Wednesday, March 9, 2011

March Madness: Of Brackets, American Idol and TV Series

Credit: Sports Illustrated
It is March Madness time again! Actually, it has not started yet but I am very excited to make my NCAA picks (although I doubt that I can predict the champion again). The best thing about March Madness is the bracket. If you love team sports, you know that brackets are the best way to decide the champion. You get to pit the best of the best with one another and who wins, advances to the next round. However, the ultimate team sport for brackets (I don’t consider doubles in tennis as team sport) is March Madness. Currently, 64 American colleges battle it out to gain basketball supremacy. The big number of teams involved just suggests how extensive the scope of the competition is. Predicting who which teams will advance in each round and who wins the crown is a very improbable task to perfect. Good teams fall unexpectedly because there is just one game per round.

Predicting makes March Madness fun. Anything can happen. You can make your most in-depth analysis and you can still fail in predicting the winner. Or if you were a lucky fantard like me, you may end up predicting (at least) the big winner.

There is no announced bracket thus far but in preparation to March Madness, I am writing about brackets and predictions. Ironically, the topics concerned do not discuss collegiate basketball. Yup, especially after the Duke Blue Devils lost to the UNC Tar Heels.

The TV Series Bracket

Fill up your brackets! | Credit: The League
Thanks to Hulu and Alan Sepinwall of Hitfix.com for this idea. Unfortunately, I could not make my picks because I was lazy to register. The first round has been done so I cannot register now.

For those who could not relate (because I have not even began to introduce the concept), this TV series bracket is a hypothetical bracket pitting TV shows against each other. People vote which they think is better and the TV show that has more votes in its current matchup advances to the next round. The biggest flaw of this concept is that it is a popularity contest instead of a quality contest. Either way, it is still a remarkable concept.

I do not have a significant following to have such voting pattern (and I also do not know how to have a voting function in this site either). Because I was not able to vote in Hulu’s TV Series bracket, I will just create a hypothetical bracket and post my hypothetical choices of which shows should win (this time by quality instead of quantity). I also have some doubts with Alan Sepinwall’s bracket because the Northeast division is stacked up with quality shows. Thus, I am creating my own TV bracket based on the logic of making tiers in order to have a logical direction on how TV series are placed in the bracket. The tiers are determined depending on the popularity. In short, I am making the bracket based on popularity and the winners based on “perceived” quality.

If you are asking why I am putting too much logic and reasoning on a non-bearing idea, my answers are insomnia and boredom. Either way, just think of it as my way to rank up the best TV shows this year in a unique perspective.

Without further ado, here are the tiers (based on TVGuide.com):

Tier 1:
Credit: Glee
Glee – Duh!
House
Grey’s Anatomy
Modern Family

Tier 2:
How I Met Your Mother
30 Rock
Mad Men
True Blood

Tier 3:
Community
Weeds
Dexter
The Walking Dead

Tier 4:
Vampire Diaries
Entourage
Big Bang Theory
Boardwalk Empire

Tier 5:
Supernatural
Breaking Bad
Californication
Family Guy

Tier 6:

The Office – I don’t know why “The Office” is listed this low but whatever…
Fringe
Friday Night Lights
The Good Wife

Tier 7:
Sons of Anarchy
The Simpsons – was not even in TVGuide’s list
Chuck – Ditto. I am scratching my head
Parks and Recreation

Tier 8:
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Parenthood
The League
Justified

Note: I wrote “perceived” quality because I do not watch some of these TV shows. I may have watched a bit of some (i.e., The Big Bang Theory, True Blood) so I have little information on those.

Northwest Bracket

Oh Joanie! | Credit: Mad Men
Through random choices, this is what I have for the first division. “Justified” is critically-acclaimed but I have not watched it. ”Glee” has been the most popular show in the past two years. I am not complaining that much on “Glee’s” storyline recently (probably a result of lowered expectations). It is also very uncharacteristic for a top seed to get beaten by the lowest seed so I had “Glee” winning it. It got upset by “Boardwalk Empire” though in the next round. I think this is the best show to topple “Glee” because “Boardwalk Empire” won the Best Drama in the Golden Globes anyway. ”Mad Men” is obviously better than “The Simpsons” these days while I think that giving “The Office” a “win” is just an appropriate farewell to Michael Scott. The Northeast Division concludes with arguably the TV series that will be duking it out in the Best Drama category in the Emmy Awards this year. “Boardwalk Empire” might appeal the Golden Globe voters more but I am going with “Mad Men.” It is not even close.

