CarterMatt Awards 2019: Power, Hawaii Five-0, Chicago Fire, Lucifer EPs compete for Favorite Showrunner

Welcome to the 2019 CarterMatt Awards! This is our year-end tradition (eight years strong!) where we as a site celebrate some of the best that TV has to offer! Our staff joins forces to hand-pick nominees across a wide array of different fields, and then leaves it up to you to declare the winner. This has always been one of our favorite times of the year, as we get a chance to celebrate TV while looking back at the individual elements that make it great.

Today the focus here is on Favorite Showrunner, an award that’s always a delight to hand out! While we so often recognize shows and actors, rarely do we ever tip a cap to the people responsible for making these shows come to life behind the scenes. These showrunners work incredibly long hours making sure that you get the best stories possible. This year, we wanted to nominate showrunners who are either active with fans or have worked to take big risks on some of their shows.

Voting rules – You can vote for this award however often you want until the closing of the voting window — all polls close at 12:00 p.m. Pacific time (3:00 p.m. Eastern) on Tuesday, December 31. For more technical information on voting, including how to vote multiple times, read the bottom of this article; meanwhile, visit our CarterMatt Awards Landing Page for all of the 2019 categories, plus a schedule as to when new polls will be posted.

Now, let’s get to sharing the Favorite Showrunners nominees…

Steven D. Binder and Frank Cardea, NCIS – This year marks the biggest one for NCIS in ages, as they made the decision to bring back Ziva David, a beloved character who has been gone for years. They executed one of the biggest season-finale reveals of the decade, delivered a thrilling two-part premiere, and have offered up some stellar character development. In general, this may be the best NCIS season in years, and the work of Binder/Cardea shines through much of that.

Derek Haas, Chicago Fire – While killing off Otis may have led to tears and/or screaming at the television, it was still a bold move to kick off the season and it shows Haas’ commitment to telling a story that feels true to life. Beyond the story, we continue to give Haas a tremendous amount of credit for being one of the most social-media-friendly showrunners, putting himself out there and engaging with viewers.

Angela Kang, The Walking Dead – 2019 was a challenging year for The Walking Dead, given that it had to steer in a new direction without Andrew Lincoln while also being well aware of Danai Gurira’s still-imminent departure. Yet, the show reinvented itself well with the Whisperers arc, delivering a fantastic sense of stakes and some of the best character-work in the past few seasons. Kang deserves all the credit for her leadership setting this up.

Courtney A. Kemp, Power – Kemp managed to pull off one of the greatest mid-season finale mysteries of the year — and she worked to turn Power into a world that can exist beyond one single show. It’s been an incredible journey, and she’s been at the center of delivering powerful stories and great characters across the board. It’s not lost on us just how deeply we’re going to miss everyone involved here.

Peter M. Lenkov, Magnum PI, Hawaii Five-0, and MacGyver – There is no denying that Peter is one of the best showrunners in the business, let alone one of the busiest. He’s worked on three shows, and above just that worked to create a brand of fun, escapist shows that combine humor, action, and powerful character moments. It’s a shame that none of them get anywhere near the credit they deserve for their day-to-day challenges or their standout episodes.

Damon Lindelof, Watchmen – We remember the initial reaction to the news that Lindelof was going to be doing a show based, in part, on the classic graphic novel — it was polarizing, to say the least. Yet, he’s found a way to create a show that is immersive, honors the source material, but also does something new and very much exciting. It’s an an exciting experience and some of Damon’s best work.

Ildy Modrovich and Joe Henderson, Lucifer – They helped to fight for the show to be revived, made season 4 into a thing of beauty, and also worked to ensure that that we have a 16-episode final season that should give us closure. Oh, and they just so happen to also be the reigning champs in this category! Can the duo fend off all challengers in 2019 as well?

Eric Wallace, The Flash – Wallace’s time on the show is still somewhat new but still, the first arc of season 6 has to be the greatest in the past few seasons. We’ve been able to explore a darker side to Barry Allen, while at the same time also delivering a fantastic villain in Bloodwork and some great material for Killer Frost. This is everything we want a superhero show to be, and we give Wallace all the kudos in the world for injecting new energy into Barry’s story.

Now, it’s time to vote!

Check out the poll below, and be sure to visit our landing page for more categories.

I can’t see the poll on an individual category page; what do I do? – If you are on mobile, scroll to the bottom of the page and click to view the non-AMP version. If that does not work, give the poll a moment to load! On some mobile browsers, it may take a moment to show up. If you are still having trouble, try switching to a different device.

How can I vote more than once? – If you are having trouble casting multiple votes, try clearing your cookies, switching your browser, your device, or visiting the page under private browsing or incognito mode.

Results are now closed. View the winners here!