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“Shōgun” dominated with three wins at the Writers Guild Awards on Saturday evening — including best drama, while “Hacks” scored two on the TV side, including best comedy. In film, “Anora” and “Nickel Boys” scored big wins, giving both entries a bit more momentum as Oscar voting ends on Tuesday. “Anora,” coming off Critics Choice, DGA and PGA wins for best picture last weekend, picked up the original screenplay prize for Sean Baker. “Nickel Boys,” which has two Oscar noms, won the WGA award for RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes.
“Shōgun” was the night’s big winner, picking up prizes for best drama, best new series and best drama episode. On the comedy side, “Hacks” also scored a double play, landing best comedy and best comedy episode. In the limited field, “The Penguin” scored the series win.
Meanwhile, it was the first WGA noms and wins for Baker, Ross and Barnes. The Writers Guild Awards are underway in both Los Angeles and New York, as the WGA recognizes the best of 2024’s writing in television and film. This year’s annual event bicoastal event is being at the Beverly Hilton for the West Coast edition and at New York’s Edison Ballroom for the East Coast ceremony.
HBO/Max led the night with six wins, led by the “Hacks” honors, as well as with “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” “The Great Lillian Hall” and “Nikki Glaser: Someday You’ll Die.” FX/Hulu was next, with three wins, all for “Shōgun.”
In Los Angeles, Joel Kim Booster hosted this year’s event, while in the East, comedian Roy Wood Jr. served as host.
“I say this seriously: It is a pleasure to return to this post for a second time as we celebrate our nation’s final Black History Month,” Wood, a second-time host, said at the top of his monologue. The comedian went on to take further clear shots at the new presidential administration: “It’s crazy out there. Zuckerberg owns Instagram. Trump owns Zuckerberg. Then Elon bought both of them. Then Putin got the whole set. White people buying white people, that’s progress.”
Wood noted the resilience of the entertainment industry, saying, “We’re here. We survived till ’25. That’s pretty cool.”
“We survived the pandemic, we survived the strikes, we survived the fires… We also survived being forced to know who Justin Baldoni is,” Wood said. “I will be honest with you, I’m still not sure who Justin Baldoni is. I stay out of the white people business. We have survived the mergers and mergers on top of mergers happening, all these mergers. Fox bought Tubi, there’s Freevee, there’s Mubi — they all seem like STDs? ‘I got a Fubo on my Peacock!’”
Among the honorary awards, “Breaking Bad” creator Vince Gilligan was tapped to receive the Paddy Chayefsky Laurel Award for Television Writing Achievement, while the late David Lynch was honored with the Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement. Also, RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes received the Paul Sevlin Award, “presented to that member whose script best embodies the spirit of the constitutional and civil rights and liberties which are indispensable to the survival of free writers everywhere.”
In his speech, Ross lamented the current drive by the Trump administration to roll back decades of Civil Rights advances. “The imagination is the most powerful form of resistance,” he said from the stage in L.A. “Let’s take courage from one another.”
Later, in his speech, Gilligan — the writer behind ultimate antihero Walter White — suggested that given the current political environment, Hollywood needed to write more good guys. “For decades we made the bad guys too sexy,” he said. “Fictional bad guys stopped being the cautionary affairs that they were. They became aspirational. So maybe what the world needs now are some good, old fashioned, Greatest Generation types who give more than they take.”
In New York, Scott Frank was set to be presented with the Ian McLellan Hunter Award for Career Achievement by Marielle Heller, while Bill Lawrence was to be presented with the Herb Sargent Award for Comedy Excellence. Kathy McGee was selected to be honored with the Richard B. Jablow Award for Devoted Service to the Guild by Penelope Koechl.
Among key nominations, Oscar original screenplay nominees Sean Baker (“Anora”) and Jesse Eisenberg (“A Real Pain”) are in the hunt, alongside Justin Kuritzkes for “Challengers,” Alex Garland for “Civil War” and Megan Park for “My Old Ass.” All are first-time WGA nominees. In adapted screenplay, Oscar-nominated “A Complete Unknown” (James Mangold and Jay Cocks) and “Nickel Boys” (RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes) are joined by Richard Linklater and Glen Powell for “Hit Man,” Denis Villeneuve and Jon Spaihts for “Dune: Part Two” and Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox for “Wicked.”