Southwest Bracket

TV for the Fantasy Addicts | Credit: The League
This is arguably the toughest division for me. This is because there are only two shows in here that I have watched the latest season (blame it on Excel’s random feature). Heck, I even stopped watching “Grey’s Anatomy” this year. I am currently loving “The League” as of the moment so I really found it hard to decide if I’ll make a huge upset. However, I decided to give it to “Grey’s Anatomy” because of its reputation through the years. Teams that have experience rarely fold in their first games. “Vampire Diaries” and “Californication” matchup was also tough. Since I do not watch the current seasons of both shows, it was a decision between Nina Dobrev’s beauty or the several nudes in “Californication.” “Californication” won in the end. Hahaha! OK, the reason was because I have watched its first season and it was very good so I am holding into past knowledge even if critics actually liked the second season of “Vampire Diaries.” I could not decide between “True Blood” and “Parks and Recreation” so I just asked my friend Paul on which show was better. As for “Dexter,” I liked its first season so I had it battling “Grey’s Anatomy.” Of course, I picked the latter.

Northeast Bracket

Very interesting division (thanks to the sucky southwest division). We have the battle of the family-oriented TV shows. “Modern Family” wins it because it is very good and it also has the awards. “Entourage” beats “Supernatural” because the former actually had an underrated season last year. In fact, I had thoughts of putting “Entourage” over “Modern Family.” However, the biggest story of this bracket is the sixth-seed “Friday Night Lights.” In its last season, it delivered one of the strongest drama performances of all-time. The way it won this division is just like Coach Eric Taylor’s football team defying the odds as underdogs. They defeated the Top 3 seeds in this division to reach the Final Four.

Southeast Bracket
Jesse is cashing it in | Credit: Breaking Bad
Here is another interesting division. The chemist of “Breaking Bad” defeats the gang of nerds of “The Big Bang Theory.” Actually, it is not even close. Yes, even if the geek guy of TBBT won the best comedy actor in the Emmy’s. Why? Bryan Cranston won the Best Drama Actor three times. You can also add Aaron Paul’s Best Supporting Actor award. Those things and the fact that “Breaking Bad” is such an awesome drama series make it a lopsided victory. After that, “Breaking Bad” plows through another fan favorite (“House”) to reach the Elite Eight. I gave “Sons of Anarchy” the upset victory because of its rave reviews. I did watch “30 Rock” before but I quit on it either way. After contemplating heavily, I eventually gave “The Walking Dead” the nod over “Fringe.” It is because “The Walking Dead” was able to deliver an influential breakthrough in horror. I also appreciated how they pulled off the drama part in that show by not doing the “Heroes” overkill. Thus, we have a matchup of AMC shows in the end. And as usual, “Breaking Bad” beats another fan favorite show. And now, we are set for the Final Four.

Final Four


The beauty of having brackets is to have unpredictable results. If I am going to rank the current best shows, “Grey’s Anatomy” does not belong in my Top 5 (do not get me wrong, it is still one of my favorite shows of all-time but my interest is wavering a bit just like in “How I Met Your Mother”). But because of random selections, “Grey’s Anatomy” belongs in the Final Four. This Final Four is actually a battle of the drama shows. We have the AMC juggernauts and two network veteran shows. “Mad Men” easily beats “Grey’s Anatomy” because the former had its best season ever. The three-time Emmy winning show is arguably the best TV series in the present time as it is well-written and superbly acted. On the other hand, “Grey’s Anatomy” is losing some of its luster. Last year’s season was actually mediocre if not for the finale that saved the whole season from being a forgettable one. Shonda Rimes is the Robert Horry of TV series writers/creators. Nonetheless, “Mad Men” is way better than “Grey’s Anatomy.”

