BENJAMONSTER AWARDS 2024: Outstanding Writing of a Comedy Series

Today's award is Outstanding Writing of a Comedy Series!

Past Awards in This Category: 2023 2022 2021 2020

This year's nominees are...

QUINTA BRUNSON, Abbott Elementary "Career Day" (ABC)

JOHN CARCIERI & DANNY MCBRIDE, The Righteous Gemstones "Interlude III" (HBO)

GUY ENDORE-KAISER, Platonic "Partner's Retreat" (Apple TV+)

SOPHIA LEAR, Ghosts "Holes Are Bad" (CBS)

CAROL LEIFER & CAROLYN LIPKA, Hacks "One Day" (Max)

JEREMY LEVICK & RAJAT SURESH, What We Do in the Shadows "Hybrid Creatures" (FX)

SAMANTHA RILEY & LUCIA ANIELLO & JEN STATSKY & PAUL W. DOWNS, Hacks "Yes, And" (Max)

And the Winner Is...

SAMANTHA RILEY & LUCIA ANIELLO & JEN STATSKY & PAUL W. DOWNS

Hacks "Yes, And" (Max)

For much of the third season finale of Hacks, it looked like they were going to reset the story again. And while I always love a sparring Deborah and Ava, I was a little leery that the show was just going in circles. But then the final scene happened and the show was turned on its head. The creators, which included the writers of this episode, chose to finally give Ava the upper hand in the two-hander and that sets up a really delicious season four. It was a decision the show needed to make but not every show will make. Some shows are very content with doing what works. Hacks was willing to do something different. I applaud that and I applaud how they got there within this very well-crafted episode.

Thoughts on the Rest of the Nominees:

In addition to the Hacks season finale, the "One Day" episode also made the nomination. It was an episode primarily with just Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder and the writers gave them great and authentic dialogue. The season premiere of Abbott Elementary was really strong as it set up a daring new story for Janine (unlike Hacks though, the show ultimately played it safe later in the season). The latest "Interlude" episode of The Righteous Gemstones was the strongest yet of their flashback episodes. "Partner's Retreat" was a great episode of Platonic that firmly established the dynamics between Rose Byrne and Seth Rogen's characters. The "Hybrid Creatures" episode of What We Do in the Shadows was so incredibly clever. Finally, the "Holes Are Bad" episode of Ghosts was surprisingly poignant and sad as it revealed the background of how Hetty died.

Tomorrow: Outstanding Directing of a Limited/Anthology Series

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