The nominations for the 2021 Writers Guild Award TELEVISION categories were announced on Wednesday, with streaming series controling the lineup.
Both the drama series and the comedy series classifications were bulk streaming, with hits like “The Queen’s Gambit,” “The Mandalorian,” “The Crown” and “Ozark” sitting along with fan-favorites like “PEN15,” “The Great” and “Ted Lasso.” Other nominees included HBO Max’s “The Flight Attendant,” HBO’s “Lovecraft Nation” and Showtime’s “Good Lord Bird.
” Better Call Saul” also landed three additional nominations for private episodes, with “Ozark” picking up another. “The Great” and “Ted Lasso” both picked up election for individual episodes along with for Finest New Series.
Funny and range candidates included Peacock’s new late-night show, “The Amber Ruffin Program,” Amazon’s “Yearly Left,” the one-off “30 Rock” reunion unique and Stephen Colbert’s 2020 election coverage on Showtime.
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Elections in the movie classifications will be announced later on this month, with the awards themselves set to be held on Sunday, March 21.
See the total list of Wednesday’s candidates below.
TV, NEW MEDIA, AND NEWS CANDIDATES
DRAMA SERIES
Much Better Call Saul, Composed by Ann Cherkis, Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould, Ariel Levine, Heather Marion, Thomas Schnauz, Gordon Smith, Alison Tatlock; AMC
The Boys, Written by Eric Kripke, Ellie Monahan, Anslem Richardson, Craig Rosenberg, Michael Saltzman, Rebecca Sonnenshine; Amazon Studios
The Crown, Written by Peter Morgan, Jonathan Wilson; Netflix
The Mandalorian, Composed by Rick Famuyiwa, Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni; Disney
Ozark, Composed by Laura Deeley, Expense Dubuque, Paul Kolsby, Miki Johnson, Chris Mundy, John Shiban, Ning Zhou, Martin Zimmerman; Netflix
COMEDY SERIES
Curb Your Interest, Composed by Larry David, Justin Hurwitz, Steve Leff, Carol Leifer, Jeff Schaffer; HBO
The Great, Written by Vanessa Alexander, Tony McNamara, Tess Morris, Amelia Roper, Gretel Vella, James Wood; Hulu
PEN15, Written by; Alyssa DiMari, Maya Erskine, Anna Konkle, Josh Levine, Gabe Liedman, Rachele Lynn, Vera Santamaria, Diana Tay, Sam Zvibleman; Hulu
Ted Lasso, Composed by Jane Becker, Leann Bowen, Brett Goldstein, Brendan Hunt, Joe Kelly, Expense Lawrence, Jamie Lee, Jason Sudeikis, Phoebe Walsh, Bill Wrubel; Apple TV
What We Do in the Shadows, Composed by Jake Bender, Jemaine Clement, Zach Dunn, Joseph Furey, Shana Gohd, Sam Johnson, Chris Marcil, William Meny, Sarah Naftalis, Stefani Robinson, Marika Sawyer, Paul Simms; FX Networks
NEW SERIES
Dave, Composed by Dave Burd, Vanessa McGee, Saladin Patterson, Luvh Rakhe, Alex Russell, Jeff Schaffer, Max Searle, Yamara Taylor; FX Networks
The Flight Attendant, Written by Kara Lee Corthron, Michael Foley, Ryan Jennifer Jones, Ticona S. Happiness, Meredith Lavender, Jess Meyer, Daniele Nathanson, Marcie Ulin, Ian Weinreich, Steve Yockey; HBO Max
The Great, Composed by Vanessa Alexander, Tony McNamara, Tess Morris, Amelia Roper, Gretel Vella, James Wood; Hulu
Lovecraft Country, Composed by Misha Green, Shannon Houston, Jonathan Kidd, Kevin Lau, Ihuoma Ofordire, Wes Taylor, Sonya Winton; HBO
Ted Lasso, Written by Jane Becker, Leann Bowen, Brett Goldstein, Brendan Hunt, Joe Kelly, Expense Lawrence, Jamie Lee, Jason Sudeikis, Phoebe Walsh, Costs Wrubel; Apple TELEVISION
ORIGINAL LONG TYPE
Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story, Written by Aaron Carew, Alexandra Cunningham, Lex Edness, Kevin J. Hynes, Juliet Lashinsky-Revene, Stacy A. Littlejohn, Katherine B. McKenna; U.S.A.
