Inside Pulse Best TV Character Tournament – Elite 8 Round Voting Begins

Features, Shows, Top Story

The fourth round voting has ended and there was really only one “upset” as only 1 unranked character defeated a ranked character, but many probably wouldn’t call it an upset at all. Overall 5 of the final 8 characters are one of the 16 top national seeds that started things off. There are still three #1 seeds and two #3 seeds left. That still leaves 3 “cinderella” characters. Two of those “cinderella” characters will face off against each other in the next round, which guarantees that at least 1 unranked character will advance to the final four. The other unranked character faces off against one of the #1 seeds. But before we get there, lets break down the “Sweet 16” action.

The ABC Region went as planned. The two remaining seeds, #1 Sheldon Cooper and #3 Michael Scott, advanced to the next round to face off against each other. They really had no trouble defeating Jack Donaghy and Stephen Colbert. Sheldon and Michael both won by over 60% of the vote.

The FOX region is officially the “Upset” region as the final seed from this region, #4 Raylan Givens, went down to the hands of Marshal Eriksen. But Marshal won by over 60% of the vote as well, so many won’t call that an upset at all. Meanwhile, it took 1 vote to decide the winner between Boston Rob and Sam Axe. In the end, Sam is the one that came back to grab the victory and continue his unlikely run to the Elite 8. Credit must be given to Boston Rob, though, for being the only reality star to hold his own against all of the “scripted” characters.

The CBS region almost had a major upset as #1 seed Dexter Morgan was losing early to Stewie Griffin. However, some late votes came in to push Dexter past Stewie with 55% of the vote. Abed Nadir and Michael Weston battled it out in the #2 vs. #3 matchup on the other side. It wasn’t really as close you would have thought. Michael comfortably won with 59% of the vote. That sets up another #1 vs. #3 matchup in the Elite 8.

Finally, the NBC region was a combination of upsets and going as expected. Barney, the #1 seed from the region, beat Phil Dunphy by a good margin. But compared to earlier rounds, 60% is the closest anyone has gotten to beating Barney in this tournament. So it was a good attempt for Phil Dunphy. Meanwhile, Eric Cartman continues his surprising run into the Elite 8. He barely held off Dwight Schrute by 6 votes. But now Cartman has to face Barney Stinson, the character who has dominated the most of anyone this tournament.

So looking at the overall fourth round voting results. Two characters from Burn Notice started in this tournament, and both Michael and Sam have made it to the Elite 8. Almost as unlikely, Marshal and Barney started as the only two characters from How I Met Your Mother and both are still alive. The Office almost had 2 characters in the final 8 left as well. But in the end half of the Elite 8 belongs to just two shows. Three of the final eight characters are from CBS. There is obviously 2 from USA Network. Rounding out the field is 1 character each from NBC, Showtime, and Comedy Central. Can all of the three remaining seeds advance to the Final Four to be joined by a VCU or George Mason type of “Cinderella” character? Or can the #3 seeds and unranked characters pull off some more upsets to insure than none of the #1 seeds makes it to the Final Four? It’s up to you to decide!

If you don’t know what this is all about, go back to the First Round Voting Page, Second Round Voting Page, Third Round Voting Page, and Fourth Round Voting Page, and get all of the details there. If you did vote in the first three rounds, you should already know, so go check out the updated bracket for yourself by going here:

2011 Inside Pulse Best Television Character Tournament Bracket

Remember tell all your friends. It’s up to YOU to VOTE for which character you think is the best on TV. Make sure to vote for all the matchups as every vote counts. Now on with the matchups and let the third round voting begin!


ABC Region – Elite 8 Matchup

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FOX Region – Elite 8 Matchup

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CBS Region – Elite 8 Matchup

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NBC Region – Elite 8 Matchup

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Each of these polls will stay open for one week. Next week the Final 4 round begins and we will continue until the final character is crowned as the best some time in May. Remember to tell all of your friends to vote as well!

I'm not embarrassed to say that my favorite television show of all-time is The O.C. I live by the motto "you can't fight fate!" More importantly, I watch WAY too much television, but I do so for the benefit of everyone reading this now. So to my mom and my wife, I say thanks for reading! To everyone else that might stumble across this, remember TiVo should be your best friend!