This is a list of the winners and nominees of the
Primetime Emmy Award
The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...
for Outstanding Writing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie.
Winners and nominations
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
2020s
Total awards by network
*
HBO/
HBO Max
HBO Max is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in the United States on May 27, 2020, the service is built around the libraries of HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Ne ...
– 18
*
CBS – 13
*
ABC – 9
*
PBS – 8
*
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
– 7
*
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...
– 2
*
BBC America
BBC America is an American basic cable network that is jointly owned by BBC Studios and AMC Networks. The channel primarily airs sci-fi and action series and films, as well as selected programs from the BBC (such as its nature documentary seri ...
– 1
*
FX – 1
*
TNT - 1
Individuals with multiple awards
;2 awards
*
Jane Anderson
Jane Anderson (born 1954 in California) is an American actress, playwright, screenwriter and director. She wrote and directed the feature film '' The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio'' (2005), and wrote the Nicolas Cage film '' It Could Happen t ...
*
Charlie Brooker
Charlton Brooker (born 3 March 1971) is an English television presenter, writer, producer and satirist. He is the creator and co-showrunner of the sci-fi drama anthology series ''Black Mirror'', and has written for comedy series such as ''Bras ...
*
James Costigan
James Costigan (March 31, 1926 – December 19, 2007) was an American television actor and Emmy Award-winning television screenwriter. His writing credits include the television movies '' Eleanor and Franklin'' and '' Love Among the Ruins''.
Ear ...
*
Andrew Davies
*
William Hanley
William Hanley (October 22, 1931 – May 25, 2012) was an American playwright, novelist, and scriptwriter, born in Lorain, Ohio. Hanley wrote plays for the theatre, radio and television and published three novels in the 1970s. He was related to ...
*
Abby Mann
Abby Mann (December 1, 1927 – March 25, 2008) was an American film writer and producer.
Life and career
The son of Russian-Jewish immigrants, Mann was born as Abraham Goodman in Philadelphia. He grew up in East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
D ...
*
Tracy Keenan Wynn
Tracy Keenan Wynn (born February 28, 1945) is an American screenwriter and producer, whose credits include '' The Longest Yard'', ''The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman'' (both 1974), and '' The Deep'' (1977).
Early and personal life
Wynn was ...
Individuals with multiple nominations
;5 nominations
*
Jane Anderson
Jane Anderson (born 1954 in California) is an American actress, playwright, screenwriter and director. She wrote and directed the feature film '' The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio'' (2005), and wrote the Nicolas Cage film '' It Could Happen t ...
*
William Hanley
William Hanley (October 22, 1931 – May 25, 2012) was an American playwright, novelist, and scriptwriter, born in Lorain, Ohio. Hanley wrote plays for the theatre, radio and television and published three novels in the 1970s. He was related to ...
*
Hugh Whitemore
;4 nominations
*
Andrew Davies
;3 nominations
*
James Costigan
James Costigan (March 31, 1926 – December 19, 2007) was an American television actor and Emmy Award-winning television screenwriter. His writing credits include the television movies '' Eleanor and Franklin'' and '' Love Among the Ruins''.
Ear ...
*
Larry Gelbart
Larry Simon Gelbart (February 25, 1928 – September 11, 2009) was an American television writer, playwright, screenwriter, director and author, most famous as a creator and producer of the television series ''M*A*S*H'', and as co-writer of the B ...
*
Noah Hawley
*
Ron Hutchinson
*
Fay Kanin
*
Ernest Kinoy
Ernest Kinoy (April 1, 1925 – November 10, 2014) was an American writer, screenwriter and playwright.
Early life
Kinoy was born in New York City on April 1, 1925; his parents, Albert and Sarah Kinoy (formerly Forstadt), were both high-school ...
*
Richard Levinson
Richard Leighton Levinson (August 7, 1934 – March 12, 1987) was an American screenwriter and producer who often worked in collaboration with William Link.
Life and career
Levinson was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He attended the Unive ...
*
William Link
William Theodore Link (December 15, 1933 – December 27, 2020) was an American film and television screenwriter and producer who often worked in collaboration with Richard Levinson.
Biography Early life
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvani ...
*
Abby Mann
Abby Mann (December 1, 1927 – March 25, 2008) was an American film writer and producer.
Life and career
The son of Russian-Jewish immigrants, Mann was born as Abraham Goodman in Philadelphia. He grew up in East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
D ...
*
Stephen Merchant
Stephen James Merchant (born 24 November 1974) is an English comedian, actor, director, presenter and writer.
Alongside Ricky Gervais, Merchant was the co-writer and co-director of the British TV comedy series ''The Office'' (2001–2003), and ...
*
Steven Moffat
*
Ryan Murphy
* David W. Rintels
*
David Simon
David Judah Simon (born February 9, 1960) is an American author, journalist, screenwriter, and producer best known for his work on '' The Wire'' (2002–08).
He worked for '' The Baltimore Sun'' City Desk for twelve years (1982–95), wrote '' H ...
*
Danny Strong
*
Tracy Keenan Wynn
Tracy Keenan Wynn (born February 28, 1945) is an American screenwriter and producer, whose credits include '' The Longest Yard'', ''The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman'' (both 1974), and '' The Deep'' (1977).
