The 2015 May Madness Champion for Favorite TV Show is
ORPHAN BLACK
(BBC America)

In a year where upsets were the norm, Orphan Black  managed to outlast all its challengers to become the May Madness champion with a 364-194 win over Brooklyn Nine-Nine in the finals.

In its 3rd season now, Orphan Black has had a lot of awards and honours placed on it (including Best New Program here in 2013), the shows lead Tatiana Maslany winning a several notable acting awards, including a Critics Choice Award, as well as the show itself being nominated for several notable awards. With the backing of the shows fans, known as the "Clone Club" the show grew their fanbase throughout the tournament and  went from being a "probably afterthought" to contender".

With a victory of only 31-9 over Rizzoli And Isles in round 1 there was little sign early on of the potential for a win from the show. Again, in round 2 Orphan Black didn't look too poised to win this year as it narrowly escaped being eliminated right there & then with a 46-44 win over rookie show Agent Carter. In round 3 however, Orphan Black made much more of a statement, as it crushed the highly popular The Walking Dead 234-104 in a very mild upset, this was also the 2nd highest vote total in that round. By round 4 the show was turning into a threat as it beat Agents Of SHIELD 330-222 and in turn had the 2nd highest vote total of the round for the 2nd round in a row. Orphan Black put its biggest shocker in  round 5 when they managed to upset Person of Interest, the show that had the top vote total 3 of the 1st 4 rounds prior 617-548.

The runner up Brooklyn Nine-Nine also had a more than unexpected run to the finals. With a mere 22-9 win in round 1 over Family Guy, like the champ, it didn't look like the 99 was going to go far this year. Brooklyn 99 got thru round 2 with a 20-16 win over How To Get Away With Murder, that was the 2nd lowest winning vote total of the round. In round 3 a 170-110 win over The Big Bang Theory started to show that the show had hopes of going far in the tournament. Like the winner, Brooklyn Nine-Nines race to the finals was almost derailed in a round with a narrow 1 point win 220-219 over Game Of Thrones in 1 of the larger upsets of the tournament. the 99 came from 77 votes down in the final 8 hours to make that happen.  The show that refused to quit managed 1 more notable upset in round 5 over Once Upon A Time with s 528-248 score to advance to the finals  This is the first finals appearance in May Madness for a sitcom. The Big Bang Theory made the semi-finals 2 years ago as the furthest a sitcom had advanced previously.

This is the 2nd Honour for Orphan Black, as they won the 2013 Best Of TV Awards title of Best New Program. 

You can see the entire tournament results HERE

Round 2 & 3 of May Madness III is in the books & the results of the battles are as follows for TV Shows match ups

(1) Supernatural 171-130 (9) Chicago Fire
(2) Orphan Black 256-50 (7) Continuum
(3) Lost Girl 437-67 (6) Sleepy Hollow
(4) Haven 105-77 (5) Hannibal

(1) The Big Bang Theory 127-77 (9) 2 Broke Girls
(2) Once Upon A Time 178- 59 (10) Modern Family
(5) Doctor Who 238-93 (4) The Mentalist
(6) Grey's Anatomy 103-97 (3) Criminal Minds

(1) Castle 231-94 (8) Person of Interest
(2) The Walking Dead 200-109 (10) Breaking Bad
(4) Psych 142-78 (6) Community
(6) NCIS 130-71 (14) Bates Motel

(1) Arrow 132-129 (8) Almost Human
(3) Game Of Thrones 207-45 (6) The Blacklist
(4) Sherlock 299-78 (5) Elementary
(7) Bones 136-105 (2) Dexter

Most votes in round 2 - 437 Lost Girl
Least votes in round 2 - 45 The Blacklist

Largest margin of Victory - 370 Lost Girl over Sleepy Hollow
Smallest margin of victory - 3 Arrow over Almost Human

Having all 4 #1 seeds make it to round 3 might seem expected, but this years tournament has thrown a few shockers at me, so I wasnt expecting anything. Still, looking at the stats this round, its hard to believe based on Arrow's narrow win over a canceled 1 season show, they would get to the finals.

This round probably was also the 1st tell tale sign that Supernatural's dominance in all things here was finally waning. Only a 41 vote victory, and being the 3rd highest vote total in their group might have been the 1st sign this was not going to be their year.

Biggest upset wasnt even an upset, but more the reality that Arrow won by only 3 votes. Imagine how the brackets would have played out if only 2 people in that match up voted differently.

Round 3

(1) Supernatural 621-198 (4) Haven
(3) Lost Girl 265-259 (2) Orphan Black

(2) Once Upon A Time 200-185 (6) Grey's Anatomy
(5) Doctor Who 335-142 (1) The Big Bang Theory

(1) Castle 266-93 (5) Psych
(2) The Walking Dead 226-173 (6) NCIS

(1) Arrow 244-220 (4) Sherlock
(3) Game Of Thrones 320-96 (7) Bones
Largest Vote total in round 3 - 621 Supernaturaql
Smallest vote total in round 3 - 93 Psych

Largest margin of victory - 423 Supernatural over Haven
Smalles margin of victory - 6 Lost Girl over Orphan Black

Scratch everything I said about round 2. In round 3 Supernatural reclaimed their dominance that they seemed to be lacking last round. While it was Lost Girl, the show with the largest victory margin last round, limping by into round 4.

