The Ultimate TV Comedies Bracket -- Round One, Day Eleven

We were on a break!

You know what the subhed and photo here mean — it’s time for generations to be united in agreeing that Ross Geller was a drip of a character and Rachel should have wound up with Joey! (Kidding aside, I do genuinely believe that to the core of my being.)

OK, what it really means is we’re in for at least one rout today in the first-round mathcups of the Ultimate TV Comedies Bracket. Let’s dive right in!

(4) Friends vs. (61) Full House: There’s going to come a point in this bracket when I vote against Friends, a show that had a handful of extremely sharp and funny seasons, and a handful of not-great seasons. I will say, I wonder if the recent and extremely heartbreaking passing of Matthew Perry may lend a depth of emotion to some of the matchups — when I prepped this post and all of the first-round ones, it was before he died.

But anyway. For now, I think the vote is clear.

Friends

Full House

(29) Santa Clarita Diet vs. (36) Futurama: Longevity. It’s going to be a key theme in my posts, if not in your votes, for this bracket. How much does it matter to vote for or against a show that has run for a long time and is perhaps not as good now as it once was? If, for example, this was a battle between all of Santa Clarita Diet — an extremely funny Netflix show boasting enormously charming performances from Timothy Olyphant and Drew Barrymore — and the first four seasons of Futurama, I would vote for the latter.

But. In my opinion, at least, that’s not what this is. This is a vote for the whole of the one show, and the whole of the other. Futurama was once great, but I would argue it’s long past its expiration date. Vote for Santa Clarita Diet.

Santa Clarita Diet

Futurama

(13) Newhart vs. (52) My Name Is Earl: I think this one has to go to Newhart for, if nothing else, delivering one of the most memorable series finales of all time. (Also, truth be told, I was never a huge fan of My Name is Earl.)

What do you think?

Newhart

My Name is Earl

(20) Sanford and Son vs. (45) The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air: Sometimes, what matters is what you grow up with. Though I did watch some re-runs of Sanford and Son on Nick at Nite and TV Land, I grew up with Will, Carlton, Uncle Phil, and two Aunt Vivs. The Fresh Prince gets this one.

Sanford and Son

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air