Brackets: So Exciting. So Funny. So What?

B13 cast the deciding vote in the final round of TV Character Brackets:



It's fitting in many ways that Jack Bauer should claim the title of favorite current television character of my reader. By this time next week, 24 will have concluded an epic 8 seasons of the counter terrorist agent keeping the world safe for democracy while keeping our Monday nights tense and exciting. I loved it when it first premiered, but thought it a one time experiment. A mini-series set in real time in which 24 hours of a specific day are broken into 24 episodes is brilliant, but I didn't think it could be repeated. And yet, Jack Bauer and the people in the universe he inhabited went on to have another bad day every year. We wondered how some of them functioned without sleep, or going to the bathroom, or other practical matters, but these things were always overshadowed by the crisis of the day. Also, Jack seemed invulnerable at times. I remember his heart stopping in one season. Last year he was exposed to a lethal virus. He's been stabbed twice this season, and though the second time is slowing him down, he seemed to just shake off the first one. Jack Bauer is the man you want on your side, and the one to fear if he's not.

The last time I tried a bracket experiment, B13 rallied his readers for a record number of votes, and claimed a decisive victory. Overall, participation was much higher, probably because the blog owners had a more personal stake in the votes; it was about them. I definitely would like to try this bracket thing again, but I could use your input. What would have made this one as popular as the last one? Should readers have had a say in the initial 16 candidates? Were the television characters too diverse? If there's another bracket series in the future, what topic would you like to see as the main focus? You don't have to be B13 or Jack Bauer to chime in here, although apparently that doesn't hurt.

Keep tuning in Cloakfriends, same MCF time, same MCF channel....

Brackets: We Know Drama.

It’s getting down to the wire! There have been ties in every round, resulting in multiple characters advancing each time, but thanks to Lyndon and B13 coming through last week, there are only four characters left in this final round! But now THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE! Now more than ever we need your votes to decide who the most popular television character is on this chart! You must choose...but choose wisely! Tell your friends! Tell your family! Tell your friends’ family! Tell your pets!

Technically, voting will close at Midnight EST on Sunday, giving me time on Monday to tally the vote(s) and update my bracket graphic, but if any stragglers post their choices during the day on Monday before I get to it, your vote may also be counted.

Who will be victorious? The time to decide is now:

1) Barney Stinson vs. Jack Bauer vs. Hiro Nakamura vs. James “Sawyer” Ford.

Four names; choose one. Who will emerge as my readers’ favorite current television character?

Brackets: It's New to You.

The fate of your favorite television characters may be in the hands of Lyndon and Rey, but it doesn’t have to be. You too can join in the voting! Those guys came through again last week, narrowing down the list of characters even further. Only you can decide who makes it to the final round! Can we narrow down 7 characters down to a final two?

Technically, voting will close at Midnight EST on Sunday, giving me time on Monday to tally the vote(s) and update my bracket graphic, but if any stragglers post their choices during the day on Monday before I get to it, your vote may also be counted.

Two sets; hopefully only one victor from each:

1) Dr. Walter Bishop vs. Barney Stinson vs. Jack Bauer vs. John Casey.

2) Hiro Nakamura vs. James “Sawyer” Ford vs. Stewie Griffin.

Brackets: Imagine Greater

I probably should have anticipated this. With only two voters(thanks Lyndon and Rey!) in last week's brackets, we had more than a few ties. I probably could have acted as a tie breaker, but I think it's more fair to leave it up to my readers, and advance the tied characters to the next round. So now it gets tougher, and we'll need to narrow down 13 characters down to four. Also, you'll notice comparisons between apples and oranges as diverse shows come together. Technically, voting will close at Midnight EST on Sunday, giving me time on Monday to tally the vote(s) and update my bracket graphic, but if any stragglers post their choices during the day on Monday before I get to it, your vote will likely also be counted.

Four sets; hopefully only one victor from each:

1) Dr. Walter Bishop vs. Barney Stinson.

2) Jack Bauer vs. John Casey vs.Liz Lemon vs. Sookie Stackhouse.

3) Guerrero vs. Castiel vs. Hiro Nakamura.

4) Shawn Spencer vs. James “Sawyer” Ford vs. Stewie Griffin vs. Bart Simpson.

Bracketers Welcome

Did you know there was a recent bracket style poll in which people voted for their favorite current television characters? Because I didn't find out until it came down to two people, Charlie Kelly and some dude I never heard of because I've never seen Burn Notice. You know that's not right. So, recalling the Bracket Blogs competition I ran a few years ago, pitting together 16 bloggers from my blogroll, I decided to recreate the vote among myself and my readers. Madness? Indeed, especially well into April. Skewed? Certainly, since I'll be choosing the initial 16 characters and I don't know how many of my readers will be motivated to vote without the same personal stake they had in my previous bracket competition.

Below, I'm going to list 8 pairs of characters, for each of which you must choose one. Each week, voting will close at Midnight EST on Sunday, giving me time on Monday to tally the vote(s) and update my bracket graphic. I'm sure to overlook some of your favorites in picking the first 16, but I'll try to be diverse and choose only one character per show. Perhaps if this feature proves popular, I’ll run a second competition based on your suggestions and then pit the winner of those brackets against the winner of these. But first, we need to narrow these down...

Let the Character Brackets begin!

1) Dr. Walter Bishop vs. Dr. Nicholas Rush.

2) Barney Stinson vs. Andy Bernard.

3) Jack Bauer vs. John Casey.

4) Liz Lemon vs. Sookie Stackhouse.

5) Guerrero vs. Castiel.

6) Abed Nadir vs. Hiro Nakamura.

7) Shawn Spencer vs. James “Sawyer” Ford.

8) Stewie Griffin vs. Bart Simpson.