The Ultimate TV Comedies Bracket -- Round One, Day Three
...I'm on the radio EVERY DAY!
Live your life with the joie de vivre of two grown men smiling at you as they nurse cups of espressos from their favorite coffee house. Enjoy that it’s November! Enjoy that it’s time for you to vote in new matches in the first round of the Ultimate TV Comedies Bracket!
(4) Frasier vs. (61) The Addams Family: Yeah, I mean, here’s the thing. Frasier is pretty close to being my favorite sitcom of all time. Seeding isn’t always a guarantee of preference, but Frasier is a personal favorite and has been for a long, long time. I doubt it’s going to see much opposition in today’s matchup, but…I want this show to go far.
Frasier
The Addams Family
(29) Fleabag vs. (36) King of the Hill: So, the thing is, I have not seen Fleabag. But I imagine that an appropriate response would be that of Phoebe Waller-Bridge staring at me in some cheeky manner! I have seen sporadic episodes of King of the Hill, and…listen, sometimes if you know a show a bit more than another show, you prefer that one. I prefer King of the Hill here. But I figure Fleabag will win.
Prove me wrong?
Fleabag
King of the Hill
(13) The Honeymooners vs. (52) The King of Queens: You don’t get to Kevin James without Jackie Gleason, for good or ill. In this case, it’s me saying that The Honeymooners kind of has to win this one, now? For history’s sake.
The Honeymooners
The King of Queens
(20) Bob’s Burgers vs. (45) Martin: While I can’t claim to have watched every episode of Bob’s Burgers — for no good reason, I still haven’t seen the movie let alone every episode — the first few seasons are extremely witty and clever, and highlight the benefit of having your whole voice cast record in the same room together. Gotta go for Bob.
What do you think?
Bob’s Burgers
Martin
I love Fleabag, but to see it losing to an absolute classic in King of the Hill makes me sad. KotH might be Mike Judge's best show/movie ever. It's consistently great over a VERY long run, has a stable of really great characters, and did a lot of that Norman Lear by teaching its audience about how to be a better member of society (the episode where Peggy unknowingly befriends a drag queen and later learns to accept her is fantastic). And it was the last hand-animated show on TV!
Fleabag is great, but it's easy to be that great when you're doing the UK short-and-few seasons thing. Any show can be good for 12 episodes. King of the Hill was good for 259.
Fleabag's short run was really, really good, but King of the Hill produced thirteen years worth of excellence with very few misses (LOOKING AT YOU, MICHAEL KEATON) and both a rewatchability and an impact on popular culture that is far greater than Fleabag's. An easy vote for Arlen.