On the television side, FX’s epic adaptation of James Clavell’s “Shōgun,” Netflix’s political thriller “The Diplomat,” and three Prime Video entries — “The Boys,” “Fallout,” and “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” — led drama, while comedy nominees included ABC’s “Abbott Elementary,” FX’s “The Bear” and “What We Do in the Shadows,” and HBO/Max’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and Emmy winner “Hacks.”
The limited series category included HBO/Max’s “The Penguin” and “True Detective: Night Country,” Apple TV+’s courtroom drama “Presumed Innocent,” Netflix’s “Ripley” and Hulu’s political thriller “Say Nothing.”
Presenters appearing at this year’s L.A. awards show included Jordan Firstman, Edwin Lee Gibson, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Adele Lim, Justine Lupe, Kyle MacLachlan, Joe Manganiello, Rhea Seehorn, Kiernan Shipka, Lisa Ann Walter, Cedric Yarbrough, and more. Presenters in New York include Jesse Eisenberg, Rosie Perez, Michael McKean, Cory Michael Smith, DeWanda Wise, Ronny Chieng, Adriana Diaz, Meredith Scardino, Cole Escola, Bridget Moynahan, Anette O’Toole and Michael Zegen.
Here are this year’s winners, bolded and noted among the nominees for each category.
Original Screenplay
- WINNER: “Anora” — Written by Sean Baker; NEON
- “A Real Pain” — Written by Jesse Eisenberg; Searchlight Pictures
- “Challengers” — Written by Justin Kuritzkes; Amazon MGM Studios
- “Civil War” — Written by Alex Garland; A24
- “My Old Ass” — Written by Megan Park; Amazon MGM Studios
Adapted Screenplay
- WINNER: “Nickel Boys” — Screenplay by RaMell Ross & Joslyn Barnes, Based on the Book The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead; Orion Pictures/Amazon MGM Studios
- “A Complete Unknown” — Screenplay by James Mangold and Jay Cocks, Based on the Book Dylan Goes Electric! by Elijah Wald; Searchlight Pictures
- “Dune: Part Two” — Screenplay by Denis Villeneuve and Jon Spaihts, Based on the Novel Dune by Frank Herbert; Warner Bros. Pictures
- “Hit Man” — Screenplay by Richard Linklater & Glen Powell, Based on the Texas Monthly Article by Skip Hollandsworth; Netflix
- “Wicked” — Screenplay by Winnie Holzman and Winnie Holzman & Dana Fox, Based on the musical stage play with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and book by Winnie Holzman, From the Novel by Gregory Maguire; Universal Pictures
Documentary Screenplay
- WINNER: “Jim Henson: Idea Man” — Written by Mark Monroe; Imagine Documentaries
- “Kiss the Future” — Screenplay by Bill S. Carter, Story by Bill S. Carter and Nenad Cicin-Sain; Fifth Season
- “Martha” — Written by R.J. Cutler; Netflix
- “War Game” — Written by Tony Gerber & Jesse Moss; Submarine Deluxe
Drama Series
- WINNER: “Shōgun” — Written by Shannon Goss, Maegan Houang, Rachel Kondo, Matt Lambert, Justin Marks, Caillin Puente, Nigel Williams, Emily Yoshida; FX/Hulu
- “The Boys” — Written by Geoff Aull, Jessica Chou, Paul Grellong, Eric Kripke, Ellie Monahan, Judalina Neira, David Reed, Anslem Richardson; Prime Video
- “The Diplomat” — Written by Peter Ackerman, Eli Attie, Debora Cahn, Anna Hagen, Julianna Dudley Meagher, Peter Noah; Netflix
