The Winners
Section E
#1 Seinfeld vs. #9 Absolutely Fabulous
Festivus (RIP Jerry Stiller) came early for the NYC foursome whose show about nothing defined 1990s TV–and at this pace if the show wins, it just might be on Festivus. It had a tough match-up against the hedonistic ladies of fellow ’90s series AbFab but it would appear that the post-finale backlash has cooled over the last two decades and Jerry Seinfeld’s genre-changing show advances another round to face…
#4 Last Week Tonight with John Oliver vs. #5 The Golden Girls
John Oliver’s deep dive will have to be about losing a close race in the second round of an online tourney (the mascot will surely be hilarious) as, by a single vote, Dorothy, Rose, Blanche, and Sophia move on another round, and what the heck, they can take Stanley with them.
#2 New Girl vs. #10 The Kids in the Hall
A huge upset as the classic Canadian sketch show The Kids in the Hall sends home Nick, Schmidt, Winston, CeeCee, Coach, and Jess Day. Celebrate by going mad with a moderate amount of power, tripping to the ATM (where you will be entertained by a flying pig) and getting blissfully girl drink drunk!
#3 Bob’s Burgers vs. #6 King of the Hill
Voters have shown electric love to the Belchers (minus the elephant electrocution) as they are victorious in their battle aganst Arlen, Texas’ Hill family. Everyone involved with Bob’s Burgers can rejoice, well maybe except for its co-creator Jim Dauterive who sees his ne’er-do-well namesake eliminated from the competition by similar (but slightly more loveable) sad sack Teddy.
Section F
#1 Cheers vs. #8 Freaks & Geeks
Rarely seen NBC wives (and characters named “Coach”) are 1-for-2 this round. While Maris failed to move onto the Round of 32, Vera makes it along with NORM!, Cliff, Carla, Sam, Diane, Coach, Frasier, and Rebecca–man, a lot of this cast went on to become vocally conservative. We’ll blame it on the alcohol. In any case, the cult classic Freaks & Geeks was no match and Cheers will face a different sort of classic in our third round as…
#4 Chappelle’s Show vs. #5 The Mary Tyler Moore Show
Dave Chappelle scores a close win over fellow comedic genius Mary Tyler Moore as her long-running sitcom is subdued by the edgy sketch show that died early when Chappelle pulled the plug due to concerns about his comedy being misperceived by racists, walking away from around 55 million dollars to stick to a principle. His comedy paved the way for Key & Peele and others and so many of the sketches ring just as powerful 15-20 years later.
#2 Community vs. #7 Insecure
The Study Group did not Brita this round! Meta wins the day as the ensemble show about a group of castoffs at a community college in Colorado gets its six seasons and an obscure internet tournament second round win (that’s how the saying goes, right?). It’s next match-up will be against another show whose fans are no stranger to making noise about new seasons.
#3 Party Down vs. #6 Broad City
Another Screen Scholar Show of the Year regular goes down as Ilana and Abby lose a close contest to the two-season Starz show whose 20 episodes were so compelling that calls for a third season have been loud every year of the last 10 since the second season ended. The catering crew from Party Down carry on to the Round of 32.
Screen Scholars 