Greatest TV Character Bracket: Springfield Region

Hello everyone!  Due to the social distancing and the current situation that we find ourselves in, we at Reel Heels decided to do a tournament of the greatest characters in TV history!  We’re doing this March Madness style, 64 characters, single elimination bracket.  Kenan & I decided the seeds and the characters (it had to be characters where at least one of us have seen multiple episodes of the show).  To solve ties, we also included a coin flip where the higher seed was heads and lower seed was tails.  So, if Kenan & I agreed, that character advanced but if we disagreed, the coin broke the tie.  The four highest seeds were Walter White (Breaking Bad), Frasier Crane (Cheers/Frasier), Tony Soprano (The Sopranos) & Homer Simpson (The Simpsons).  Here is what happened in the Springfield Regional!

1st Round

1 seed: Homer Simpson (The Simpsons) vs 16 seed: Stewie Griffin (Family Guy)

Two animated classic characters and the only characters from their shows, we are all in agreement for this one.  As much as I love Stewie, Homer takes this round

Homer wins 3-0

8 seed: Raylan Givens (Justified) vs 9 seed: Jack Bauer (24)

Two great action characters but even though I think Jack would win in a fight, the the Marshall squeaks out a win.

Raylan wins 201

5 seed: Abed Nadir (Community) vs 12 seed Barney Stinson (How I Met Your Mother)

On a personal note, I love both of these shows.  As fun as Barney is to see him call plays from the playbook or go into the bro code, Abed is the better character and it was unanimous for all, including the coin.

Abed wins 3-0

4 seed: Cosmo Kramer (Seinfeld) vs 13 seed: Eric Cartman (Southpark)

One of the standouts for Seinfeld is going up against Cartman.  As potentially the zaniest character in the field, Kramer advances this round.

Kramer wins 2-1

6 seed: Liz Lemon (30 Rock) vs 11 seed: Dwight Schrute (The Office)

Seed-wise, this is where upsets can start to happen in the regular NCAA tournament and our first upset of this regional has happened here.  Sorry Tina Fey but Dwight moves onto the next round

Dwight wins 2-1

3 seed: Tyrion Lannister (Game of Thrones) vs 14 seed Maeve (Westworld)

There arguably wasn’t a bigger show in the last decade than Game of Thrones.  I pushed for Maeve in this bracket but unfortunately, she was matched up with the best character for the juggernaut from Westeros.

Tyrion wins 2-1

7 seed: Rob Petrie (Dick Van Dyke Show) vs. 10 seed Chandler Bing (Friends)

This is a hard one for me to describe as I haven’t seen any episodes of the Dick Van Dyke show and I haven’t seen that much friends.  But the chalk holds for this matchup and Dick Van Dyke goes forward another round

Rob wins 2-1

2 seed Ron Swanson (Parks & Recreation) vs. 15 seed Fred Flintstone (The Flintstones)

Ron Swanson is one of my overall favorites.  I have a Funko Pop of him on my desk at work.  I also love Fred Flintstone.  But the man from Pawnee is going to beat the man from Bedrock in this round.

Ron wins 2-1

Round 2

1 seed Homer Simpson vs 8 seed Rayland Givens

This is a tough one too but Homer is the one seed for a reason.  I hate to see a character from Justified leave but Homer is going to the next round

Homer wins 2-1

5 seed Abed Nadir vs. 4 seed Cosmo Kramer

Two of my favorite sitcoms face off in the Round of 32.  I wish both could advance but after everything played out, Abed moved into the Sweet Sixteen.  Cool.  Cool Cool Cool.

Abed wins 2-1

11 seed Dwight Schrute vs. 3 seed Tyrion Lannister

Dwight had a great upset in the first round but the our favorite resident of Casterly Rock has something to say about this.  Tyrion moves forward

Tyrion wins 2-1

7 seed Rob Petrie vs 2 seed Ron Swanson

We all love Dick Van Dyke.  But this is Ron Swanson.  He is my spirit animal.

Ron wins 2-1

Round 3 (Sweet Sixteen)

1 seed Homer Simpson vs. 5 seed Abed Nadir

A split decision and although both Homer & Abed are the best tv characters with their individual names, in the Springfield Regional, Homer pulled it out.

Homer wins 2-1

2 seed Ron Swanson vs. 3 seed Tyrion Lannister

This was a really tough one too.  We all love Tyrion & Ron but Ron comes out on top after all is said and done.

Ron wins 2-1

Round 4 (Elite Eight)

1 seed Homer Simpson vs. 2 seed Ron Swanson

The top two seeds prevailed.  Two comedy legends to fight it out to the final four.  In the end, although the coin disagreed, Kenan & I picked Ron as the champion of the Springfield Regional!

Ron wins 2-1

Ron Swanson moves on to the Final 4!  Be sure to check out the Final Four post coming soon!