Everyone knows that as a rule, and also a much-overused punchline, Hollywood writers get no respect. The writer is the Dangerfield of the entertainment industry. That’s not news. Some of us even know this firsthand. So it’s not a big surprise when the Writers Guild held their WGA Awards this past weekend seemingly without much fanfare, at least that I’ve seen. It might help if they didn’t have the celebration at the ass end of the award season blitzrieg. Be that as it may, here’s how the awards played out:
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
The Hurt 
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Up in the Air, Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner; Based upon the novel by Walter Kirn; Paramount Pictures
DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY
The Cove, Written by Mark Monroe; Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions
TELEVISION WINNERS
DRAMA SERIES
Mad Men, Written by Lisa Albert, Andrew Colville, Kater Gordon, Cathryn Humphris,
Andre Jacquemetton, Maria Jacquemetton, Brett Johnson, Erin Levy, Marti Noxon,
Frank Pierson, Robin Veith, Dahvi Waller, Matthew Weiner; AMC
COMEDY SERIES
30 Rock, Written by Jack Burditt, Kay Cannon, Robert Carlock, Tom
Ceraulo, Vali Chandrasekaran, Tina Fey, Donald Glover, Steve Hely, Matt
Hubbard, Dylan Morgan, Paula Pell, Jon Pollack, John Riggi, Tami
Sagher, Josh Siegal, Ron Weiner, Tracey Wigfield; NBC
NEW SERIES
Modern Family, Written by Paul Corrigan, Sameer Gardezi, Joe Lawson,
Steven Levitan, Christopher Lloyd, Dan O’Shannon, Brad Walsh, Caroline
Williams, Bill Wrubel, Danny Zuker; ABC
EPISODIC DRAMA – any length – one airing time
“Broken, Part 1 and Part 2” (House), Written by Russel Friend & Garrett Lerner & David Foster & David Shore; Fox
EPISODIC COMEDY – any length – one airing time (**TIE**)
“Apollo, Apollo” (30 Rock), Written by Robert Carlock; NBC
“Pilot” (Modern Family), Written by Steven Levitan & Christopher Lloyd; ABC
LONG FORM – ORIGINAL – over one hour – one or two parts, one or two airing times
Georgia O’Keeffe, Written by Michael Cristofer; Lifetime
LONG FORM – ADAPTATION – over one hour – one or two parts, one or two airing times
Taking Chance, Teleplay by Lieutenant Colonel Michael R. Strobl, USMC
(Ret.) and Ross Katz, Based on the short story by Lieutenant Colonel
Michael R. Strobl, USMC (Ret.); HBO
ANIMATION – any length – one airing time
“Wedding for Disaster” (The Simpsons), Written by Joel H. Cohen; Fox
COMEDY / VARIETY – (INCLUDING TALK) SERIES (**TIE**)
Saturday Night Live, Head Writer: Seth Meyers, Writers Doug Abeles,
James Anderson, Alex Baze, Jessica Conrad, James Downey, Steve Higgins,
Colin Jost, Erik Kenward, Rob Klein, John Lutz, Lorne Michaels, John
Mulaney, Paula Pell, Simon Rich, Marika Sawyer, Akiva Schaffer, John
Solomon, Emily Spivey, Kent Sublette, Jorma Taccone, Bryan Tucker,
Additional Sketch by Adam McKay, Andrew Steele; NBC
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Head Writer: Steve Bodow, Writers Rory
Albanese, Kevin Bleyer, Rich Blomquist, Tim Carvell, Wyatt Cenac,
Hallie Haglund, JR Havlan, David Javerbaum, Elliott Kalan, Josh Lieb,
Sam Means, Jo Miller, John Oliver, Daniel Radosh, Jason Ross, Jon
Stewart; Comedy Central
COMEDY / VARIETY – MUSIC, AWARDS, TRIBUTES – SPECIALS
Film Independent’s 2009 Spirit Awards, Written by Billy Kimball, Neil MacLennan; IFC/AMC
DAYTIME SERIAL
The Young and the
Written by Amanda L. Beall, Tom Casiello, Lisa Connor, Janice Ferri
Esser, Eric Freiwald, Jay Gibson, Scott Hamner, Marla Kanelos, Beth
Milstein, Natalie Minardi Slater, Melissa Salmons, Linda Schreiber,
James Stanley, Sandra Weintraub, Teresa Zimmerman; CBS
CHILDREN’S EPISODIC & SPECIALS
“Welcome to the Jungle” (The Troop), Written by Max Burnett; Nickelodeon
CHILDREN’S SCRIPT – LONG FORM OR SPECIAL
Another Cinderella Story, Written by Erik Patterson, Jessica Scott; ABC Family
DOCUMENTARY – CURRENT EVENTS
“The Madoff Affair” (Frontline), Written by Marcela Gaviria, Martin Smith; PBS
DOCUMENTARY – OTHER THAN CURRENT EVENTS
“The Trials of J. Robert Oppenheimer” (American Experience), Written by David Grubin; PBS
NEWS – REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN OR BREAKING REPORT
World News with Charles Gibson, Written by Lee Kamlet, Julia Kathan, Joel Siegel; ABC
NEWS – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY
“A Private War: Expose: America’s Investigative Reports” (Bill Moyers Journal), Written by Thomas M. Jennings; PBS
RADIO WINNERS
DOCUMENTARY
2008 Year in Review, Written by Gail Lee; CBS
NEWS – REGULARLY SCHEDULED OR BREAKING
World News This Week − July 11, 2009, Written by Darren Reynolds; ABC Radio
NEWS – ANALYSIS, FEATURE OR COMMENTARY
Paul Harvey: An American Life, Written by Stu Chamberlain; ABC Radio
PROMOTIONAL WRITING AND GRAPHIC ANIMATION WINNERS
ON-AIR PROMOTION (RADIO OR TELEVISION)
“Vegas” (Dateline), “The Wanted” Promo, NBC Nightly News Promo, “Iran”
(Dateline), “Cheat” (Dateline), Written by Barry Fitzsimmons; NBC
TELEVISION GRAPHIC ANIMATION
“Hudson Splashdown” (CBS Evening News with Katie Couric), David M. Rosen, Shannon L. Toma; CBS
VIDEOGAME WRITING WINNER
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Written by Amy Hennig; Sony Computer Entertainment
via ComingSoon.net