The Writers Guild of America is honoring the best of 2023’s television and film via its annual WGA Awards, held this year at the Hollywood Palladium for the West Coast edition and at New York’s Edison Ballroom for the East Coast ceremony.
In Los Angeles, Niecy Nash-Betts, who recently won an Emmy for her role on Netflix’s “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,” hosted this year’s event. L.A. awards exec producer Hugh Fink (“Saturday Night Live”) was joined by producer Benn Fleishman of Avalon Harbor Entertainment to oversee this year’s ceremony, taking place in L.A. at the Hollywood Palladium. In the East, comedian Josh Gondelman served as host.
This repped the first WGA Awards following last year’s Hollywood strikes (which also led to the decision to delay this year’s ceremony until April, a month after the Oscars).
“We fought for equal pay, equal say and our rights to make it to the end of a 10-episode season,” Nash-Betts said.
Additional presenters scheduled to appear at this year’s L.A. awards show include Bill Burr (“Old Dads,” “F is For Family”), Diedrich Bader (“Veep,” “The Drew Carey Show”), Gina Yashere (“Bob Hearts Abishola”), Lindsay Dougherty (secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 399), Maria Sten (“Big Sky,” “Reacher”), Nathan Fielder (“The Curse,” “The Rehearsal”), Randall Park (“Always Be My Maybe,” “Fresh Off The Boat”), Tig Notaro (“One Mississippi,” “Tig Notaro: Boyish Girl Interrupted”), Tony Hale (“Veep,” “Arrested Development”), Wendi McLendon-Covey (“The Goldbergs,” “Reno 911!”) and more.
Additionally, Drew Carey (“The Drew Carey Show”), who spent millions of dollars providing free meals to WGA members during the strike, appeared to a standing ovation.
Among the honorary awards, David A. Goodman and Chris Keyser received the Morgan Cox Guild Service Award, while Walter Hill was set to receive the Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement. Also, Linda Bloodworth Thomason was honored with the Laurel Award for Television Writing Achievement, and Cord Jefferson received the Paul Sevlin Award.
“Though this strike is over, the fight goes on,” Goodman said as he and Keyser accepted their honor.
In New York, the Writers Guild of America East’s Richard B. Jablow Award was given to the members and leadership of IATSE, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, SAG-AFTRA and American Federation of Musicians “for demonstrating unwavering support and sacrifice during the WGA’s 148-day strike.”
Here are this year’s winners, bolded and noted.
SCREENPLAY NOMINEES
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
“Air,” Written by Alex Convery; Amazon MGM Studios
“Barbie,” Written by Greta Gerwig & Noah Baumbach; Warner Bros. Pictures
“The Holdovers,” Written by David Hemingson; Focus Features
“May December,” Screenplay by Samy Burch, Story by Samy Burch & Alex Mechanik; Netflix
“Past Lives,” Written by Celine Song; A24
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
WINNER: “American Fiction,” Screenplay by Cord Jefferson, Based upon the novel “Erasure” by Percival Everett; Amazon MGM Studios
“Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.,” Screenplay by Kelly Fremon Craig, Based on the book by Judy Blume; Lionsgate
“Killers of the Flower Moon,” Screenplay by Eric Roth and Martin Scorsese, Based on the book by David Grann; Apple Original Films
“Nyad,” Screenplay by Julia Cox, Based on the book “Find a Way” by Diana Nyad; Netflix
“Oppenheimer,” Screenplay by Christopher Nolan, Based on the book “American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer” by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin; Universal Pictures
DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY
