YankeeLuvnGator

Well we have now reached the finals. I have really enjoyed doing this blog and am sad to say that this is the last round. Please feel free to share a favorite memory of the shows you choose and or reasons why the shows got your vote.

The results of the last round are listed first with the vote totals and the winning show in bold type. Once again not all the match ups have the same amount of total votes. Some voters have left out a match up or even not voted at all for certain genres.

Please feel free to vote even if you have not yet done so. Remember to tell your friends to vote also. As always I will only vote in case of a tie in any match up. I will also do my best to keep my choice a secret if I do need to vote. I did not vote in the last round and I am glad I didn't have to in many of these match ups.

Remember that these shows were not of my choosing but were selected by all of your fellow posters. My choices would have differed on many of the shows in every round. Without me going back and checking I believe I only had one the 4 dramas that made the semi finals on my initial list of 10 shows, though I do think I had all of the Westerns and Comedies on my list of 10.


Semi-Finals:
Western Bracket:
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(1)Gunsmoke 24 vs. (4)Rawhide 7 No surprise here that Clint and his fellow cowhands not able to defeat Marshall Dillon, Ms. Kitty, Festus and the rest of the townsfolk. This show wasn't the longest running prime time entertainment show for no reason.

(2)Bonanza 25 vs. (3)The Rifleman 5  Ben and his boys win big against Lucas  and his boy Mark. This was surely not a surprise setting up an expected showdown between by far the 2 biggest Westerns in the history of Television. This was the first show I ever saw in color.

Drama Bracket:

(1)Hill Street Blues 11 vs. (21)The Twilight Zone 26 Serling's masterpiece continues its incredible run of upsets. I am surprised by both the outcome and margin of victory. Without Hill Street I am not sure what drama on television would look like today. It was the first show that I remember as an adult that I could not wait to see the next episode of.

(7)C.S.I. 23 vs. (3)Hawaii Five-O   14  That either of these shows made it this far really was shocking to me.I would not have considered either of them in my top 20 ever despite having watched both of them, but you the voters have spoken. The lab geeks join Twilight Zone in the finals of what I am dubbing the upset bracket.

Comedy Bracket:

(1)Seinfeld 21 vs. (4)All In The Family  19  This match up's leader changed just about every time I tallied the votes. I doubt that either of these shows success will be matched again. Both of them came so close to being canceled very early in their run and in today's market would not have lasted 6 weeks. Either of the shows would have been a worthy winner of the whole tourney. Classic lines and characters versus a show that showed sitcoms could tackle the serious issues of the day.

(2)Cheers 16 vs. (3)M*A*S*H  24  The show that produced the most watched episode in history vs. a show that created the character(Frasier) with as long a life as anyone ever in television entertainment. Both shows had cast  changes and carried on. As in the previous match up one show obviously was much more serious at times than the other.

The Finals:
Westerns:
(1)Gunsmoke  vs. (2)Bonanza  This is the match up I expected to see when this bracket was formed. The 2 longest running and most iconic of all westerns battle it out.

Dramas:
(7)C.S. I.  vs. (21)The Twilight Zone  This bracket has surprised me with this pairing. I knew the show I thought was the best in history would not make it to the finals but I did like the chances of the show I thought would win but it ran into the upset king in the semis to make to here. So here we have a show that has spawned 2 spin offs versus a show that inspired a Movie, a remake and more than a few copycat shows.

Comedies:
(1)Seinfeld  vs. (3)M*A*S*H  Well here we have the show that was proud about nothing against one that tried to have a serious vein to go along with its comedic roots. To me the best way to compare and contrast the shows is how they dealt with death. Think of when Henry Blake died and how sad and serious M*A*S*H* was and then how Jerry and the gang reacted to the  death of George's fiance Susan.

I want to thank all of the participants for making this blog, so much fun for me to do despite all the work involved and apparently somewhat of a success as the blogs here go. So be sure to give yourselves a round of applause. It has bought back lots of fond memories of many specific lines, scenes and characters for me and I hope it has done the same for all of you.

The big question is what do I try next. Any suggestions?

Please remember to rate your fellow posters contributions as I am sure they will do the same for you.

I will be keeping this round up for a little longer than a week and will be posting the final results July 31 by noon est.