Best Movie Villain of All Time - Championship

Here we go!  After five weeks of voting, we are down to our last two contestants to determine the best movie villain of all time.  And for only the second time since I've started doing these brackets, the top two seeds in the tournament are facing off for the championship.  Darth Vader continued his dominating run by advancing easily past Sauron.  Hannibal Lecter won a back and forth battle against The Joker to advance by one vote. So now we are left with a heavyweight matchup of Darth Vader vs Hannibal Lecter, Sith Lord vs cannibal.  I can't wait to see how this one shakes out!  And, as always, as a bonus during this last round of voting, you get to help select what next year's theme will be.  Thank you to all who have voted so far during this bracket.  I really enjoy making them every year, and I love seeing all the votes come in.  So keep voting!

 

Best Movie Villain of All Time - Final Four

 

We made it to the Final Four!  These four villains have outlasted the rest of the competition and established their place in history as some of the top movie villains of all time.  But, alas, there can only be one winner, so these four will continue to battle it out.  We have three 1-seeds left and a 7-seed who crashed the party.  Norman Bates lost a close matchup to Sauron to be the first top seed eliminated.  The only other surprisingly close matchup was The Joker beating Scar by only three votes.  And now that leaves us with a couple heavyweight bouts.  Darth Vader faces Sauron in another battle of franchises on one side of the bracket, and Hannibal Lecter squares off against The Joker on the other side.  I can't wait to see who comes out on top, so let's get to the voting!

Best Movie Villain of All Time - Elite Eight

 

Down to the Elite Eight, and if you had asked me before the tournament to predict who would still be alive in this round I don't think I ever would have come up with this group.  While the Cinderella runs may have ended for Regina George and Patrick Bateman, we have three 7-seeds still alive.  This past round only had one matchup decided by fewer than five votes, but it was a one point victory for The Shark over Annie Wilkes, knocking out our last 2-seed.  I am also a little surprised that Hans Gruber didn't put up more of a fight against Hannibal Lecter, but I guess cannibals are a little more villainous than common, I mean, exceptional thieves. So we are left with a 1-3 matchup and three 1-7 matchups to determine who advances to the Final Four.  How many 1-seeds will survive?  The only way to find out is to vote!

Best Movie Villain of All Time - Sweet Sixteen

 

Wow! What a second round.  Out of 16 matchups, 8 were decided by five votes or less.  Two more 2-seeds went down and we have two double digit seeds in the Sweet Sixteen.  Honestly, I expect nothing less from a bracket full of villains.  It's a cutthroat world out there and no one cuts throats better than a villain.  And now we are set up with some very difficult choices that some might even say are worthy of a Final Four matchup.  But we are only in the Sweet Sixteen and to get to the Final Four you have to beat some tough competition.  One other interesting note about who is left is that five of the remaining combatants are non human, proving once again that villainy comes in all shapes, sizes, and forms.  But enough with the useless facts, let's get to the voting!

Best Movie Villain of All Time - Second Round

 

One round in the books! The first round was exciting and gave us a few surprises.  While most matchups were not that close, we did have two decided by one vote as Michael Corleone and Regina George both snuck by in upsets.  And speaking of upsets, the Norman Bates bracket was full of them as the 2, 3, and 6 seeds all went down. We have the potential for a 14 vs 15 matchup in the Sweet Sixteen, which would be wild. 

But the second round is filled with more intriguing matchups and upset potential.  And even though some of my favorites have already been eliminated (where is the Ivan Drago love, seriously?!), I'm looking forward to seeing how things play out moving forward. So let's get to the votes!

Best Movie Villain of All Time - First Round

 

It's March, so you all know what that means.  Time for another pop culture bracket!  And this year, as selected by you, the fans, we are determining the greatest movie villain of all time.  This year's bracket has villains from all genres, from horror to comedy, animated to comics, sci fi to rom com.  And as always, the winners are determined by your votes.  I will admit that I didn't go quite as deep with the data this year to determine the bracket, but I still think it's a pretty well rounded bracket with intriguing matchups.  Feel free to tell me where I've gone wrong, though, and who you feel was left out.  But now for the good part, the voting.  Cast your votes and share with friends!

And here is the complete bracket for those who want to take a look.

Best SNL Cast Member of All Time Winner

 

After weeks of voting, we have officially determined the best cast member in the 50 year history of Saturday Night Live.  And the winner is... 

Will Ferrell!

There is no doubt that Will Ferrell has cemented himself as one of the most iconic SNL cast members of all time.  His cowbell skit will probably go down as the best skit of all time.  Not to mention his countless other recurring characters.  He is a worthy champion.  Congrats, Will!

