While many of us have put our March Madness brackets to rest already, there is another tournament television fans can actively participate in rather than yelling at your TV screen, powerless to stop your pick from being ousted. Hulu.com’s second annual “Best In Show” tournament to pick the best show on TV kicked off at the beginning of March, giving hardcore TV fans an opportunity to support their favorite shows.
Best in Show began on March 1 with a bracket of 32 TV shows ranging in popularity and critical acclaim. The tournament is in partnership with the popular entertainment site Hitfix, particularly TV critic Alan Sepinwall’s blog “What’s Alan Watching?” Sepinwall serves as Best in Show’s resident TV bracketologist and contributing writer. In addition to online votes from fans, Sepinwall’s pick in each matchup receives a 5% head-start at the beginning of each voting round, giving an edge to shows with more critical acclaim.
The tournament works on a weekly schedule of voting periods spanning across the month of March, with the big winner to be revealed on April 4. Last year’s Best in Show winner was big-time serialized drama LOST, at that point in the midst of its departing season, a fitting goodbye from thousands of rabid fans on the internet despite an uneven final season and a polarizing finale. Now, Best in Show has come down to its Final Four shows that exhibit surprising variations in quality, and each with no shortage of passionate fans to vote for them: NBC fan-favorite comedy Community vs. the adored NBC comedy Chuck, and FOX’s hit medical drama House vs. Showtime slasher series Dexter.
Sepinwall has picked Community as his choice in the matchup against Chuck, saying “Much as I love the gang at the Buy More, the Jeff, Abed, Troy and the rest of the study group from Greendale Community College are operating at their absolute peak this season.” Despite Sepinwall’s endorsement, fans of Chuck have proven to be fierce voters, with Chuck currently leading Community by a slim margin of 52 percent to 48 percent (though this will have probably changed by since this article has been written). Chuck fans may be passionate, but in my eyes, Community is the far better show, with one of the best comedic ensembles on TV and breakout performances from Danny Pudi (Abed) and Donald Glover (Troy).
On the other side of the bracket are two high-profile dramas centered on brilliant performances from the leads, but with struggling stories involving their respective supporting casts. Sepinwall gave his pick to Dexter for the show’s superb use of guest stars, and the fans seem to agree. Dexter is currently thrashing House at a score of 64 percent to 36 percent. I have loved House in the past, but the current season seems to be spinning its wheels and only recently realizing that getting House and Cuddy together was a bad idea from the start. Dexter’s fifth season was uneven; star Michael C. Hall continues to shine as the title character, but the supporting plots leave a lot to be desired while each season’s main arc begins to feel staler as it goes. My pick in this situation would have to be Dexter though. Despite some shaky writing and repetitive plotting, the acting is consistently Emmy-worthy, particularly on Hall’s part, and while Hugh Laurie continues to shine on House, the formula has grown quite stale over the years.
It remains to be seen who will take the title this year, but fans can still vote and support their picks. Right now, though Chuck leads Community by a slim margin, my pick is for Community to go all the way. POP POP!
