Hulu's Best in Show heads into round 3
No apocalyptic AMC drama match-up, but some Elite 8 surprises
Can Don Draper take out Greg House in Hulu's Best in Show?
We're now at the midway point of Hulu's Best in Show contest, as the Sweet 16 was pared down to an Elite 8.
In terms of the Round 2 match-ups, we had a disappointing but unsurprising result in which "House" crushed "Breaking Bad" (a much better show with a much smaller audience), but also the somewhat pleasantly surprising "Dexter" rout of "Glee." I had figured "Glee" had an easy path to the Final 4, but Showtime did a good job of organizing the "Dexter" fandom (and/or "Dexter" fandom did a good job of organizing itself) and steamrolled a show that's not only one of TV's most popular, but with one of the most adoring fanbases.
In fact, once I saw how Hulu had set up the brackets once I came up with the Round 1 match-ups, I would not have been the least bit surprised if the Final 4 included "Glee" and the winner of the "Vampire Diaries"/"True Blood" and "Fringe"/"Supernatural" match-ups from Round 1. Instead, no "Glee," no vamps and no monsters.
I'm bummed we won't get to see who fans would have chosen in the apocalyptic "Breaking Bad"/"Mad Men" match-up, while simultaneously relieved that I don't have to make that choice myself. I'll be curious if the superior numbers of the "House" audience are as potent against "Mad Men," whose ratings aren't that much bigger than "Breaking Bad," but which has a much higher profile overall. I'm also not sure how the "Chuck"/"Modern Family" tilt will go, where I feel reasonably confident that "Community" and "Dexter" will come out of their respective brackets, based on how things have been going.
So go vote, read my answers on the latest Hulu blog entry, and we'll all meet back here for the Final 4.
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March 14, 2011 at 7:24AM EST Reply to CommentDisapointed that Chuck beated Supernatural, I like both shows, but Supernatural is a better series than Chuck.
Sillyputty Ditto.
March 14, 2011 at 9:37AM ESTthejoshbaker Wrongwrongwrongwrong.
March 14, 2011 at 2:38PM ESTSteven lol It whould of been closer just alot of weird caculating of votes goin on at HULU.
March 14, 2011 at 3:08PM ESTherner werzog
March 14, 2011 at 8:06AM EST Reply to CommentThis is essentially the internet version of The People's Choice Awards. In other words, the shows with the stupidest fans (i.e. the ones who spend their whole nights voting for them) are guaranteed to be voted into the finals. I'm glad to see it won't be Mad Men and Breaking Bad.
chuchundra That's a little harsh, but essentially correct. What's the point of a contest like this where there's zero attempt made to keep people from voting multiple times?
March 14, 2011 at 3:07PM ESTI'm happy to take a minute or so to register my preference, but it seems kind of pointless in light of armies of dedicated clickers running up the score.
Chrissy
March 14, 2011 at 8:35AM EST Reply to CommentComparing Dexter to HIMYM is a fairly bizarre exercise, but otherwise that was a pretty easy group to choose from. Alan, do you still get a bump in these later rounds?
sepinwall My vote still exists, but thus far it hasn't mattered much. I think the Vampire Diaries/True Blood match-up in Rd 1 is the only time I actually affected an outcome.
March 14, 2011 at 8:42AM ESTRicardo And the ironic thing is you don't even watch the show you rooted for.
March 14, 2011 at 9:13AM ESTsepinwall It was a choice between a show I don't watch, but which several people whose opinions I value enjoy immensely, and one I do watch and really kinda hate. In that case, it seemed wiser to go with the possibility of goodness rather than the certainty of badness.
March 14, 2011 at 9:18AM ESTFXKLM At this point, Dexter is running behind HIMYM. I think you may have over-estimated the extent to which the Dexter-Glee contest was driven by Dexter fans. Although Glee has a lot of support, I suspect most of the votes for Dexter were really just votes against Glee.
March 14, 2011 at 10:44AM ESTechos myron Not true. The reason Dexter did so well against Glee is because they announced the contest on Dexter's Facebook page (which somehow has over 7 million fans despite the fact that an average Dexter episode gets about 2.5 million viewers) and got thousands of people to vote for it all at once. I actually saw Glee drop down by about 12% within a half-hour. Dexter's fans are feral animals when it comes to voting.