On the west side of things, it is a tight battle between “Breaking Bad” and “Friday Night Lights.” Both shows have been underrated over the years. However, FNL takes the pie because of its sterling final season. I am even thinking of demoting “Lost” as the best network drama because of “Friday Night Lights’” better acting. Furthermore, “Friday Night Lights” is more interesting with the American Football/community/perfect parents theme it brings as compared to “Breaking Bad’s” drug making drama.
FNL FTW | Credit: Friday Night Lights
The championship match is the toughest of them all. “Mad Men” is my Top 1-2 TV series of all-time. It had its best season ever. Its 1960’s advertising theme always brings something unique to interest its viewers. “The Suitcase” is my personal favorite TV episode of all-time. Years from now, I will probably rank “Mad Men” on the top. On the other hand, “Friday Night Lights” delivered a very strong final season. I will even go as far as stating that it was better than “Lost’s” final season. If I have a TV series bracket of shows from 2009-2010, I would have easily ranked “Mad Men’s” third season over “Lost’s” final season. But in this scenario, I am having second thoughts (even if it was the best “Mad Men” season).

Several factors come into play. The fact that “Friday Night Lights” is a network show makes it tougher. It is also a one-of-a-kind show that we would most likely not be able to witness in the future given the fact that it sucked in the TV ratings department. It was almost equal to “Mad Men’s” effort this season.

But, what made FNL won for me is the fact that this is based on sports. People tune into March Madness because underdogs have a chance to win it all with the one-win-to-advance format. When you have a toss-up, just pick the underdog. Thus, Coach Eric Taylor and his team completes their underdog journey by winning the 2010-11 TV Series Bracket.

Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose!

American Idol Predictions
Credit: American Idol
I feel somehow idiotic for writing in my blog that I am quitting on watching “American Idol” completely last year. I even stated that it is because Simon Cowell is not around for this year. As it happens, 1) I totally ate my words by watching “American Idol” this year, and 2) Simon Cowell appeared to be the one who made the show regressed last year. I do not know if a “Ewing Theory” is in place but it is currently heading towards that direction as Idol has stacked up some good talent thus far. I have to say that I am addicted to the show again. And with that, I will try to be more idiotic by coming up with predictions which would end up being absolutely wrong. But what the heck, this blog is one of the few venues I get to be laid-back. Also, I am in the mood of predicting outcomes due to the March Madness syndrome.
Paul's rendition of "Blackbird" is awesome | Credit: AOL
•    A guy will win again this year. This is probably the safest prediction I will ever make. Even with the incorporation of online voting, I still think that the female tweens and middle aged women still control the vote. With the strong quality of male singers this year, this prediction does not seem far-fetched.
•    Jacob Lusk will not win. He has been the judges’ favorite for quite a while and he has mad talent but we have to note that frontrunners rarely win. It also does not help that Jacob’s style is polarizing. He is also not a white guy who plays a guitar. Haha!
•    The farewell song will be David Cook’s “(Don’t You) Forget About Me.” Oops! This is actually a spoiler, not a prediction. It is really tough to predict the outcome this year with so many talented contestants and a possible manipulation by the producers to make a female win. For instance, we have several divas/belters (Karen Rodriguez, Ashthon Jones, Jacob Lusk, Pia Toscano) that Pia might end up inheriting the votes of these people when they get eliminated. We also have the Scotty-Lauren country music combo. It is hard to eliminate Scotty but if the judges start to be constantly harsh to him, we might see him giving up his votes to Lauren Alaina.

Since I ran out of predictions, I thought of predicting the elimination pattern (again, thanks to Hitfix.com’s Fantasy “American Idol”). Predicting such order is risky as of the moment because of the talent but here it is anyway:

Week 1 Eliminations: Ashthon Jones/Karen Rodriguez. If there is someone close to a fodder in the Top 13, that would be Ashthon and Stefano. However, Stefano is a guy and has a strong fanbase so I doubt he will be kicked out any time soon. Naima is also in the Top 13 so Ashthon will be splitting votes with her (not a good sign). The other chick to be eliminated will be Karen Rodriguez. She might get the Latino vote but I think she alienates a lot of Americans with her Spanglish style. It also hurts her chances that a lot of divas are in the contest. She is actually one of the cute chicks in the competition but I doubt she will get far with her style.

