Welcome to the Peach Pit bracket, round one! I will be your host throughout this journey, which is sure to be a painful one, because at some point, we must all choose between My So Called Life, Freaks & Geeks, Dawson's Creek, and The O.C. Only one show can move on to the Final Four. Destiny (and hopefully a reason for me to look for more photos of Austin Butler, Adam Brody, and Joshua Jackson) rests in your hands.
Interactive PDF bracket, with links to IMDB, Netflix streaming, Amazon Prime streaming, and past FYA posts, where applicable.
(1) Freaks and Geeks vs. (16) Switched at Birth
On one hand, we have one of the most perfect single seasons of television ever created, replete with early 80s nostalgia, overbearing parents, good-girl-hanging-with-stoners shenanigans, and some really compelling character development. On the other, we have Switched at Birth, which, admittedly, I have never watched. Wikipedia tells me that it involves a deaf main character and scenes shot entirely in ASL, which is pretty cool, but I don't know how it could possibly win out over the wonder that is Bill.
Seriously.
(8) Gossip Girl vs. (9) Party of Five
Let us put aside the later, craptastic seasons of Gossip Girl and focus on the first three, which were eye and brain candy of the highest order. Are you really going to vote for Party of Five over the show that gave us the stylish Machiavellian wonder that is Blair Waldorf?
(5) Saved by the Bell vs. (12) The Carrie Diaries
Ah, the 80s -- or the 80s as seen in the 2010s? I know there's a lot of nostalgia for Saved by the Bell, but I have yet to figure out why. I didn't like it when I was younger, and still don't like it now. I may be shouting into the void here, but I urge you to at least consider that Austin Butler's face and his talent for leaning is enough to conquer any nostalgia you might have, in order to give me an excuse to look at Austin Butler yet another week. Do the right thing.
I mean, really.
(4) The O.C. vs. (13) Clarissa Explains It All
I think we all know why The O.C. must win. a) Adam Brody is my pretend husband, so please curry my favor and vote for The O.C., and b) YOU KNOW YOU WANT A SETH COHEN/BLAIR WALDORF FACE OFF. Clarissa Explains It All is a good show and gave us some rather stellar 90s fashion, but it is no match for Ryan Atwood's tortured expressions and Seth's nerdy bons mot. How can you turn your back on the show that gave us Summer Roberts, puking while still wearing her prom queen tiara? Or Julie Cooper sleeping with her daughter's ex-boyfriend? Ryan's wifebeaters? I mean, there is actually a scholarship at U.C. Berkeley School of Law named after Sandy Cohen.
My husband, on the other hand, who is reading this over my shoulder, would like you to NOT vote for The O.C. -- he doesn't appreciate the competition, apparently.
Husband: "Do you just sit there and stare at pictures of him all day?"
Me: "No, I have a legitimate excuse. He's in my bracket."
Husband: "Gee, I wonder how THAT happened? To think, he USED to be my favorite character."
Don't listen to my husband. Listen to Seth Cohen.
Can't argue with that logic.
(6) Beverly Hills, 90210 vs. (11) The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
I got nothing here, you guys. I barely watched 90210 and I've never seen a single episode of Fresh Prince. Do what you will.
(3) My So-Called Life vs. (14) The Facts of Life
I hope it doesn't matter that I haven't seen The Facts of Life, either, because My So-Called Life gave us the original Mysterious Loner Dude.
The episode where Jordan finally kisses Angela was a high point in my teenage life.
(7) Awkward vs. (10) Teen Wolf
Battle of the MTV shows, or rather, battle of the cast photos so Photoshopped that I actually thought the Awkward photo was computer-generated! I haven't seen either of these, so make your impassioned arguments in the comments.
(2) Dawson's Creek vs. (15) Blossom
I don't want to wait...for you to knock Blossom out of the running. If you didn't excitedly call your friends (on the landline) after Pacey and Joey kissed for the first time, YOUR HEART IS MADE OF STONE.
Polls close this Saturday at midnight Central, with results posted on Sunday! If you think you can predict all the March Madness winners, send in your predictions by following the instructions at the bottom of this post.