The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series debuted in 1966, and has been annually awarded most years since the mid-1960s. It has had a large number of name changes, mostly involving the addition or subtraction of the word comedy. Generally, the category has recognized the writers of variety and sketch comedy shows. However, in 1969, 1970 and 1979, it was the main category for writers of situation comedies. Prior to 1966, variety series were eligible in Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series where The Red Skelton Show and other variety programs were occasionally nominated.
For most of the 1970s, the category was effectively split into two branches. From 1971 to 1978, one-off specials were awarded separately from ongoing series. The divide was reinstated in 2009 as Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special. The writers of one-off variety specials competed against series writers in the interim, and occasionally won, as in 1991 and 2000. This has led to some anomalies, such as when a special edition of Late Night with David Letterman beat out regular editions of The Tracey Ullman Show and Saturday Night Live in 1987, despite the fact that typical episodes of Late Night were not nominated that year.
The category eventually found greater stability with its name in 1982, when it settled on Outstanding Writing for a Variety or Music Program for almost two decades. In 2000, it added the word comedy. Of all the writing Emmy categories, it has recently become the one most dominated by cable networks. Since 1996 it has been won by a major terrestrial broadcaster only twice, with the overwhelming majority of winners coming from HBO and Comedy Central.
The category has seen many name changes, including variety, musical and comedy series. The current name dates from 2012. Since 2003, and with the exception of 2007, three series have shared the awards: The Daily Show and its spin-off, The Colbert Report, both broadcast on Comedy Central, and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, himself a Daily Show alumnus.
The following list of winners is organized both by year and the name being used by the category in that year:
Winners and nominations
1950s
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
2020s
Programs with multiple wins
9 wins
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
7 wins
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
5 wins
The Carol Burnett Show
4 wins
The Colbert Report
Dennis Miller Live
Late Night with David Letterman
Saturday Night Live
2 wins
SCTV Network
Programs with multiple nominations
29 nominations
Saturday Night Live
16 nominations
Late Show with David Letterman
15 nominations
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
14 nominations
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Late Night with David Letterman
12 nominations
The Carol Burnett Show
10 nominations
The Colbert Report
9 nominations
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
SCTV Network
7 nominations
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
6 nominations
Dennis Miller Live
Real Time with Bill Maher
5 nominations
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee
Late Night with Seth Meyers
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
4 nominations
The Chris Rock Show
The Muppet Show
Portlandia
The Tracey Ullman Show
3 nominations
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
The Flip Wilson Show
In Living Color
Inside Amy Schumer
Key & Peele
The Kids in the Hall
Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher
The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour
2 nominations
A Black Lady Sketch Show
The Danny Kaye Show
Mr. Show with Bob and David
Mystery Science Theater 3000
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
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