EWB's All-Time Favorite TV Show Tournament

[Mofoticon]

PACIFIC BRACKET

1) Arrested Development vs. 16) The IT Crowd

8) Mystery Science Theater 3000 vs. 9) Chuck

5) Parks & Recreation vs. 12) Curb Your Enthusiasm

4) Angel vs. 13) The A-Team

6) Futurama vs. 11) Red Dwarf

3) Friends vs. 14) The O.C.

7) Twin Peaks vs. 10) Six Feet Under

2) The Wire vs. 15) Prison Break

[MGW]

PACIFIC BRACKET

1) Arrested Development vs. 16) The IT Crowd

8) Mystery Science Theater 3000 vs. 9) Chuck

5) Parks & Recreation vs. 12) Curb Your Enthusiasm

4) Angel vs. 13) The A-Team

6) Futurama vs. 11) Red Dwarf

3) Friends vs. 14) The O.C.

7) Twin Peaks vs. 10) Six Feet Under

2) The Wire vs. 15) Prison Break

[Hobo]

I would like to add, if anyone hasn't seen MST3k you should watch the episode Space Mutiny. It is available in full on both Google Video and YouTube and is a glorious example of what the show was about.

[Josh]

I like Arrested Development, wasn't it the first mockumentary? Is it called mockumentary?

It's not a mockumentary. (Sidenote: The first mockumentary I can think of would be This Is Spinal Tap, back in the 80's.) I suppose the cinematography on AD borrows from the documentary style, but that's about it. The characters don't even directly acknowledge there are cameras present. (However, there are multiple "meta" references throughout the series, which basically amount to dialogue with one meaning for the plot and another meaning for the self-aware audience at home.) The Office (especially the UK version) is more like a mockumentary.

That said, AD is still a genius show. It's just not in the sub-genre you've named.

PACIFIC BRACKET

1) Arrested Development vs. 16) The IT Crowd

8) Mystery Science Theater 3000 vs. 9) Chuck

5) Parks & Recreation vs. 12) Curb Your Enthusiasm

4) Angel vs. 13) The A-Team

6) Futurama vs. 11) Red Dwarf

3) Friends vs. 14) The O.C.

7) Twin Peaks vs. 10) Six Feet Under

2) The Wire vs. 15) Prison Break

thebrettclark, did you mean to leave one match without a pick, or was that a mistake?

[Ruki]

PACIFIC BRACKET

1) Arrested Development vs. 16) The IT Crowd

8) Mystery Science Theater 3000 vs. 9) Chuck

5) Parks & Recreation vs. 12) Curb Your Enthusiasm

4) Angel vs. 13) The A-Team

6) Futurama vs. 11) Red Dwarf

3) Friends vs. 14) The O.C.

7) Twin Peaks vs. 10) Six Feet Under

2) The Wire vs. 15) Prison Break

AD, Parks and Rec, Angel, Futerama and Friends all win by default.

I then chose Chuck because...I have the show downloaded, I just haven't watched it yet. Same for The Wire.

[Josh]

More on MST3K and The A-Team:

First off, like Hobo said, watch MST3K's Space Mutiny on YouTube or Google Video. In fact, there's a TON of MST3K episodes you can watch online for free and there's a full list complied here. Space Mutiny (episode 820) is a great starter episode, as are Mitchell (512) and Werewolf (904). I'm showing incredible restraint by just listing 3 great starter episodes. There's a shit-ton more.

But if you've never seen MST3K and you need a short refresher, here's a classic example of MST3K movie-riffing greatness in under ten minutes: I give you the infamous short "A Case of Spring Fever."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngBNklagsHQ

As for The A-Team, here's a typical moment, intentionally presented without context:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PJBn2yCpgA

[Pizza]

1) Arrested Development vs. 16) The IT Crowd - Never seen IT crowd, considering its competition I don't think it would have mattered.

8) Mystery Science Theater 3000 vs. 9) Chuck - I like Chuck, and have never seen MST3K. If I get a chance before voting ends, I might watch an episode or 2, because it seems like something I'd enjoy.

5) Parks & Recreation vs. 12) Curb Your Enthusiasm - Toughest matchup so far. If I were to pick a final 4 comedies, it would be these two, Arrested Development and Community. Voting P & R because I don't think I disliked a single episode after the first season, while Curb missed occasionally.

