An awards show was finally held without either “Barbie” or “Oppenheimer” being honored.
On Sunday, the Writers Guild of America handed out its honors in concurrent ceremonies in Los Angeles and New York. The screenplay winners were, in the original category, “The Holdovers,” written by David Hemingson; and in the adapted category, “American Fiction,” by Cord Jefferson, based upon Percival Everett’s novel, Erasure.
In the television category, Emmy winners “Succession” and “The Bear,” earned top prizes television writing honors, for drama and comedy, respectively.
Absent from the list were this year’s Oscar winners in the category, Justine Triet and Arthur Harari, who won for “Anatomy of a Fall.”
Jefferson was honored during the ceremony with the WGA’s Paul Selvin Award, which honors a script that “best embodies the spirit of the constitutional and civil rights and liberties which are indispensable to the survival of free writers everywhere.”
Screenwriter/director Walter Hill, whose writing credits include “The Getaway,” “The Warriors,” “48 Hrs.,” “Last Man Standing” and “Dead for A Dollar,” received the guild’s Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement. Linda Bloodworth Thomason, whose writing/directing/producing career includes “Designing Women” and “Evening Shade,” received the Paddy Chayefsky Award for Television Writing.
The Los Angeles WGA Awards ceremony was held at the Hollywood Palladium, hosted by Niecy Nash-Betts. Among the presenters were Bill Burr, Diedrich Bader, Drew Carey, Gina Yashere, Lindsay Dougherty, Maria Sten, Nathan Fielder, Randall Park, Tig Notaro, Tony Hale and Wendi McLendon-Covey.
Here is a complete list of winners:
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
“The Holdovers,” Written by David Hemingson; Focus Features
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
“American Fiction,” Screenplay by Cord Jefferson, Based Upon the Novel Erasure by Percival Everett; Amazon MGM Studios
DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY
“The Pigeon Tunnel,” Written by Errol Morris; Apple Original Films
TELEVISION AND NEW MEDIA NOMINEES
DRAMA SERIES
“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
“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
NEW SERIES
“The Last of Us,” Written by Neil Druckmann, Halley Gross, Craig Mazin, Bo Shim; HBO Max
LIMITED SERIES
“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
TV & NEW MEDIA MOTION PICTURES
“Quiz Lady,” Written by Jen D’Angelo; Hulu
ANIMATION
“Carl Carlson Rides Again” (“The Simpsons”), Written by Loni Steele Sosthand; Fox
EPISODIC DRAMA
“Living+” (“Succession”), Written by Georgia Pritchett & Will Arbery; HBO Max
EPISODIC COMEDY
“Escape From Shit Mountain” (“Poker Face”), Written by Nora Zuckerman & Lilla Zuckerman; Peacock
COMEDY/VARIETY TALK SERIES
“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
COMEDY/VARIETY SKETCH SERIES
“I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson,” Writers Tim Robinson, Zach Kanin, John Solomon, Gary Richardson, Reggie Henke, Brendan Jennings, Patti Harrison; Netflix
COMEDY/VARIETY SPECIALS
“Sarah Silverman: Someone You Love,” Written by Sarah Silverman; HBO Max
QUIZ AND AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
“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
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
CHILDREN’S EPISODIC, LONG FORM AND SPECIALS
“Romance Dawn” (“One Piece”), Written by Matt Owens & Steven Maeda; Netflix
SHORT FORM NEW MEDIA
“Carpool Karaoke,” Written by Casey Stewart, David Young; Apple TV+
DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT
“Episode One: Blood Memory” (“The American Buffalo”), Written by Dayton Duncan; PBS
NEWS SCRIPT ” REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT
“Surprise Attack!” (“CBS Weekend News”), Written by J. Craig Wilson, Ambrose Raferty; CBS News
NEWS SCRIPT ” ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY
“Healing and Hope” (“60 Minutes”), Written by Scott Pelley, Nicole Young, Kristin Steve; CBS News
DIGITAL NEWS
“The Persuaders: A 5-Part Investigation into the Union-Busting Industry,” Written by Dave Jamieson; HuffPost
RADIO/AUDIO NOMINEES
RADIO/AUDIO DOCUMENTARY
“The Call” (“This American Life”), Written by Mary Harris; Slate
RADIO/AUDIO NEWS SCRIPT – REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT
“World News This Week – Week of March 17, 2023,” Written by Joy Piazza; ABC News Radio
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
PROMOTIONAL WRITING NOMINEES
ON AIR PROMOTION
“WCBS AM Promos” Written by Bill Tynan; WCBS Newsradio 880