There was no seeding. I figured if I seeded, people might be influenced by the number. (“I’m voting for the underdog!” or “Hey, it’s a #1 seed, it must be good.”)
Many of the first-round matchups were random or arbitrary. Some were done with a bit of forethought. The second-round matchups just fell into place via their bracket placement in the first round. (Scrubs vs. Arrested Development broke my heart.) It’s not perfect, but it is what it is.
The selection committee either felt these shows weren’t strong enough in their region to make it to the big dance this year (conference tourneys can be a bitch!), or else they just plumb overlooked them.
Region I. Beverly Hillbillies vs. The Dick Van Dyke Show
Leave it to Beaver vs. Laverne & Shirley The Mary Tyler Moore Show vs. Gilligan’s Island The Jeffersons vs. I Love Lucy
Region II. Mork & Mindy vs. MASH
Diff’rent Strokes vs. All in the Family
WKRP in Cincinnati vs. Cheers
Three’s Comapny vs. Newhart
Region III.
Friends vs. Seinfeld
Murphy Brown vs. Golden Girls
The Drew Carey Show vs. The Simpsons Married With Children vs. Family Ties
Region IV. Scrubs vs. Arrested Development
Frasier vs. Family Guy
News Radio vs. The Office 3rd Rock from the Sun vs. My Name is Earl
For the record, had I voted I would have changed the end result in all three ties. I don’t think it will matter, because I don’t see any of those winners moving past this round anyway.
My original pick for the Final Four:
The Bob Newhart Show
WKRP in Cincinnati (the Cinderella story in this year’s tourney)
Seinfeld
News Radio
And the championship:
Seinfeld over WKRP.
Since one of my Final Four went out in the 1st round, I guess my chances of winning the pool aren’t too good.
At this point, I’d pick I Love Lucy to come out of Region I, but I still think she’ll lose to WKRP.
My picks for Round 2: Region I.
Beverly Hillbillies vs. The Dick Van Dyke Show
Leave it to Beaver vs. Laverne & Shirley The Mary Tyler Moore Show vs. Gilligan’s Island
The Jeffersons vs. I Love Lucy
Region II.
Mork & Mindy vs. MASH
Diff’rent Strokes vs. All in the Family WKRP in Cincinnati vs. Cheers
Three’s Comapny vs. Newhart
Region III.
Friends vs. Seinfeld Murphy Brown vs. Golden Girls
The Drew Carey Show vs. The Simpsons
Married With Children vs. Family Ties
Region IV.
Scrubs vs. Arrested Development Frasier vs. Family Guy News Radio vs. The Office 3rd Rock from the Sun vs. My Name is Earl
Region I. Beverly Hillbillies vs. The Dick Van Dyke Show
Leave it to Beaver vs. Laverne & Shirley
The Mary Tyler Moore Show vs. Gilligan’s Island The Jeffersons vs. I Love Lucy
Region II.
Mork & Mindy vs. MASH
Diff’rent Strokes vs. All in the Family
WKRP in Cincinnati vs. Cheers Three’s Comapny vs. Newhart
Region III.
**Friends ** vs. Seinfeld
**Murphy Brown ** vs. Golden Girls
The Drew Carey Show vs. The Simpsons Married With Children vs. Family Ties
Region IV.
**Scrubs ** vs. Arrested Development
Frasier vs. Family Guy
News Radio vs. The Office
3rd Rock from the Sun vs. My Name is Earl
Region I.
Beverly Hillbillies vs. The Dick Van Dyke Show
Leave it to Beaver vs. Laverne & Shirley The Mary Tyler Moore Show vs. Gilligan’s Island
The Jeffersons vs. I Love Lucy
Region II.
Mork & Mindy vs. MASH Diff’rent Strokes vs. All in the Family (ickickickick) WKRP in Cincinnati vs. Cheers
Three’s Comapny vs. Newhart
Region III. Friends vs. Seinfeld Murphy Brown vs. Golden Girls The Drew Carey Show vs. The Simpsons
Married With Children vs. Family Ties
Region IV.
Scrubs vs. Arrested Development Frasier vs. Family Guy News Radio vs. The Office
3rd Rock from the Sun vs. My Name is Earl
Region I.
Beverly Hillbillies vs. The Dick Van Dyke Show
Leave it to Beaver vs.** Laverne & Shirley**
**The Mary Tyler Moore Show **vs. Gilligan’s Island The Jeffersons vs. I Love Lucy
Region II.
Mork & Mindy vs. MASH
Diff’rent Strokes vs. All in the Family
WKRP in Cincinnati vs. Cheers
Three’s Comapny vs. Newhart
Region III. Friends vs. Seinfeld Murphy Brown vs. Golden Girls
The Drew Carey Show vs. The Simpsons Married With Children vs. Family Ties
Region IV. Scrubs vs. Arrested Development Frasier vs. Family Guy News Radio vs. The Office 3rd Rock from the Sun vs. My Name is Earl
And thus ends round 2. Here are the results:
Region I Dick Van Dyke ousts Beverly Hillbillies, 24-7 Laverne & Shirley ousts Leave it to Beaver, 22-9 Mary Tyler Moore ousts Gilligan’s Island, 23-8 I Love Lucy ousts The Jeffersons, 21-10
Region II
**MASH ** kills Mork & Mindy, 27-4 All in the Family beats Diff’rent Strokes, 23-7 Cheers beats WKRP, 19-12 Newhart destroys Three’s Company, 25-6
Region III Seinfeld squeeks one out over Friends, 17-14 Murphy Brown beats Golden Girls, 20-11 Simpsons completely wipes out Drew Carey, 28-3 Married With Children beats Family Ties on a buzzer-beater, 16-15
Region IV Arrested Development ousts Scrubs, 18-13 Frasier upsets Family Guy, 19-12 News Radio trickles past The Office, 16-15 My Name is Earl beats 3rd Rock, 17-14
If anyone wants to double-check my count, I won’t be offended. Otherwise, I’ll post the next round at 10 pm as the results now stand.