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!
No comments:
Post a Comment