Writers Guild Unveils 2020 TV Award Nominees

By Dave McNary

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – “The Simpsons” is leading the way with three nominations, followed by two each for “Bob’s Burgers,” “The Crown,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “Pen15,” “Russian Doll,” “Succession,” “Veep” and “Watchmen.”

Fox’s “,” which began airing in 1989, scored noms in the animated category for the “Go Big or Go Homer,” “Livin’ La Pura Vida” and “Thanksgiving of Horror” segments. Fox’s “Bob’s Burgers,” which won the category for 2018, received nominations for the “Bed, Bob & Beyond” and “The Gene Mile” segments.

Amazon Prime Video’s “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” which won the WGA comedy series award earlier this year, received nods for comedy series and for the episode “It’s Comedy or Cabbage,” written by showrunner Amy Sherman-Palladino.

The seventh and final season of HBO’s “,” which has won the WGA comedy series award three times, was nominated again in the series category and for the final episode of the season, titled “Veep” and written by showrunner David H. Mandel.

Hulu’s “Pen 15″ and Netflix’s “” both received nominations for comedy series and new Series. HBO’s “” scored nods for drama series and new series. HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” which won best drama series at the Emmys for its eighth and final season, was snubbed in Thursday’s WGA announcement.

HBO’s second season of “” scored nods for drama series and drama episode for the “Tern” segment. Netflix’s third season of “The Crown” took noms for drama series and drama episode for the “Moondust” segment for series creator Peter Morgan.

Amazon Prime Video’s “Fleabag,” which won the Emmy for comedy series in September, was ineligible for the WGA Awards because the series is not produced under WGA jurisdiction.

The 72nd Annual Writers Guild Awards, based on voting by 15,000 WGA members, will take place in coinciding ceremonies in Los Angeles at the Beverly Hilton and in New York at the Edison Ballroom on Feb. 1. The WGA feature film nominees will be announced on Jan. 6.

The eligibility period for TV nominees is the 2019 calendar year. Last year, the major WGA television trophies went to the final season of “The Americans,” as well as “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “Homeland” and “Barry.”

Here’s the complete list of nominations, announced on Thursday morning:

TELEVISION, NEW MEDIA, AND NEWS NOMINEES:

DRAMA SERIES

The Crown, Written by James Graham, David Hancock, Peter Morgan; Netflix

The Handmaid’s Tale, Written by Marissa Jo Cerar, Yahlin Chang, Nina Fiore, Dorothy Fortenberry, Jacy Heldrich, John Herrera, Lynn Renee Maxcy, Bruce Miller, Kira Snyder, Eric Tuchman; Hulu

Mindhunter, Written by Pamela Cederquist, Joshua Donen, Marcus Gardley, Shaun Grant, Liz Hannah, Phillip Howze, Jason Johnson, Doug Jung, Colin Louro, Alex Metcalf, Courtenay Miles, Dominic Orlando, Joe Penhall, Ruby Rae Spiegel; Netflix

Succession, Written by Jesse Armstrong, Alice Birch, Jon Brown, Jonathan Glatzer, Cord Jefferson, Mary Laws, Lucy Prebble, Georgia Pritchett, Tony Roche, Gary Shteyngart, Susan Soon He Stanton, Will Tracy; HBO

Watchmen, Written by Lila Byock, Nick Cuse, Christal Henry, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Cord Jefferson, Jeff Jensen, Claire Kiechel, Damon Lindelof, Stacy Osei-Kuffour, Tom Spezialy, Carly Wray; HBO

COMEDY SERIES

Barry, Written by Alec Berg, Duffy Boudreau, Bill Hader, Emily Heller, Jason Kim, Taofik Kolade, Elizabeth Sarnoff; HBO

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Written by Katherine Fodor, Noah Gardenswartz, Daniel Goldfarb, Alison Leiby, Dan Palladino, Sono Patel, Amy Sherman-Palladino, Jordan Temple; Prime Video

