Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Nonfiction Programming

The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Nonfiction Program is awarded to one television documentary or nonfiction series each year.

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Nonfiction Program
Awarded for	Outstanding Writing for a Nonfiction Program
Country	United States
Presented by	Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
Currently held by	Conan O'Brien Must Go (2024)
Website	emmys.com

In the following list, the first titles listed in gold are the winners; those not in gold are nominees, which are listed in alphabetical order. The years given are those in which the ceremonies took place:

Winners and nominations

1970s

Year	Program	Episode	Nominees	Network
1979	Outstanding Individual Achievement - Informational Programming[1][note 1]
	Scared Straight!		Arnold Shapiro	Syndicated

1980s

Year	Program	Episode	Nominees	Network
1980	Outstanding Individual Achievement - Informational Programming[2][note 2]
	The Body Human: The Body Beautiful		Robert E. Fuisz and Louis H. Gorfain	CBS
1983	Outstanding Individual Achievement - Informational Programming[3][note 3]
	The Body Human: The Living Code		Robert E. Fuisz and Louis H. Gorfain	CBS
	I, Leonardo: A Journey of the Mind		Chandler Cowles	CBS
1984	Outstanding Individual Achievement - Informational Programming[4][note 4]
	A Walk Through the 20th Century with Bill Moyers	"Marshall, Texas"	Bill Moyers	PBS
1985	Outstanding Individual Achievement - Informational Programming - Writing[5][note 5]
	Heritage: Civilization and the Jews	"The Crucible of Europe"	Howard Enders, John G. Fox, Michael Joseloff and Marc Siegel	PBS
		"Out of the Ashes"	Brian Winston
	Heritage: Civilization and the Jews	"Roads from the Ghetto"	John G. Fox and Eugene Marner	PBS
	The Living Planet: A Portrait of the Earth		David Attenborough
1987	Outstanding Individual Achievement - Informational Programming - Writing[6][note 6]
	The Story of English	"A Muse of Fire"	Robert MacNeil and Robert McCrum	PBS
	American Masters	"Billie Holiday: The Long Night of Lady Day"	John Jeremy	PBS
1988	Outstanding Individual Achievement - Informational Programming[7][note 7]
	American Masters	"Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow"	Kevin Brownlow and David Gill	PBS
	Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam		Bill Couturié and Richard Dewhurst	HBO
	American Masters	"The Ten-Year Lunch: The Wit and Legend of the Algonquin Round Table"	Peter Foges and Mary Jo Kaplan	PBS
1989	Outstanding Writing in Informational Programming[8][note 8]
	The Mind	"Search for the Mind"	John Heminway	PBS

1990s

Year	Program	Episode	Nominees	Network
1990	Outstanding Writing in Informational Programming[9][note 9]
	American Masters	"Broadway Dreamers: The Legacy of the Group Theater"	Steve Lawson	PBS
1991	Outstanding Individual Achievement - Informational Programming[10][note 10]
	American Masters	"Preston Sturges: The Rise and Fall of an American Dreamer"	Todd McCarthy	PBS
	The Civil War	"The Better Angels of Our Nature"	Ric Burns, Ken Burns and Geoffrey C. Ward
1992	Outstanding Individual Achievement - Informational Programming[11][note 11]
	Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse		Fax Bahr and George Hickenlooper	Showtime
	Losing It All: The Reality of Alzheimer's Disease		Michael Mierendorf	HBO
1993	Outstanding Individual Achievement - Informational Programming[12][note 12]
	Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory	"America's Folk Religion"	Randall Balmer	PBS
1994	Outstanding Individual Achievement - Informational Programming[note 13][note 14][13][14]
	The Legend of Billy the Kid		Todd Robinson	Disney
	Reflections on Elephants		Dereck Joubert	PBS
	The Untold West	"The Black West"	Dennis Watlington	TBS

