And the award for best writing in a comedy/variety talk series goes to… Last Week Tonight With John Oliver.
The WGA Awards were handed out late Sunday and, in an announcement that likely surprised absolutely no one in the crowd, Last Week Tonight was recognized—yet again—for best writing in a Comedy/Variety Talk Series.
A total of 15 writers shared in the accolade. In addition to Oliver himself, senior writers Daniel O’Brien, Owen Parsons, Charlie Redd, Joanna Rothkopf, and Seena Vali and writers Johnathan Appel, Ali Barthwell, Tim Carvell, Liz Hynes, Ryan Ken, Mark Kramer, Sofia Manfredi, Taylor Kay Phillips, and Chrissy Shackelford all share the award.
This marks the second year in a row that Oliver and company have taken home the big prize, and the seventh time the WGA has recognized their excellence overall.
Last Week Tonight has been nominated in the same category every year since the show’s debut in 2014 and has a near-perfect record with only two losses. At the 2020 ceremony, Showtime’s Desus & Mero took home the award and in 2022 it went to Conan.
This year’s other nominees for best writing in a Comedy/Variety Talk Series were The Daily Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Late Night with Seth Meyers, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and The Problem with Jon Stewart.
Oliver won his first WGA Award in 2010 for his work on The Daily Show. In 2015, he competed against himself for Best Comedy/Variety (Including Talk) Series when Last Week Tonight went head-to-head with The Daily Show. The former triumphed.
The Writers Guild of America held simultaneous ceremonies in Los Angeles and New York Sunday, one at the Hollywood Palladium with Niecy Nash-Betts hosting, and the other at the Edison Ballroom with comedian/former Last Week Tonight writer Josh Gondelman headlining the night. While the ceremony is typically held about a week before the Oscars, because of last year’s writers strike, the decision was made to postpone this year’s ceremony until after the traditional awards season.
