“To all my other nominees in this category, have fun at the Oscars, losers!” Thus ended the acceptance speech ofBo Burnham, who took home the Best Original Screenplay award at the Writers Guild of America Awards last night, besting competitors likeGreen Book,Vice, andRomadespite the fact that Burnham’sEighth Gradewasn’t even nominated in the category at the Oscars. It was a thrilling and genuinely surprising moment, and indeed this year’s two big WGA Awards feature winners solidified this as the most unpredictable Oscar race in recent memory.
The Adapted Screenplay honors went toNicole HolofencerandJeff Whittyfor the excellentCan You Ever Forgive Me?, who beat out Oscar favorites likeBlacKkKlansmanandIf Beale Street Could Talk. Indeed, it’s hard to say theEighth GradeandCan You Ever Forgive Me?wins weren’t deserving—those are twoexcellentscreenplays—but those looking to the WGA Awards to firm up some of their Oscar predications came away more confused than ever. AGreen BookorRomawin may have signaled further guild support for one of those films, making a Best Picture win that much more likely. But delightfully, the Writers Guild went another way.
Burnham is on a truly odd awards streak, as he also beat outBradley Cooperat the Directors Guild of America Awards for Best First-Time Feature despite the fact that—and I cannot stress this enough—Eighth Gradewas nominated for a whopping zero Oscars. What a weird and kind of great thing!
Elsewhere at the WGA Awards,The AmericansandThe Marvelous Mrs. Maiselwon Best Drama and Comedy series, whileBill Hadercontinues his well-deserved awards streak following DGA and Emmy wins with a WGA win for Best New Series and Episodic Comedy for his tremendous HBO showBarry. The long form awards (which is basically the WGA’s version of miniseries) went toCastle RockandThe Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, whileNathan For YoubestedSNLfor Comedy/Variety Sketch Series andGod of Warwon for Videogame Writing.
Check out the full list of writers guild awards winners below.
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Eighth Grade,Written byBo Burnham; A24
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Can You Ever Forgive Me?,Screenplay byNicole HolofcenerandJeff Whitty, Based on the book by Lee Israel; Fox Searchlight
DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY
Bathtubs Over Broadway,Written byOzzy Inguanzo & Dava Whisenant; Focus Features
TELEVISION AND NEW MEDIA WINNERS
DRAMA SERIES
The Americans, Written byPeter Ackerman, Hilary Bettis, Joshua Brand, Joel Fields, Sarah Nolen, Stephen Schiff, Justin Weinberger, Joe Weisberg, Tracey Scott Wilson; FX Networks
COMEDY SERIES
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,Written by Kate Fodor, Noah Gardenswartz, Daniel Goldfarb, Jen Kirkman, Sheila Lawrence, Daniel Palladino, Amy Sherman Palladino; Prime Video
NEW SERIES
Barry, Written byAlec Berg, Duffy Boudreau, Bill Hader, Emily Heller, Liz Sarnoff, Ben Smith, Sarah Solemani; HBO
ORIGINAL LONG FORM
Castle Rock,Writers:Marc Bernardin, Scott Brown, Lila Byock, Mark Lafferty, Sam Shaw, Dustin Thomason, Gina Welch, Vinnie Wilhelm; Hulu
ADAPTED LONG FORM
The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story,Writers:Maggie Cohn,Tom Rob Smith, Based on the bookVulgar Favorsby Maureen Orth; FX Networks
ORIGINAL SHORT FORM NEW MEDIA
Class of Lies, Written byTessa Leigh Williams; Snapchat
ADAPTED SHORT FORM NEW MEDIA
The Walking Dead: Red Machete, Written byNick Bernardone; AMC.com
“Bart’s Not Dead” (The Simpsons), Written byStephanie Gillis; Fox
EPISODIC DRAMA
“Paean To The People” (Homeland), Written byAlex Gansa;Showtime
EPISODIC COMEDY
“Chapter One: ‘Make Your Mark’” (Barry),Written byAlec Berg&Bill Hader; HBO
COMEDY/VARIETY TALK SERIES
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver; Writers:Tim Carvell, Raquel D’Apice, Josh Gondelman, Dan Gurewitch, Jeff Maurer, Daniel O’Brien, John Oliver, Brian Parise, Owen Parsons, Ben Silva, Will Tracy, Jill Twiss, Seena Vali, Juli Weiner; HBO
COMEDY/VARIETY SKETCH SERIES
Nathan For You, Writers:Leo Allen,Nathan Fielder, Carrie Kemper, Michael Koman, Adam Locke-Norton, Eric Notarnicola; Comedy Central
COMEDY/VARIETY SPECIALS
The Fake News with Ted Nelms, Written byJohn Aboud, Andrew Blitz, Michael Colton, Ed Helms, Elliott Kalan, Joseph Randazzo, Sara Schaefer; Comedy Central
QUIZ AND AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, Head Writer:Stephen A. Melcher, Jr.; Writers:Kyle Beakley, Tom Cohen, Patricia A. Cotter, Ryan Hopak, Gary Lucy, James Rowley, Ann Slichter, Dylan Snowden; Disney/ABC Syndication
DAYTIME DRAMA
General Hospital,Head Writers:Shelly Altman,Christopher Van Etten;Writers:Barbara Bloom, Anna Theresa Cascio, Suzanne Flynn, Charlotte Gibson, Lucky Gold, Kate Hall, Elizabeth Korte, Daniel James O’Connor, Donny Sheldon, Scott Sickles; ABC
CHILDREN’S EPISODIC AND SPECIALS
“The Ersatz Elevator: Part One” (A Series of Unfortunate Events), Teleplay byDaniel Handler; Netflix
(No nominees forChildren’s Long Formthis year.)
DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT – CURRENT EVENTS
“Trump’s Takeover” (Frontline), Written byMichael Kirk&Mike Wiser; PBS
DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT – OTHER THAN CURRENT EVENTS
“The Eugenics Crusade” (American Experience), Written byMichelle Ferrari; PBS
NEWS SCRIPT – REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT
“Catastrophe” (60 Minutes), Written byScott Pelley,Katie Kerbstat, Nicole Young; CBS News
NEWS SCRIPT – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY
“Wounds of War” (60 Minutes), Written byScott Pelley,Katie Kerbstat, Nicole Young; CBS News
DIGITAL NEWS
“Inside The Culture Of Sexism At Riot Games,” Written byCecilia D’Anastasio; Kotaku.com
RADIO/AUDIO WINNERS
RADIO/AUDIO DOCUMENTARY
“RFK: 50 Years After Shots Rang Out at The Ambassador Hotel,” Written byAndrew Evans; ABC News Radio
RADIO/AUDIO NEWS SCRIPT—REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT
“Remembering The Good, The Bad and the Brilliant,” Written byGail Lee; CBS News Radio
RADIO/AUDIO NEWS SCRIPT – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY
“John McCain: A Life of Service,” Written byGail Lee; CBS News Radio
PROMOTIONAL WINNER
ON-AIR PROMOTION (RADIO OR TELEVISION)
“Tribute to Star Trek for the 2018 Creative Arts Emmys,” Written bySean Brogan; CBS
VIDEOGAME WINNER
VIDEOGAME WRITING
God of War, Written byMatt Sophos, Richard Zangrande Gaubert, Cory Barlog; Story and Narrative Design LeadMatt Sophos; Story and Narrative DesignRichard Zangrande Gaubert; Narrative DesignOrion Walker, Adam Dolin; Sony Interactive Entertainment