2000s

Year	Program	Episode(s)	Nominees	Network
2003 [15]	American Experience	"Seabiscuit"	Michelle Ferrari	PBS
	American Experience	"The Murder of Emmett Till"	Marcia A. Smith	PBS
	Da Ali G Show		Sacha Baron Cohen, Dan Mazer, Anthony Hines, Jamie Glassman and James Bobin	HBO
	Journeys with George		Alexandra Pelosi
	Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives		Mark Jonathan Harris
2004 [16]	American Masters	"Judy Garland: By Myself"	Susan Lacy and Stephen Stept	PBS
	Fred Rogers: America's Favorite Neighbor		Rick Sebak	PBS
	JFK: A Presidency Revealed		David C. Taylor	History
	Pandemic: Facing AIDS	"Uganda/Thailand"	Mark Bailey	HBO
	Penn & Teller: Bullshit!	"War on Drugs"	Penn Jillette, Teller, Emma Webster, Star Price and Michael Goudeau	Showtime
	Terry Jones' Medieval Lives	"The Peasant"	Terry Jones	History
2005 [17]	Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson		Geoffrey C. Ward	PBS
	Beyond the Da Vinci Code		Thomas Quinn and Rob Blumenstein	History
	Broadway: The American Musical	"Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'"	JoAnn Young	PBS
	Death in Gaza		Saira Shah	HBO
	Penn & Teller: Bullshit!	"Profanity"	Penn Jillette, Teller, Jon Hotchkiss, Star Price and Michael Goudeau	Showtime
2006 [18]	Stardust: The Bette Davis Story		Peter Jones	TCM
	American Masters	"John Ford/John Wayne: The Filmmaker and the Legend"	Kenneth Bowser	PBS
		"Ernest Hemingway: Rivers to the Sea"	DeWitt Sage
	How William Shatner Changed the World		Alan Handel and Julian Jones	History
	Penn & Teller: Bullshit!	"Prostitution"	Penn Jillette, Teller, Cliff Schoenberg, Jon Hotchkiss, Michael Goudeau and Star Price	Showtime
2007 [19]	American Masters	"Andy Warhol: A Documentary Film"	James Sanders and Ric Burns	PBS
	Penn & Teller: Bullshit!	"Wal-Mart"	Penn Jillette, Teller, Sheryl Zohn, Jon Hotchkiss, Michael Goudeau, Star Price, Cliff Schoenberg and David Weiss	Showtime
	Planet Earth	"Mountains"	Vanessa Berlowitz and Gary Parker	Discovery
	Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed		Steven Smith, David Comtois and Kevin Burns	History
	This American Life	"God's Close-Up"	Nancy Updike	Showtime
2008 [20]	The War	"Pride of Our Nation (June–August 1944)"	Geoffrey C. Ward	PBS
	American Experience	"Walt Whitman"	Mark Zwonitzer	PBS
	Intervention	"Caylee"	Jeff Grogan	A&E
	Life After People		David de Vries	History
	This American Life	"Escape"	Ira Glass	Showtime
2009 [21]	Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired		Joe Bini, P. G. Morgan and Marina Zenovich	HBO
	American Experience	"The Trials of J. Robert Oppenheimer"	David Grubin	PBS
	American Masters	"Jerome Robbins: Something to Dance About"	Amanda Vaill
	Make 'Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America	"When I'm Bad, I'm Better — The Groundbreakers"	Michael Kantor and Laurence Maslon
	Penn & Teller: Bullshit!	"New Age Medicine"	Penn Jillette, Teller, Star Price, Rich Nathanson, Michael Goudeau, David Wechter, Cliff Schoenberg and Sheryl Zohn	Showtime

