Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Nonfiction Programming
Nowadays, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Nonfiction Programming is a topic that has captured the attention and interest of many people around the world. From ancient times to the modern era, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Nonfiction Programming has played a significant role in history, culture, and society. As society continues to evolve, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Nonfiction Programming remains relevant and continues to generate debate and discussion in different areas. In this article, we will explore the importance and impact of Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Nonfiction Programming, as well as its influence on various areas of daily life.
| Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Nonfiction Program | |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | Outstanding Writing for a Nonfiction Program |
| Country | United States |
| Presented by | Academy of Television Arts & Sciences |
| Currently held by | The Daily Show Presents: Jordan Klepper Fingers the Pulse: MAGA: The Next Generation (2025) |
| Website | emmys |
The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Nonfiction Program is awarded to one television documentary or nonfiction series each year.
In the following list, the first titles listed in gold are the winners; those not in gold are nominees, which are listed in alphabetical order. The years given are those in which the ceremonies took place:
Winners and nominations
1970s
| Year | Program | Episode | Nominees | Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Outstanding Individual Achievement - Informational Programming[1][note 1] | |||
| Scared Straight! | Arnold Shapiro | Syndicated | ||
1980s
| Year | Program | Episode | Nominees | Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Outstanding Individual Achievement - Informational Programming[2][note 2] | |||
| The Body Human: The Body Beautiful | Robert E. Fuisz and Louis H. Gorfain | CBS | ||
| 1983 | Outstanding Individual Achievement - Informational Programming[3][note 3] | |||
| The Body Human: The Living Code | Robert E. Fuisz and Louis H. Gorfain | CBS | ||
| I, Leonardo: A Journey of the Mind | Chandler Cowles | CBS | ||
| 1984 | Outstanding Individual Achievement - Informational Programming[4][note 4] | |||
| A Walk Through the 20th Century with Bill Moyers | "Marshall, Texas" | Bill Moyers | PBS | |
| 1985 | Outstanding Individual Achievement - Informational Programming - Writing[5][note 5] | |||
| Heritage: Civilization and the Jews | "The Crucible of Europe" | Howard Enders, John G. Fox, Michael Joseloff and Marc Siegel | PBS | |
| "Out of the Ashes" | Brian Winston | |||
| Heritage: Civilization and the Jews | "Roads from the Ghetto" | John G. Fox and Eugene Marner | PBS | |
| The Living Planet: A Portrait of the Earth | David Attenborough | |||
| 1987 | Outstanding Individual Achievement - Informational Programming - Writing[6][note 6] | |||
| The Story of English | "A Muse of Fire" | Robert MacNeil and Robert McCrum | PBS | |
| American Masters | "Billie Holiday: The Long Night of Lady Day" | John Jeremy | PBS | |
| 1988 | Outstanding Individual Achievement - Informational Programming[7][note 7] | |||
| American Masters | "Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow" | Kevin Brownlow and David Gill | PBS | |
| Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam | Bill Couturié and Richard Dewhurst | HBO | ||
| American Masters | "The Ten-Year Lunch: The Wit and Legend of the Algonquin Round Table" | Peter Foges and Mary Jo Kaplan | PBS | |
| 1989 | Outstanding Writing in Informational Programming[8][note 8] | |||
| The Mind | "Search for the Mind" | John Heminway | PBS | |
1990s
| Year | Program | Episode | Nominees | Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Outstanding Writing in Informational Programming[9][note 9] | |||
| American Masters | "Broadway Dreamers: The Legacy of the Group Theater" | Steve Lawson | PBS | |
| 1991 | Outstanding Individual Achievement - Informational Programming[10][note 10] | |||
| American Masters | "Preston Sturges: The Rise and Fall of an American Dreamer" | Todd McCarthy | PBS | |
| The Civil War | "The Better Angels of Our Nature" | Ric Burns, Ken Burns and Geoffrey C. Ward | ||
| 1992 | Outstanding Individual Achievement - Informational Programming[11][note 11] | |||
| Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse | Fax Bahr and George Hickenlooper | Showtime | ||
| Losing It All: The Reality of Alzheimer's Disease | Michael Mierendorf | HBO | ||
| 1993 | Outstanding Individual Achievement - Informational Programming[12][note 12] | |||
| Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory | "America's Folk Religion" | Randall Balmer | PBS | |
| 1994 | Outstanding Individual Achievement - Informational Programming[note 13][note 14][13][14] | |||