4) Angel vs. 13) The A-Team - Another tough one. I prefer shows with a continuing plot over story of the week shows, so Angel won out.

6) Futurama vs. 11) Red Dwarf - Never seen Red Dwarf, wouldn't matter if I had.

3) Friends vs. 14) The O.C. - I watched a couple episodes accidentally and got hooked, and eventually watched the entire series. Underrated show.

7) Twin Peaks vs. 10) Six Feet Under - Never watched either. Six Feet Under seems more like something I'd like.

2) The Wire vs. 15) Prison Break - I like Prison Break, but it still wasn't hard to vote The Wire over it.

[TGC]

PACIFIC BRACKET

1) Arrested Development vs. 16) The IT Crowd - Have yet to ever see other so I flipped a coin. AD won

8) Mystery Science Theater 3000 vs. 9) Chuck - Liked Chuck. LOVE MST3K

5) Parks & Recreation vs. 12) Curb Your Enthusiasm - Never could get into Enthusiasm, and Parks&Rec I've only seen the first season and a few eps of 2, but it was okay.

4) Angel vs. 13) The A-Team - A-Team is a great show with fond memories that does NOT hold up. Sorry Josh. Angel holds up.

6) Futurama vs. 11) Red Dwarf - Loved Futurama

3) Friends vs. 14) The O.C. - Friends is iconic. Would vote for this even if it was up against something I've seen.

7) Twin Peaks vs. 10) Six Feet Under - See above. Iconic.

2) The Wire vs. 15) Prison Break - I feel dirty doing this, but I've never seen The Wire. I need to rectify that.

[Josh]

I've tallied the Mountain Bracket results, but I'm going to wait and post them either tomorrow or Saturday to keep the thread's momentum going during what would otherwise be a lull in activity.

That said, once first round Pacific Bracket voting closes on Saturday, expect there to be a small break in activity while I tally those results and put up the first second round bracket. I'll try to do it as quickly as possible.

[RPS]

PACIFIC BRACKET

1) Arrested Development vs. 16) The IT Crowd

8) Mystery Science Theater 3000 vs. 9) Chuck

5) Parks & Recreation vs. 12) Curb Your Enthusiasm

4) Angel vs. 13) The A-Team

6) Futurama vs. 11) Red Dwarf

3) Friends vs. 14) The O.C.

7) Twin Peaks vs. 10) Six Feet Under

2) The Wire vs. 15) Prison Break

[C-MIL]

1) Arrested Development vs. 16) The IT Crowd - WTF is IT Crowd?

8) Mystery Science Theater 3000 vs. 9) Chuck - the girl is very pretty

5) Parks & Recreation vs. 12) Curb Your Enthusiasm - only one I've seen, I also like it a lot

4) Angel vs. 13) The A-Team - DUH-HOY

6) Futurama vs. 11) Red Dwarf - only one I've seen, will be the only round I vote this most likely

3) Friends vs. 14) The O.C. - ewwwwww, don't like either one

7) Twin Peaks vs. 10) Six Feet Under - only one I've seen... I think

2) The Wire vs. 15) Prison Break - never seen either, but Wire has been recommended to me a lot

[Benjamin]

I like Arrested Development, wasn't it the first mockumentary? Is it called mockumentary?

It's not a mockumentary. (Sidenote: The first mockumentary I can think of would be This Is Spinal Tap, back in the 80's.) I suppose the cinematography on AD borrows from the documentary style, but that's about it. The characters don't even directly acknowledge there are cameras present. (However, there are multiple "meta" references throughout the series, which basically amount to dialogue with one meaning for the plot and another meaning for the self-aware audience at home.) The Office (especially the UK version) is more like a mockumentary.

That said, AD is still a genius show. It's just not in the sub-genre you've named.

Oh no, I agree, Arrested Development is awesome. I just haven't watched enough of it to become a fan, as it wasn't shown a lot here.

If you were to tabulate a similar tournament, but only of shows that were shown widely in Malaysia, it'd be something like this:

1) How I Met Your Mother

2) Merlin

3) Vampire Diaries

4) House

5) CSI: Miami

6) Chuck

7) Leverage

8) Supernatural

9) NCIS: LA

10) CSI

[Darnez FC Forever]

PACIFIC BRACKET

1) Arrested Development vs. 16) The IT Crowd

8) Mystery Science Theater 3000 vs. 9) Chuck

5) Parks & Recreation vs. 12) Curb Your Enthusiasm

4) Angel vs. 13) The A-Team

6) Futurama vs. 11) Red Dwarf

3) Friends vs. 14) The O.C.

