This Year’s WGA Awards TV Comedy Nominees Pick Up Where Other Awards Have Been Lacking
If you follow us, you’re probably well aware of our love for Hacks and What We Do In the Shadows, I Think You Should Leave and how it’s truly a shame that they’re not the perennial frontrunners for comedy awards (even if Hacks has only done one season thus far) that they clearly are.
Thankfully, this year’s Writers Guild Awards are fixing a lot of what has been lacking in the comedy realm during awards season with this latest round of nominations. Hacks gained nominations for both Comedy Series (along with a very deserving What We Do in the Shadows) and New Series (a suddenly crowded field thanks to Yellowjackets and Loki).
Additionally, the guard of late night and sketch seems to be finally changing a bit. Yes, SNL, Conan, and Last Week Tonight are still in the running, but the funnest duo in late night, Desus & Mero, I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson, and How To with John Wilson are getting well deserved slots in these categories.
In fact, the entire breakdown for the comedy nominees is pretty refreshing as new comers Reservation Dogs, Only Murders in the Building, White Lotus, Tuca and Bertie, and PAUSE with Sam Jay all garnered WGA Awards nominations today. We suppose that this fresh look would even include the new entry from an old perennial comedy frontrunner of yesteryear, Jon Stewart and his new Apple TV+ series, The Problem with Jon Stewart (a leaner version of The Daily Show with Jon in a t-shirt rather than a suit).
Take a gander at the whole list of this year’s WGA Award TV Comedy Nominees, then look to hear/see the winners on Mar. 20th (maybe there will be an in-person ceremony by then?). Oh yeah, feature length nominees will be announced on Jan. 27th.
COMEDY SERIES
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Written by Larry David, Steve Leff, Carol Leifer, Jeff Schaffer, Nathaniel Stein; HBO/HBO Max
Hacks
Written by Lucia Aniello, Joanna Calo, Jessica Chaffin, Paul W. Downs, Cole Escola, Janis E. Hirsch, Ariel Karlin, Katherine Kearns, Andrew Law, Joe Mande, Pat Regan, Samantha Riley, Michael Schur, Jen Statsky; HBO/HBO Max
Only Murders in the Building
Written by Thembi Banks, Matteo Borghese, Rachel Burger, Kirker Butler, Madeleine George, John Hoffman, Stephen Markley, Steve Martin, Kristin Newman, Ben Philippe, Kim Rosenstock, Ben Smith, Rob Turbovsky; Hulu
Ted Lasso
Written by Jane Becker, Ashley Nicole Black, Leann Bowen, Sasha Garron, Brett Goldstein, Brendan Hunt, Joe Kelly, Bill Lawrence, Jamie Lee, Michael Orton-Toliver, Jason Sudeikis, Phoebe Walsh, Bill Wrubel; Apple TV+
What We Do in the Shadows
Written by Jake Bender, Jemaine Clement, Zach Dunn, Shana Gohd, Sam Johnson, Chris Marcil, William Meny, Sarah Naftalis, Stefani Robinson, Marika Sawyer, Paul Simms, Lauren Wells; FX Networks
NEW SERIES
Hacks
Written by Lucia Aniello, Joanna Calo, Jessica Chaffin, Paul W. Downs, Cole Escola, Janis E. Hirsch, Ariel Karlin, Katherine Kearns, Andrew Law, Joe Mande, Pat Regan, Samantha Riley, Michael H. Schur, Jen Statsky; HBO/HBO Max
Loki
Written by Bisha K. Ali, Elissa Karasik, Eric Martin, Michael Waldron; Disney+
Only Murders in the Building
Written by Thembi Banks, Matteo Borghese, Rachel Burger, Kirker Butler, Madeleine George, John Hoffman, Stephen Markley, Steve Martin, Kristin Newman, Ben Philippe, Kim Rosenstock, Ben Smith, Rob Turbovsky; Hulu
Reservation Dogs
Written by Tazbah Rose Chavez, Sydney Freeland, Sterlin Harjo, Migizi Pensoneau, Tommy Pico, Taika Waititi, Bobby Wilson; FX Networks
Yellowjackets
Written by Cameron Brent Johnson, Katherine Kearns, Jonathan Lisco, Ashley Lyle, Bart Nickerson, Liz Phang, Ameni Rozsa, Sarah L. Thompson, Chantelle M. Wells; Showtime
ORIGINAL LONG FORM
American Horror Story: Double Feature
Written by Brad Falchuk, Manny Coto, Ryan Murphy, Kristen Reidel, Reilly Smith; FX Networks
Mare of Easttown
Written by Brad Ingelsby; HBO/HBO Max
Midnight Mass
Written by James Flanagan, Mike Flanagan, Elan Gale, Jeff Howard, Dani Parker; Netflix
