Bad is beautiful — especially when it comes to our favorite television characters. And that’s why TVLine is kicking off TV’s Ultimate Bad Boy Bracket Tournament, a competition that celebrates 64 classic small-screen roles — from the most hard-to-handle heartthrobs to the most deliciously wicked criminals.

What makes a great bad boy? Is he dark and a little bit dangerous? A good guy with a naughty, maybe even promiscuous streak? Could he be truly evil, but nevertheless tough to root against? We’d say any/all of the above traits makes a fella eligible for our tourney.

Today we kick things off with a group of guys that fall under the “crush on at your own risk” category: Gossip Girl‘s Chuck Bass battles Gilmore Girls‘ Jess Mariano, while Felicity‘s Ben Covington faces a showdown against Queer as Folk‘s Brian Kinney.

And every day for the next month, we’ll kick off a new set of matchups in a single-elimination format that will whittle our field of 64 down to one ultimate champ. So make sure the right choice is made by heading down to our polls to vote for your favorites (Round 1 voting will be open for 72 hours), and hit the comments to justify your picks.

(Oh, and in case you’re wondering/fretting, we put a cap of two cast members per show for the bracket, which meant some fan favorites had to warm the bench this time around.)

And if you’re interested in the match-ups we’ve got planned for the coming weeks, CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT THE ENTIRE 64-PLAYER BRACKET (then click again for a zoomed-in view) — and sign up to follow me on Twitter @MichaelSlezakTV.

Now ready, set, vote!