“Bella!,” Written by Jeff L. Lieberman; Re-Emerging Films
“It Ain’t Over,” Written by Sean Mullin; Sony Pictures Classics
“The Pigeon Tunnel,” Written by Errol Morris; Apple Original Films
“Stamped from the Beginning,” Written by David Teague, Based on the book Stamped From the Beginning by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi; Netflix
“What the Hell Happened to Blood, Sweat & Tears?,” Written by John Scheinfeld; Abramorama
TELEVISION, NEW MEDIA, AND NEWS NOMINEES
DRAMA SERIES
“The Crown,” Written by Peter Morgan; Netflix
“The Curse,” Written by Carmen Christopher, Nathan Fielder, Alex Huggins, Carrie Kemper, Benny Safdie; Showtime
“The Diplomat,” Written by Eli Attie, Debora Cahn, Mia Chung, Anna Hagen, Amanda Johnson-Zetterstrom, Peter Noah; Netflix
“The Last of Us,” Written by Neil Druckmann, Halley Gross, Craig Mazin, Bo Shim; HBO | Max
“Succession,” Written by Will Arbery, Jesse Armstrong, Miriam Battye, Jon Brown, Jamie Carragher, Ted Cohen, Nate Elston, Francesca Gardiner, Callie Hersheway, Lucy Prebble, Georgia Pritchett, Tony Roche, Susan Soon He Stanton, Will Tracy; HBO | Max
COMEDY SERIES
“Abbott Elementary,” Written by Quinta Brunson, Ava Coleman, Riley Dufurrena, Justin Halpern, Joya McCrory, Morgan Murphy, Brittani Nichols, Kate Peterman, Brian Rubenstein, Patrick Schumacker, Justin Tan, Jordan Temple, Garrett Werner; ABC
“Barry,” Written by Emma Barrie, Alec Berg, Duffy Boudreau, Bill Hader, Nicky Hirsch, Taofik Kolade, Liz Sarnoff; HBO | Max
“The Bear,” Written by Karen Joseph Adcock, Joanna Calo, Kelly Galuska, Rene Gube, Sofya Levitsky-Weitz, Stacy Osei-Kuffour, Alex Russell, Catherine Schetina, Christopher Storer; FX Networks
“Jury Duty,” Written by Tanner Bean, Lee Eisenberg, Marcos Gonzalez, Cody Heller, Mekki Leeper, Katrina Mathewson, Kerry O’Neill, Ese Shaw, Gene Stupnitsky, Andrew Weinberg, Evan Williams; Amazon Freevee
“Only Murders in the Building,” Written by Matteo Borghese, Madeleine George, Sas E. Goldberg, Joshua Allen Griffith, John Hoffman, Elaine Ko, Noah Levine, Tess Morris, J.J. Philbin, Ben Philippe, Jake Schnesel, Ben Smith, Siena Streiber, Pete Swanson, Rob Turbovsky; Hulu
NEW SERIES
“The Diplomat,” Written by Eli Attie, Debora Cahn, Mia Chung, Anna Hagen, Amanda Johnson-Zetterstrom, Peter Noah; Netflix
“Jury Duty,” Written by Tanner Bean, Lee Eisenberg, Marcos Gonzalez, Cody Heller, Mekki Leeper, Katrina Mathewson, Kerry O’Neill, Ese Shaw, Gene Stupnitsky, Andrew Weinberg, Evan Williams; Amazon Freevee
WINNER: “The Last of Us,” Written by Neil Druckmann, Halley Gross, Craig Mazin, Bo Shim; HBO | Max
“Poker Face,” Written by Christine Boylan, Wyatt Cain, Chris Downey, CS Fischer, Rian Johnson, Alice Ju, Joe Lawson, Natasha Lyonne, Charlie Peppers, Lilla Zuckerman, Nora Zuckerman; Peacock
“Shrinking,” Written by Wally Baram, Rachna Fruchbom, Brian Gallivan, Neil Goldman, Brett Goldstein, Bill Lawrence, Annie Mebane, Bill Posley, Jason Segel, Sofia Selig; Apple TV+
LIMITED SERIES
“A Murder at the End of the World,” Written by Zal Batmanglij, Cherie Dimaline, Brit Marling, Melanie Marnich, Rebecca Roanhorse; FX Networks
WINNER: “Beef,” Written by Joanna Calo, Bathsheba Doran, Jean Kyoung Frazier, Niko Gutierrez-Kovner, Lee Sung Jin, Alice Ju, Carrie Kemper, Mike Makowsky, Marie Hanhnhon Nguyen, Kevin Rosen, Alex Russell; Netflix
“Daisy Jones & The Six,” Written by Susan Coyne, Jihan Crowther, Harris Danow, Charmaine DeGraté, Will Graham, Nora Kirkpatrick, Jenny Klein, Liz Koe, Judalina Neira, Scott Neustadter, Stacy Traub, Michael H. Weber; Prime Video
“Fargo,” Written by Thomas Bezucha, Bob DeLaurentis, Noah Hawley, April Shih; FX Networks
