Before Emmy Gold: Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series

This year’s Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony is right around the corner. With Before The Gold, we are taking the chance to find hidden gems in the careers of the nominees. Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series has plenty to choose from. With six fantastic comedies nominated, (some of them for multiple episodes) the race to Monday night will get quite intense.

Quinta Brunson

Nominated for: Abbott Elementary: “Pilot”

Previous nomination: First time nominee

Hidden gem: New Girl: “Mario”

Before creating and starring in one of the most popular comedies in recent years, Quinta Brunson appeared in the sixth episode of the eighth (and final) season of New Girl. In this episode, Schmidt (Max Greenfield) and his wife, Cece (Hannah Simone) try to find some alone time in the middle of taking care of their baby. In the middle of finding a babysitter to achieve their goal, Cece reveals to Schmidt that she is ready to have another baby. This was one of the final episodes of the entire show.

Duffy Boudreau

Nominated for: Barry: “710N”

Previous nomination: First time nominee

Hidden gem: Marvel’s Hit-Monkey

While Marvel has found plenty of success on Disney+ in recent years, that is not the case for all of the streaming products released under the brand’s name. Hit-Monkey didn’t receive stellar reviews and it wasn’t seen by many people, but it remains a very fun animated show about the titular concept. A monkey who is also a hitman. What isn’t there to love?

Alec Berg and Bill Hader

Nominated for: Barry: “starting now”

Previous nomination: Winner for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (Hader)

Hidden Gem: Silicon Valley: “Daily Active Users”

Before working together on Barry, Berg and Hader actually worked together on the ninth episode of the third season of Silicon Valley. Hader only plays a voice role on this episode, which deals with Laurie (Suzanne Cryer) hosting a cocktail party to celebrate 500,000 downloads of Pied Piper’s platform.

Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, and Jen Statsky

Nominated for: Hacks: “The One, the Only.”

Previous nomination: Winners for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series for Hacks (season 1).

Hidden Gem: Time Traveling Bong

Aniello and Downs worked together to create this Comedy Central miniseries, which tells the story of Sharee (Ilana Glazer) and Jeff (played by Downs himself). This pair of cousins find a peculiar water pipe that can be used for time travel when it is smoked. The show was aired for three nights in a row when it originally came out. It is aired as a TV movie for reruns.

Steve Martin and John Hoffman

Nominated for: Only Murders in the Building: “True Crime”

Previous nomination: Outstanding Variety Special for Steve Martin and Martin Short: An Evening You Will Forget for the Rest of Your Life (Martin)
Outstanding Writing For A Variety, Music Or Comedy Special for the 81st Annual Academy Awards (Hoffman)

Hidden Gem: Domestic Life

In 1984, Martin created this sitcom for CBS. Starring Martin Mull and Judith -Marie Bergan, the series was about the Crane family after they have to move to Seattle due to Martin (Mull) taking a commentator job at KMRT-TV. The show only ran for a short season, consisting on ten episodes. It ended in April of that same year.

Jane Becker

Nominated for: Ted Lasso: “No Weddings and a Funeral”

Previous nomination: Winner for Outstanding Comedy Series for Ted Lasso.

Hidden Gem: Future Man

Future Man, starring Josh Hutcherson and Eliza Coupe, is about Josh (Hutcherson). He is a janitor who, after beating his favorite video game, is recruited by the same characters he used to play as so he can try and save the real world. The three seasons of this science fiction comedy are available to stream on Hulu.

Sarah Naftalis

Nominated for: What We Do in the Shadows: “The Casino”

Previous nomination: First time nominee

Hidden Gem: Silicon Valley: “Server Error”

HBO’s Silicon Valley makes a second appearance on this list, this time due to the finale of its fourth season. On this episode, Gilfoyle (Martin Starr) confirms that fifty exploded phones had Pied Piper’s app. The team must take desesperate measures to replace the damaged phones, or to eliminate them completely, to save the company.

Stefani Robinson

Nominated for: What We Do in the Shadows: “The Wellness Center”

Previous nomination: Outstanding Comedy Series for What We Do in the Shadows.

Hidden Gem: Man Seeking Woman

The FXX romantic comedy ran for three seasons between 2015 and 2017. Relatable relationship issues were turned up to a thousand, being displayed in a very exaggerated fashion. Josh Greenberg (Jay Baruchel) is taken through many adventures when the people close to him try to get him back in the game after he breaks up with a longtime girlfriend.

Don’t miss the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards this Monday, September 12th, only on NBC.