When I looked the final 8 on paper, I can say it really was a collection of the most popular shows out there more or less. Pretty inteesting though when you look at the finals, the smallest & 3rd smallest margins of victory this round went to those that made it the farthest. Arrow could have been easily elimianted in round 2, Lost Girl in round 3. What would the finals have looked like then?

Biggest shock of this round? Maybe that Haven didnt put up more of a fight. They seemed to be a show on the rise with strong performances in the BOTVAs this past year, and here at May Madness. To only amass 198 votes seemed a bit unexpected.

Well, onto the Elite 8 for the winners.

Round 1 of May Madness III is in the books & the results of the battles are as follows

(1) Supernatural 314-63 (16) Davinci's Demons
(2) Orphan Black 228-138 (15) Family Guy
(3) Lost Girl 84-40 (14) The 100
(4) Haven 80-38 (13) Teen Wolf
(5) Hannibal 304-86 (12) Falling Skies
(6) Sleepy Hollow 173-81 (11) American Horror Story
(7) Continuum 41-30 (10) The Newsroom
(9) Chicago Fire 47-36 (8) Burn Notice

(1) The Big Bang Theory 340-62 (16) Trophy Wife
(2) Once Upon A Time 326-37 (15) Once Upon A Time In Wonderland
(3) Criminal Minds 86-43 (14) The Simpsons
(4) The Mentalist 72-59 (13) New Girl
(5) Doctor Who 274-34 (12) Defiance
(6) Grey's Anatomy 123-36 (11) The Goldbergs
(9) 2 Broke Girls 59-43 (8) Brookyln Nine-Nine
(10) Modern Family 60-52 (7) How I Met Your Mother

(1) Castle 322-71 (16) Mad Men
(2) The Walking Dead 256-97 (15) Archer
(4) Community 61-46 (13) True Detective
(5) Psych 107-101 (12) The Originals
(6) NCIS 104-61 (11) The Killing
(8) Person Of Interest 85-34 (9) The Vampire Diaries
(10) Breaking Bad 79-45 (7) Hawaii Five-O
(14) Bates Motel 53-49 (3) Beauty And The Beast

(1) Arrow 326-47 (16) King & Maxwell
(2) Dexter 216-122 (15) The Following
(3) Game Of Thrones 127-28 (14) Vikings
(4) Sherlock 119-53 (13) Parks And Recreation
(5) Elementary 192-42 (12) Sons Of Anarchy
(6) The Blacklist 170-63 (11) Glee
(7) Bones 111-33 (10) The Tomorrow People
(8) Almost Human 77-68 (9) Downton Abbey

As expected, all 4 # 1 seeds advanced.  As did all the #2 seeds.

Highest ranked loser #3 seed "Beauty & The Beast" losing to 14th seeded "Bates Motel"

Highest voted total in round 1 - "The Big Bang Theory" with 340 votes.
Lowest voted total in round 1 - 28 "Vikings"

Largest margin of Victory - 289 "Once Upon A Time" over "Once Upon A Time In Wonderland"
Smallest margin of Victory - 4 "Bates Motel" over "Beauty And The Beast"

There were not a lot of shocks to me in round 1. Perhaps BatB losing was a mild shock, but not unexpected. One thing these polls always have is the "over hyped" show or character. A select few fans voting furiously in the qualification round where voting is unlimited, then once the restrictions of 1 vote per IP address are implemented, the REAL number of fans rears its ugly head.

I was also mildly & pleasantly surprised to see "Almost Human" win its 1st round match against "Downton Abbey".

Round 1 Character results will be posted later today.

Starting now the nominations for the 3rd May Madness are under way.

The rules for this year. After a fun twist last year that included former shows & characters as well, we are going back to the original format.

Only current day shows & characters.
To be eligible, a show or character  must have aired/been in AT LEAST 1 episode since last May Madness started on May 10, 2013.

As with past years, all previous May Madness winners & finalists, any Best Of TV Awards winners that are still currently on the air are automatically selected for the tournament.

Here is the list of automatic contenders

TV SHOWS
- Arrow
- Castle
- Dexter
- Lost Girl
- Once Upon A Time
- Orphan Black
- Supernatural
- The Big Bang Theory
- The Walking Dead

TV CHARACTERS
- Dean Winchester (Supernatural)
- Kevin Tran (Supernatural)
- Charlie Bradbury (Supernatural)
- Benny (Supernatural)
- Crowley (Supernatural)
- Malcolm Merlyn (Arrow)
- Kurt Hummel (Glee)
- Kate Beckett (Castle)
- Richard Castle (Castle)
- Dr. Lauren Lewis (Lost Girl)
- Penny (The Big Bang Theory)
- Amy Farrah Fowler (The Big Bang Theory)
- Sheldon Cooper (The Big Bang Theory)
- Peter Pan (Once Upon A Time)
- Emma Swan (Once Upon A Time)
- Daryl Dixon (The Walking Dead)
- Arya Stark (Game Of Thrones)
- Barney Stinson (How I Met Your Mother)

Nominations are simple.

Nominate who you want (that are eligible) and if there is more nominations in the end than there are spots available (64 in each tournament) there will be a series of vote offs to pick the May Madness contenders.

Last year had approximately 250 characters & 200 shows vie for the left over spots. Of course, with the rules tightening back up to just current shows & characters, those numbers should in theory come down substantially this year.

Once someone has been nominated ONCE, they DO NOT need to be nominated again. So try to avoid nominating people already nominated by others.

EDIT - April 6, 2014
Nominations ARE NOW CLOSED!
Complete list of nominees will be released soon, approximately mid-April