“Lessons in Chemistry,” Written by Victoria Bata, Lee Eisenberg, Hannah Fidell, Emily Jane Fox, Susannah Grant, Rosa Handelman, Elissa Karasik, Boo Killebrew, Mfoniso Udofia; Apple TV+
TV & NEW MEDIA MOTION PICTURES
“Finestkind,” Written by Brian Helgeland; Paramount +
“Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie,” Written by Andy Breckman; Peacock
“No One Will Save You,” Written by Brian Duffield; Hulu
WINNER: “Quiz Lady,” Written by Jen D’Angelo; Hulu
“Totally Killer,” Screenplay by David Matalon & Sasha Perl-Raver and Jen D’Angelo, Story by David Matalon & Sasha Perl-Raver; Prime Video
ANIMATION
“A Mid-Childhood Night’s Dream” (The Simpsons), Written by Carolyn Omine; Fox
WINNER: “Carl Carlson Rides Again” (The Simpsons), Written by Loni Steele Sosthand; Fox
“Homer’s Adventure Through the Windshield Glass” (The Simpsons), Written by Tim Long; Fox
“I Know What You Did Next Xmas” (Futurama), Written by Ariel Ladensohn; Hulu
“Thirst Trap: A Corporate Love Story” (The Simpsons), Written by Rob LaZebnik; Fox
EPISODIC DRAMA
“Crown Jewels” (Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story), Written by Shonda Rhimes; Netflix
“Kill List” (Succession), Written by Jon Brown & Ted Cohen; HBO | Max
“The Last Generation” (Star Trek: Picard), Written by Terry Matalas; Paramount +
“Living+” (Succession), Written by Georgia Pritchett & Will Arbery; HBO | Max
“Our Black Shining Prince” (Godfather of Harlem), Written by Chris Brancato & Michael Panes; MGM+
“Sleep, Dearie Sleep” (The Crown), Written by Peter Morgan; Netflix
EPISODIC COMEDY
WINNER: “Escape From Shit Mountain” (Poker Face), Written by Nora Zuckerman & Lilla Zuckerman; Peacock
“Fishes” (The Bear), Written by Joanna Calo & Christopher Storer; FX Networks
“Forks” (The Bear), Written by Alex Russell; FX Networks
“House Made of Bongs” (Reservation Dogs), Written by Tommy Pico and Sterlin Harjo; FX Networks
“Ice” (The Great), Written by Tony McNamara; Hulu
“Pride Parade” (What We Do in the Shadows), Written by Jake Bender & Zach Dunn; FX Networks
COMEDY/VARIETY TALK SERIES
“The Daily Show,” Head Writer Dan Amira; Senior Writers Daniel Radosh, Lauren Sarver Means Writers David Angelo, Nicole Conlan, Devin Delliquanti, Anthony DeVito, Zach DiLanzo, Jennifer Flanz, Jason Gilbert, Dina Hashem, Scott Hercman, Josh Johnson, David Kibuuka, Matt Koff, Lenny Marcus, Joseph Opio, Randall Otis, Zhubin Parang, Kat Radley, Lanee’ Sanders, Scott Sherman, Ashton Womack, Sophie Zucker; Comedy Central
“Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” Sketches by Rory Albanese; Writers Jamie Abrahams, Tony Barbieri, Jonathan Bines, Joelle Boucai, Bryan Cook, Blaire Erskine, Devin Field, Gary Greenberg, Josh Halloway, Eric Immerman, Jesse Joyce, Jimmy Kimmel, Greg Martin, Jesse McLaren, Molly McNearney, Keaton Patti, Danny Ricker, Troy Walker, Louis Virtel; ABC
“Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” Senior Writers Daniel O’Brien, Owen Parsons, Charlie Redd, Joanna Rothkopf, Seena Vali; Writers Johnathan Appel, Ali Barthwell, Tim Carvell, Liz Hynes, Ryan Ken, Mark Kramer, Sofia Manfredi, John Oliver, Taylor Kay Phillips, Chrissy Shackelford; HBO | Max
“Late Night with Seth Meyers,” Head Writer Alex Baze; Writing Supervised By Seth Reiss, Mike Scollins; Closer Look Writing Supervised By Sal Gentile; Writers Jermaine Affonso, Karen Chee, Bryan Donaldson, Matt Goldich, Dina Gusovsky, Jenny Hagel, Allison Hord, Mike Karnell, John Lutz, Seth Meyers, Ian Morgan, Amber Ruffin, Mike Shoemaker, Ben Warheit, Jeff Wright; NBC Universal Television