| The Legend of Billy the Kid | Todd Robinson | Disney | ||
| Reflections on Elephants | Dereck Joubert | PBS | ||
| The Untold West | "The Black West" | Dennis Watlington | TBS | |
2000s
| Year | Program | Episode(s) | Nominees | Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 [15] |
American Experience | "Seabiscuit" | Michelle Ferrari | PBS |
| American Experience | "The Murder of Emmett Till" | Marcia A. Smith | PBS | |
| Da Ali G Show | Sacha Baron Cohen, Dan Mazer, Anthony Hines, Jamie Glassman and James Bobin | HBO | ||
| Journeys with George | Alexandra Pelosi | |||
| Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives | Mark Jonathan Harris | |||
| 2004 [16] |
American Masters | "Judy Garland: By Myself" | Susan Lacy and Stephen Stept | PBS |
| Fred Rogers: America's Favorite Neighbor | Rick Sebak | PBS | ||
| JFK: A Presidency Revealed | David C. Taylor | History | ||
| Pandemic: Facing AIDS | "Uganda/Thailand" | Mark Bailey | HBO | |
| Penn & Teller: Bullshit! | "War on Drugs" | Penn Jillette, Teller, Emma Webster, Star Price and Michael Goudeau | Showtime | |
| Terry Jones' Medieval Lives | "The Peasant" | Terry Jones | History | |
| 2005 [17] |
Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson | Geoffrey C. Ward | PBS | |
| Beyond the Da Vinci Code | Thomas Quinn and Rob Blumenstein | History | ||
| Broadway: The American Musical | "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" | JoAnn Young | PBS | |
| Death in Gaza | Saira Shah | HBO | ||
| Penn & Teller: Bullshit! | "Profanity" | Penn Jillette, Teller, Jon Hotchkiss, Star Price and Michael Goudeau | Showtime | |
| 2006 [18] |
Stardust: The Bette Davis Story | Peter Jones | TCM | |
| American Masters | "John Ford/John Wayne: The Filmmaker and the Legend" | Kenneth Bowser | PBS | |
| "Ernest Hemingway: Rivers to the Sea" | DeWitt Sage | |||
| How William Shatner Changed the World | Alan Handel and Julian Jones | History | ||
| Penn & Teller: Bullshit! | "Prostitution" | Penn Jillette, Teller, Cliff Schoenberg, Jon Hotchkiss, Michael Goudeau and Star Price | Showtime | |
| 2007 [19] |
American Masters | "Andy Warhol: A Documentary Film" | James Sanders and Ric Burns | PBS |
| Penn & Teller: Bullshit! | "Wal-Mart" | Penn Jillette, Teller, Sheryl Zohn, Jon Hotchkiss, Michael Goudeau, Star Price, Cliff Schoenberg and David Weiss | Showtime | |
| Planet Earth | "Mountains" | Vanessa Berlowitz and Gary Parker | Discovery | |
| Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed | Steven Smith, David Comtois and Kevin Burns | History | ||
| This American Life | "God's Close-Up" | Nancy Updike | Showtime | |
| 2008 [20] |
The War | "Pride of Our Nation (June–August 1944)" | Geoffrey C. Ward | PBS |
| American Experience | "Walt Whitman" | Mark Zwonitzer | PBS | |
| Intervention | "Caylee" | Jeff Grogan | A&E | |
| Life After People | David de Vries | History | ||
| This American Life | "Escape" | Ira Glass | Showtime | |
| 2009 [21] |
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired | Joe Bini, P. G. Morgan and Marina Zenovich | HBO | |
| American Experience | "The Trials of J. Robert Oppenheimer" | David Grubin | PBS | |
| American Masters | "Jerome Robbins: Something to Dance About" | Amanda Vaill | ||
| Make 'Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America | "When I'm Bad, I'm Better — The Groundbreakers" | Michael Kantor and Laurence Maslon | ||
| Penn & Teller: Bullshit! | "New Age Medicine" | Penn Jillette, Teller, Star Price, Rich Nathanson, Michael Goudeau, David Wechter, Cliff Schoenberg and Sheryl Zohn | Showtime | |
2010s
2020s
| Year | Program | Episode(s) | Nominees | Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 [32] | ||||
| Don't F**k with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer | "Closing the Net" | Mark Lewis | Netflix | |
| Beastie Boys Story | Mike Diamond, Adam Horovitz and Spike Jonze | Apple TV+ | ||
| The Cave | Alisar Hasan and Feras Fayyad | Nat Geo | ||
| Circus of Books | Rachel Mason and Kathryn Robson | Netflix | ||
| McMillion$ | "Episode 1" | James Lee Hernandez and Brian Lazarte | HBO | |
| 2021 [33] | ||||
| The Social Dilemma | Vickie Curtis, Davis Coombe and Jeff Orlowski | Netflix | ||
| All In: The Fight for Democracy | Jack Youngelson | Prime Video | ||
| Allen v. Farrow | "Episode 3" | Kirby Dick, Amy Ziering, Mikaela Shwer and Parker Laramie | HBO | |
| The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart | Mark Monroe | |||
| Tulsa Burning: The 1921 Race Massacre | Maia Harris and Marco Williams | History | ||
| 2022 [34] | ||||
| Lucy and Desi | Mark Monroe | Prime Video | ||
| The Andy Warhol Diaries | "Shadows: Andy & Jed" | Andrew Rossi | Netflix | |
| How To with John Wilson | "How To Appreciate Wine" | John Wilson, Michael Koman, Susan Orlean and Conner O'Malley | HBO | |
| The Problem with Jon Stewart | "The Economy" | Chelsea Devantez, Jon Stewart and Kristen Acimovic | Apple TV+ | |
| The Tinder Swindler | Felicity Morris | Netflix | ||
