The Ultimate TV Comedies Bracket -- Round One, Day Four
Will you stop talking about the war?
If indeed there will be any debate among the voters and commenters regarding whether or not every title in the Ultimate TV Comedies Bracket really is a TV comedy, I suppose there might be one such debate today?
Here’s me hoping it doesn’t happen, though. Let’s find out together.
(5) Fawlty Towers vs. (60) Entourage: Can you imagine a world where Entourage wins this matchup? I cannot. Entourage boasted an impressive list of cameo appearances, and it lasted for far too long on HBO. I’m not saying that John Cleese’s latter-day shift into a big ol’ crab has made Fawlty Towers look more timeless, but when Cleese was funny, he was brilliantly so, and rarely was he better than as Basil Fawlty. Vote for the man.
Fawlty Towers
Entourage
(28) Sports Night vs. (37) Living Single: So, here’s where I can envision the debate. Is Sports Night really a TV comedy? I admit that the clip I chose here — which notably features none of the regular cast members — is maybe not the most gut-busting. But Sports Night felt like a key part of the single-camera movement of network comedy, before things like Arrested Development or The Office came along. I know that Living Single has plenty of fans (and is unquestionably a sitcom), but I’m going with the thinly veiled take on SportsCenter.
How about you?
Sports Night
Living Single
(12) The Andy Griffith Show vs. (53) Blossom: TV history wins this one for me. I never really got into Blossom, and while I won’t profess to being an Andy Griffith Show superfan, characters like Barney Fife and Gomer Pyle are pretty much icons. Vote for the sheriff.
The Andy Griffith Show
Blossom
(21) The Good Place vs. (44) Three’s Company: I kind of feel like The Good Place was never able to equal its creative heights in the first season, but in this specific matchup, there’s just no way I could vote against something as ambitiously ridiculous as this. Don Knotts should only be moving forward in one of these matchups today.
What do you think?
The Good Place
Three’s Company
If Entourage wins, we riot! Also, Good Place is a low key favorite of mine to win. Such a great show.
I went to a taping of Sports Night in college. I was supposed to bring 20 college students and that would have raised $300 for our dorm fund. I was only able to get 3, which should have led to us getting charged for leaving empty seats in the audience. But I told a very solemn BS story about how the rest couldn't come because of an untimely death in the dorm, shed a Denzel tear, and avoided the surcharge. I only bring this up because that unfunny story was funnier than anything they ever did on Sports Night.