Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series
| Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series | |
|---|---|
| Description | Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series |
| Country | United States |
| Presented by | Academy of Television Arts & Sciences |
| Currently held by | David Benioff and D. B. Weiss Game of Thrones (2015) |
| Website | http://www.emmys.com/ |
The Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series is awarded to one television episode each year at the Primetime Emmy Awards. Often regarded as the highest honor that can be bestowed upon an individual episode of television, the nominees and winners often reflect outstanding achievement in character, emotion, and storytelling.
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.[fn 1]
Winners and nominations
1950s
| Year | Show | Episode | Writer(s) | Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio One | "Twelve Angry Men" | Reginald Rose | CBS | |
| Climax! | "An Error in Chemistry" | David Dortort | CBS | |
| Four Star Playhouse | "The Answer" | Leonard Freeman | ||
| Medic | "White is the Color" | James Moser | NBC | |
| Philco Television Playhouse | Paddy Chayefsky | |||
| Best Original Teleplay Writing | ||||
| Kraft Television Theatre | "Patterns" | Rod Serling | NBC | |
| Alcoa-Goodyear Playhouse | "A Catered Affair" | Paddy Chayefsky | NBC | |
| "Thunder Over Washington" | David Davidson | |||
| The Philco Television Playhouse | "A Man is Ten Feet Tall" | Robert Alan Aurthur | ||
| The United States Steel Hour | "Fearful Decision" | Cyril Hume, Richard Maibaum | CBS | |
| Best Television Adaptation | ||||
| Ford Star Jubilee | "The Cain Mutiny Court-Martial" | Paul Gregory, Franklin Schaffner | CBS | |
| The 20th Century Fox Hour | "Miracle on 34th Street" | John Monks | CBS | |
| "The Ox-Bow Incident" | David Dortort | |||
| Climax! | "The Champion" | Rod Serling | ||
| Producers' Showcase | "Our Town" | David Shaw | NBC | |
| Best Teleplay Writing, Half Hour or Less | ||||
| Alfred Hitchcock Presents | "Fog Closing In" | James P. Cavanaugh | CBS | |
| Frontier | "Patrol" | Morton Fine, David Friedkin | NBC | |
| The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp | "The Buntime" | Dan Ullman | ABC | |
| The Loretta Young Show | "The Pearl" | Richard Morris | NBC | |
| Telephone Time | "Man With the Beard" | John Nesbitt | ABC | |
| Best Teleplay Writing, One Hour or More | ||||
| Playhouse 90 | "Requiem for a Heavyweight" | Rod Serling | CBS | |
| Alcoa-Goodyear Playhouse | "Joey" | Louis Peterson | NBC | |
| "Tragedy in a Temporary Town" | Reginald Rose | |||
| Kraft Television Theatre | "A Night to Remember" | George Roy Hill, John Whedon | ||
| Playhouse 90 | "Sizeman and Son" | Elick Moll | CBS | |
| Best Teleplay Writing, Half Hour or Less | ||||
| Schlitz Playhouse of Stars | "The Lonely Wizard" | Paul Monash | CBS | |
| Father Knows Best | "Margaret Hires a Gardener" | Roswell Rogers | NBC | |
| Frontiers of Faith | "A Chassidic Tale" | Morton Wishengrad | ||
| Gunsmoke | "Born to Hang" | John Meston | CBS | |
| Leave It to Beaver | "Beaver Gets Spelled" | Joe Connelly, Bob Mosher | ||
| Best Teleplay Writing, One Hour or More | ||||
| Playhouse 90 | "The Comedian" | Rod Serling | CBS | |
| Hallmark Hall of Fame | "The Green Pastures" | Marc Connelly | NBC | |
| Omnibus | "The Life of Samuel Johnson" | James Lee | ||
| Playhouse 90 | "Miracle Worker" | William Gibson | CBS | |
| Studio One | "No Deadly Medicine" | Arthur Hailey | ||
| 1958-59 | Best Writing of a Single Program of a Dramatic Series Less Than One Hour | |||
| Alcoa-Goodyear Theatre | "Eddie" | Alfred Brenner, Ken Hughes | NBC | |
| Alcoa-Goodyear Theatre | "The Loudmouth" | Christopher Knopf | NBC | |
| Alfred Hitchcock Presents | "Lamb to the Slaughter" | Roald Dahl | CBS | |
| General Electric Theatre | "One is a Wanderer" | Samuel A. Taylor | ||
