We’re now at the midway point of Hulu’s Best in Show contest, as the Sweet 16 was pared down to an Elite 8.
In terms of the Round 2 match-ups, we had a disappointing but unsurprising result in which “House” crushed “Breaking Bad” (a much better show with a much smaller audience), but also the somewhat pleasantly surprising “Dexter” rout of “Glee.” I had figured “Glee” had an easy path to the Final 4, but Showtime did a good job of organizing the “Dexter” fandom (and/or “Dexter” fandom did a good job of organizing itself) and steamrolled a show that’s not only one of TV’s most popular, but with one of the most adoring fanbases.
In fact, once I saw how Hulu had set up the brackets once I came up with the Round 1 match-ups, I would not have been the least bit surprised if the Final 4 included “Glee” and the winner of the “Vampire Diaries”/”True Blood” and “Fringe”/”Supernatural” match-ups from Round 1. Instead, no “Glee,” no vamps and no monsters.
I’m bummed we won’t get to see who fans would have chosen in the apocalyptic “Breaking Bad”/”Mad Men” match-up, while simultaneously relieved that I don’t have to make that choice myself. I’ll be curious if the superior numbers of the “House” audience are as potent against “Mad Men,” whose ratings aren’t that much bigger than “Breaking Bad,” but which has a much higher profile overall. I’m also not sure how the “Chuck”/”Modern Family” tilt will go, where I feel reasonably confident that “Community” and “Dexter” will come out of their respective brackets, based on how things have been going.
So go vote, read my answers on the latest Hulu blog entry, and we’ll all meet back here for the Final 4.