, Written by Jeff Chan, Maya Erskine, Anna Konkle, Gabe Liedman, Stacy Osei-Kuffour, Andrew Rhymer, Jessica Watson, Sam Zvibleman; Hulu

Russian Doll, Written by Jocelyn Bioh, Flora Birnbaum, Cirocco Dunlap, Leslye Headland, Natasha Lyonne, Amy Poehler, Tami Sagher, Allison Silverman; Netflix

Veep, Written by Gabrielle Allan-Greenberg, Rachel Axler, Emilia Barrosse, Ted Cohen, Jennifer Crittenden, Alex Gregory, Steve Hely, Peter Huyck, Erik Kenward, Billy Kimball, David Mandel, Ian Maxtone-Graham, Dan Mintz, Lew Morton, Dan O’Keefe, Georgia Pritchett, Leila Strachan; HBO

NEW SERIES

Dead To Me, Written by Rebecca Addelman, Njeri Brown, Liz Feldman, Kelly Hutchinson, Anthony King, Emma Rathbone, Kate Robin, Abe Sylvia; Netflix

PEN15, Written by Jeff Chan, Maya Erskine, Anna Konkle, Gabe Liedman, Stacy Osei-Kuffour, Andrew Rhymer, Jessica Watson, Sam Zvibleman; Hulu

Russian Doll, Written by Jocelyn Bioh, Flora Birnbaum, Cirocco Dunlap, Leslye Headland, Natasha Lyonne, Amy Poehler, Tami Sagher, Allison Silverman; Netflix

Watchmen, Written by Lila Byock, Nick Cuse, Christal Henry, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Cord Jefferson, Jeff Jensen, Claire Kiechel, Damon Lindelof, Stacy Osei-Kuffour, Tom Spezialy, Carly Wray; HBO

What We Do in the Shadows, Written by Jesse Armstrong, Sam Bain, Jemaine Clement, Josh Lieb, Iain Morris, Stefani Robinson, Duncan Sarkies, Marika Sawyer, Tom Scharpling, Paul Simms,Taika Waititi; FX Networks

ORIGINAL LONG FORM

Chernobyl, Written by Craig Mazin; HBO

The Terror: Infamy, Written by Max Borenstein, Alessandra DiMona, Shannon Goss, Steven Hanna, Naomi Iizuka, Benjamin Klein, Danielle Roderick, Tony Tost, Alexander Woo; AMC

Togo, Written by Tom Flynn; Disney+

True Detective, Written by Alessandra DiMona, Graham Gordy, Gabriel Hobson, David Milch, Nic Pizzolatto; HBO

ADAPTED LONG FORM

El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie, Written by Vince Gilligan; Netflix

Fosse/Verdon, Written by Debora Cahn, Joel Fields, Ike Holter, Thomas Kail, Steven Levenson, Charlotte Stoudt, Tracey Scott Wilson, Based on the book Fosse by Sam Wasson; FX Networks

The Loudest Voice, Written by John Harrington Bland, Laura Eason, Tom McCarthy, Alex Metcalf, Gabriel Sherman, Jennifer Stahl, Based on the Book The Loudest Voice in the Room and the New York Magazine Articles by Gabriel Sherman; Showtime

Unbelievable, Written by Michael Chabon, Susannah Grant, Becky Mode, Jennifer Schuur, Ayelet Waldman, Based on the Pro Publica & The Marshall Project article “An Unbelievable Story of Rape” and This American Life radio episode “Anatomy of Doubt;” Netflix

