After Writers Guild of America waged a protest regarding the Television Academy‘s decision to move the outstanding writing for a variety series or special categories out of the upcoming Emmy telecast, the TV Academy has reversed course.
In a joint release sent out today, the Television Academy, Fox and the WGA said they were “happy to announce they have reached an agreement to include the Writing for a Variety Series category in the 75th Emmy Awards telecast airing live on Fox on January 15, 2024, at 8pm EST / 5pm PST.”
Because this year’s Primetime Emmys has moved the variety special (live) category into the telecast (it was on the Creative Arts show last year), the TV Academy was likely looking to keep the telecast capped at 25 awards, so something had to fall out. And in this case, it was the variety writing field that originally got pushed to the Creative Arts ceremony. With this new change, there will now be 26 awards on the Fox telecast.
In recent years, the Primetime Emmys has included either the writing for a variety special or writing for a variety series category, alternating one or the other. Last year, the outstanding writing for a variety special award was handed out on the Primetime Emmys ceremony, while the outstanding writing for a variety series Emmy was awarded the previous weekend, during the Creative Arts ceremonies. In 2021, it was reversed.
“This doesn’t just impact the people who write on the Emmy-nominated shows for a given year — this decision devalues our profession as a whole,” the WGA board wrote in a November letter to members. (That was followed by a petition in December, urging the TV Academy to reinstate the award during the ceremony.) “The Emmys are fundamentally about celebrating excellence in television, and by removing these categories from the televised broadcast, the Television Academy is essentially ignoring how writing serves as the foundation for excellence in television… We didn’t spend months on strike, fighting to receive the recognition we deserve for the work we help create, only to be pushed to the sidelines when it comes time to do exactly that.”
HBO’s “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” has won the category every year since 2016. Here are this year’s nominees for variety series writing:
Outstanding Writing For A Variety Series
The Daily Show With Trevor Noah • Comedy Central • Central Productions, LLC
Dan Amira, Head Writer
Lauren Sarver Means, Senior Writer
Daniel Radosh, Senior Writer
David Angelo, Writer
Nicole Conlan, Writer
Devin Delliquanti, Writer
Zach DiLanzo, Writer
Jennifer Flanz, Writer
Jason Gilbert, Writer
Josh Johnson, Writer
David Kibuuka, Writer
Matt Koff, Writer
Trevor Noah, Writer
Joseph Opio, Writer
Randall Otis, Writer
Zhubin Parang, Writer
Kat Radley, Writer
Scott Sherman, Writer
Ashton Womack, Writer
Last Week Tonight With John Oliver • HBO Max • HBO in association with Sixteen String Jack Productions and Avalon Television
Daniel O’Brien, Senior Writer
Owen Parsons, Senior Writer
Charlie Redd, Senior Writer
Joanna Rothkopf, Senior Writer
Seena Vali, Senior Writer
Johnathan Appel, Writer
Ali Barthwell, Writer
Tim Carvell, Writer
Liz Hynes, Writer
Ryan Ken, Writer
Mark Kramer, Writer
Sofia Manfredi, Writer
John Oliver, Writer
Taylor Kay Phillips, Writer
Chrissy Shackelford, Writer
Late Night With Seth Meyers • NBC • Universal Television and Broadway Video
Alex Baze, Head Writer
Seth Reiss, Writing Supervised By
Mike Scollins, Writing Supervised By
Sal Gentile, Closer Look Writing Supervised By/Written by
Jermaine Affonso, Written by
Karen Chee, Written by
Bryan Donaldson, Written by
Matt Goldich, Written by
Dina Gusovsky, Written by
Jenny Hagel, Written by
Allison Hord, Written by
Mike Karnell, Written by
John Lutz, Written by
Seth Meyers, Written by
Ian Morgan, Written by
Amber Ruffin, Written by
Mike Shoemaker, Written by
Ben Warheit, Written by
Jeff Wright, Written by
The Late Show With Stephen Colbert • CBS • CBS Studios
Ariel Dumas, Head Writer
Jay Katsir, Head Writer
Delmonte Bent, Writer
Michael Brumm, Writer
Aaron Cohen, Writer
Stephen T. Colbert, Writer
Paul Dinello, Writer
Glenn Eichler, Writer
Gabe Gronli, Writer
Barry Julien, Writer
Michael Cruz Kayne, Writer
Eliana Kwartler, Writer
Matt Lappin, Writer
Caroline Lazar, Writer
Pratima Mani, Writer
Felipe Torres Medina, Writer
Opus Moreschi, Writer
Carley Moseley, Writer
Asher Perlman, Writer
Tom Purcell, Writer
Kate Sidley, Writer
Brian Stack, Writer
John Thibodeaux, Writer
Steve Waltien, Writer
Saturday Night Live • NBC • SNL Studios in association with Universal Television and Broadway Video
Alison Gates, Head Writer
Streeter Seidell, Head Writer
Kent Sublette, Head Writer
Gary Richardson, Writing Supervised by
Will Stephen, Writing Supervised by
Celeste Yim, Writing Supervised by
Bryan Tucker, Senior Writer
Rosebud Baker, Written by
Dan Bulla, Written by
Michael Che, Written by
Mike DiCenzo, Written by
Alex English, Written by
Jimmy Fowlie, Written by
Martin Herlihy, Written by
John Higgins, Written by
Steve Higgins, Written by
Vannessa Jackson, Written by
Colin Jost, Written by
Erik Kenward, Written by
Ben Marshall, Written by
Lorne Michaels, Written by
Jake Nordwind, Written by
Ceara O’Sullivan, Written by
Clare O’Kane, Written by
Ben Silva, Written by
Asha Ward, Written by
Auguste White, Written by
Pete Schultz, Weekend Update Head Writer
Megan Callahan-Shah, Weekend Update Written by
Dennis McNicholas, Weekend Update Written by
Josh Patten, Weekend Update Written by
KC Shornima, Weekend Update Written by