Hollywood, Composed by Ian Brennan, Janet Mock, Ryan Murphy, Reilly Smith; Netflix
Mrs. America, Written by Tanya Barfield, Joshua Griffith, Sharon Hoffman, Boo Killebrew, Micah Schraft, April Shih, Dahvi Waller; FX Networks
Security, Written by Nick Santora; Disney
Uncle Frank, Composed by Alan Ball; Amazon Studios
ADAPTED LONG TYPE
Bad Education, Composed by Mike Makowsky, Based Upon the New York Publication post” The Bad Superintendent” by Robert Kolker; HBO
Clouds, Screenplay by Kara Holden; Story by Casey La Scala & Patrick Kopka and Kara Holden, Based on the book entitled “Fly A Little Higher’ by Laura Sobiech; Disney
The Excellent Lord Bird, Written by Jeff Augustin, Ethan Hawke, Erika L. Johnson, Mark Richard, Kristen SaBerre, Lauren Signorino, Based on the Unique by James McBride; Showtime
Little Fires Everywhere, Composed by Harris Danow, Rosa Handelman, Shannon Houston, Attica Locke, Raamla Mohamed, Amy Talkington, Liz Tigelaar, Nancy Won, Based upon the book by Celeste Ng; Hulu
The Queen’s Gambit, Written by Scott Frank, Allan Scott, Based upon the novel by Walter Tevis; Netflix
ORIGINAL & ADAPTED SHORT TYPE NEW MEDIA
#FREERAYSHAWN, Written by Marc Maurino; Quibi
Better Call Saul Employee Training: Legal Ethics with Kim Wexler, Written by Ariel Levine; AMC Digital on YouTube
Most Dangerous Game, Written by Nick Santora, Story by Josh Harmon and Scott Senior Citizen; Quibi
Per Writers Guild Awards submission guidelines, if there are inadequate entries in any classification, those entries might be positioned in another category.
ANIMATION
” A Springfield Summer Christmas For Christmas” (The Simpsons), Composed by Jessica Conrad; Fox
” Bart The Bad Person” (The Simpsons), Composed by Dan Vebber; Fox
” I, Carumbus” (The Simpsons), Composed by Cesar Mazariegos; Fox
” Prank You for Being A Buddy” (Bob’s Hamburgers), Composed by Katie Crown; Fox
” Three Dreams Denied” (The Simpsons), Composed by Danielle Weisberg; Fox
” Xerox of a Xerox” (BoJack Horseman), Composed by Nick Adams; Netflix
EPISODIC DRAMA
” Bad Choice Roadway” (Better Call Saul), Composed by Thomas Schnauz; AMC
” Fire Pink” (Ozark), Composed by Miki Johnson; Netflix
” JMM” (Better Call Saul), Written by Alison Tatlock; AMC
” Raised by Wolves” (Raised by Wolves), Written by Aaron Guzikowski; HBO Max
” Something Unforgivable” (Better Call Saul), Composed by Peter Gould & Ariel Levine; AMC
” Problem Do Not Last Always” (Ecstasy), Composed by Sam Levinson; HBO
EPISODIC FUNNY
” Grandma & Chill” (Awkwafina Is Nora From Queens), Written by Kyle Lau; Comedy Central
” The Great” (The Great), Composed by Tony McNamara; Hulu
” It’s Not You, It’s Me” (Dead to Me), Written by Liz Feldman & Kelly Hutchinson; Netflix
” Pilot” (Ted Lasso), Teleplay by Jason Sudeikis & Expense Lawrence, Story by Jason Sudeikis & Costs Lawrence & Brendan Hunt & Joe Kelly; Apple TELEVISION
” The Tank” (Grace & Frankie), Written by Alex Kavallierou; Netflix
” Trick” (High Upkeep), Composed by Isaac Oliver; HBO
COMEDY/VARIETY TALK SERIES
Desus & Mero, Writers: Daniel “Desus Nice” Baker, Claire Friedman, Ziwe Fumudoh, Josh Gondelman, Robert Kornhauser, Joel “The Kid Mero” Martinez, Heben Nigatu, Mike Pielocik, Julia Young; Showtime
Complete Frontal with Samantha Bee, Writers: Kristen Bartlett, Samantha Bee, Pat Cassels, Sean Crespo, Mike Drucker, Mathan Erhardt, Joe Grossman, Miles Kahn, Sahar Rizvi, Chris Thompson, Holly Walker, Alison Zeidman; TBS
Recently Tonight with John Oliver, Writers: Johnathan Appel, Ali Barthwell, Tim Carvell, Liz Hynes, Greg Iwinski, Mark Kramer, Daniel O’Brien, John Oliver, Owen Parsons, Charlie Redd, Joanna Rothkopf, Chrissy Shackelford, Ben Silva, Seena Vali; HBO
