Best TV Couple of All Time - Champion

 

In the closest championship of any year of my brackets, David and Patrick of Schitt's Creek are declared the winner by one vote!  For a tournament that was devoid of any real drama for the first four rounds, the Final Four did not disappoint.  It's clear that the four entries in the Final Four were the favorites and they battled it out closely.  And while Leslie and Ben were my pick from the beginning because my wife and I are very much the epitome of Leslie and Ben, David and Patrick are a deserving couple from a hilarious show.

For those that like weird but true facts, each of the last four years of the tournament set a record for closest championship vote.  This year was decided by one vote, last year by two, two years by three, and three years ago by four.  We'll have to wait a year to see if next year ends in a tie, but we can already get excited for the theme voted by you, Movie Villains!

Best TV Couple of All Time - Championship

 

This is it, the moment we've all been waiting for, the championship match.  The semifinal matches didn't disappoint with two closely contested matchups.  And I expect the championship to be no different as Leslie and Ben and David and Patrick are two great couples.  Either one will make a deserving winner.  So let's not wax poetic on this match and get right to the vote.  Also, don't forget that you can vote for next year's theme as well.

Best TV Couple of All Time - Final Four

 

And then there were four.  And these four have mostly dominated on their way to the Final Four.  So now we are left with a couple heavyweight matchups to determine who will battle for the championship.  I don't think any of the remaining four are much of a surprise either.  And since it appears that many of you voting have been rooting for these four along the way, it will be interesting to see who ends up on top.  So with that, let's vote.

Best TV Couple Bracket - Elite Eight

 

And now we are down to eight and it is becoming clear who the favorites are.  The last round had no really competitive matchups, so this round so should either be really close or further show which couples are dominating.  There also weren't any real upsets in the last round, but we did lose both Friends couples, which I guess is a surprise.  And now we vote to determine the Final Four.

Best TV Couple of All Time - Sweet Sixteen

 

Just like that, we are down to the Sweet Sixteen. The second round saw mostly higher seeds win their matchups, but there were a few upsets, including our first 1-seed to go down.  Coach and Tami are a great couple, but apparently they were no match for Uncle Jesse and Aunt Becky.  New Girl lost one of its pairs, but Schmidt and Cece are still going strong.  And Friends still has two couples in the running, with some difficult matchups coming up.  And, sadly, Zack and Kelly couldn't beat their fellow 90s teen couple Corey and Topanga.  But only one bracket has the top four seeds remaining, which means more chaos could be on the way.  So let's get to the vote and see what happens.

Best TV Couple of All Time - Second Round

 

And just like that we are into the second round.  And already there are surprises and upsets.  Eight double digit seeds advanced out of the first round, including a 15 seed knocking out a 2 seed.  There's a good mix of older shows and newer shows represented and lots of intriguing matchups.  However, if you are a fan of This is Us or Glee, both shows that had two couples represented in the bracket, you will be disappointed to find out that both couples from both shows have been eliminated.  New Girl and Friends are the only shows to have both of their couples advance, while The Office and Parks and Rec each lost one.  There also weren't a lot of close results in the first round with only 7 matchups decided by five votes or less.  I'm curious to see how that plays out in the second round.  So with that, let's get to the voting.

Best TV Couple of All Time Bracket - First Round

 

It's time for my yearly March Madness pop culture edition!  This year we are venturing into the world of TV to determine the best TV couple of all time.  And, as always, you get to vote to select the winner.  Normally I give a long post about how I created the bracket and who was included and who wasn't, but I've got a newborn this year and I'm a little sleep deprived so we're going to keep this short.  Basically I looked at a lot of lists from entertainment magazines and websites of best TV couples and used those to create my list and seedings.  I limited it to two couples per show, so there were some prominent couples that got left out.  I also tried to include every suggestion I got when I asked last year to make sure that you know your voice is heard.  But enough of the boring stuff, let's get to the bracket.  You can vote below and see the entire bracket at the bottom.

My Lists of Favorite Hip Hop

 

This post has been residing in my head for awhile now as I concluded my best hip hop artist bracket (Congrats to 2Pac!) and celebrated the 50th anniversary of Hip Hop.  And now I'm finally getting to it.  If you're like me, you like a good list, so I came up with my own lists of favorites.  I hope this encourages you to share your favorites, or create a killer playlist on Spotify.  Remember, these are lists of my favorites, not a judgement of what/who I think is the best.

Top 10 Favorite Hip Hop Artists

Those who know me well shouldn't be surprised at seeing Outkast at the top of this list.  They are my all time favorite and I think everything they touch is gold.  The rest of the list are artists that I listen to regularly and are my go-tos when I just need a good jam.  Obviously, I had to make some tough choices here and leave people off.  Honorable mentions go out to Run DMC, Heavy D, Arrested Development, and Kid n Play.

1. Outkast

2. 2Pac

3. Wu Tang Clan

4. LL Cool J

5. MC Hammer

6. Beastie Boys

7. Naughty by Nature

8. Warren G

9. Kris Kross

10. Wreckx-n-Effect

Top 10 Favorite Hip Hop Songs

This was probably the hardest list to narrow down to ten.  Clearly number one had to be an Outkast song and it doesn't get any better than SpottieOttieDopaliscious.  I could have had a list of just 10 Outkast songs and been satisfied with that, but I limited myself to one.  The rest of the songs could honestly be shuffled in any order, but I could listen to this playlist over and over again for hours.  Honorable mentions here include What's My Name by Snoop Dogg, C.R.E.A.M. by Wu Tang Clan, Ain't Gonna Hurt Nobody by Kid n Play, Everything's Gonna Be Alright by Father MC, and Down With the King by Run DMC.

1. SpottieOttieDopaliscious by Outkast

2. Regulate by Warren G

3. Mama Said Knock You Out by LL Cool J

4. Feel Me Flow by Naught by Nature

5. Turn This Mutha Out by MC Hammer

6. Sometimes I Rhyme Slow by Nice and Smooth

7. Ditty by Paperboy

8. The Choice is Yours by Black Sheep

9. Juicy by Notorious BIG

10. Scenario by A Tribe Called Quest

Top 10 Favorite Hip Hop Albums

Thinking about favorite albums is hard in the world of streaming music, but back in the 90s with my 6 disc CD changer, it was all about a good album.  Then came Napster and Limewire and disc burners and now Spotify and I had compilations of my favorite songs and have playlists for every mood.  But there are still certain albums that stand out in my history that I reminisce about and still love.  Once again, this list could have been dominated by Outkast albums, but I limited myself to one and settled on Aquemini because I don't think it gets as much love as it deserves.  I will also admit that when it comes to albums there is a very 90s lean because that is when I was a teenager with disposable income and bought a lot of albums.

1. Aquemini by Outkast

2. Doggystyle by Snoop Dogg

3. Enter the Wu Tang (36 Chambers) by Wu Tang Clan

4. The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory by 2Pac

5. 2001 by Dr. Dre

6. Straight Outta Compton by NWA

7. Phrenology by The Roots

8. Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'em by MC Hammer

9. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill by Lauryn Hill

10. Regulate... G Funk Era by Warren G

But I hope you enjoy these lists and please feel free to share your own, comment, and enjoy some good music.