“The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” Head Writers Ariel Dumas, Jay Katsir; Writers Delmonte Bent, Michael Brumm, Aaron Cohen, Stephen T. Colbert, Paul Dinello, Glenn Eichler, Gabe Gronli, Barry Julien, Michael Cruz Kayne, Eliana Kwartler, Matt Lapin, Caroline Lazar, Pratima Mani, Carlos Felipe Torres Medina, Opus Moreschi, Carley Moseley, Asher Perlman, Michael Pielocik, Tom Purcell, Kate Sidley, Brian Stack, John Thibodeaux, Steve Waltien; CBS Studios
“The Problem with Jon Stewart,” Head Writer Kris Acimovic; Writers Henrik Blix, Rob Christensen, Jay Jurden, Alexa Loftus, Tocarra Mallard, Maria Randazzo, Robby Slowick, Jon Stewart, Kasaun Wilson; Apple TV+
COMEDY/VARIETY SKETCH SERIES
“History of the World, Part II,” Writers Ike Barinholtz, Emmy Blotnick, Guy Branum, Owen Burke, Adam Countee, Lance Crouther, Ana Fabrega, Fran Gillespie, Janelle James, Jennifer Kim, Nick Kroll, Sergio Serna, David Stassen, Wanda Sykes; Hulu
“How To with John Wilson,” Written by John Wilson, Michael Koman, Allie Viti; HBO | Max
“I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson,” Writers Tim Robinson, Zach Kanin, John Solomon, Gary Richardson, Reggie Henke, Brendan Jennings, Patti Harrison; Netflix
“Saturday Night Live,” Head Writers Kent Sublette, Alison Gates, Streeter Seidell; Writers Rosebud Baker, Dan Bulla, Megan Callahan-Shah, Michael Che, Mike DiCenzo, Alex English, Jimmy Fowlie, Martin Herlihy, John Higgins, Steve Higgins, Vannessa Jackson, Colin Jost, Erik Kenward, Steve Koren, Ben Marshall, Dennis McNicholas, Lorne Michaels, Jake Nordwind, Ceara O’Sullivan, Josh Patten, Gary Richardson, Pete Schultz, KC Shornima, Ben Silva, Will Stephen, Bryan Tucker, Asha Ward, Auguste White, Celeste Yim; NBC
COMEDY/VARIETY SPECIALS
“Adam Sandler: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for American Humor,” Written by Jon Macks, Rita Brent, Jeff Stilson, Meggie McFadden; CNN
“Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love,” Written by Jon Macks, Carol Leifer; NBC
“Marc Maron: From Bleak to Dark,” Written by Marc Maron; HBO | Max
“Sarah Silverman: Someone You Love,” Written by Sarah Silverman; HBO | Max
QUIZ AND AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
“Baking It,” Writers Chad Carter, Neil Casey, Jessica McKenna, Zach Reino, Nicolle Yaron; Peacock
“The Chase,” Head Writer David Levinson Wilk; Writers Erik Agard, Kyle Beakley, Micki Boden, Megan Broussard, Jonathan Daly, Brian Greene, Robert King, Jason Lundell, Sierra Mannie, Amy Ozols, Bobby Patton, Ellen Teitel, Ari Yolkut; NBC
“Jeopardy!,” Writers Marcus Brown, Michael Davies, John Duarte, Mark Gaberman, Debbie Griffin, Michele Loud, Robert McClenaghan, Jim Rhine, Billy Wisse; ABC
“Weakest Link,” Head Writer Ann Slichter; Writers Chip Dornell, Ryan Hopak, Walter Kelly, Stuart Krasnow, Jon Macks, Meggie McFadden, Rylee Newton, Ryan O’Dowd, Scott Saltzburg, Doug Shaffer, Aaron Solomon, Grant Taylor, Mia Taylor; NBC
DAYTIME DRAMA
“Days of Our Lives,” Head Writer Ron Carlivati Creative Consultant Ryan Quan Writers Sonja Alar, Jazmen Darnell Brown, Joanna Cohen, Carolyn Culliton, Richard Culliton, Cheryl Davis, Kirk Doering, Christopher Dunn, Jamey Giddens, David Kreizman, Henry Newman, Dave Ryan, Katherine D. Schock; Peacock
“General Hospital,” Head Writers Dan O’Connor, Chris Van Etten Writers Ashley Cook, Emily Culliton, Suzanne Flynn, Charlotte Gibson, Lucky Gold, Kate Hall, Elizabeth Korte, Shannon Peace, Stacey Pulwer, Dave Rupel, Lisa Seidman, Scott Sickles; ABC
CHILDREN’S EPISODIC, LONG FORM AND SPECIALS
“The Ballad of the Last Men” (Sweet Tooth), Written by Jim Mickle & Bo Yeon Kim & Erika Lippoldt; Netflix
“I Accidentally Vaporize My Pre-Algebra Teacher” (Percy Jackson and the Olympians), Written by Rick Riordan & Jonathan E. Steinberg; Disney+
“Romance Dawn” (One Piece), Written by Matt Owens & Steven Maeda; Netflix
