This Week’s Winners

Section C

#1 Arrested Development vs. #9 Barry

No trips to Phoenix just yet as the one son keeps his wealthy family who lost everything together–well, at least long enough to advance into the third round where 32 teams remain. The next round is far from a freebie as the Bluths match up against a plucky radio station from Ohio that keeps on keepin’ on…

#4 WKRP in Cincinnati vs. #5 The IT Crowd

Baby, if you’ve ever wondered, wondered if this classic show still had juice 40 years later, the Cincinnati DJs who as God is their witness thought turkeys could fly are rolling through the tourney. Sadly, one of its ensemble’s cogs, Frank Bonner, who played oily salesman Herb Tarlek, died last week, although the rest of the cast, save for Gordon Jump, is still alive.

#2 The Larry Sanders Show vs. #7 Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Garry Shandling may never have won The Tonight Show hosting honors (after being a go-to Carson sub-in for years), but he won in the long run as his fake version of a Shandling-adjacent neurotic talk show star is considered among the comedy greats. The late stand-up is also a winner here as his second attempt at a hit show wins for a second time in our tournament, even if it needed a tie-breaker to break Kimmy Schmidt, but I’m sure this is the worst thing that has happened to Ellie Kemper this year… oh!

#3 Atlanta vs. #6 Superstore

Donald Glover’s genre-bending, if slow-moving as a Georgian Summer’s day, dark-tinged comedy rolls over the more traditional Superstore, even if its third season has been delayed over and over. Beyond being impeccably written and uniquely paced, the show shone the spotlight on the incredibly talented Brian Tyree Harry and LaKeith Stanfield, so just for that it deserves its second win. We’ll see next month how it fares in the battle of innovative shows by stand-up comics.