The Best Limited Series/TV Movie Writing category has 89 submissions on the 2024 Emmys ballot, 22 less than last year, but still reaching the threshold to result in six nominees. This category has been interesting to watch, specifically last year when it had three television movies nominated for the first time after shunning them completely for seven years: “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story” (Al Yankovic and Eric Appel), “Fire Island” (Joel Kim Booster) and “Prey” (Patrick Aison & Dan Trachtenberg). The other half of the category last year were the limited/anthology series “Swarm” (Donald Glover & Janine Nabers), “Fleishman is in Trouble” (Taffy Brodesser-Akner) and the winner “Beef” (Lee Sung Jin).
Another reason for the low number of submissions is that all but one of these potential limited series contenders have solitary entries to represent their program, a pattern that has been evident for the writing category, which can be attributed to one of two reasons. For a good number of these shows, only one writer solely penned all episodes of their respective series, leaving no option but to submit it as a whole for writing per Emmy rules, which include “Baby Reindeer” (Richard Gadd), “Ripley” (Steven Zaillian) and “Feud: Capote vs. The Swans” (Jon Robin Baitz).
As for shows that have the freedom to choose episodes from their seasons, nearly all opted for a single submission, preventing any possibility of vote-splitting. And in terms of many top contenders, the selection has befitted either their premiere or finale, which do well with nominations. Ones that have entered their introductory hours are “Fargo” (“The Tragedy of the Commons”), “The Sympathizer” (“Death Wish”) and “Fellow Travelers (“You’re Wonderful”), with previous two-time winner “Black Mirror” also going for its first episode of its anthology season (“Joan Is Awful”). Programs that put up their final hours were “True Detective: Night Country” (“Part 6”), “Masters of the Air” (“Part Nine”) and “Lessons in Chemistry (“Introduction to Chemistry”).
Other miniseries to be aware of are “A Murder at the End of the World,” which was cited at the Writers Guild of America Awards earlier this year and went for its second episode for consideration, and “Expats,” which submitted its penultimate episode scripted by creator Lulu Wang. “Under the Bridge” is the only likely contender that chose to submit multiple episodes for contention, taking advantage of the premiere/finale prototype, while additionally going for its fourth episode.
And after last year, it is wise to keep more of an eye out for television movies making this lineup which include “Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie” – which could nab the franchise’s first bid in writing after the original was not able to in its eight-year run – “Red, White & Royal Blue,” WGA Award-winner “Quiz Lady,” and “The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial,” which could honor the late William Friedkin for his final project.
Multiple factors come into play when deciding what the writing branch will choose, particularly this year as it features the return of many anthology series that were previously nominated in prior years, some of which still maintain their original creators like Noah Hawley for “Fargo” and Charlie Brooker for “Black Mirror.” Furthermore, despite the writers not being listed on the ballot, there are a number of established names behind many of these shows like Zaillian, Friedkin, Wang and Park Chan-wook for “The Sympathizer.” Combine that with miniseries that are rapidly taking off in buzz and popularity with their debut like “Baby Reindeer,” and this category is tougher than ever to predict, so it will be exciting to see who makes the cut when the nominations are announced July 17.
Here are some of the top contenders to consider when making your 2024 Emmy predictions for the Best Limited Series/TV Movie Writing category:
“Baby Reindeer”
Richard Gadd
“Fargo”
“The Tragedy of the Commons” (Noah Hawley)
“Ripley”
Steven Zaillian
“True Detective: Night Country”
“The Sympathizer”
“Death Wish” (Park Chan-wook & Don McKellar)
“Lessons in Chemistry”
“Introduction to Chemistry” (Lee Eisenberg)
“Fellow Travelers”
“You’re Wonderful” (Ron Nyswaner)
“Black Mirror”
“Joan Is Awful” (Charlie Brooker)
“Masters of the Air”
“Part Nine” (John Orloff & Joel Anderson Thompson)
“Feud: Capote vs. The Swans”
Jon Robin Baitz
“A Murder at the End of the World”
“Chapter 2: The Silver Doe (Brit Marling, Zal Batmanglij, Melanie Marnich & Rebecca Roanhorse)
“Expats”
“Central” (Lulu Wang)
“Under the Bridge”
“Looking Glass” (Quinn Shephard)
“Beautiful British Columbia” (Stuti Malhotra)
“Mercy Alone” (Samir Mehta)
Andy Breckman
“The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial”
William Friedkin
“Quiz Lady”
Jen D’Angelo
“Red, White & Royal Blue”
Matthew López & Ted Malawer
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