| Peter Gunn | "The Kill" | Blake Edwards | NBC | |
| Best Writing of a Single Dramatic Program One Hour or Longer | ||||
| Hallmark Hall of Fame | "Little Moon of Alban" | James Costigan | NBC | |
| Playhouse 90 | "Child of Our Time" | Irving G. Neiman | CBS | |
| "Days of Wine and Roses" | J.P. Miller | |||
| "The Old Man" | Horton Foote | |||
| "A Town has Turned to Dust" | Rod Serling | |||
1960s
| Year | Show | Episode | Writer(s) | Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1959-60 | The Twilight Zone | Rod Serling | CBS | |
| Ford Startime | "The Turn of the Screw" | James Costigan | NBC | |
| Playhouse 90 | "Project Immortality" | Loring Mandel | CBS | |
| 1960-61 | The Twilight Zone | Rod Serling | CBS | |
| DuPont Show of the Month | "The Lincoln Murder Case" | Dale Wasserman | CBS | |
| NBC Sunday Showcase | "The Sacco-Vanzetti Story" | Reginald Rose | NBC | |
| 1961-62 | The Defenders | Reginald Rose | CBS | |
| Alcoa Premiere | "People Need People" | Henry F. Greenberg | ABC | |
| Ben Casey | "I Remember a Lemon Tree" | Jack Laird and Marcus W. Demian | ||
| The Dick Powell Show | "The Price of Tomatoes" | Richard Alan Simmons | NBC | |
| The Twilight Zone | Rod Serling | CBS | ||
| 1962-63 | The Defenders | "The Madman" | Robert Thom and Reginald Rose | CBS |
| Ben Casey | "A Cardinal Act of Mercy" | Norman Katkov | ABC | |
| The DuPont Show of the Week | "Big Deal in Laredo" | Sidney Carroll | NBC | |
| Hallmark Hall of Fame | "The Invincible Mr. Disraeli" | James Lee | ||
| Alcoa Premiere | "The Voice of Charlie Pont" | Halsted Welles | ABC | |
| 1963-64 | Outstanding Writing Achievement in Drama – Original | |||
| The Defenders | "Blacklist" | Ernest Kinoy | CBS | |
| Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre | "Something About Lee Wiley" | David Rayfiel | NBC | |
| Breaking Point | "And James was a very Small Snail | Allan Sloane | ABC | |
| Dr. Kildare | "What's God to Julius?" | Adrian Spies | NBC | |
| East Side/West Side | "Who Do You Kill?" | Arnold Perl | CBS | |
| Outstanding Writing Achievement in Drama – Adaptation | ||||
| Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre | "It's Mental Work" | Rod Serling | NBC | |
| Alfred Hitchcock Presents | "The Jar" | James Bridges | CBS | |
| Hallmark Hall of Fame | "The Patriots" | Robert Hartung | NBC | |
| The Richard Boone Show | "The Hooligan" | Walter Newman | ||
| 1964-65 |
The Defenders | "The 700 Year Old Gang" | David Karp | CBS |
| Danny Thomas Special | "The Wonderful World of Burlesque" | Arnie Rosen, Coleman Jacoby | NBC | |
| The Dick Van Dyke Show | "Never Bathe on Sunday" | Carl Reiner | CBS | |
| Hallmark Hall of Fame | "The Magnificent Yankee" | Robert Hartung | NBC | |
| That Was the Week That Was | Gerald Gardner, Larry Siegel, Buck Henry, Gloria Steinem, Robert Emmett, Calvin Trillin, Dee Caruso, William Boardman, Joseph Hurley, Herbert Sargent, David Frost, Jim Stevenson, Thomas Meehan, Saul Turteltaub | |||
| 1965-66 | Hallmark Hall of Fame | "Eagle in a Cage" | Millard Lampell | NBC |
| Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre | "The Game" | S. Lee Pogostin | NBC | |
| I Spy | "A Cup of Kindness" | Morton S. Fine, David Friedkin | ||
| 1966-67 | Mission: Impossible | "Mission: Impossible" | Bruce Geller | CBS |
| CBS Playhouse | "The Final War of Olly Winter" | Ronald Ribman | CBS | |
| I Spy | "The Warlord" | Robert Culp | NBC | |
| 1967-68 | CBS Playhouse | "Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night" | Loring Mandel | CBS |
| CBS Playhouse | "Dear Friends" | Reginald Rose | CBS | |
| Ironside | "Ironside: World Premiere Motion Picture" | Don Mankiewicz | NBC | |
| Mission: Impossible | "The Seal" | Allan Balter, William Read Woodfield | CBS | |
| 1968-69 | CBS Playhouse | "The People Next Door" | J. P. Miller | CBS |
| CBS Playhouse | "The Experiment" | Ellen M. Violett | CBS | |
| Hallmark Hall of Fame | "Teacher, Teacher" | Allan Sloane | NBC | |