Early and personal life
Wynn was ...
;2 nominations
* Barry Beckerman
*
Joshua Brand
Joshua Brand is an American television writer, director, and producer who created ''St. Elsewhere'', ''I'll Fly Away'' and ''Northern Exposure'' with his writing-and-producing partner John Falsey. He was also a writer and consulting producer of ...
*
Charlie Brooker
Charlton Brooker (born 3 March 1971) is an English television presenter, writer, producer and satirist. He is the creator and co-showrunner of the sci-fi drama anthology series ''Black Mirror'', and has written for comedy series such as ''Bras ...
*
Susan Cooper
*
Michael Cristofer
Michael Cristofer (born January 22, 1945) is an American actor, playwright and filmmaker. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play for '' The Shadow Box'' in 1977. From 2015 to 2019, he played the role of Phillip ...
* Alison Cross
*
Neil Cross
* Kirk Ellis
*
John Falsey
*
Horton Foote
Albert Horton Foote Jr. (March 14, 1916March 4, 2009) was an American playwright and screenwriter. He received Academy Awards for his screenplays for the 1962 film ''To Kill a Mockingbird'', which was adapted from the 1960 novel of the same name ...
*
Scott Frank
*
Richard Friedenberg
*
Ricky Gervais
Ricky Dene Gervais ( ; born 25 June 1961) is an English comedian, actor, writer, and director. He co-created, co-wrote, and acted in the British television sitcoms ''The Office'' (2001–2003), '' Extras'' (2005–2007), and ''An Idiot Abroad'' ...
* Daniel Giat
*
Brett Johnson
*
David Karp
David Karp (born July 6, 1986) is an American webmaster, entrepreneur, and blogger, best known as the founder and former CEO of the short-form blogging platform Tumblr.
Karp began his career, without having received a high school diploma, as ...
* Robert W. Lenski
*
Loring Mandel
*
Bruce C. McKenna
*
JP Miller
*
Abi Morgan
Abigail Louise Morgan (born 1968) is a Welsh playwright and screenwriter known for her works for television, such as ''Sex Traffic'' and '' The Hour'', and the films ''Brick Lane'', '' The Iron Lady'', '' Shame'' and '' Suffragette''.
Early l ...
* Joel Oliansky
*
Eric Overmyer
*
Kario Salem
*
Robert Schenkkan
Robert Frederic Schenkkan Jr. (born March 19, 1953) is an American playwright, screenwriter, and actor. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1992 for his play '' The Kentucky Cycle'' and his play '' All the Way'' earned the 2014 Tony Awar ...
*
Carol Sobieski
Carol Sobieski (March 16, 1939 – November 4, 1990) was an American screenwriter whose work included the scripts for '' Annie'' (1982) and ''Fried Green Tomatoes'' (1991).
Early life
Sobieski was born Carol O'Brien in Chicago, Illinois, in 193 ...
*
George Stevens Jr.
*
Heidi Thomas
*
Michael Tolkin
*
Graham Yost
Graham John Yost (born September 5, 1959) is a Canadian film and television screenwriter. His best-known works are the films ''Speed'', '' Broken Arrow'', and '' Hard Rain'' and the TV series '' Justified''.
Early life, family and education
Yo ...
Programs with multiple awards
;2 awards
* ''
Black Mirror
''Black Mirror'' is a British anthology television series created by Charlie Brooker. Individual episodes explore a diversity of genres, but most are set in near-future dystopias with science fiction technology—a type of speculative fiction ...
'' (consecutive)
Programs with multiple nominations
;5 nominations
* ''
American Crime Story
''American Crime Story'' is an American anthology true crime television series developed by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, who are also executive producers, alongside Brad Falchuk, Nina Jacobson, Ryan Murphy, and Brad Simpson. The seri ...
''
;4 nominations
* ''
Fargo''
;3 nominations
* ''
Sherlock''
* ''
WandaVision''
;2 nominations
* ''
Black Mirror
''Black Mirror'' is a British anthology television series created by Charlie Brooker. Individual episodes explore a diversity of genres, but most are set in near-future dystopias with science fiction technology—a type of speculative fiction ...
''
* ''
Escape at Dannemora
''Escape at Dannemora'' is an American crime drama television limited series that premiered on Showtime on November 18, 2018. It is based on the 2015 Clinton Correctional Facility escape. The seven-episode series was created and written by Br ...
''
* ''
Feud
A feud , referred to in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, or private war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially families or clans. Feuds begin because one par ...
''
* ''
The Hour''
* ''
Luther
Luther may refer to:
People
* Martin Luther (1483–1546), German monk credited with initiating the Protestant Reformation
* Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968), American minister and leader in the American civil rights movement
* Luther (gi ...
''
* ''
The Pacific''
* ''
Prime Suspect
''Prime Suspect'' is a British police procedural television drama series devised by Lynda La Plante. It stars Helen Mirren as Jane Tennison, one of the first female Detective Chief Inspectors in Greater London's Metropolitan Police Service, who ...
''
References
{{Primetime Emmy Award categories
Writing for a Miniseries, Movie, or Dramatic Special
Screenwriting awards for television