ORIGINAL SHORT FORM NEW MEDIA

After Forever, Written by Michael Slade & Kevin Spirtas; Prime Video

Special, Written by Ryan O’Connell; Netflix

ANIMATION

“Bed, Bob & Beyond” (Bob’s Burgers), Written by Kelvin Yu; Fox

“The Gene Mile” (Bob’s Burgers), Written by Steven Davis; Fox

“Go Big or Go Homer” (The Simpsons), Written by John Frink; Fox

“A Horse Walks Into A Rehab” (BoJack Horseman), Written by Elijah Aron; Netflix

“Livin’ La Pura Vida” (The Simpsons), Written by Brian Kelley; Fox

“Thanksgiving of Horror” (The Simpsons), Written by Dan Vebber; Fox

EPISODIC DRAMA

“407 Proxy Authentication Required” (Mr. Robot), Written by Sam Esmail; USA Network

“A Good Man is Hard to Find” (Ray Donovan), Written by Joshua Marston; Showtime

“Mirror Mirror” (The OA), Written by Dominic Orlando & Claire Kiechel; Netflix

“Moondust” (The Crown), Written by Peter Morgan; Netflix

“Our Little Island Girl” (This Is Us), Written by Eboni Freeman; NBC

“Tern Haven” (Succession), Written by Will Tracy; HBO

EPISODIC COMEDY

“Here’s Where We Get Off” (Orange Is the New Black), Written by Jenji Kohan; Netflix

“It’s Comedy or Cabbage” (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), Written by Amy Sherman-Palladino; Prime Video

“Nice Knowing You” (Living With Yourself), Written by Timothy Greenberg; Netflix

“Pilot” (Dead to Me), Written by Liz Feldman; Netflix

“The Stinker Thinker” (On Becoming a God in Central Florida), Written by Robert F. Funke & Matt Lutsky; Showtime

“Veep” (Veep), Written by David Mandel; HBO

COMEDY/VARIETY TALK SERIES

Conan, Head Writer: Matt O’Brien Writers: Jose Arroyo, Glenn Boozan, Daniel Cronin, Andres du Bouchet, Jessie Gaskell, Michael Gordon, Brian Kiley, Laurie Kilmartin, Stephen Kutner, Todd Levin, Levi MacDougall, Conan O’Brien, Andy Richter, Frank Smiley, Mike Sweeney; TBS

Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, Head Writer: Melinda Taub Writing Supervised by: Joe Grossman, Nicole Silverberg Writers: Samantha Bee,  Kristen Bartlett, Pat Cassels, Sean Crespo, Mike Drucker, Mathan Erhardt, Miles Kahn, Sahar Rizvi, Special Material by: Allison Silverman; TBS

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Senior Writers: Dan Gurewitch, Jeff Maurer, Jill Twiss, Juli Weiner Writers: Tim Carvell, Daniel O’Brian, John Oliver, Owen Parsons, Charlie Redd, Joanna Rothkopf, Ben Silva, Seena Vali; HBO

Late Night with Seth Meyers, Supervising Writers: Sal Gentile, Seth Reiss,  Writers: Jermaine Affonso, Alex Baze, Karen Chee, Bryan Donaldson, Matt Goldich, Dina Gusovsky, Jenny Hagel, Allison Hord, Mike Karnell, John Lutz, Seth Meyers, Ian Morgan, Amber Ruffin, Mike Scollins, Mike Shoemaker, Ben Warheit; NBC Universal

The Late Late Show with James Corden, Writers: Demi Adejuyigbe, James Corden, Rob Crabbe, Lawrence Dai, Nate Fernald, Caroline Goldfarb, Olivia Harewood, David Javerbaum, Ian Karmel, John Kennedy, Kayleigh Lamb, James Longman, Jared Moskowitz, CeCe Pleasants, Tim Siedell, Benjamin Stout, Tom Thriveni, Louis Waymouth, Ben Winston; CBS

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Head Writers: Jay Katsir, Opus Moreschi  Writers: Michael Brumm, River Clegg, Aaron Cohen, Stephen Colbert, Paul Dinello, Ariel Dumas, Glenn Eichler, Django Gold, Gabe Gronli, Greg Iwinski, Barry Julien, Daniel Kibblesmith, Eliana Kwartler, Matt Lappin, Asher Perlman, Tom Purcell, Kate Sidley, Jen Spyra, Brian Stack, John Thibodeaux; CBS