- “Fallout” — Written by Jake Bender, Karey Dornetto, Zach Dunn, Kieran Fitzgerald, Chaz Hawkins, Lisa Joy, Carson Mell, Jonathan Nolan, Geneva Robertson-Dworet, Gursimran Sandhu, Graham Wagner; Prime Video
- “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” — Written by Carla Ching, Adamma Ebo, Adanne Ebo, Donald Glover, Stephen Glover, Schuyler Pappas, Francesca Sloane, Yvonne Hana Yi; Prime Video
Comedy Series
- WINNER: “Hacks” — Written by Genevieve Aniello, Lucia Aniello, Guy Branum, Jessica Chaffin, Paul W. Downs, Jess Dweck, Ariel Karlin, Andrew Law, Carol Leifer, Carolyn Lipka, Joe Mande, Aisha Muharrar, Pat Regan, Samantha Riley, Jen Statsky; HBO | Max
- “Abbott Elementary” — Written by Quinta Brunson, Ava Coleman, Riley Dufurrena, Justin Halpern, Joya McCrory, Chad Morton, Morgan Murphy, Brittani Nichols, Rebekka Pesqueira, Kate Peterman, Brian Rubenstein, Patrick Schumacker, Justin Tan, Jordan Temple, Garrett Werner; ABC
- “The Bear” — Written by Karen Joseph Adcock, Joanna Calo, Rene Gube, Will Guidara, Matty Matheson, Alex Russell, Catherine Schetina, Christopher Storer, Courtney Storer; FX/Hulu
- “Curb Your Enthusiasm” — Written by Larry David, Jon Hayman, Justin Hurwitz, Carol Leifer, Stephen Leff, Jeff Schaffer, Nathaniel Stein; HBO | Max
- “What We Do in the Shadows” — Written by Jake Bender, Max Brockman, Zach Dunn, Shana Gohd, Amelia Haller, Sam Johnson, Jeremy Levick, Chris Marcil, William Meny, Sarah Naftalis, Marika Sawyer, Paul Simms, Rajat Suresh, Lauren Wells; FX/Hulu
New Series
- WINNER: “Shōgun” — Written by Shannon Goss, Maegan Houang, Rachel Kondo, Matt Lambert, Justin Marks, Caillin Puente, Nigel Williams, Emily Yoshida; FX/Hulu
- “English Teacher” — Written by Brian Jordan Alvarez, Wally Baram, Jake Bender, Emmy Blotnick, Zach Dunn, Dave King, Stephanie Koenig, Jonathan Krisel, Paul Simms, Samantha Shier; FX/Hulu
- “Fallout” — Written by Jake Bender, Karey Dornetto, Zach Dunn, Kieran Fitzgerald, Chaz Hawkins, Lisa Joy, Carson Mell, Jonathan Nolan, Geneva Robertson-Dworet, Gursimran Sandhu, Graham Wagner; Prime Video
- “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” — Written by Carla Ching, Adamma Ebo, Adanne Ebo, Donald Glover, Stephen Glover, Schuyler Pappas, Francesca Sloane, Yvonne Hana Yi; Prime Video
- “Nobody Wants This” — Written by Barbie Adler, Jane Becker, Jack Burditt, Vali Chandrasekaran, Craig DiGregorio, Erin Foster, Lindsay Golder, Steven Levitan, Pat Regan, Niki Schwartz-Wright, Neel Shah, Noelle Valdivia, Ron Weiner, Ryann Werner; Netflix
Limited Series
- WINNER: “The Penguin” — Written by Vladimir Cvetko, Breannah Gibson, Erika L. Johnson, Lauren LeFranc, Corina Maritescu, Megan Martin, John McCutcheon, Shaye Ogbonna, Nick Towne, Noelle Valdivia, Kira Snyder; HBO | Max
- “Presumed Innocent” — Written by Miki Johnson, David E. Kelley, Sharr White; Apple TV+
- “Ripley” — Written by Steven Zaillian; Netflix
- “Say Nothing” — Written by Clare Barron, Joe Murtagh, Kirsten Sheridan, Joshua Zetumer; FX/Hulu
- “True Detective: Night Country” — Written by Katrina Albright, Alan Page Arriaga, Namsi Khan, Issa López, Chris Mundy, Wenonah Wilms; HBO | Max
