TVTalk Draft Game… The Grand Finale!
 

Welcome to the Finals of the TVTalk Draft Tournament! In this thread, the players drafted a virtual “lineup” of seven seasons from actual television shows. Now, it is up to you, the TVTalk community, to vote on which “Network Executive” has drafted the best lineup.

We are now down to the last two lineups. Congrats to our finalists, who each had to beat some stiff competition to get here. In order to vote, simply fill out the poll attached to this thead. Note that this is a public poll. Furthermore, feel free to add comments to this thread telling us why you voted how you did.

Players in the game are also allowed to vote. Optionally, they are also allowed to post to this thread telling everybody why they think you should vote for their lineup.

So, let the voting begin! The polls close on Friday, October 14, exactly 24 hours after the exact time of the timestamp of this post. Match-ups will be listed in the first reply to this post.

Good luck to both our finalists!

Final Round Match-Ups

1. das Monkey vs jericho

Extremely close, but the 1-2 punch of B5 and Sports Night puts das Monkey over the top. They're my 2 favorite shows of all-time.

To me, this comes down to what shows are involved that I really love. Jericho picked two with Sopranos, Season 1 and The Shield, Season 1. Das picked three -- Firefly, Sports Night, Season 1, and Homicide, Season 1. Three beats two, so I have to go with Das even though he's the so and so who knocked me out of the ballgame. ;)

das Monkey.

These are the finalists?!?!?! I missed a couple rounds I guess. :(

Jericho it is then.

Well, win or lose, it's all over after this round, so I'd figure I'd explain my choices a little bit as I intended to do whenever I got eliminated. I actually was a bit late picking my first pick, which eliminated some seasons, and even some of my favorite shows (like say Buffy) before I ever got to pick. But one pick which hadn't gone and which I think is fantastic was Sopranos, Season 1. Plus, having it on Sunday, it's natural air date, seemed perfect. I think the show was at its best when it started, even if you think it's been in decline the last few years.

On Monday, I took 24, Season 1, which I was surprised to find wasn't taken in the first round. Another show that I believe had it's best season from the start, watching this show is so addicting and is a big adrenaline rush. And Season 1 had some great moments with Jack Bauer, his wife, and Senator Palmer. Plus 24 also airs on Monday, a natural fit.

With two selections down, I aimed for a theme with my remaining selections. You'll notice my shows are heavy on violence, profanity, and nudity and so forth. That was intentional. Of course quality matter too. And I couldn't have a network without a cop show could I? So Tuesday was The Shield, Season 1. Another show that aired on the day I selected. Just a weird coincidence. I find the Shield to be a nice, new variation on the traditional cop show, and the pilot really sucks you in.

Wednesday I decided to turn to Deadwood, Season 2. I would have taken Season 1 if available, but it wasn't. Both are quite excellent. I have to admit I didn't think much of Deadwood when I heard of the concept, but watching the show just drew me in. It might by my favorite current show, with the possible exception of Lost. Plus the profanity was a nice fit onto my theme. :)

Thursday I decided I needed to lighten things up. I gave serious consideration to Married with Children, a favorite sitcom of mine, but figured it didn't fit my theme too well. So I turned to the dramedy Desperate Housewives, Season 1. A female centric show after my male centric start. And a nice touch of comedy, although Deadwood gets me laughing from time to time to.

Friday I wanted Sci-Fi. I had passed it over too many days, and lost several options. But after das took Season 3, no one had touched Baylon 5. So I took Babylon 5, Season 4, where two wars happen in one season. It's just a lot of execution of a few years of build up. The only minus, I wish there were more Vorlons in this season.

Finally, on Saturday I took Rome, Season 1. The new HBO series with amazing production values. It's been a very entertaining show, plus the nudity gives cred to my theme. Plus, on what other network can you see a future emperor eat goat testicles?

So, those are my choices. Win or lose (and I expect to lose as das has been rolling on everyone except scott27), it's been fun.
After my first

Well, that last round was close. Many, many thanks to everyone who voted for my line-up. It seemed to me that the clear path to victory was to take shows like <i>The Simpsons</i> or <i>Seinfeld</i>, but I wanted a more personal list, so I'm a bit surprised to be here, and I'll be even more surprised if I can beat this juggernaut of big name dramas.

