TV Madness 2019: Lucifer, Last Man Standing face off in final four!
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.
Within this piece, we are officially capping off the final four with two shows that really couldn’t be more different — other than the fact that one currently airs on Fox in Last Man Standing, and the other in Lucifer used to. There’s a weird sort of irony here — Lucifer was canceled by the network the same month as the Tim Allen series was revived. Both are still continuing their runs, with the Tom Ellis supernatural show now over at Netflix. They’re also both first-time entrants into the final four on a year in which three Final Four participants are making their debut. This has been an unpredictable TV Madness this year, and that is a big part of the fun!
If you’ve taken part in CarterMatt’s 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 located 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 Thursday, March 28 at 1:00 p.m. Pacific time. That is when the final round of this particular tournament will begin! We’re imagining a fantastic showdown — it’s hard to really imagine anything less with the contenders who are still in the running. There isn’t a whole lot of time to vote (think just under 48 hours), so be sure to get to voting quickly.
You can see the full bracket (including start dates for each individual round) in the graphic at the top of this article.
The competitors
Lucifer (#2 seed) – Entering the tournament, we had a lot of confidence in this show’s ability to venture further than it has ever has before. The audience is more unified and passionate than ever, and that’s likely due to a combination of factors: The quality of season 3, the strength of the #SaveLucifer movement, and the huge anticipation that is out there for a season 4 premiere date … or even some sort of news, now that the show is done with production.
Lucifer also has a number of impressive TV Madness wins under its belt, including a tight showdown against SEAL Team and round 2 and then Absentia, a final four participant last year, in round 3. You can actually argue that across the entire tournament this year, Lucifer has had the most-challenging road to make it to this point but still, it persevered and fought its way here.
Last Man Standing (#8 seed) – Even before this year’s tournament began, we wondered as to whether or not we under-seeded the sitcom — one that, like Lucifer, was brought back because of a passionate support base who love it and wanted to see more. Yet, this was its first year in TV Madness and like some other newcomers, it needed to prove itself. It has now done that and then some. It took down a #1 seed in the first round in Poldark, and then withstood a solid round 2 opponent in Manifest and then a very-solid round 3 foe in Blue Bloods, which posted its highest vote totals that it has in years of being a part of this tournament.
No doubt, Last Man Standing is now facing its toughest opponent yet, a show with a very devoted following of its own and one eager to make its first grand finale. We’re anticipating one of the closest battles that we’ve seen for this entire tournament; it could go down to the wire if past voting records are an indicator, and we’re very eager to see how things go.