| 2023 [35] | ||||
| The U.S. and the Holocaust | "Episode 2: Yearning to Breathe Free (1938-1942)" | Geoffrey C. Ward | PBS | |
| Dear Mama | "Panther Power" | Allen Hughes and Lasse Järvi | FX | |
| Moonage Daydream | Brett Morgen | HBO | ||
| 100 Foot Wave | "Chapter V: Lost at Sea" | Zach Rothfeld | ||
| Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me | Alek Keshishian and Paul Marchand | Apple TV+ | ||
| 2024 [36] | ||||
| Conan O'Brien Must Go | "Ireland" | Jessie Gaskell, Conan O'Brien, Matt O'Brien and Mike Sweeney | Max | |
| How To with John Wilson | "How To Watch the Game" | John Wilson, Michael Koman and Allie Viti | HBO | |
| Jim Henson Idea Man | Mark Monroe | Disney+ | ||
| The Jinx — Part Two | "Chapter 7: Why Are You Still Here?" | Andrew Jarecki, Sam Neave and Zac Stuart-Pontier | HBO | |
| The Reluctant Traveler with Eugene Levy | "Scotland: My Mother's Country" | Alan Connor, David Reilly and Christine Rose | Apple TV+ | |
| 2025 [37] | ||||
| The Daily Show Presents: Jordan Klepper Fingers the Pulse: MAGA: The Next Generation | Ian Berger, Jordan Klepper, Jennifer Flanz, Devin Delliquanti and Scott Sherman | Comedy Central | ||
| Chimp Crazy | "Head Shot" | Eric Goode, Jeremy McBride, Timothy Moran, Evan Wise and Adrienne Gits | HBO | |
| Conan O'Brien Must Go | "Austria" | Conan O'Brien, Mike Sweeney, Jessie Gaskell and José Arroyo | HBO Max | |
| Martha | R. J. Cutler | Netflix | ||
| Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story | Peter Ettedgui, Ian Bonhôte and Otto Burnham | HBO | ||
Programs with multiple awards
Individuals with multiple awards
|
|
Programs with multiple nominations
|
|
|
Notes
- ^ As a juried award, nominees had to garner 50% approval to win the award. The nominee did not meet the benchmark and no award was given.
- ^ As a juried award, nominees had to garner 50% approval to win the award. The nominee did not meet the benchmark and no award was given.
- ^ As a juried award, nominees had to garner 50% approval to win the award.
- ^ As a juried award, nominees had to garner 50% approval to win the award.
- ^ As a juried award, nominees had to garner 50% approval to win the award.
- ^ As a juried award, nominees had to garner 50% approval to win the award.
- ^ As a juried award, nominees had to garner 50% approval to win the award.
- ^ As a juried award, nominees had to garner 50% approval to win the award.
- ^ As a juried award, nominees had to garner 50% approval to win the award. The nominee did not meet the benchmark and no award was given.
- ^ As a juried award, nominees had to garner 50% approval to win the award.
- ^ As a juried award, nominees had to garner 50% approval to win the award. No nominee met the benchmark and no award was given.
- ^ As a juried award, nominees had to garner 50% approval to win the award. The nominee did not meet the benchmark and no award was given.
- ^ As a juried award, nominees had to garner 50% approval to win the award.
- ^ In 2020, the TV Academy rescinded a win in this category for the Disney Channel special George Stevens: D-Day to Berlin, written by George Stevens Jr. The program was a re-edit of the 1985 BBC documentary D-Day to Berlin, in violation of a rule that "a program that is a foreign acquisition without benefit of a domestic co-production cannot be re-introduced into eligibility in a current awards year, even though it may have been modified with new footage, sound track, musical score, etc."
References
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Television Academy. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Television Academy. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Television Academy. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Television Academy. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Television Academy. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Television Academy. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Television Academy. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Television Academy. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Television Academy. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Television Academy. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Television Academy. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Television Academy. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Television Academy. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
- ^ Feinberg, Scott (March 12, 2020). "TV Academy Rescinds Several of George Stevens Jr.'s Emmy Noms, Awards (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved July 14, 2016.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved July 13, 2017.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved July 12, 2022.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved July 15, 2023.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved July 21, 2024.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved July 17, 2025.