And away we go! After the week-long nomination period, we have our 64 shows for this year's competition: 32 current, 32 finished. The draw was done with the following regulations:
1) The top 8 current shows (displayed in the draw in bold) were split up so that the earliest they could meet is the Quarter Finals.
2) The top 8 finished shows (displayed in the draw in bold italics) were split up so that the earliest they could meet is also the Quarter Finals.
3) The earliest one of the top 8 current shows can face one of the top 8 finished shows is in Round Three.
4) The other 48 shows were randomly selected a position in the draw.
The full draw can be seen below, as always using the bracket designed for us by Rendy.
Click here to view the draw in a new window
Only four of our eight previous winners feature in this year's competition, with reigning champion Prodigal Son one of those failing to qualify. That's the first time that's ever happened and does, at least, mean the former FOX show will retain its record of one title from one appearance.
30 of the shows included this year featured last year, while we have 20 debutants (I haven't worked out when we last had this many, but it feels like a lot). Of the remaining 14, there's plenty of interesting tidbits. Chief among them is the return of Dark Angel, making only its second appearance ever - its previous was in 2014. Orphan Black knocked it out in the first round that year. We have the return of Psych after a three-year absence, and the show finished inside the top ten in its trio of appearances so far, so could be a good shout for a long run again. Firefly and Friends missed out in 2021 having appeared in every previous iteration of the competition, and return this year.
We have plenty of heavy-hitters across the competition, though there are three former winners on the left-hand side of the draw, which looks particularly competitive. This is going to be fun!
One slight change to the usual posting structure of the competition: Round One will take place over five days, with seven polls each today and tomorrow, then six per day the following three days. Round Two onwards will consist of four polls per day.
We do have some simple rules for voting in this competition, so for those of you who are new or who are returning and just need a refresher, here they are:
1) A pair of shows will go into battle in a poll, where after exactly 24 hours, the leading show will win the battle and will progress into the next round. Each poll will open at 12pm ET on a given day.
2) Vote for your favourite and spread the word with your friends & fans.
3) One vote per person per poll.
4) Comment on what you voted for on in the comments below.
5) Have fun. This is a friendly & competitive competition. Please do not start attacking other fans or fangroups in the comments, because this really isn't what this competition is about.
Everyone happy? Everyone ready? Cracking. Let's go.
Don't forget to share the poll - spread the word far and wide to help your show get through! And, of course, let us know in the comments who you're voting for.
Check back tomorrow for the next seven polls!