Late Night with Seth Meyers, Head Author: Alex Baze Writing Supervised by: Seth Reiss Closer Look Composing Supervised by: Sal Gentile Writers: Jermaine Affonso, Karen Chee, Bryan Donaldson, Matt Goldich, Dina Gusovsky, Jenny Hagel, Allison Hord, Mike Karnell, John Lutz, Seth Meyers, Ian Morgan, John Mulaney, Amber Ruffin, Mike Scollins, Mike Shoemaker, Ben Warheit, Jeff Wright; NBC
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Head Writers: Ariel Dumas, Jay Katsir Writers: Delmonte Bent, Michael Brumm, River Clegg, Aaron Cohen, Nicole Conlan, Stephen T. Colbert, Paul Dinello, Glenn Eichler, Django Gold, Gabe Gronli, Barry Julien, Michael Cruz Kayne, Eliana Kwartler, Matt Lappin, Felipe Torres Medina, Opus Moreschi, Asher Perlman, Tom Purcell, Kate Sidley, Brian Stack, John Thibodeaux, Steve Waltien; CBS
COMEDY/VARIETY SPECIALS
30 Rock: A One-Time Special, Composed by Tina Fey & Robert Carlock; NBC
Dad of the Bride-to-be Part 3 (ish), Written by Nancy Meyers; YouTube
Stephen Colbert’s Election Night 2020: Democracy’s Last Stand: Structure Back America Great Again Better 2020, Head Writers: Ariel Dumas, Jay Katsir Writers: Delmonte Bent, Michael Brumm, River Clegg, Aaron Cohen, Stephen T. Colbert, Nicole Conlan, Paul Dinello, Glenn Eichler, Django Gold, Gabe Gronli, Barry Julien, Michael Cruz Kayne, Eliana Kwartler, Matt Lappin, Felipe Torres Medina, Opus Moreschi, Asher Perlman, Tom Purcell, Kate Sidley, Brian Stack, John Thibodeaux, Steve Waltien; Showtime
Annual Departed, Head Writer: Bess Kalb Writers: Karen Chee, Akilah Green, Franchesca Ramsey, Jocelyn Richard; Amazon Studios
COMEDY/VARIETY SKETCH SERIES
At Home with Amy Sedaris, Writers: Jeremy Beiler, Cole Escola, Peter Grosz, Amy Sedaris; truTV
How To with John Wilson, Writers: Michael Koman, John Wilson; HBO
The Amber Ruffin Program, Head Author: Jenny Hagel Writers: Demi Adejuyigbe, Shantira Jackson, Dewayne Perkins, Amber Ruffin Extra Material by John Lutz; Peacock Originals
QUIZ AND AUDIENCE INVOLVEMENT
Hollywood Game Night, Head Writers: Ann Slichter, Grant Taylor Writers: Michael Agbabian, Allie Kokesh, Dwight D. Smith; NBC
Jeopardy!, Writers: Matthew Caruso, John Duarte, Harry Friedman, Mark Gaberman, Debbie Griffin, Michele Loud, Robert McClenaghan, Jim Rhine, Billy Wisse; ABC
Weakest Link, Head Author: Ann Slichter Writers: Chip Dornell, Paul Greenberg, Joyce Ikemi, Stuart Krasnow, Jon Macks, Mona Mira, Scott Saltzburg, Aaron Solomon, Chris Sturgeon, Grant Taylor; NBC
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire Star Season, Head Author: Bobby Patton Writers: Alan Bailey, Josh Halloway, Seth Harrington, Shawn Kennedy; Disney/ABC Syndication
DAYTIME DRAMA
Days of Our Lives, Head Author: Ron Carlivati Writers: Lorraine Broderick, Joanna Cohen, Carolyn Culliton, Richard Culliton, Rick Draughon, David Kreizman, Rebecca McCarty, Ryan Quan, Dave Ryan, Katherine D. Schock, Elizabeth Snyder; NBC
General Healthcare Facility, Head Writers: Dan O’Connor, Christopher Van Etten Partner Head Author: Anna Theresa Cascio Writers: Barbara Flower, Suzanne Flynn, Charlotte Gibson, Lucky Gold, Kate Hall, Elizabeth Korte, David Rupel, Lisa Seidman, Donny Sheldon, Scott Sickles; ABC
CHILDREN’S EPISODIC, LONG TYPE AND SPECIALS
” Countdown” (The Astronauts), Composed by Dan Knauf; Nickelodeon
” Mo Willems And The Storytime All Stars Present: Don’t Let The Pigeon Do Storytime,”