Since this is the big dance, I'll go ahead and explain the rationale behind my picks too. I wanted VARIETY. I think my line-up gives you something from just about every possible genre/style. Science fiction, drama, comedy, dramedy, cop show, reality, reality parody, action adventure, whatever you want. In short, given that there's only so much you can do with 7 shows, I tried to maximize your options depending on your mood.

Most of my picks should be obvious why I chose them, but recognizing that this is a niche pick, I should note that <i>Joe Schmo 2</i> was a reality show that was also a fake reality show that was also a parody of reality shows. I don't think anyone who saw it would argue that it wasn't one of the funniest things ever on television and certainly one of the best things to spawn from this "reality" craze.

In summary, I give you arguably the best science fiction show of all time (its best season to boot), two of the greatest comedies ever (both very funny and yet emotionally meaningful as well), the best cop show ever, some reality parody fun unilke anything else, and 4 soldiers of fortune who love it when a plan comes together. Variety.

You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll stand up and cheer for das TV.

Thanks again for everyone who has supported my line-up and to everyone who participated in the fun. :up:

das

Despite losing out to Jericho, I was about to vote for him...until I noticed that he picked Deadwood season 2, which was far inferior to season 1. So between that, 24, and Desperate Housewives, I decided I disliked das' shows less.

But no matter what, I think I'll need to check out Babylon 5.

<b>Supr</b>, you really should. TV Talk has inspired many, many people to check it out, and I don't think we've had one unsatisfied customer yet. If you haven't heard it before, though, note that the first season isn't anywhere close to as good as the others, so if you want to watch it, be prepared to invest some time early and take it on faith that we are in fact correct about its greatness. Once you get to season 2, though, you'll be hooked, and once you hit season 3, you'll be begging your friends to watch it too. Good luck, and be sure to report back to us.

das

I like Jericho's shows, but in every round Sports Night and Wonder Years have carried Das' lineup for me.

Thanks again Groucho for a fun game.

1. das Monkey

Trying to choose between season 3 & 4 of Babylon 5 is pure torture. I think season 4 is the more solid season. But season 3 has some of my favorite episodes. In the end I have to choose season 3 over season 4. I'd rather put up with a few crap episodes in exchange for some of the best of the entire series. Better than season 4 with nothing truly exceptional and nothing truly bad. It's a great season, but it just can't compete.

As for the rest of the picks, it pretty much follows the same formula. Jericho has an awesome lineup. I've seen 4 of his series and love them. And I'd love to check out the other 3 as well. With Das' collection, I've only seen 3 of them, would like to see one other and don't really care about the other three. But the three I have seen of Das' collection rank among my absolute favorites (B5 #1, Homicide #2 or #3 and Sports Night in the top 10). None of Jericho's (except for B5) rank in my top 10.

Yeah, I would have liked to pick Deadwood Season 1 too. But I'll doubley echo the Babylon 5 recommendation.

As a side note, I've gotten positive comments on all my shows except Desperate Housewives. Oh course, I'm sure this isn't the key demographic, just thought someone else out there was a big fan.

A tough call, but i'll go with Jericho.

I should mention that season 1 of The Shield almost tipped it your way, but in the end, my dislike of the other shows overtook my enjoyment of The Shield. Plus das had Joe Schmoe 2, which was absolutely hilarious.

Congrats and good luck to both of you. Das got my vote.

This was close, but I voted for Das.

I've voted for Das every round, and B5/Sports Night is a killer 1-2 combo (even if no real network could figure that out), as the last line goes "anyone who can't make money on SportsNight, shouldn't be in the money making business."

Wonder Years was probably the best late round pick, and picking the A-Team in the last round was key.

Das it is.

Well, I've gone with both these guys throughout, but the end is a bit easier for me. The choice of B5 and Firefly carried me through this far with das. As much as it's an unpopular opinion, I only made it through half of Sports Night and I've never even seen Schmo or Wonder Years.

My final vote goes to: Jericho

I meant to vote for Jericho, but I accidentally voted for das. :(

You simply couldn't have made a better choice than what was once the best damn show on television: Homicide: Life on the Street

Buy the DVDs people! That pushes das over the edge in my book.

das has great picks and excellent variety. Jericho also has some great picks, but his lineup is too drama-heavy and the choice of a show whose first season isn't even over (Rome) seems unimaginative. Easy das vote.

I don't really care about Homicide: Life on the Street, The Wonder Years or Joe Schmo.

I like Jericho lineup

Jericho.

It is hard to pass up JS2 and the A-Team though.