1970s
| Year | Show | Episode | Writer(s) | Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1969-70 | My Sweet Charlie | Richard Levinson, William Link | CBS | |
| CBS Playhouse | "Sadbird" | George Bellak | CBS | |
| ABC Movie of the Week | "Marcus Welby, M.D." | Don Mankiewicz | ABC | |
| 1970-71 | The Bold Ones: The Senator | "To Taste of Death but Once" | Joel Oliansky | NBC |
| The Bold Ones: The Senator | "A Continual Roar of Musketry" | David W. Rintels | NBC | |
| The Psychiatrist | "In Death's Other Kingdom" | Jerrold Freedman | ||
| 1971-72 | Columbo | "Death Lends a Hand" | Richard Levinson & William Link | NBC |
| Columbo | "Murder by the Book" | Steven Bochco | NBC | |
| "Suitable for Framing" | Jackson Gillis | |||
| 1972-73 | The Waltons | "The Scholar" | John McGreevey | CBS |
| Columbo | "Etude in Black" | Steven Bochco, William Link & Richard Levinson | NBC | |
| The Waltons | "The Love Story" | Earl Hamner Jr. | CBS | |
| 1973-74 | The Waltons | "The Thanksgiving Story" | Joanna Lee | CBS |
| Kojak | "Death is Not a Passing Grade" | Gene R. Kearney | CBS | |
| The Waltons | "The Easter Story" | John McGreevey | ||
| 1974-75 | Benjamin Franklin | "The Ambassador" | Howard Fast | CBS |
| Benjamin Franklin | "The Whirlwind" | Loring Mandel | CBS | |
| Police Story | "Robbery: 48 Hours" | Robert L. Collins | NBC | |
| Upstairs, Downstairs | "The Bolter" | John Hawkesworth | PBS | |
| "Miss Forrest" | Alfred Shaughnessy | |||
| 1975-76 | The Adams Chronicles | "John Adams, Lawyer" | Sherman Yellen | PBS |
| Great Performances | "Jennie: Lady Randolph Churchill" | Julian Mitchell | PBS | |
| The Law | "Complaint Amended" | Larry Gelbart & Simon Muntner | NBC | |
| Rich Man, Poor Man | "Part I" | Dean Riesner | ABC | |
| Upstairs, Downstairs | "Another Year" | Alfred Shaughnessy | PBS | |
| 1976-77 | Roots | "Part II" | William Blinn and Ernest Kinoy | ABC |
| The Adams Chronicles | "Charles Francis Adams: Minister to Great Britain" | Roger O. Hirson | PBS | |
| "John Quincy Adams: President" | Tad Mosel | |||
| Roots | "Part V" | James Lee | ABC | |
| "Part VIII" | M. Charles Cohen | |||
| 1977-78 | Holocaust | Gerald Green | NBC | |
| The Dain Curse | Robert W. Lenski | CBS | ||
| King | Abby Mann | NBC | ||
| Meeting of Minds | Steve Allen | PBS | ||
| The Norman Conquests | Alan Ayckbourn | |||
| 1978-79 | Lou Grant | "Dying" | Michele Gallery | CBS |
| Lou Grant | "Marathon" | Gene Reynolds | CBS | |
| "Vet" | Leon Tokatyan | |||
| The Paper Chase | "The Late Mr. Hart" | James Bridges |
1980s
| Year | Show | Episode | Writer(s) | Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979-80 | Lou Grant | "Cop" | Seth Freeman | CBS |
| Lou Grant | "Brushfire" | Allan Burns, Gene Reynolds | CBS | |
| "Lou" | Michele Gallery | |||
| Skag | "Pilot" | Abby Mann | NBC | |
| Tenspeed and Brown Shoe | Stephen J. Cannell | ABC | ||
| 1980-81 | Hill Street Blues | "Hill Street Station" | Steven Bochco, Michael Kozoll | NBC |
| American Dream | "Pilot" | Ronald M. Cohen, Barbara Corday, Ken Hecht | ABC | |
| Hill Street Blues | "Jungle Madness" | Steven Bochco, Michael Kozoll, Anthony Yerkovich | NBC | |
| Lou Grant | "Rape" | Seth Freeman | CBS | |
| "Strike" | April Smith | |||
| 1981-82 | Hill Street Blues | "Freedom's Last Stand" | Steven Bochco, Michael Kozoll, Jeff Lewis, Michael I. Wagner, Anthony Yerkovich | NBC |
| Hill Street Blues | "Personal Foul" | Steven Bochco, Jeff Lewis, Michael I. Wagner, Anthony Yerkovich | NBC | |
| "The Second Oldest Profession" | Steven Bochco, Robert Crais, Michael Kozoll, Anthony Yerkovich | |||
| "The World According to Freedom" | Michael I. Wagner | |||
| Lou Grant | "Blacklist" | Seth Freeman | CBS | |
| 1982-83 | Hill Street Blues | "Trial by Fury" | David Milch | NBC |
| Hill Street Blues | "Eugene's Comedy Empire Strikes Back" | Steven Bochco, Karen Hall, Jeff Lewis, David Milch, Anthony Yerkovich | NBC | |