Week 2 Elimination: Haley Reinhart. I think she survives Week 1 because she is more attractive to Americans than Karen (I disagree though). However, she misses the Top Ten because she is middle of the pack. Do not get me wrong, I actually (and surprisingly) liked her Top 24 performance but with Ashthon and Karen gone, the demographics do not favor Haley. Naima gets the Ashthon votes while the other divas like Pia get the Karen votes.

Week 3 Elimination: Naima Adedapo. Only because she has the weakest fanbase for the females. Thia has the Filipino support; Pia has a Siobhan Magnus-esque following, while Lauren is so frontrunner-ish that I doubt that she will get booted out this early. However, I may be wrong here because Naima has a distinct talent even if she sings the worst (Megan Joy, anyone?)

Week 4 Elimination: Stefano Langone. I think this is the first time a guy will be gone. I am actually not impressed by his vocals but I am aware that this guy has a huge following. The only concern for Stefano is that the other five guys are immensely talented. It also does not help his cause that he was a wild card contestant.

Week 5 Elimination: Thia Megia. We can interchange the Week 5 and Week 6 Eliminations but I think that Thia will get the boot at this stage. However, if she gets consistent strong praises, she might go as far as Top 5. But as of the moment, there are still some question marks on Thia so I cannot really infer how long she can reach. Eighth place is probably a good estimate as of the moment.

Week 6 Elimination: Jacob Lusk. The shocker elimination that is actually not a shocker at all. The primary reason behind this is the fact that I do not know if Jacob has indeed a strong following. He is immensely talented but being the 2nd or 3rd favorite for fans does not merit you a vote. This is why I think Jacob’s elimination can be interchanged with Thia’s. I think she has a stronger fanbase with the Pinoy vote.
Credit: American Idol
Week 7 Elimination: Pia Toscano. This is Siobhan Magnus territory so I think this is the part where Pia goes. I actually like her the most with regard to female contestants (and yeah, she is hot). I can see her resonating better than Siobhan because Pia is less polarizing and is more technically sound. The only problem is, the males are way stronger this year than last year. But if Pia gets bad criticism in the next few weeks, I think she might go before Thia and Jacob.

Week 8 Elimination: James Durbin. Because his style is polarizing. Some diehard Adam Lambert fans might also hate James because of the fan psychology where a great artist cannot be matched by a similar one because of certain biases. I rooted for Adam Lambert in “American Idol” before but I have no issues with James. He is actually more of a rocker type and he has insane glory notes. However, the competition is pretty much tight this year.
Credit: American Idol
Week 9 Elimination: Lauren Alaina. Because the talent of the guys is quite immense this year, we see the last of the females exiting earlier than the usual. Personally, I would actually rank both Pia and Lauren in my Top 5 but I do not want to bet against Idol’s demographics. By this stage of the competition, Lauren and Scotty are already splitting a lot of votes that Lauren will eventually lose in the battle. You may ask, why would she stay this long? It is because she is a teenager (and that resonates quite well to female tweens) and she has a wider genre scope than Scott.

Week 10 Elimination: Paul McDonald. I can actually envision Paul winning the whole thing but because Lauren just got eliminated in Week 9 (hypothetically), there is no way in hell that two country singers will be eliminated in a row. The girls (with raging hormones) who like to vote for cute guys will most likely vote split heavily at this stage so it just makes sense that one of them will be eliminated.

2nd Place: Casey Abrams. No matter what J-Lo says about him being sexy, Casey does not fall under the attractive white guys of the bunch. However, he is very talented. He is the main frontrunner in my opinion.  The concern is, he will be Crystal Bowersox’ed. Casey has the uniqueness but he is more polarizing than Scotty. Furthermore, Scotty will inherit both Lauren and Paul’s votes.
Another white guy with guitar winner? | Credit: American Idol
Next American Idol: Scotty McCreery. Country fans will be voting for Scotty like crazy. The frauen will choose him because of his good image. As for the female tweens, Scotty is the guy version of Taylor Swift or the country version of Justin Bieber. The only way Scotty does not win this is if Lauren Alaina gets eliminated early (if that is the case, Paul wins the whole thing). Another way that Scotty loses is if the judges constantly throw him under the bus.

No comments:

Post a Comment