And then there were eight. Or, seven really, since there are two Batmen (Batmans?) at this table.
I have to admit personally I'm very happy Hellboy has made it this far and fist-smashed Kick-Ass into the pavement. And handily. But we had some nailbiters, just like the last round. Nausicaa only just squeaked Ghost in the Shell, and Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy apparently had a dance-off, which left Iron Man et al. going for shawarma and Star Lord et al. advancing to the next round. With the exception of the Indie/Imprint Region, everything else has gone all-chalk so far.
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Next stop, the Final Four. We know Batman's going to be giving a Japanese cartoon character the stare-down, but the other half of the bracket is murkier. Will NoaF favorite Dredd overcome poor viewership and overcome a hellspawn only to get a faceful of vibranium? Time -- and your votes -- will tell.
My fellow nerds, in this time of contention and uncertainty, I want to assure you that YOUR VOTE MATTERS!
While there weren't a ton of surprises in Round 1 — a couple of 5-seeds over four-seeds, but no major upsets, despite Scott Pilgrim's best efforts — I can tell you that three votes prevented an All-Batman DC round. V for Vendetta defeated Batman Begins by two votes, and the Man of Steel held off the Dark Knight by only a single vote in the battle of franchise sequels (Batman Returns vs. Superman II).
While the campaigns go back to their war rooms for new talking points or the teams go back to their benches so the coach can draw up a new play, depending on which direction you want to take this metaphor in an election year, Round 2 begins.
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Staff-favorite Dredd barely held off the spirit of Brandon Lee to make it to this round. Can it power through? Which funny Marvel movie is the better-suited to square off against either Cap or a team of mutants? Kick-Ass looks vulnerable. Can Red drop the fist on it? And our International Region is now fully subtitled, but not fully animated. Can the one standing live-action movie make it to the next round? These questions and more...or, actually, really just these questions...will be answered next Monday.
The field is set, thanks to everyone who participated in the play-in round voting.
Are there any upsets waiting to happen? How many Batmen are too many Batmen? Have any of the box office bombs made enough fans since to bump a bigger hit?
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To recap: We invited all 13 of our writers to nominate their favorite big-screen comics adaptations in the Marvel, DC, Indie or Imprint, and International Regions. For the International Region, our requirement was that the source material originate outside of the U.S., even if the adaptation did not. From there, based on a point system built on the number of mentions for each movie and literally hundreds of emails between the team, we narrowed down the field. In the end, we got the field set and seeded based on everybody's input, and the public voting in the play-in round set the final spot in each Region.
Vote as many times as you like, and spread the word. Argue with everyone! We will post the final results of Round 1 and open Round 2 for voting next Monday.
First, the selection process: We invited all 13 of our writers to nominate their favorite big-screen comics adaptations in the Marvel, DC, Indie or Imprint, and International Regions. For the International Region, our requirement was that the source material originate outside of the U.S., even if the adaptation did not. From there, based on a point system built on the number of mentions for each movie and literally hundreds of emails between the team, we narrowed down the field. I can't say there was blood, but there were arguments. In the end, we got the field set and seeded based on everybody's input.
But that wasn't enough! Oh no. This year, we've added a play-in round for the #8 seed in each Region. So readers get to vote on what the last movie included in each Region will be (and that way you guys can settle some of the toughest fights we had). The play-in fields are different sizes, and that reflects the various levels of competition and differing opinions in each of those Regions.
The play-in round is brief, so get to voting! It will be open for 48 hours, and then the final field will be set and voting on Round 1 will begin. Off we go!
Ladies and gentlemen, here we are. You have voted by the thousands, and the results are in.
You have selected...bum-ba-ba-bum!...Firefly as the Greatest Sci-Fi TV Show of All Time!
I must confess, I'm confused. I really, really like Firefly. I may even love Firefly, and I will admit the Comic Con Firefly Reunion panel made me a little misty-eyed. but it ran for 14 frickin' episodes and a movie. I guess it really is how you use it...
So congratulations to Firefly and all you Browncoats out there who drummed up a tremendous response to every round of the voting (and managed to squeak Doctor Who). And let me say to Star Trek: The Next Generation that there's no shame in coming in second out of a strong 32-show field, especially when you totally flattened every other show you faced (including my pick, The Twilight Zone). So to you I will simply quote one of our site commenters, and say in closing "Shaka, when the walls fell."
Guys, I have to admit I'm a little stunned. I did not see Picard and Riker unseating Kirk and Spock in the Classic side of the bracket and heading into the Finals. Sure, The Next Generation ran for much longer than Star Trek The Original Series, and sure the third and final season of Star Trek is a hot mess, but I figured if this was a popularity contest, the "logical" choice would be...well, no matter. You've spoken with your votes, and if I'm being honest, you probably made the right call about the better show. For the record, The Next Generation went gangbusters out of the gate, but Star Trek made a valiant comeback toward the end and ultimately, only 18 votes out of hundreds cast separated the two shows.
Firefly didn't surprise me this week, but I sure didn't have it getting past Doctor Who last week. Do I prefer Firefly? I do. But I'm only one man. One man with whom, in this case, thousands of people happily agree.
So here we are. The Finals. Will the scion of a long-established dynasty walk away with the crown? Or will the 14-episodes-and-a-movie upstart put another feather in the cap of Mr. Neil Young's line that it's better to burn out than to fade away? We'll soon see. Off you go!