TV & Streaming Motion Pictures
- WINNER: “The Great Lillian Hall” — Written by Elisabeth Seldes Annacone; HBO | Max
- “Prom Dates” — Written by D.J. Mausner; Hulu
- “Rebel Ridge” — Written by Jeremy Saulnier; Netflix
- “Terry McMillan Presents Forever” — Written by Bart Baker; Lifetime
Animation
- WINNER: “Saving Favorite Drive-In” (“Bob’s Burgers”) — Written by Katie Crown; Fox
- “Bottle Episode” (“The Simpsons”) — Written by Rob LaZebnik & Johnny LaZebnik; Fox
- “Cremains of the Day” (“The Simpsons”) — Written by John Frink; Fox
- “Night of the Living Wage” (“The Simpsons”) — Written by Cesar Mazariegos; Fox
- “The Tina Table: The Tables Have Tina-ed” (“Bob’s Burgers”) — Written by Greg Thompson; Fox
- “Winter Is Born” (“Blood of Zeus”) — Written by Charles Parlapanides & Vlas Parlapanides; Netflix
Episodic Drama
- WINNER: “Anjin” (“Shōgun”) — Written for Television by Rachel Kondo & Justin Marks; FX/Hulu
- “The Beginning” (“Fallout”) — Written by Gursimran Sandhu; Prime Video
- “Fear of the End” (“Evil”) — Written by Rockne S. O’Bannon & Nialla LeBouef; Paramount+
- “First Date” (“Mr. & Mrs. Smith”) — Written by Francesca Sloane & Donald Glover; Prime Video
- “Olivia” (“Sugar”) — Written by Mark Protosevich; Apple TV+
- “Pilot” (“Elsbeth”) — Written by Robert King & Michelle King; CBS
Episodic Comedy
- WINNER: “Bulletproof” (“Hacks”) — Written by Lucia Aniello & Paul W. Downs & Jen Statsky; HBO | Max
- “AGG” (“Somebody Somewhere”) — Written by Hannah Bos & Paul Thureen and Bridget Everett; HBO | Max
- “Linda” (“English Teacher”) — Written by Jake Bender & Zach Dunn; FX/Hulu
- “Napkins” (“The Bear”) — Written by Catherine Schetina; FX/Hulu
- “Once Upon a Time in the West” (“Only Murders in the Building”) — Written by John Hoffman & Joshua Allen Griffith; Hulu
- “Petiole” (“The Sticky”) — Written by Brian Donovan & Ed Herro; Prime Video
Comedy/Variety Series – Talk or Sketch
- WINNER: “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
- “The Daily Show” — Head Writer Dan Amira, Senior Writers Lauren Sarver Means, Daniel Radosh, Writers David Angelo, Nicole Conlan, Devin Delliquanti, Zach DiLanzo, Jennifer Flanz, Jason Gilbert, Dina Hashem, Scott Hercman, Josh Johnson, David Kibuuka, Matt Koff, Joe Opio, Randall Otis, Zhubin Parang, Kat Radley, Lanee’ Sanders, Scott Sherman, Jon Stewart, Ashton Womack, Sophie Zucker; Comedy Central
- “John Mulaney Presents: Everybody’s in L.A.” — Writers Anna Drezen, David Ferguson, Fran Gillespie, Langston Kerman, Jeremy Levick, John Mulaney, Alex Scordelis, Rajat Suresh; Netflix
- “The Kelly Clarkson Show” — Head Writer Jordan Watland, Writers Kevin Hurley, Nik Robinson; Syndicated
- “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 Lappin, Caroline Lazar, Pratima Mani, Felipe Torres Medina, Opus Moreschi, Carley Moseley, Asher Perlman, Michael Pielocik, Tom Purcell, Kate Sidley, Brian Stack, John Thibodeaux, Steve Waltien; CBS
