8 Screenwriting Lessons From the 2024 Emmy-Winning Scripts

By Alyssa Miller · January 17, 2024

While the modern era of prestige television might be coming to an end with the over-saturation of shows on the coutless streaming platforms available, the 2024 Emmys awarded some of the best writing and performances in TV. While Succession, The Bear, and Beef won the major awards, some surprises highlight what makes these Emmy-winning shows worthy of our time. From leaning into genre tropes to create compelling characters, here are eight lessons we learned from this year’s Emmy-winning scripts.

Succession: Nail Your Dialogue

By Season 4 of Max’s satirical series Succession, Logan Roy’s four children have been battling it out for control of the Murdochian media. While we feared Succession would have an unfortunate ending after its uneven paces and unfocused season, creator and showrunner Jesse Armstrong nailed the landing with its final episode, which many critics lauded as one of the best episodes in TV history.

What makes Succession impactful is the dialogue. Not only is it sharp and to the point, there is a rhythm to it that just sounds right. The audience is aware of what each character knows, the motivations in each relationship, and the comedy in characters worming their way through life.

‘Succession’

The Bear: Every Character Matters to the Plot

From the rhythm to the rising tension, The Bear is one of the most stressful television series in the best ways. There are times when the fluidity of each moment feeds into a tightening situation that is typically based on the breaking point of one character, mostly Carmy (Jeremy Allen White). What makes us come back to The Beef are the clear conflicts and character arcs that we haven’t seen in recent prestige TV.

What makes The Bear, especially the Emmy Award-winning episode “System,” a series to learn from is that every characters is equally important. Carmy might be the leading thread in the series, but Sydney (Ayo Edebiri), Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), Marcus (Lionel Boyce), and every other character that is noticed by the screenplay has equal weight in the story. We feel it when they are missing for too long, or when they don’t have a reaction to a moment that counts on everyone.

‘The Bear’

Beef: Character’s Reactions Can Drive the Plot Forward

The popularity of Beef is born out of charisma and urgency. The Netflix limited series surprised everyone with how personally and culturally specific the script is as it breakdowns the nuances of how unhappy people are in different ways, humanizing the characters that tick each other off, breaking each other’s last straw.

The way Beef focuses on character development and motivations without relying on external plot drivers makes it a prime example of character-driven storytelling. The narrative pushes forward as characters make choices based on their desires and flaws. The road rage incident between Amy (Ali Wong) and Danny (Steven Yeun) breaks them emotionally. Their motivations and character development, negative or positive, are fueled by their anger toward the world and themselves.

‘Beef’

The White Lotus: Redeem Even the Worst Character

The White Lotus, rich in craftsmanship, exposes a parade of vacationing elites wrestling with internal demons and opulent misery. The dark comedy follows the guests and employees of the White Lotus resort chain and the effects of their unique dysfunctions.

However, creator and showrunner Mike White has this gift that makes the most deplorable of characters somehow charming and sympathetic. Something about a character like Tanya (played by Jennifer Coolidge who won the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series) switching between relatable emotions like insecurity and intimacy to intense outburst as she tries to maintain control over everything and everyone. It is these contradictions that make White’s characters intriguing and unpredictable while getting the audience to invest emotionally in their respective journeys.

‘The White Lotus’

Black Bird: A Clear Structure Is Still Appreciated

The Apple+ series Black Bird is more than a conventional true crime story. Larry Hall (Paul Walter Hauser) is a brilliantly terrifying character that oozes horror and empathy as he falls deeper into his delusion. According to Sepideh, who plays Lauren in the series, everything we see on screen is what is in the script.

In an interview with /Film, Black Bird had a “perfect script that barely changed throughout the time that I was involved.” What makes a script perfect? It’s all in crafting a clear structure. By embracing a three-act structure, establishing the genre through tone and tropes, and utilizing turning points, Black Bird was able to craft a technically perfect episode of television.

‘Black Bird’

Dahmer–Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story: Supporting Characters Drive the Message Home

True crime was on the mind this year, but it seems to always be on creator and showrunner Ryan Murphy’s. Despite valid criticism directed towards Dahmer–Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, the series offers valuable learning opportunities

The main issue with adapting the story of a serial killer is showing their terrible actions without romanticizing or excusing their actions. The message of Dahmer is delivered through Glenda (the Emmy-winning Niecy Nash-Betts). Glenda’s character is written to remind audiences that the true horror lies not just in Dahmer’s actions, but in the systemic failures that allowed them to go unchecked, silencing the voices of those already marginalized by a society prone to over-policing.

‘Dahmer–Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story’

The Last of Us: Take a Break From the Main Story

Max’s The Last of Us changed the way Hollywood looks at the zombie genre, one that has always reflected the underbelly of modern society. While The Last of Us seemed to be setting up a very traditional survival series, everything changed with Episode 3, “Long Long Time,” in which Nick Offerman won the Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series.

The episode takes a break from the narrative, jumping back in time, standing still as it tells a new story of characters briefly mentioned and alluded to in the video game it is based on. While the story doesn’t push the plot forward, it carves out a safe haven for the viewer to understand a new part of the meticulously crafted world and catch our breath from the surrounding terrors. Bill (Nick Offerman) and Frank (Murray Bartlett) get to live in moments of pure love and end things on their own terms.

The lesson screenwriters can learn when writing a TV series that might fall into the pitfalls of repetition in a genre is to take a moment and focus on a story outside the main plot. Still highlight the overall themes of the show in this story, but let it be its own, beautiful thing.

‘The Last of Us’

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story: Lean Into Genre Tropes

Everything about Weird: The Al Yankovic Story is perfectly absurd, which is why it is the only feature Emmy winning script on this list! Unlike the films that exist comfortably in their genres, Weird takes a writing lesson from Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story by perfectly nails parodying biopics. From the abused kid growing into a life of rock-n-roll debauchery to a decision that drives him to create greatness, Weird hits the beats perfectly.

For screenwriters, Weird is a study of knowing a genre so well that you can make fun of it by imitating it. While the Coen Brothers do this with earnestness, these screenwriters lean into the absurd fantasy created around a clean-cut musician most people genuinely like. With cheeky winks and playful jabs, the script embraces and mocks the biopic’s familiar beats, resulting in a refreshingly subversive experience.

‘Weird: The Al Yankovic Story’

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There are so many great lessons to learn from this year’s Emmy-winning scripts. Whether you are bending genres or trying to find a supporting character to drive home the show’s messages or themes, these are the scripts that television screenwriters should read and study.