I will admit that I was sad not to see my personal favorite, Phil Hartman, advance farther.  But I can't really argue much with the results.  Do I think people valued Tina Fey's work post-SNL more than her time on the show?  Perhaps.  But that doesn't take away from how good she was on the show.  At the end of the day, all 64 cast members in this bracket could make a case for being the champion and they all have memorable skits and characters.  What I loved most about doing this bracket was looking back at the history of the show and remembering skits I forgot about, laughing at my favorites, and having conversations with others about their memories of the show.  When I have time, I want to go back and write posts about my favorite skits, recurring characters, and cast members.  Until then, I will let you celebrate the end of this bracket and look forward to next year when we will actually determine the best movie villain.  Thank you to all who voted!

Best SNL Cast Member of All Time - Championship

 

Here we are, at the final vote to determine the ultimate winner and crown the champion for the Best SNL Cast Member of All Time.  It's been a fun bracket so far, with fewer upsets than I would have expected.  But the final matchup is a bit of a surprise.  Will Ferrell being there is to be expected as he was the top overall seed, but Tina Fey topping Eddie Murphy is a shock, to say the least.  Not that Tina Fey isn't deserving or funny enough to win, but Eddie single handedly saved SNL in the early 80s and is at the top of most lists of best all time.  Can Tina pull off another upset, taking down her third 1-seed and walk away with the title.  There's only one way to find out.  It's time to vote!  I also added a bonus question to determine next year's theme.  I know I said I would push back movie villains to next year since it was supposed to be this year, but I thought I would give people a chance to vote again in case they changed their mind.

Best SNL Cast Member of All Time - Final Four

 

We have made it to the Final Four, and if there is one thing I can say about this bracket, it's that I must have done a pretty good job with the seeding because three 1-seeds made it to the Final Four.  In a tournament where there were true heavyweights up and down the entire bracket, the fact that three top seeds survived to this point is impressive.  But the matchups don't get any easier from here as these four now get to battle it out for the top prize.  And the cool thing, at least I think it's cool, about this Final Four is that they represent almost the full tenure of SNL.  From Eddie Murphy in the early 80s to Dana Carvey in the late 80s and early 90s to Will Ferrell in the mid 90s to early 00s and Tina Fey in the mid 00s.  It is a good representation of the talent that has graced SNL over the past 50 years.  But, alas, there can only be one standing at the end, so let's get to the voting.

Best SNL Cast Member - Elite Eight

 

Well, we finally got some upsets, if you want to call them that.  The last round saw all four 2 seeds and one 1 seed lose.  With that, my personal favorite, Phil Hartman, was eliminated.  I'm sad to see him go, but we are left with an Elite Eight full of star power and tough choices.  There are four men and four women remaining with cast members from the 70s, 80s, 90s, and 00s.  It's a very balanced final eight and I am so excited to see who will advance to the Final Four.  There is so much more I could say, but I will save my thoughts and let you all get down to the difficult business of voting.

Best SNL Cast Member of All Time - Sweet Sixteen

 

Well, the second round was certainly interesting and I got a lot of comments about how difficult some of the matchups were to choose.  That was definitely reflected in the voting as there were three matchups decided by fewer than five votes.  But there were also seven decided by more than 20 votes.  So there still seems to be some clear consensus as to who is the cream of the crop.  With the Sweet Sixteen upon us now, the matchups get even harder and I'm sure I will get even more angry messages about having to pick between two favorites.  I honestly would not be surprised to see any of the remaining cast members in the bracket make the final four.  They could all make a case for being the best, which is probably why they are all still around at this point of the bracket.  But, sadly, eight will be eliminated after this round, and it's up to you to vote!

Best SNL Cast Member of All Time - Second Round

Round One is complete and was, honestly, pretty uneventful.  There were no major upsets and not many close results.  There were only three matchups decided by less than 8 votes.  So it seems like the first round had some pretty obvious choices for voters.  But I have a feeling the second round is when things are going to get a little more difficult.  Just looking at the matchups it feels unfair to have to make some of these choices so early in the tournament.  But this is the embarrassment of comedy riches that is 50 years of Saturday Night Live.  I could go on forever talking about the talent in this bracket, but you didn't come here to hear me wax poetic.  You came here to vote, so here you go!

 

 

Best SNL Character of All Time - First Round

 

It is time once again for my my annual March Madness bracket.  And this year, in honor of Saturday Night Live's 50th anniversary, we are looking at the greatest SNL cast members of all time.  There have been 167 cast members in the history of SNL.  I have narrowed it down to a top 64 to duke it out bracket-style.  It was not easy to narrow down the field, and seed it appropriately.  I looked at data points just related to their time on the show.  So if someone has had a successful film or TV career after being on SNL, that didn't factor into the data for this bracket.  It's also important to remember that over the course of 50 years there has been a lot of funny people on the show.  And they can't all be 1 and 2 seeds, which is why you see people like Chris Rock and Adam Sandler as 6 seeds.  What that also means is that there will be tough matchups throughout this bracket, starting in the first round.  But the great thing about these brackets every year is that you all get to vote for your favorites and let your voice be heard.  So with that said, let's get to the voting for the first round!

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.