- “Saturday Night Live” — Head Writers Alison Gates, Streeter Seidell, Kent Sublette, Writers Rosebud Baker, Dan Bulla, Megan Callahan-Shah, Steven Castillo, Michael Che, Mike DiCenzo, Alex English, Jimmy Fowlie, Martin Herlihy, John Higgins, Steve Higgins, Vannessa Jackson, Colin Jost, Erik Kenward, Ben Marshall, Dennis McNicholas, Lorne Michaels, Jake Nordwind, Ceara O’Sullivan, Josh Patten, Gary Richardson, Pete Schultz, KC Shornima, Will Stephen, Bryan Tucker, Asha Ward, Auguste White, Celeste Yim; NBC
Comedy/Variety Specials
- WINNER: “Nikki Glaser: Someday You’ll Die” — Written by Nikki Glaser; HBO | Max
- “The 77th Annual Tony Awards” — Written by Dave Boone; CBS
- “A Closer Look with Seth Meyers: Primetime Live Election Special” — Head Writer Alex Baze, Writing Supervised by Mike Scollins, Closer Look Writing Supervised by Sal Gentile, Written by Alex Baze, Bryan Donaldson, Sal Gentile, Matt Goldich, Allison Hord, Mike Scollins, Seth Meyers, Mike Shoemaker; NBC
- “Ramy Youssef: More Feelings” — Written by Ramy Youssef; HBO | Max
Quiz and Audience Participation
- WINNER: “Pop Culture Jeopardy!” — Writers Marcus Brown, Buzzy Cohen, Michael Davies, Chip Dornell, John Duarte, Mark Gaberman, Debbie Griffin, Michele Loud, Traci Mack, Amy Ozols, Louis Virtel, Billy Wisse; Amazon Prime
- “Jeopardy!” — Writers Marcus Brown, Michael Davies, John Duarte, Mark Gaberman, Debbie Griffin, Michele Loud, Robert McClenaghan, Jim Rhine, Steve Tamerius, Billy Wisse; ABC
Daytime Drama
- WINNER: “The Young and the Restless” — Head Writer Amanda L. Beall, Writers Susan Banks, Jeff Beldner, Marin Gazzaniga, Lindsay Harrison, Marla Kanelos, Rebecca McCarty, Madeleine Phillips, Dave Ryan; CBS/Paramount+
- “Days of Our Lives” — Head Writer Ron Carlivati, Writers Sonja Alarr, Kirk Doering, Christopher Dunn, Jamey Giddens, David Kreizman, Henry Newman, Ryan Quan, Dave Ryan, Katherine D. Schock; Peacock
- “General Hospital” — Head Writers Elizabeth Korte, Chris Van Etten, Writers Nigel Campbell, Ashley Cook, Emily Culliton, Suzanne Flynn, Charlotte Gibson, Lucky Gold, Kate Hall, Catherine LePard, Patrick Mulcahy, Dan O’Connor, Shannon Peace, Stacey Pulwer, Anne Schoettle, Scott Sickles, Micah Steinberg; ABC
Children’s Episodic, Longform and Specials
- WINNER: “Welcome to Spiderwick” (“The Spiderwick Chronicles”) — Written by Aron Eli Coleite; Roku Channel
- “A God Buys Us Cheeseburgers” (“Percy Jackson and the Olympians”) — Written by Rick Riordan & Jonathan E. Steinberg; Disney+
- “I’m Pogey” (“Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock”) — Written by Charley Feldman; Apple TV+
- “Out of My Mind” — Written by Daniel Stiepleman; Disney+
- “The Sign Language ABCs” (“Sesame Street”) — Written by Jessica Carleton; HBO | Max
Shortform Streaming
- WINNER: “Die Hart 3: Hart to Kill” — Written by Tripper Clancy; Roku Channel
- “Tiny Time Travel” — Written by Annabeth Bondor-Stone, Cynthia Furey, Tim McKeon, Nikki Palumbo, Connor White, Moujan Zolfaghari; PBS Kids
Documentary Script
- WINNER: “Part One: Inferno to Paradise” (“Dante”) — Written by Ric Burns and Riccardo Bruscagli; PBS
- “The American Vice President” (“American Experience”) — Written by Michelle Ferrari; PBS
- “The Cancer Detectives” (“American Experience”) — Written by Gene Tempest; PBS