| "A Hair of the Dog" | Steven Bochco, Jeff Lewis, Anthony Yerkovich | |||
| "No Body's Perfect" | Steven Bochco, Jeff Lewis, David Milch, Michael I. Wagner, Anthony Yerkovich | |||
| "Officer of the Year" | Karen Hall | |||
| 1983-84 | St. Elsewhere | "The Women" | Tom Fontana, John Masius, John Ford Noonan | NBC |
| Hill Street Blues | "Doris in Wonderland" | Steven Bochco, Jeff Lewis, David Milch, Peter Silverman | NBC | |
| "Grace Under Pressure" | Steven Bochco, Mark Frost, Karen Hall, Jeff Lewis, David Milch, Michael I. Wagner | |||
| St. Elsewhere | "All About Eve" | Tom Fontana, John Masius | ||
| "Newhart" | Tom Fontana, John Masius, Emilie R. Small, Garn Stephens | |||
| "Qui Transulit Sustinet" | Tom Fontana, John Masius, John Tinker, Mark Tinker | |||
| 1984-85 | Cagney & Lacey | "Who Said it's Fair" (Part II) | Patricia Green | CBS |
| Cagney & Lacey | "Child Witness" | Deborah Arakelian | CBS | |
| Hill Street Blues | "The Rise and Fall of Paul the Wall" | Jacob Epstein, Michael I. Wagner | NBC | |
| Miami Vice | "Pilot" | Anthony Yerkovich | ||
| St. Elsewhere | "Murder, She Rote" | Steve Bello, Tom Fontana, John Masius | ||
| "Sweet Dreams" | Tom Fontana, John Masius | |||
| 1985-86 | St. Elsewhere | "Time Heals" | Tom Fontana, John Masius, John Tinker | NBC |
| Hill Street Blues | "What Are Friends For?" | Dick Wolf | NBC | |
| Moonlighting | "The Dream Sequence Always Rings Twice" | Debra Frank, Carl Sautter | ABC | |
| "Twas the Episode Before Christmas" | Glenn Gordon Caron | |||
| St. Elsewhere | "Haunted" | Charles H. Eglee, Tom Fontana, Channing Gibson, John Masius, John Tinker | NBC | |
| 1986-87 | L.A. Law | "The Venus Butterfly" | Steven Bochco, Terry Louise Fisher | NBC |
| Cagney & Lacey | "Turn, Turn, Turn" (Part I) | Georgia Jeffries | CBS | |
| Hill Street Blues | "It Ain't Over Till It's Over" | Jeff Lewis, David Milch, John Romano | NBC | |
| L.A. Law | "Sidney the Dead-Nosed Reindeer" | William M. Finkelstein | ||
| Moonlighting | "I Am Curious... Maddie" | Glenn Gordon Caron, Roger Director, Charles H. Eglee, Karen Hall, Ron Osborn, Jeff Reno | ABC | |
| "Atomic Shakespeare" | Ron Osborn, Jeff Reno | |||
| St. Elsewhere | "Afterlife" | Tom Fontana, John Masius, John Tinker | NBC | |
| 1987-88 | thirtysomething | "Business as Usual" | Paul Haggis, Marshall Herskovitz | ABC |
| Beauty and the Beast | "Pilot" | Ron Koslow | CBS | |
| China Beach | John Sacret Young | ABC | ||
| L.A. Law | "Beauty and Obese" | Terry Louise Fisher, David E. Kelley | NBC | |
| "Full Martial Jacket" | Steven Bochco, Terry Louise Fisher, David E. Kelley | |||
| St. Elsewhere | "The Last One" | Tom Fontana, Channing Gibson, Bruce Paltrow, John Tinker, Mark Tinker | ||
| 1988-89 | thirtysomething | "First Day/Last Day" | Joseph Dougherty | ABC |
| L.A. Law | "His Suit Is Hirsute" | Steven Bochco, David E. Kelley, William M. Finkelstein, Michele Gallery | NBC | |
| "I'm in the Nude for Love" | David E. Kelley | |||
| "Urine Trouble Now" | David E. Kelley, William M. Finkelstein, Michele Gallery, Judith Parker | |||
| thirtysomething | "The Mike Van Dyke Show" | Marshall Herskovitz, Edward Zwick | ABC |
1990s
2000s
2010s
Programs with multiple awards
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Programs with multiple nominations
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People with multiple awards
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Footnotes
- ^ Though this category is the dominant one in which dramatic writing has been recognized, there were a few years in which the categories were determined by running time, not genre. The 17th Primetime Emmy Awards only had one writing category, for all genres, it is not listed below. Hence, the entirety of all of the dramatic nominees are not listed below, though each shows cumulative total at the bottom is correct.
- ^ The 17th Emmys did not have genre-specific categories.