7) Twin Peaks vs. 10) Six Feet Under

2) The Wire vs. 15) Prison Break

[Josh]

If you were to tabulate a similar tournament, but only of shows that were shown widely in Malaysia, it'd be something like this:

1) How I Met Your Mother

2) Merlin

3) Vampire Diaries

4) House

5) CSI: Miami

6) Chuck

7) Leverage

8) Supernatural

9) NCIS: LA

10) CSI

Note to self: stay the hell away from Malaysia.

[LittleDaniel]

PACIFIC BRACKET

1) Arrested Development vs. 16) The IT Crowd

8) Mystery Science Theater 3000 vs. 9) Chuck

5) Parks & Recreation vs. 12) Curb Your Enthusiasm

4) Angel vs. 13) The A-Team

6) Futurama vs. 11) Red Dwarf

3) Friends vs. 14) The O.C.

7) Twin Peaks vs. 10) Six Feet Under

2) The Wire vs. 15) Prison Break

Though I hate Friends. But I also hate The O.C. Honestly, I only picked Friends because then I'd have the entire one side of the bracket picked...

[DavidMarrio]

PACIFIC BRACKET

1) Arrested Development vs. 16) The IT Crowd

8) Mystery Science Theater 3000 vs. 9) Chuck

5) Parks & Recreation vs. 12) Curb Your Enthusiasm

4) Angel vs. 13) The A-Team

6) Futurama vs. 11) Red Dwarf

3) Friends vs. 14) The O.C.

7) Twin Peaks vs. 10) Six Feet Under

2) The Wire vs. 15) Prison Break

Very easy choices for them all apart from Red Dwarf vs. Futurama which took me awhile to decide and then The Wire and Prison Break which while I love the first two seasons of Prison Break, the third was just crap and I weren't a fan of the fourth meaning The Wire won because well its The Wire.

[Josh]

Pacific Bracket voting continues, but in the meantime let's see the Mountain Bracket voting results!

In the battle of 1) The Simpsons vs. 16) Boston Legal, the winner is

1) The Simpsons

Honestly, I'm shocked that Boston Legal got ANY votes, and I'm one of the people that nominated it. 41-7.

In the battle of 8) House vs. 9) Oz, the winner is

8) House

Oz had some vocal supporters, but I'm betting this came down to exposure. 32-16.

In the battle of 5) It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia vs. 12) Deadwood, the winner is

5) It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia

This one was much closer than I would have predicted. Deadwood made a strong push for the win, but it couldn't take down a leader in hard comedy. 28-20.

In the battle of 4) The Sopranos vs. 13) Father Ted, the winner is

4) The Sopranos

Another case where the underdog should be commended just for showing up (in my view.) 34-14.

In the battle of 6) Firefly vs. 11) Smallville, the winner is

6) Firefly

Take two cult series that appeal largely to nerd culture and mix. Stir until a short-lived slice of the Whedonverse separates from a long-running comic book retelling below it, but just barely. 27-21.

In the extremely close battle of 3) Dexter vs. 14) Louie - the winner is

14) Louie

One of two major slugfests in this round. Louie barely edged out the favorite. 25-23.

In the just-as-close battle of 7) 24 vs. 10) King of the Hill, the winner is

7) 24

The other nail-biter from the Mountain Bracket. King of the Hill kept up until the last possible second. 25-23.

Finally, in the battle of 2) Scrubs vs. 15) Roswell, the winner is

2) Scrubs

Roswell got crushed, 42-6.

Voting for the Pacific Bracket is still in progress until tomorrow's deadline. You have roughly 25 hours remaining.

[GoGo Yubari]

In the extremely close battle of 3) Dexter vs. 14) Louie - the winner is

14) Louie

One of two major slugfests in this round. Louie barely edged out the favorite. 25-23.

:w00t:

[Pizza]

In the extremely close battle of 3) Dexter vs. 14) Louie - the winner is

14) Louie

One of two major slugfests in this round. Louie barely edged out the favorite. 25-23.

:w00t:

:w00t:

Josh doesn't suck!

[Summers]

Dexter is beast. You lot are useless.