The Round of 8 was, without a doubt, the round with the most gnashing of teeth, and probably even tears, of any so far. For this was the round where Doctor Who faced off against Firefly.
Thousands of votes were cast (thank you, everybody), and ultimately, by only a half a percentage point, it was decided that Serenity would keep flying. (Insert wild celebration/screams of rage as you will).
Now in this Round of 4, you must face another impossible choice: Kirk & Spock vs. Picard & Riker. Is Star Trek: The Next Generation a better show than the one that begat all others, Star Trek? It's your call. But it is certain that an entry from the Star Trek franchise will face off against either Firefly or the Battlestar Galactica reboot in the Finals.
Some housekeeping: to see the results of previous rounds, click here. To review the utterly unscientific criteria used to delineate the Classic from Modern regions, check out the Round of 32 post. Many Reddit users pointed out that I had the order of the matches in the first round out-of-order, which I have consistently acknowledged, and apologize for once again. And for those of you who vitriolically demanded a larger image of the bracket, your wish has been granted.
The basketball tournaments have finished (congratulations, Connecticut men, women), but things are just heating up for us sci-fi nerds. We've reached the Round of 8 in the fan-voted poll of the Greatest Sci-Fi TV Show of All-Time. (Previous rounds here)
There are some tough matchups in these four games.* Will the Whohards and Fireflickians battle to the death to see which show is better? Or just stuff the ballot box? Star Trek: The Next Generation continued its blistering run through its region and beat my pick, The Twilight Zone, handily. I was surprised how brutally The X-Files crushed Lost (by almost 60 percentage points), but can it steamroll fan-darling Battlestar Galactica? Our top vote-getter in this round was Star Trek, but can it be upset by Twin Peaks, the little-engine-that-could who people said didn't even belong in this bracket?
All of these questions and more (or actually, just these questions) will be answered in a few days. So get voting!
CLASSIC NORTH CLASSIC SOUTH MODERN NORTH MODERN SOUTH
*Reddit users once again pointed out that I goofed the order of the initial round's games. I get it, I get it. But there's not "Ctrl-Z" in life, sadly.
The NCAA Tournament is about to resume for the Final Four games, and the results are in for Round 1 of the Nerds of a Feather Greatest Sci-Fi TV Show of All Time Bracketology Extravaganza™. If you missed the first post, the tl/dr version is I made a list of 32 contemporary and classic sci-fi shows, and completely unscientifically lumped them into regions and seedings. Then, a lot of votes came in!
There were not a lot of surprises in the Round of 32, which makes me feel like I got the initial seeds somewhat correct. As Reddit pointed out, however, I constructed the bracket wrong, and Number 1 and Number 2 seeds should not have met until the Round of 8. That's my fault. Nevertheless, I like the matchups in this round, and feel like we're going to wind up in the right place eventually, wherever that may be. Here's where we stand now:
Some cool things about the Round of 32:
There were two upsets. Six-Seeded The Six Million Dollar Man reached out and bionically slapped The Prisoner, so it has to go back to the village, and The Fall Guy Lee Majors moves on. And Stargate SG-1, which maybe should've been seeded higher, took down Star Wars: The Clone Wars
The top vote-getter of all entries was Star Trek: The Next Generation, followed by Firefly.
Number Two seed Lost faced an unexpectedly tough challenge from Seven-Seeded Sliders, but most of the closest races were in the (4) vs (5) matchups.
Every show, even the Eight-Seeds, got multiple votes
So what's going to happen in the Round of 16? Will Star Trek: The Next Generation continue steamrolling the competition, even when the competition is The Twilight Zone? Can the speculative fiction Twin Peaks make a deep run in this sci-fi bracket where some say it doesn't belong? Can a battered Lost rally and challenge The X-Files? I sure don't know, but it's up to you guys. Vote below!
CLASSIC NORTH CLASSIC SOUTH MODERN NORTH MODERN SOUTH
For the second year, KPCC in Pasadena, California, has made a public radio bracket for NPR shows. Some of my favorite podcasts, like 99% Invisible and Radiolab are in it (and Radiolab might be cruising to victory), and that gave me an idea. What about a bracket for Sci-Fi TV Shows? When we put it to a vote, what would the fans decide is/was the greatest Sci-Fi TV Show of All Time?
What say we find out?
I've taken 32 shows, and grouped them into four regions, Classic North, Classic South, Modern North, and Modern South, with the four No. 1 seeds The Twilight Zone, Star Trek, Dr. Who, and The X-Files, respectively. The "modern" line was drawn somewhere around 1995, encompassing the last 20 years. It's all entirely unscientific, but hopefully fun. Participate by voting in the polls below, and every few days we'll tally the votes and the winners will advance to the next round. There's also a printable bracket so you can play along at home. Vote as often as you'd like. Painting the show's colors on your body is optional.
Let's go!
CLASSIC NORTH
CLASSIC SOUTH
MODERN NORTH
MODERN SOUTH
Happy bracketing! And if you start any office pools or anything, let us know. We'd love to hear about it.
Posted by Vance K - Cult film aficionado, unapologetic lover of terrible movies, and Nerds of a Feather contributor since 2012.