2010s

Year	Program	Episode(s)	Nominees	Network
2010 [22]	The National Parks: America's Best Idea	"The Last Refuge (1890–1915)"	Dayton Duncan	PBS
	America: The Story of Us	"Division"	Jenny Ash and Ed Fields	History
	Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations	"Prague"	Anthony Bourdain	Travel
	The Buddha		David Grubin	PBS
	Life	"Challenges of Life"	Paul Spillenger	Discovery
2011 [23]	American Experience	"Freedom Riders"	Stanley Nelson Jr.	PBS
	Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations	"Haiti"	Anthony Bourdain	Travel
	Gasland		Josh Fox	HBO
	Gettysburg		Richard Bedser and Ed Fields	History
	Moguls & Movie Stars	"The Birth of Hollywood"	Jon Wilkman	TCM
2012 [24]	Prohibition	"A Nation of Hypocrites"	Geoffrey C. Ward	PBS
	American Experience	"Clinton"	Barak Goodman	PBS
	American Masters	"Johnny Carson: King of Late Night"	Peter Jones
	Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations	"Cuba"	Anthony Bourdain	Travel
	Sesame Street: Growing Hope Against Hunger		Christine Ferraro	PBS
2013 [25]	Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God		Alex Gibney	HBO
	Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown	"Libya"	Anthony Bourdain	CNN
	The Dust Bowl	"The Great Plow-Up"	Dayton Duncan	PBS
	Ethel		Mark Bailey	HBO
	The Men Who Built America	"A New War Begins"	Stephen David, Patrick Reams, David C. White, Keith Palmer, Randy Counsman and Ed Fields	History
2014 [26]	Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey	"Standing Up in the Milky Way"	Ann Druyan and Steven Soter	Fox
	American Experience	"JFK"	Mark Zwonitzer	PBS
	Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown	"Congo"	Anthony Bourdain	CNN
	The World Wars	"Trial by Fire"	Stephen David, David C. White, John Ealer, Alec Michod, Chelsea Coates, Randy Counsman, Russ McCarroll, Jordan Rosenblum and David Schaye	History
	Years of Living Dangerously	"The Surge"	Adam Bolt	Showtime
2015 [27]	Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief		Alex Gibney	HBO
	American Experience	"Last Days in Vietnam"	Keven McAlester and Mark Bailey	PBS
	Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown	"Iran"	Anthony Bourdain	CNN
	Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck		Brett Morgen	HBO
	The Roosevelts: An Intimate History	"The Rising Road (1933–1939)"	Geoffrey C. Ward	PBS
2016 [28]	Making a Murderer	"Eighteen Years Lost"	Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos	Netflix
	American Experience	"Walt Disney"	Mark Zwonitzer, Sarah Colt and Tom Jennings	PBS
	Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown	"Borneo"	Anthony Bourdain	CNN
	Everything Is Copy — Nora Ephron: Scripted & Unscripted		Jacob Bernstein	HBO
	Jackie Robinson		David McMahon and Sarah Burns	PBS
2017 [29]
	13th		Ava DuVernay and Spencer Averick	Netflix
	Amanda Knox		Matthew Hamachek and Brian McGinn	Netflix
	Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown	"Houston"	Anthony Bourdain	CNN
	The Beatles: Eight Days a Week — The Touring Years		Mark Monroe	Hulu
	Bill Nye Saves the World	"The Sexual Spectrum"	Prashanth Venkataramanujam, CeCe Pleasants, Sanden Totten, Mike Drucker and Flora Lichtman	Netflix
2018 [30]
	Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown	"Southern Italy"	Anthony Bourdain	CNN
	The Defiant Ones	"Episode 1"	Allen Hughes, Lasse Järvi and Doug Pray	HBO
	Icarus		Bryan Fogel, Mark Monroe and Jon Bertain	Netflix
	Jane		Brett Morgen	Nat Geo
	Mister Rogers: It's You I Like		JoAnn Young	PBS
	The Vietnam War	"Episode 8: The History of the World (April 1969-May 1970)"	Geoffrey C. Ward
2019 [31]
	Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown	"Kenya"	Anthony Bourdain	CNN
	The Case Against Adnan Syed	"Forbidden Love"	Amy J. Berg	HBO
	Fyre Fraud		Jenner Furst and Julia Willoughby	Hulu
	Hostile Planet	"Grasslands"	Bruce Kennedy	Nat Geo
	Our Planet	"Jungles"	Huw Cordey, Keith Scholey, Alastair Fothergill and David Attenborough	Netflix
	Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics and Men	"Episode 1"	Paul Greenhouse, Sacha Jenkins and Peter J. Scalettar	Showtime