COMEDY/VARIETY SPECIALS

Desi Lydic: Abroad, Written by Devin Delliquanti, Lauren Sarver Means; Comedy Central

Full Frontal with Samantha Bee Presents: Not the White House Correspondents’ Dinner Part 2, Head Writer Melinda Taub, Writing Supervised by Joe Grossman, Nicole Silverberg, Writers Samantha Bee, Kristen Bartlett, Pat Cassels, Sean Crespo, Mike Drucker, Mathan Erhardt, Lewis Friedman, Miles Kahn, Sahar Rizvi, Special Material by Allison Silverman; TBS

The Late Late Show Carpool Karaoke Primetime Special 2019, Head Writers Lauren Greenberg, Ian Karmel, Writers Demi Adejuyigbe, James Corden, Rob Crabbe, Lawrence Dai, Nate Fernald, Caroline Goldfarb, John Kennedy, James Longman, Jared Moskowitz, CeCe Pleasants, Tim Siedell, Benjamin D. Stout, Tom Thriveni, Louis Waymouth, Ben Winston; CBS

Ramy Youssef: Feelings, Written by Ramy Youssef; HBO

COMEDY/VARIETY SKETCH SERIES

At Home with Amy Sedaris, Writers: Cole Escola, Amy Sedaris, Allison Silverman; truTV

I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson, Writers: Jeremy Beiler, Zach Kanin, Tim Robinson, John Solomon; Netflix

Saturday Night Live, Head Writers: Michael Che, Colin Jost, Kent Sublette Supervising Writers: Anna Drezen, Fran Gillespie, Sudi Green, Streeter Seidell Senior Writer: Bryan Tucker Weekend Update Head Writer: Pete Schultz Writers: James Anderson, Neal Brennan, Andrew Briedis, Dan Bulla, Megan Callahan, Steven Castillo, Emma Clark, Andrew Dismukes, Alison Gates, Tim Herlihy, Steve Higgins, Sam Jay, Erik Kenward, Steve Koren, Rob Klein, Michael Koman, Dan Licata, Alan Linic, Eli Coyote Mandel, Dave McCary, Dennis McNicholas, Lorne Michaels, John Mulaney, Josh Patten, Simon Rich, Josh Patten, Jasmin Pierce, Katie Rich, Gary Richardson, Marika Sawyer, Robert Smigel, Mark Steinbach, Will Stephen, Julio Torres, Bowen Yang; NBC Universal

QUIZ AND AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION

Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?, Head Writer Bret Calvert, Writers Seth Harrington, Rosemarie DiSalvo; Nickelodeon

Hollywood Game Night, Head Writers Ann Slichter, Grant Taylor, Writers Michael Agbabian, Marshall Davis, Allie Kokesh, Dwight D. Smith; NBC

Jeopardy!, Writers Matthew Caruso, John Duarte, Harry Friedman, Mark Gaberman, Deborah Griffin, Michele Loud, Robert McClenaghan, Jim Rhine, Steve D. Tamerius, Billy Wisse; ABC

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, Head Writer Stephen Melcher, Writers Kyle Beakley, Patricia A. Cotter, Ryan Hopak, Gary Lucy, James Rowley, Ann Slichter; Disney/ABC Syndication

DAYTIME DRAMA

Days of Our Lives, Writers: Lorraine Broderick, Ron Carlivati, Joanna Cohen, Carolyn Culliton, Richard Culliton, Rick Draughon, Dave Kreizman, Rebecca McCarty, Ryan Quan, Dave Ryan, Betsy Snyder, Katie Schock; NBC Universal