Composed by Mo Willems, Based on the children’s books and released by Hyperion: Leonard the Terrible Monster; Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale; A Hectic Creature’s Day Consuming!; Elephant and Piggy’s Waiting is Not Easy!; and Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus; HBO Max
” The Not Far Too Late Program with Elmo,” Writers: Geri Cole, Scott Gray, Benjamin Lehmann, Wendy Marston, Andrew Moriarty, Ken Scarborough, Moujan Zolfaghari; HBO Max
” The Power of We: A Sesame Street Unique,” Composed by Geri Cole; HBO Max
” The Pajama Party,” Written by Sarah Rothschild; Netflix
” Mentioning Cancer” (Alexa & Katie), Composed by Leo Chu & Eric S. Garcia & Julia Miranda; Netflix
DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT– EXISTING EVENTS
” Agents of Chaos, Part I,” Written by Alex Gibney & Michael J. Palmer; HBO Documentary Films
” Representatives of Turmoil, Part II,” Composed by Alex Gibney & Michael J. Palmer; HBO Documentary Films
” The Choice 2020: Trump vs. Biden” (Frontline), Composed by Michael Kirk & Mike Wiser; PBS
” Whose Vote Counts” (Frontline), Written by Jelani Cobb, June Cross & Tom Jennings; PBS
DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT– ASIDE FROM PRESENT EVENTS
” Opioids, Inc.” (Frontline), Written by Tom Jennings; PBS
” The Toxin Squad” (American Experience), Written by John Maggio; PBS
” The Violence Paradox” (Nova), Written by Michael Bicks and Anna Lee Strachan; PBS
NEWS SCRIPT– REGULARLY SET UP, PUBLICATION, OR BREAKING REPORT
” Anger in America” (World News Tonight with David Muir), Written by Dave Bloch, David Muir, Karen Mooney, David Schoetz; ABC News
” Vital Condition” (60 Minutes), Composed by Katie Kerbstat Jacobson, Scott Pelley, Nicole Young; CBS News
” Windstorm Sayers Obit,” Written by Joe McLaughlin; WCBS-TV
” The Wild West of Covid Testing” (60 Minutes), Composed by Sharyn Alfonsi, Oriana Zill de Granados; CBS News
NEWS SCRIPT– ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY
” Exhume the Truth” (60 Minutes), Written by Katie Kerbstat Jacobson, Scott Pelley, Nicole Young; CBS News
” Juneteenth: An Event of Conquering,” Written by Dave Bloch; ABC News
” The African Basketball Trail” (60 Minutes), Written by Oriana Zill de Granados; CBS News
DIGITAL NEWS
” Pornhub Doesn’t Care,” Written by Samantha Cole and Emanuel Maiberg; Vice.com
” This Week Has Occurred Prior To,” Written by Julia Craven; Slate.com
” The Store That Called the Cops on George Floyd,” Written by Aymann Ismail; Slate.com
” Why Did the Federal Government Separate This Household?” Composed by Jeremy Stahl; Slate.com
RADIO/AUDIO CANDIDATES
RADIO/AUDIO NEWS SCRIPT– FREQUENTLY SET UP, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT
” CBS News on the Hour with Norah O’Donnell, March 10, 2020,” Composed by James Hutton; CBS New Radio
” Changemakers: Leaders Who Made a Difference,” Written by Gail Lee; CBS News Radio
” World News This Week, November 13, 2020,” Written by Joan Harris; ABC News Radio/WNTW Podcasts
RADIO/AUDIO NEWS SCRIPT– ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY
” Instrument of Hope,” Composed by Christopher Barry; ABC News Audio
” Against Those Thugs: Delores Tucker and Costs Bennett” (Slow Burn) Written by Joel Anderson, Christopher Johnson; Slate Podcasts
” The Gist: Spiel, April 3, 2020,” Written by Mike Pesca; Slate Podcasts
PROMOTIONAL WRITING NOMINEES
ON AIR PROMO
” Can You See It?” Composed by Meghana Reddy and Angad Bhalla; Facebook
” Go Out The Vote– Check Out Those Relocations,” Written by Meghana Reddy and
Angad Bhalla; Facebook, Instagram, YouTube
” Launch Trailers,” Composed by Molly Neylan; CBS All Access