Them: Covenant
Written by Christina Ham, Little Marvin, David Matthews, Dominic Orlando, Seth Zvi Rosenfeld, Francine Volpe; Prime Video
The White Lotus
Written by Mike White; HBO/HBO Max
ANIMATION
“An Incon-Wheelie-ent Truth” (Bob’s Burgers)
Written by Dan Fybel; Fox
“Loft in Bedslation” (Bob’s Burgers)
Written by Jameel Saleem, Fox
“Must Love Dogs” (Family Guy)
Written by Daniel Peck; Fox
“Planteau” (Tuca & Bertie)
Written by Lisa Hanawalt; Cartoon Network
“Portrait of a Lackey on Fire” (The Simpsons)
Written by Rob LaZebnik & Johnny LaZebnik; Fox
“The Star of the Backstage” (The Simpsons)
Written by Elisabeth Kiernen Averick; Fox
EPISODIC COMEDY
“All Sales Final” (Superstore)
Teleplay by Jonathan Green & Gabe Miller, Story by Justin Spitzer; NBC
“Alone At Last” (The Great)
Written by Tony McNamara; Hulu
“Enlightened Dave” (Dave)
Written by Luvh Rakhe & Lee Sung Jin; FX Networks
“Episode One: True Crime” (Only Murders in the Building)
Written by Steve Martin & John Hoffman; Hulu
“F*ckin’ Rez Dogs” (Pilot) (Reservation Dogs)
Written by Sterlin Harjo & Taika Waititi; FX Networks
“Pilot” (The Wonder Years)
Written by Saladin K. Patterson; ABC
COMEDY/VARIETY TALK SERIES
Conan
Head Writer: Matt O’Brien Writers: Jose Arroyo, Glenn Boozan, Daniel Cronin, Andres du Bouchet, Jessie Gaskell, Skyler Higley, Brian Kiley, Laurie Kilmartin, Todd Levin, Levi MacDougall, Conan O’Brien, Andy Richter, Frank Smiley, Mike Sweeney; TBS
Desus & Mero
Writers: Daniel “Desus Nice” Baker, Josh Gondelman, Robert Kornhauser, Joel “The Kid Mero” Martinez, Robert A. McRae, Heben Nigatu, Mike Pielocik, Julia Young; Showtime
Last Week 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/HBO Max
The Problem with Jon Stewart
Head Writer: Chelsea Devantez Writers: Kristen Acimovic, Henrik Blix, Rob Christensen, Jay Jurden, Alexa Loftus, Tocarra Mallard, Robby Slowik, Jon Stewart, Kasaun Wilson; Apple TV+
COMEDY/VARIETY SKETCH SERIES
How To with John Wilson
Written by: Alice Gregory, Michael Koman, Conner O’Malley, Susan Orlean, John Wilson; HBO/HBO Max
I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson
Writers: Zach Kanin, Tim Robinson, John Solomon; Netflix
PAUSE with Sam Jay
Writers: Emmy Blotnick, Ryan Donahue, Zack Fox, Megan Gailey, Robin M. Henry, Sam Jay, Langston Kerman, Jak Knight; HBO/HBO Max
Saturday Night Live
Head Writer: Michael Che, Anna Drezen, Colin Jost, Kent Sublette
Senior Writer: Bryan Tucker Weekend Update Head Writer: Pete Schultz, Weekend Update Writers: Megan Callahan-Shah, Dennis McNicholas, Josh Patten, Mark Steinbach Supervising Writers: Alison Gates, Fran Gillespie, Sudi Green, Streeter Seidell Writers: James Anderson, Dan Bulla, Steven Castillo, Mike DiCenzo, Billy Domineau, Alex English, John Higgins, Steve Higgins, Martin Herlihy, Vannessa Jackson, Sam Jay, Erik Kenward, Tesha Kondrat, Dan Licata, Lorne Michaels, Ben Marshall, Jake Nordwind, Jasmine Pierce, Gary Richardson, Ben Silva, Emily Spivey, Will Stephen, Celeste Yim; NBC
That Damn Michael Che
Head Writer: Michael Che; Writing Supervised by: Gary Richardson; Writers: Rosebud Baker, Reggie Conquest, Godfrey Danchimah Jr., Calise Hawkins, Kevin Iso, Sam Jay, Matt Richards, Wil Sylvince; HBO/HBO Max
COMEDY/VARIETY SPECIALS
43rd Annual Kennedy Center Honors
Written by Dave Boone; CBS
Drew Michael: Red Blue Green
Written by Drew Michael; HBO/HBO Max
Full Frontal Wants to Take Your Guns
Head Writers: Kristen Bartlett, Mike Drucker Writers: Samantha Bee, Pat Cassels, Sean Crespo, Mike Drucker, Miles Kahn, Chris Thompson, Holly Walker, Alison Zeidman Writing Supervised by Joe Grossman, Sahar Rizvi Special Material by Michael Rhoa; TBS
The Tony Awards Presents: Broadway’s Back!
Written by Dave Boone Special Material by Amber Ruffin, Marc Shaiman, Daniel J. Watts, Scott Wittman Opening Number by Amber Ruffin, Marc Shaiman, Scott Wittman; CBS
Yearly Departed
Head Writer: Bess Kalb Writers: Karen Chee, Akilah Green, Franchesca Ramsey, Jocelyn Richard; Prime Video
For the entire 2022 WGA Awards TV nominees, read up on Deadline here.