March 14, 2011 at 10:51AM ESTSloshkosh Echos, I'm beginning to feel like average viewers may be a complete lie. It seems odd that the majority of people you use facebook and like the show don't watch it each week.
March 14, 2011 at 12:36PM ESTchristy I watch Dexter on Showtime in its primary time slot. But everyone else I know who watches it--which is a lot of people and always growing--don't have Showtime but watch Dexter on DVD. And THOSE people haven't even seen season 5 yet, so if they are voting, they're voting having most recently watched the Lithgow season. The Stiles season was enjoyable but had issues. The Lithgow season was Great TV.
March 14, 2011 at 2:26PM EST
March 14, 2011 at 8:49AM EST Reply to CommentAlan I know you are a justfied fan so I am going to "shoot" straight with you, lol get it. What CHUCK fans want CHUCK fans get and just CHUCK is going to "put down" both Modern Family, then Community and then take out whoever is in the final. Is it because CHUCK is the best series this year? Maybe not, but those fans are the most dedicated I have ever seen, they almost brought CHUCK to it's knees in season 3 when they did not get what they wanted! Fans of other shows, you are up for when heck of a fight!
raven23 It would be really nice to have the actual number of votes next to the percentages. Alan, do you have an idea as to how many votes are cast in an average bracket?
March 14, 2011 at 8:56AM ESTsepinwall No idea how many votes there are. Right now, though, it doesn't seem like there's been a ton of votes cast, as several of the races have gotten much closer just in the two hours since I published this post. It's not until late in the week (around the time my vote gets factored in on Thursday) that most of the contests are unswervingly decided.
March 14, 2011 at 9:00AM ESTreally
March 14, 2011 at 9:31AM EST Reply to CommentGlee has lots of problems but when it comes to Dexter once you've seen one season you've seen all the seasons (outside of some great performances, notably C. Hall and Lithgow).
I think as far as the Hive Mind's opinion on the quality of the remaining shows, it should be Community vs Mad Men.
dexter sucks This video by Landline TV hilariously parodizes and sums up Dexter in 79 seconds. EVERYONE must watch it:
March 14, 2011 at 9:33AM ESThttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WM5_pac-4Is
FoundNemo
March 14, 2011 at 10:00AM EST Reply to CommentGlad to see Chuck and Community kicking butt this early.
7screws
March 14, 2011 at 10:52AM EST Reply to Commentwow breaking bad beat by house what a travesty!
cuddy is my buddy Breaking Bad is good in an "everyman" sort of way, but it lacks House's experimentation and constant reinvention. The last House episode was more innovative than anything Breaking Bad ever attempted, including that ridiculous fly episode.
March 14, 2011 at 10:57AM ESTIt's also never resorted to cheap gimmicks like killer twins or unstable meth-dealers. Watching House is like absorving a Great American Novel chapter-by-chapter.
March 14, 2011 at 11:51AM EST
March 14, 2011 at 12:06PM ESTcuddy is my buddy Typical Breaking Bad fan who can't come up with an adequate reply. House IS the most unpredictable character on TV; meanwhile, everyone knows that Walt is just going to become a bigger and badder meth manufacturer. It's just a stoner version of Scarface done on a lower budget and with a faceless supporting cast.
March 14, 2011 at 12:10PM ESTsepinwall Everyone, calm down, please. You can disagree about without attacking each other, and if you can't find a way to do that, comments start getting deleted.
March 14, 2011 at 12:20PM ESTRule #1 around here: Be nice. Talk about the shows, NOT EACH OTHER.
Sloshkosh When I saw the first reply to this I assumed that the poster accidentally switched the titles. I actually struggled to make it through season one of BB (just a bit too intense for me) and own every season of House. That said, House is a predictable guilty pleasure that is easy to ingest - never great, but never awful either. On the other hand, one of the reasons I struggle with BB is because it involves more thought than I want to expend after work (ironically, not unlike a great American novel).
March 14, 2011 at 12:40PM ESTStacy Hmm.. Really? I find House(the character and the show) to be incredibly predictable and very boring. Oh well.
