Emmys: TV Academy Slammed by Writers Guild for Moving Variety Writing Award Off Primetime Telecast

The TV Academy is being slammed by the Writers Guild of America for apparently making the decision to remove the presentation of the outstanding writing for a variety series/special award from the Primetime Emmys telecast that will take place on Jan. 15, 2024.

In a missive sent on Tuesday to members of the WGA East and West, the guild’s top leadership — including WGA East president Lisa Takeuchi Cullen and WGA West president Meredith Stiehm — calls the TV Academy’s move a “regrettable decision” and one “without any justification or defensible reason” which “devalues our profession.”

They go on to note that the guild has raised its objections directly with the TV Academy and is “strongly advocating to have the category remain in the primetime televised program.”

The TV Academy and its 2024 Emmys broadcasting partner Fox are presumably facing pressure to deliver higher telecast ratings by making the show shorter and more engaging for the general public, which is not widely familiar with writers. But, as the film Academy discovered in recent years after announcing plans to present some awards differently than others, Academy members — who hail from across the professions of a medium — tend to react poorly to unequal treatment and fear that if one group is deemphasized, another could be next.

Indeed, the guild writes, “If the Television Academy can make this decision without any justification, we worry that it could set a precedent for them to remove other writing categories in the years to come,” adding, “We didn’t spend months on strike, fighting to receive the recognition we deserve for the work we help create, only to be pushed to the sidelines when it comes time to do exactly that.”

The TV Academy declined to comment.

The full text of the email appears below.

Dear Members,

The Television Academy has made the regrettable decision to not present the “Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series/Special” Awards during the main Emmy Awards telecast. They did this without any justification or defensible reason.

The Guild has been in touch with the Academy to convey our objection to this decision, and we are strongly advocating to have the category remain in the primetime televised program on January 15, 2024.

This doesn’t just impact the people who write on the Emmy-nominated shows for a given year — this decision devalues our profession as a whole. The Emmys are fundamentally about celebrating excellence in television, and by removing these categories from the televised broadcast, the Television Academy is essentially ignoring how writing serves as the foundation for excellence in television.

We all know how many writers it takes to create these incredible programs, and that’s exactly the point: the shows we write for are watched, loved, shared — and, yes, even nominated for awards — because of our writing.

And if the Television Academy can make this decision without any justification, we worry that it could set a precedent for them to remove other writing categories in the years to come.

We didn’t spend months on strike, fighting to receive the recognition we deserve for the work we help create, only to be pushed to the sidelines when it comes time to do exactly that.

The WGAE and WGAW are strongly advocating to keep these categories in the primetime televised program, and we will continue to push the Television Academy to change their minds. 

We urge you – our fellow writers – to join us in championing the preservation of these categories in the main Emmys broadcast: Tweet at @TheEmmys or tag @televisionacad on Instagram to express your feelings about their decision, and to urge them to keep these categories on-air.

Thank you for your support. We will be in touch with further updates.

In Solidarity,

Lisa Takeuchi Cullen, WGAE President 
Erica Saleh, WGAE Film/TV/Streaming Vice President
Christopher Kyle, WGAE Secretary-Treasurer 

Meredith Stiehm, WGAW President
Michele Mulroney, WGAW Vice President
Betsy Thomas, WGAW Secretary-Treasurer 

Kaitlin Fontana, WGAE Comedy-Variety Council Member
Josh Gondelman, WGAE Comedy-Variety Council Member  
Liz Hynes, WGAE Comedy-Variety Council Member  
Greg Iwinski, WGAE Comedy-Variety Council Member  
Zhubin Parang, WGAE Comedy-Variety Council Member  
Sasha Stewart, WGAE Comedy-Variety Council Member 

Adam Conover, WGAW Board Member, Comedy-Variety Writer