Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Comedy-Variety Talk Series

The Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Comedy/Variety Talk Series is an award presented by the Writers Guild of America to the best writing in a comedy or variety talk program. With the exception of 1998 in which no award was given, it has been presented annually since the 49th Writers Guild of America Awards in 1997 where Late Night with Conan O'Brien won the first award. From the award's creation, the category was dominated by Late Night with Conan O'Brien, winning six of the first nine awards. Recently, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver has won the award the last four years in a row, and five times in the last six years.

Submission guidelines
According to the Writers Guild of America's official rules for the Comedy/Variety Talk Series category, the names included in the nominations are those of every writer who participated in at least 25% of all episodes telecast during the eligibility period for a particular program. Nominees are chosen based on a submission of five sketches and/or monologues that best represent a series' overall quality of writing. Until 2015, the award was called the "Comedy/Variety (Including Talk) Series Award," including both talk shows and sketch comedies. Starting with the 68th Writers Guild of America Awards, the category was split into two separate awards: the "Comedy/Variety Talk Series Award" for programs that are primarily composed of monologue jokes, desk segments, and guest interviews, and the "Comedy/Variety Sketch Series Award" for programs that primarily consist of scripted sketches. The rule change allows for series like Saturday Night Live and Portlandia to compete against shows similar to their structure rather than late-night talk shows that are presented in a different format.

Total awards

 * NBC – 9
 * HBO – 8
 * Comedy Central – 5
 * IFC – 1
 * Showtime – 1

Programs with multiple awards

 * 6 awards
 * Late Night with Conan O'Brien (NBC)


 * 5 awards
 * Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)


 * 4 awards
 * The Colbert Report (Comedy Central)


 * 3 awards
 * Saturday Night Live (NBC)


 * 2 awards
 * Dennis Miller Live (HBO)

Programs with multiple nominations

 * 12 nominations
 * Late Night with Conan O'Brien (NBC)
 * Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)
 * Saturday Night Live (NBC)


 * 10 nominations
 * The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Comedy Central)


 * 8 nominations
 * The Colbert Report (Comedy Central)


 * 6 nominations
 * Conan (TBS)
 * Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
 * Penn & Teller: Bullshit! (Showtime)


 * 5 nominations
 * Dennis Miller Live (HBO)
 * Jimmy Kimmel Live! (ABC)
 * Late Night with Seth Meyers (NBC)
 * The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS)


 * 4 nominations
 * Full Frontal with Samantha Bee (Comedy Central)
 * The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (CBS)


 * 3 nominations
 * MADtv (Fox)


 * 2 nominations
 * The Daily Show with Trevor Noah (Comedy Central)
 * Politically Incorrect (ABC)
 * Portlandia (IFC)
 * The Problem with Jon Stewart (Apple TV+)