TV Madness 2019: Outlander, Lethal Weapon face off in first round
TV Madness 2019 is officially upon us! March is one of our favorite times of the year for many reasons — spring is in the air, the days are getting longer, and the idea of a bracket is a part of our pop-culture lexicon. TV Madness is CarterMatt’s version of March Madness, where a number of fantastic shows from across the map face off against each other. There are seedings, head-to-head showdowns, and the performance of each show is based entirely on you, the reader.
This article, save for the play-in that we started yesterday, marks the official beginning to the tournament — and with that, the first head-to-head showdown. Outlander is entering the tournament this year a determined former champion; it was thwarted last year by The Brave amidst the biggest Cinderella run in TV Madness history, but this time around, it’s hungry to reclaim again that title. The underdog entering this showdown is Lethal Weapon, unproven in TV Madness but with a stable fanbase after a long and fairly-tumultuous past twelve months.
If you’ve taken part in TV Madness before, you likely know how this works — we spotlight the two competitors and then, on the other side of it, give you a poll for you to commence your voting! The poll is at the bottom of this article.
How voting works – Vote however often you would like! (Technical instructions for multiple voting can be found right above the poll.) We will keep this poll open until Monday, March 11 at 1:00 p.m. Pacific time, which is when the champion will square off against either Wynonna Earp or Chicago Fire, depending on who wins that particular showdown. We’re bracing for a couple of really great battles to get the first round off in style.
You can see the full bracket (including start dates for each individual round) in the graphic at the top of this article.
The competitors
Outlander (#1 seed) – The Starz drama earns a top seed in the tournament off of the strength of its past appearances — this is a former winner of TV Madness multiple times over, and also one that has made some great showings at the CarterMatt Awards. Its story is epic, romantic at times, and action-packed; meanwhile, its supporters are as passionate as you will find anywhere on TV. They know these characters backwards and forwards, and will do almost whatever they can to make sure it gets the recognition they feel it deserves.
Insofar as new episodes go, Outlander is unfortunately in a holding pattern — production is going to run for most of this year, and unless there is some miracle/the post-production team masters time travel, it’s hard to imagine getting a big run of episodes on Starz in 2019. Time will tell on that, though!
Lethal Weapon (#8 seed) – Entering into season 3 the Fox drama endured some big challenges — there was the controversial dismissal of Clayne Crawford and early on in the season, the exit of Jordana Brewster. Seann William Scott was brought in as Wesley Cole, and after a period of retooling and finding new stability, the show and the story effectively figured things out. It may not be the same show (or anywhere near a direct adaptation of the movies), but it’s found itself as an entertaining action thriller/police procedural hybrid that alternates between fun and serious moments.
At the moment, Lethal Weapon is in the middle of a holding pattern of its own. There is no guarantee that there will be a season 4 on Fox, and right now, all viewers can do is wait and see what the network decides over the next two months. Fingers crossed!