2020s

Year	Program	Episode(s)	Nominees	Network
2020 [32]
	Don't F**k with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer	"Closing the Net"	Mark Lewis	Netflix
	Beastie Boys Story		Mike Diamond, Adam Horovitz and Spike Jonze	Apple TV+
	The Cave		Alisar Hasan and Feras Fayyad	Nat Geo
	Circus of Books		Rachel Mason and Kathryn Robson	Netflix
	McMillion$	"Episode 1"	James Lee Hernandez and Brian Lazarte	HBO
2021 [33]
	The Social Dilemma		Vickie Curtis, Davis Coombe and Jeff Orlowski	Netflix
	All In: The Fight for Democracy		Jack Youngelson	Prime Video
	Allen v. Farrow	"Episode 3"	Kirby Dick, Amy Ziering, Mikaela Shwer and Parker Laramie	HBO
	The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart		Mark Monroe
	Tulsa Burning: The 1921 Race Massacre		Maia Harris and Marco Williams	History
2022 [34]
	Lucy and Desi		Mark Monroe	Prime Video
	The Andy Warhol Diaries	"Shadows: Andy & Jed"	Andrew Rossi	Netflix
	How To with John Wilson	"How To Appreciate Wine"	John Wilson, Michael Koman, Susan Orlean and Conner O'Malley	HBO
	The Problem with Jon Stewart	"The Economy"	Chelsea Devantez, Jon Stewart and Kristen Acimovic	Apple TV+
	The Tinder Swindler		Felicity Morris	Netflix
2023 [35]
	The U.S. and the Holocaust	"Episode 2: Yearning to Breathe Free (1938-1942)"	Geoffrey C. Ward	PBS
	Dear Mama	"Panther Power"	Allen Hughes and Lasse Järvi	FX
	Moonage Daydream		Brett Morgen	HBO
	100 Foot Wave	"Chapter V: Lost at Sea"	Zach Rothfeld
	Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me		Alek Keshishian and Paul Marchand	Apple TV+
2024 [36]
	Conan O'Brien Must Go	"Ireland"	Jessie Gaskell, Conan O'Brien, Matt O'Brien and Mike Sweeney	Max
	How To with John Wilson	"How To Watch the Game"	John Wilson, Michael Koman and Allie Viti	HBO
	Jim Henson Idea Man		Mark Monroe	Disney+
	The Jinx — Part Two	"Chapter 7: Why Are You Still Here?"	Andrew Jarecki, Sam Neave and Zac Stuart-Pontier	HBO
	The Reluctant Traveler with Eugene Levy	"Scotland: My Mother's Country"	Alan Connor, David Reilly and Christine Rose	Apple TV+

Programs with multiple awards

4 wins American Masters

2 wins American Experience Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown

Individuals with multiple awards

5 awards Geoffrey C. Ward

2 awards Alex Gibney Anthony Bourdain

Programs with multiple nominations

9 nominations American Masters 8 nominations American Experience

7 nominations Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown 4 nominations Penn & Teller: Bullshit!

3 nominations Heritage: Civilization and the Jews 2 nominations How To with John Wilson

Notes

1. As a juried award, nominees had to garner 50% approval to win the award. The nominee did not meet the benchmark and no award was given.
2. As a juried award, nominees had to garner 50% approval to win the award. The nominee did not meet the benchmark and no award was given.
3. As a juried award, nominees had to garner 50% approval to win the award.
4. As a juried award, nominees had to garner 50% approval to win the award.
5. As a juried award, nominees had to garner 50% approval to win the award.
6. As a juried award, nominees had to garner 50% approval to win the award.
7. As a juried award, nominees had to garner 50% approval to win the award.
8. As a juried award, nominees had to garner 50% approval to win the award.
9. As a juried award, nominees had to garner 50% approval to win the award. The nominee did not meet the benchmark and no award was given.
10. As a juried award, nominees had to garner 50% approval to win the award.
11. As a juried award, nominees had to garner 50% approval to win the award. No nominee met the benchmark and no award was given.
12. As a juried award, nominees had to garner 50% approval to win the award. The nominee did not meet the benchmark and no award was given.
13. As a juried award, nominees had to garner 50% approval to win the award.
14. In 2020, the TV Academy rescinded a win in this category for the Disney Channel special George Stevens: D-Day to Berlin, written by George Stevens Jr. The program was a re-edit of the 1985 BBC documentary D-Day to Berlin, in violation of a rule that "a program that is a foreign acquisition without benefit of a domestic co-production cannot be re-introduced into eligibility in a current awards year, even though it may have been modified with new footage, sound track, musical score, etc."