving to the bottom half of the bracket, The Mary Tyler Moore Show won fairly easily over Laverne and Shirley. I was actually surprised that Laverne and Shirley ended up being such a low seed, but the numbers just weren't there.
In our closest vote in this region 30 Rock and Growing Pains actually tied at 7 votes apiece. How do we break a tie in this bracket? Well, as the commissioner, my vote will count as two, and in this case, I voted for Growing Pains. Sorry, Liz Lemon fans, but we have our first upset of the tournament, with the 11-seeded Seaver clan taking out the 6-seeded 30 Rock.
I thought the 7-10 matchup would be a little closer, but Who's the Boss won pretty convincingly over Coach. I think Alyssa Milano probably had something to do with that.
And in the last matchup in this bracket, The Dick Van Dyke Show took out Spin City. Like I Love Lucy, DVD is another juggernaut. This was no surprise.
We have some intriguing matchups in the next round, but I see the heavyweights all advancing easily. Of course, I could be totally wrong. I'm curious to see what will happen in the Murphy Brown-Big Bang Theory matchup, though.
Here's what the bracket looks like after the first round of voting.
Greatest Sitcom Ever Bracket
And now it's on to the Friends region! Cast your votes and share with your friends (haha, see what I did there?!). I'm really interested to see how the Home Improvement-Full House matchup turns out. This region will be open for three days before the next one opens up.
Sunday, March 2, 2014
Greatest Sitcom Ever March Madness Bracket
March Madness is here!!!! As we enter that time of year when brackets are on just about everyone's minds, it's time for me to introduce my own bracket. Two years ago it was the Greatest Cartoon Character bracket, and last year it was the Bracket of Awesome. This year I am tackling sitcoms. I put together the Greatest Sitcom Ever Bracket to try to determine which sitcom is, well, the greatest ever.
First, let me say this was not an easy task to narrow this bracket down to 64 entrants. I looked at close to 100 sitcoms for possible inclusion, so let me explain my methods before revealing the bracket and getting to the first round of voting.
When looking at which shows to include, it was decided to just look at shows from the four major networks (NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox). So, sorry, HBO, TBS, FX, etc., but your shows will have to find another bracket. There were more than enough shows to choose from without looking at cable shows. It was also decided to exclude animated programs. I know many of you will bemoan the absence of the Simpsons, but until you make your own bracket, you can deal with it. This was an executive decision. Also excluded were variety shows and sketch comedy shows. This bracket is limited to scripted, episodic series, which aired at least one season in primetime. So, sadly, shows like Saved by the Bell and California Dreams were also left out.
Once eligibility requirements were determined, it was time to look at all the shows. Like I said, I looked at almost 100 shows. And I wanted to make this process as objective as possible. I could have just ranked my favorite shows, but that wouldn't have been very inclusive. So, I looked at ratings, awards, series finale viewers, longevity, and IMDB ratings. I grouped the shows by decade and then ranked them all within each decade based on all the numbers. Then, I looked across decades to rank shows 1-64.
It was very difficult to determine which statistics were more important than others and which ones to look at to decide between two or more shows. For instance, do high ratings count more than a long series run? Do award nominations matter more than a high IMDB rating? It was enough to make your head spin. So I did my best to look across all the numbers and keep it objective. Ultimately, some good shows got left out. When you look at the bracket you'll probably have some complaints about some shows being over seeded and some being under seeded. That's bound to happen with any bracket, and I'll admit to that. I think The Honeymooners is probably over seeded, but it's iconic status gave it a bump. I also think Married with Children is probably under seeded, but looking at the numbers the only thing it had going for it was longevity and good IMDB numbers. It was hard to bump it up any further. But that's why we're voting, to determine the greatest. And the truly great shows should rise to the top in the voting process.
I also tried to balance the bracket with shows from all decades to give a more well rounded selection. And within that I tried to balance out each region in the bracket with shows from the various decades. That way it wasn't just 90s shows going up against each other or multiple 70s shows matched up against each other. So without further adieu, here is the full bracket.
Greatest Sitcom Ever Bracket
Feel free to comment with your thoughts about what I got right or where I went wrong. I always like hearing from my loyal readers. I want to open this up to all of to vote on the winners in each round. Each round of voting will last three days, taking us through the end of the month with the winner being announced on April 2. So be sure to check back with this blog every few days to vote again. We'll start with the first round in the I Love Lucy region. After each round, I'll provide my own analysis of the results and open up the next round. Happy voting and let the madness begin!
First, let me say this was not an easy task to narrow this bracket down to 64 entrants. I looked at close to 100 sitcoms for possible inclusion, so let me explain my methods before revealing the bracket and getting to the first round of voting.
When looking at which shows to include, it was decided to just look at shows from the four major networks (NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox). So, sorry, HBO, TBS, FX, etc., but your shows will have to find another bracket. There were more than enough shows to choose from without looking at cable shows. It was also decided to exclude animated programs. I know many of you will bemoan the absence of the Simpsons, but until you make your own bracket, you can deal with it. This was an executive decision. Also excluded were variety shows and sketch comedy shows. This bracket is limited to scripted, episodic series, which aired at least one season in primetime. So, sadly, shows like Saved by the Bell and California Dreams were also left out.
Once eligibility requirements were determined, it was time to look at all the shows. Like I said, I looked at almost 100 shows. And I wanted to make this process as objective as possible. I could have just ranked my favorite shows, but that wouldn't have been very inclusive. So, I looked at ratings, awards, series finale viewers, longevity, and IMDB ratings. I grouped the shows by decade and then ranked them all within each decade based on all the numbers. Then, I looked across decades to rank shows 1-64.
It was very difficult to determine which statistics were more important than others and which ones to look at to decide between two or more shows. For instance, do high ratings count more than a long series run? Do award nominations matter more than a high IMDB rating? It was enough to make your head spin. So I did my best to look across all the numbers and keep it objective. Ultimately, some good shows got left out. When you look at the bracket you'll probably have some complaints about some shows being over seeded and some being under seeded. That's bound to happen with any bracket, and I'll admit to that. I think The Honeymooners is probably over seeded, but it's iconic status gave it a bump. I also think Married with Children is probably under seeded, but looking at the numbers the only thing it had going for it was longevity and good IMDB numbers. It was hard to bump it up any further. But that's why we're voting, to determine the greatest. And the truly great shows should rise to the top in the voting process.
I also tried to balance the bracket with shows from all decades to give a more well rounded selection. And within that I tried to balance out each region in the bracket with shows from the various decades. That way it wasn't just 90s shows going up against each other or multiple 70s shows matched up against each other. So without further adieu, here is the full bracket.
Greatest Sitcom Ever Bracket
Feel free to comment with your thoughts about what I got right or where I went wrong. I always like hearing from my loyal readers. I want to open this up to all of to vote on the winners in each round. Each round of voting will last three days, taking us through the end of the month with the winner being announced on April 2. So be sure to check back with this blog every few days to vote again. We'll start with the first round in the I Love Lucy region. After each round, I'll provide my own analysis of the results and open up the next round. Happy voting and let the madness begin!
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