CarterMatt Awards 2019: Wynonna Earp, Outlander, Lucifer, Last Man Standing among Best Fanbase nominees
Today the focus here is on Best Fanbase, and this is an award that is about celebrating the best of all of you! The nominees here are fandoms for shows that have done extraordinary things, whether it be saving their show from cancellation, giving back, getting big ratings, making sure a renewal happens, or winning various fan awards. This is a fun award to hand down, mostly because in the vast TV awards ecosystem that is out there, few of them recognize the fans — even though they’re often responsible for voting on said awards!
Now, let’s get to sharing the Best Fanbase nominees…
Chicago Fire, Med, and PD – It’s hard to admittedly isolate ChiHards into three different fan bases, especially since the crossovers have an affinity for throwing all of the shows into a big, metaphorical blender. They all work well in tandem, and their fans are as supportive of the trio. The true power of this fanbase comes via their steady viewership — One Chicago remains an enormous phenomenon on NBC, year after year.
Last Man Standing – It was the fans who were able to bring the show back after a full season off the air — now, they’ve been able to ensure that it gets another chance to shine, as well. Season 8 premieres early next year, and while comedies don’t always have passionate followings like this, we’ve seen how Last Man Standing is stronger than most. Look at the results from the TV Madness Tournament earlier this year!
Lucifer – Here’s another case for a show that switched homes, with the Tom Ellis series heading over to Netflix. Viewers quickly made it one of the streaming service’s most-binged shows for several weeks, and did enough to get it a fifth and final season. Then, after that, they were able to ensure that the final season had 16 episodes instead of 10. Not bad for a show originally canceled by Fox after season 3.
One Day at a Time – Earlier this year, the sitcom was a part of Netflix’s lineup and one of their most critically-acclaimed shows. Yet, the streaming service wasn’t happy enough with its viewership to keep it, at least according to news at the time. What they clearly discounted was the immense power and passion of the show’s diehard base, which got it renewed for a season 4 over at its new home in Pop.
Outlander – This is a show coming off of a big Bingeworthy win at the People’s Choice Awards, and if that doesn’t show you how much viewers care for this show, we don’t know what will. What’s also so fun about the Outlander community is its ever-evolving nature. It may have started with fans of the books, but now it’s spawned a TV show, conventions, product lines, tours of Scotland, and a whole lot more.
Shadowhunters – While 2019 may be the final year for the series, fans have still worked hard to ensure that it went out with a bang. Think in terms of its awards nominations and wins, to go along with all of the charitable contributions and community that they’ve built. It’s hard to say what the future will hold, but if nothing else the past 18 or so months since the original cancellation have shown us the power of this fandom.
Supergirl – Time in and time out, we’d say that this is one of the biggest and most passionate fandoms within the entire Arrowverse. It’s a show that means so much to people, and for a wide array of different reasons — it’s inspirational, hopeful, topical, but also action-packed. Over the past couple of years, we’ve heard so much about how characters from this show have inspired and changed lives … and that’s everything you can hope for.
Wynonna Earp – Even though there weren’t any episodes of the comic adaptation in 2019, it’s still worthy of a spot on this list thanks mostly to all of the work its viewers did to ensure that there was another batch of episodes in the first place. The #FightForWynonna movement spawned out of a truly-bizarre situation where it seemed as though the production company ran out of funds; now, we’re back in business!
Photo: Starz