General Hospital, Head Writers: Shelly Altman, Christopher Van Etten Associate Head Writers: Anna T. Cascio, Dan O’Connor Writers: Barbara Bloom, Suzanne Flynn, Charlotte Gibson, Lucky Gold, Kate Hall, Elizabeth Korte, Donny Sheldon, Scott Sickles; ABC

The Young and the Restless, Writers: Amanda L. Beall, Jeff Beldner, Sara Bibel, Matt Clifford, Annie Compton, Christopher Dunn, Sara Endsley, Janice Ferri Esser, Mellinda Hensley, Anne Schoettle, Natalie Minardi Slater, Teresa Zimmerman; CBS

CHILDREN’S EPISODIC, LONG FORM AND SPECIALS

“It’s Just… Weird” (Alexa & Katie), Written by Romi Barta; Netflix

“Remember Black Elvis?” (Family Reunion), Written by Howard Jordan, Jr.; Netflix

“Remember How This All Started?” (Family Reunion), Written by Meg DeLoatch; Netflix

“Stupid Binder” (Alexa & Katie), Written by Nancy Cohen; Netflix

“Time to Make… My Move” (Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance), Written by Javier Grillo-Marxuach; Netflix

DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT – CURRENT EVENTS

“Coal’s Deadly Dust” (Frontline), Written by Elaine McMillion Sheldon; PBS

“The Mueller Investigation” (Frontline), Written by Michael Kirk & Mike Wiser; PBS

“Trump’s Trade War” (Frontline), Written by Rick Young; PBS

DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT – OTHER THAN CURRENT EVENTS

“Chasing The Moon Part One: A Place Beyond The Sky” (American Experience), Written by Robert Stone; PBS

“Right To Fail” (Frontline), Written by Tom Jennings; PBS

“Supreme Revenge” (Frontline), Written by Michael Kirk & Mike Wiser; PBS

NEWS SCRIPT – REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT

“Terror in America: The Massacres in El Paso and Dayton” (Special Edition of the CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell), Written by Jerry Cipriano, Joe Clines, Bob Meyer; CBS News

NEWS SCRIPT – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY

“Atlanta, EP. 3” (A King’s Place), Written by Jessica Moulite; TheRoot.com

“Fly Like An Eagle” (60 Minutes), Written by Katie Kerbstat Jacobson, Scott Pelley, Nicole Young; CBS News

“’Tis the Season: Here’s How Jesus Became So Widely Accepted as White,” Written by Joon Chung, Felice León, Ashley Velez; TheRoot.com

“Toxic Water Crisis Still This Haunts New York Town”, Written by Lena Jackson; HuffPost.com

DIGITAL NEWS

“A Gridiron of Their Own,” Written by Kelsey McKinney; Deadspin.com

“Stories About My Brother,” Written by Prachi Gupta, Jezebel.com

RADIO/AUDIO NOMINEES:


RADIO/AUDIO NEWS SCRIPT – REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT

“CBS News on the Hour with Norah O’Donnell – El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio – Communities in Mourning,” Written by James Hutton; CBS News Radio

“Hail and Farewell: Remembering Some Headline Makers,” Written by Gail Lee; CBS News Radio

“World News This Week, August 9, 2019,” Written by Stephanie Pawlowski and Jim Ryan; ABC News Radio

“World News This Week, September 13, 2019,” Written by Joan B. Harris; ABC News Radio

RADIO/AUDIO NEWS SCRIPT – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY

“The Enduring Legacy of Jackie Kennedy Onassis,” Written by Dianne E. James, Gail Lee; CBS News Radio

“Woodstock: Back to the Garden,” Written by Gail Lee, CBS News Radio

PROMOTIONAL WRITING NOMINEES:

ON AIR PROMOTION

“CBS Promos”, Written by Molly Neylan; CBS

“Star. Kill. Evil. FBI.,” Written by Ralph Buado; CBS

“Star Trek: Picard” and “All Rise Promos,” Written by Jessica Katzenstein; CBS