- “Poisoned Ground: The Tragedy at Love Canal” (“American Experience”) — Written by Jamila Ephron; PBS
- “The Space Race” — Written by Mark Monroe; National Geographic Channel
News Script – Regularly Scheduled, Bulletin or Breaking Report
- WINNER: “Willie Mays Tribute” (“CBS Newspath”) — Written by Gerald Mazza; CBS News
- “Alabama IVF Ruling Sends Shockwaves Across America” (“CBS Evening News”) — Written by James Hutton, Rob Rivielle; CBS News
- “Assassination Attempt” (“CBS Evening News – Special Weekend Edition”) — Written by Craig Wilson, James Hutton, Claudine Cleophat, Joe Clines, Rob Rivielle; CBS News
News Script – Analysis, Feature or Commentary
- WINNER: “The Resistance” (“60 Minutes”) — Written by Scott Pelley, Nicole Young, Kristin Steve; CBS News
- “Finding Cillian Murphy” (“60 Minutes”) — Written by Scott Pelley, Nicole Young, Kristin Steve; CBS News
- “Fine Print: Carl Hiaasen” (“CBS Sunday Morning”) — Written by Richard Buddenhagen, Lesley Stahl; CBS News
- “History Repeats Itself in Northern Gaza One Year Later” (“Ayman”) — Written by Rajaa Elidrissi; MSNBC
- “Understanding Travel Advisories” (“ABC NewsOne”) — Written by Erik Pierorazio; ABC NewsOne
Digital News
- WINNER: “What Is Hamas Thinking Now?” — Written by Akbar Shahid Ahmed; HuffPost
- “The Food That Makes You Gay” — Written by Jaya Saxena; Eater
- “Mise-en-Seine: A Paris Olympics Diary” — Written by Henry Grabar; Slate
- “Sent by God” — Written by Molly Olmstead; Slate
- “The Unraveling of Nancy Mace” — Written by Jim Newell; Slate
Radio/Audio Documentary
- WINNER: “Art on Trial” (“One Year: 1990”) — Written by Evan Chung; Slate
- “Deadly Exes: Domestic Violence Awareness with Annie Elise” (“Serial Killers”) — Written by Maggie Admire; Spotify Studios
- “A Hotbed of Homosexuality” (“Slow Burn”) — Written by Christina Cauterucci; Slate
- “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie… Will He Want a Welfare Check?” (“Decoder Ring”) — Written by Cheyna Roth and Patrick Fort; Slate
Radio/Audio News Script – Regularly Scheduled, Bulletin or Breaking Report
- WINNER: “Passages: Three Women Who Made A Difference” — Written by Gail Lee; CBS News Radio
- “6:40am News – Nov 6, 2023” — Written by Philip Pilato; 1010 WINS AM & FM
- “12-15-2023, World News This Week” — Written by Joan B. Harris; ABC News Radio
- “Inside a Gaza Hospital” (“What Next?”) — Written by Mary Harris and Rob Gunther; Slate
- “World News This Year 2023” — Written by Robert Hawley; ABC News Radio
Radio/Audio News Script – Analysis, Feature or Commentary
- WINNER: “Charles Osgood Remembered” — Written by Gail Lee; CBS News Radio
- “The Athleticism and Empathy of Horses” (“Press Play 2024”) — Written by Robert Hawley; ABC News Radio
- “The Bleeding Edge” (“Unexplainable”) — Written by Byrd Pinkerton; Vox
On-Air Promotional Writing
- WINNER: “LC Voting Ads” — Written by Desireena Almoradie, Angad Bhalla; YouTube
- “Fortune Favors the Bold. Promotions for Tracker and King & Conqueror” — Written by Molly Neylan; CBS
- “NCIS: Season 21 Legacy, Launch and Beyond Trailers” — Written by Erial Tompkins; CBS
- “NYSNA AMC Campaign” — Written by Adrianna Hernandez Stewart, Angad Bhalla; YouTube