March 14, 2011 at 2:50PM EST
March 15, 2011 at 10:33AM ESTAnyway, to each his own, but calling House unpredictable makes me think you haven't watched past the first four seasons of the show. And while Walt is definitely easy to see through, the compelling thing about his character is his unwillingness to acknowledge just how horrible he's becoming. The show around him, on the other hand, is anything but predictable. I point you in the direction of all of Season 3.
March 14, 2011 at 11:02AM EST Reply to CommentI really hope that "Breaking Bad" gets a bigger audience, for viewers' sake. I'm catching up on the series right now (currently on S2), and it's seriously one of the greatest TV shows I've ever seen. I'm just sorry it took me so long to get into it.
March 14, 2011 at 11:53AM ESTchris
March 14, 2011 at 12:01PM EST Reply to CommentIts going to be Community, the whole poll is riged just like last year.
Adjust your poll better it makes no since for 3 polls to be same for DAYS.
benji It's going to be Chuck. The computer nerds who watch that show have 10,000 voting bots doing all their work for them.
March 14, 2011 at 12:12PM ESTFoundNemo @Benji dang, I hope so! Meanwhile the rest of us Chuck fans who aren't in a technical field are just voting one mouse click at a time. :)
March 15, 2011 at 12:44AM ESTLepidoptera
March 14, 2011 at 12:54PM EST Reply to CommentHouse over Breaking Bad? Wow. Really should have included Keeping up with the Kardashians so that "the people's voice" could really be heard.
FoundNemo The title of the contest really is a misnomer. Should be "Hulu's Most Dedicated Internet Fanbase."
March 15, 2011 at 12:47AM ESTJonny
March 14, 2011 at 1:12PM EST Reply to CommentFans (geeks/nerds) still buy into the myth that sarah is still way out of chuck's lead and they are fixed on that relationship. I mean come on! Zach Levi has featured in the sexiest man alive twice! how is yvonne's sarah way out of his league? That is why fans keep so dedicated to chuck and love it even more even when they have restored levi's looks and he is not the uglified version they purposely put out in seasons 1-2. It does not matter to fans they just keep on voting in all these poles, I love chuck fans!
Dave
March 14, 2011 at 2:29PM EST Reply to CommentEveryone please go vote for Mad Men. House has been so atrocious lately, it has to get knocked out.
tag8833
March 14, 2011 at 4:42PM EST Reply to CommentI'm stunned by the House upset of Breaking Bad. I didn't think House had any web savy, or highly motivated fans left. Especially coming off its (reportedly) worst season ever.
Do we have any statistics on what shows are most popular on Hulu? I know not all of the contenders are availible, but it would be interesting to me if House is some sort of internet ratings juggernaught.
MexicanButtNugget What exactly do you mean by 'web savy'? Do you honestly think only smart people use the internet? If so, OH BOY. Do you got a lot to learn. lololol.
March 15, 2011 at 8:02PM ESTBillSimmonsAlanSepinwallLoveChild
March 15, 2011 at 7:58PM EST Reply to CommentThe masses are voting on this (ie: dumb people). So who honestly cares? House beating Breaking bad tells you all you need to know.
FoundNemo Disagree. Community fans are hardly 'the masses.' (itty bitty group, ferociously loyal!) Same for Chuck fans. Same for Mad Men fans. I would suspect that not one of these groups is overall a bunch of dummies.
March 17, 2011 at 8:50PM ESTMadeleine
March 16, 2011 at 3:57PM EST Reply to CommentI'm voting for Community no matter what, I'm just worried when it gets up against Chuck. Chuck fans scare me the crap out of me. I mean I like Chuck but not more then the best show on televison Community. I'm sure it's rabid fanbase will crush Community when we get to round 4.
FoundNemo Chuck engenders a great deal of affection in many fans (I think Alan said something to that effect when talking about his own view of the show), which adds an element of loyalty that carries over rough patches of a season and makes us really band together. That said, I really don't think it's the best show on television (though certainly my personal favorite). I would have picked Mad Men or Parks and Rec, and would be happy with Community.
March 17, 2011 at 8:53PM EST