“Say Cheese and Die!” (Goosebumps), Written by Rob Letterman & Nicholas Stoller; Disney+
“What Guy Are You” (American Born Chinese), Written by Kelvin Yu & Charles Yu; Disney+
SHORT FORM NEW MEDIA
WINNER: “Carpool Karaoke,” Written by Casey Stewart, David Young; Apple TV+
“Command Z,” Written by Kurt Andersen, Larry Doyle, Emily Flake, Akilah Hughes, Jiehae Park, Chloe Radcliffe, Nell Scovell, Roy Wood, Jr.; commandzseries.com
DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT
“The Busing Battleground” (American Experience), Written by Sharon Grimberg; PBS
“Clarence and Ginni Thomas: Politics, Power and the Supreme Court” (Frontline), Written by Michael Kirk & Mike Wiser; PBS
“Episode One: Blood Memory” (The American Buffalo), Written by Dayton Duncan; PBS
NEWS SCRIPT – REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT
“Black History Month – Hall Of Fame Hero” (CBS News New York), Written by Joe McLaughlin; WCBS-TV
“Deadly Tornadoes Unleash Terror Across the Central U.S.” (CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell), Written by James Hutton, Rob Rivielle; CBS News
WINNER: “Surprise Attack!” (CBS Weekend News), Written by J. Craig Wilson, Ambrose Raferty; CBS News
NEWS SCRIPT – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY
“Convoy of Life” (60 Minutes), Written by Scott Pelley, Kristin Steve, Nicole Young; CBS News
WINNER: “Healing and Hope” (60 Minutes), Written by Scott Pelley, Nicole Young, Kristin Steve; CBS News
“Hide and Seek” (60 Minutes), Written by Sharyn Alfonsi, Oriana Zill de Granados; CBS News
“Put To The Test” (CBS Sunday Morning), Written by Richard Buddenhagen, Lesley Stahl; CBS News
“Targeting Seniors” (60 Minutes), Written by Sharyn Alfonsi, Emily Gordon, Oriana Zill de Granados; CBS News
DIGITAL NEWS
“How Paris Kicked Out the Cars,” Written by Henry Grabar; Slate
WINNER: “The Persuaders: A 5-Part Investigation into the Union-Busting Industry,” Written by Dave Jamieson; HuffPost
“The Rise of ‘Gas Station Heroin,’” Written by Manisha Krishnan; Vice News
“Want to Stare Into the Republican Soul in 2023?,” Written by Alexander Sammon; Slate
“The Woman on the Line,” Written by Aymann Ismail and Mary Harris; Slate
RADIO/AUDIO NOMINEES
RADIO/AUDIO DOCUMENTARY
“America’s Blackest Child” (Slow Burn: Becoming Justice Thomas), Written by Joel Anderson; Slate
“The Black Box: Even AI’s creators don’t understand it” (Unexplainable), Written by Noam Hassenfeld; Vox
“The Call” (This American Life), Written by Mary Harris; Slate
“Emmery” (Party Crews: The Untold Story), Written by Janice Llamoca; Vice
“Expecting: Pregnancy Souvenirs” (Unexplainable), Written by Byrd Pinkerton; Vox
RADIO/AUDIO NEWS SCRIPT – REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT
“The Ballad of Tucker Carlson” (What Next), Written by Paige Osburn and Mary Harris; Slate
“World News This Week – Week of March 17, 2023,” Written by Joy Piazza; ABC News Radio
“World News Roundup Late Edition – October 9, 2023,” Written by Spencer Raine; CBS News
RADIO/AUDIO NEWS SCRIPT – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY
“The Diagnosis Was Fatal. She Couldn’t Get an Abortion” (What Next), Written by Madeline Ducharme and Mary Harris; Slate
“Lacrosse – Spirit of the Land” (ABC News Radio), Written by Robert Hawley; ABC News
“Stephen King Is Just as Confused About Blue Checks as You Are” (What Next: TBD), Written by Lizzie O’Leary and Evan Campbell; Slate
PROMOTIONAL WRITING NOMINEES
ON AIR PROMOTION
“Cross Walk, Cyber Bullying, VR Meditation” (KCAL News), Written by Adam Thiele; CBS News
“Strange New Promos,” Written by Molly Neylan; CBS / Paramount+
WINNER: “WCBS AM Promos,” Written by Bill Tynan; WCBS Newsradio 880
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