Lee Sung Jin said he felt both delighted and disappointed after “Beef” received 16 Emmy nominations, the most for any limited or anthology series this year. The recognition made him the first Asian television creator to earn multiple writing, directing and producing nominations for the same series twice, but he was concerned that cast members Cailee Spaeny and Finneas were overlooked.

Lee described deliberately avoiding a repeat of the first season’s formula, including abandoning a proposed plot about a New York Giants family robbing Tom Brady because it prioritised cleverness over substance. He drew on a 10-and-a-half-hour hospital visit for the episode “The Inexpressible Comfort”, using real-life observations to portray what he called the Kafkaesque failures of American healthcare. He also criticised shrinking TV production, reduced DEI efforts and the removal of some limited-series awards from the main Emmy broadcast.