This is Round Four of the Great TV Sitcom Battle, Male Characters edition. Rankings are based on input gathered in another thread. Vote for your favorite character in each of the following 4 head-to-head battles. Polls will close when the voting starts tapering off.
Maxwell Smart - Get Smart (2)
Sam Malone - Cheers (30)
Archie Bunker - All in the Family (3)
Dr. Bob Hartley - The Bob Newhart Show (14)
Basil Fawlty - Fawlty Towers (5)
Norm Peterson - Cheers (11)
Dr. Johnny Fever - WKRP in Cincinnati (6)
Jim Ignatowski - Taxi (9)
I hate you for putting Basil against Norm.
Gyrate
April 8, 2026, 3:16pm
3
Archie vs Bob is the difficult one for me.
For me it is Rev Jim vs. Dr. Johnny.
All my nominations are gone. Jim and Basil seem to be the only tier A characters left.
No number one seeds left in the Elite Eight. I have to question the committee’s seeding for this tournament.
Basil and Hawkeye are my top 2 picks, probably. Oh, maybe John Dorian or a male Bluth(GOB? Michael? George Michael?)
Not to question @Mean_Mr.Mustard ’s methodology, but IMO these polls are delivering wrong answers ! I blame you guys.
The only one of the eight I would banish is Dr. Johnny Fever.
I never really warmed up to him.
mmm
Man this crowd skews old. The most recent characters left in the brackets debuted on tv 44 years ago!
Frodo
April 8, 2026, 7:35pm
11
This is the Straight Dope mister, young whippersnappers in their late forties are seen with suspicion.
3 of the 4 brackets are very (and equally) close. We’ll let this run a few more days.
Looks like Dr. Johnny Fever may be retiring soon.
mmm
Ok, let us say goodbye to Sam, Archie, Norm, and Johnny.
Final Four polls are here.
mmm
