TV Hot Spot: News

HBO Leads Writers Guild Nominees!

Post by: Sal


Source: Zap2It

And now, some news about the Writers Guild of America that has nothing to do with the strike.

The guild has announced the television nominees for its 60th annual awards, and, like the Golden Globe nominations, cable series dominate the pack. Four of the five nominees for the best-written drama series, and three of the five comedy nominees, reside on cable. All but one of the episodic drama nominees hail from cable as well.

HBO captured five nods in the two series categories. "The Sopranos" and "The Wire" are up for best drama, while "Curb Your Enthusiasm," "Entourage" and "Flight of the Conchords" will compete for comedy honors. The cult hit "Conchords" is also nominated for best new series and the episodic comedy award.

AMC's "Mad Men" also earned three nominations, for best drama, best new series and episodic drama. NBC's "The Office" earned four, including three in the episodic comedy category.

NBC was the only broadcast network to break through in the series lists, earning nods for "Friday Night Lights," "30 Rock" and "The Office." In addition to "The Office," "30 Rock" and the pilot episode of ABC's "Pushing Daisies" are also up for episodic comedy honors.

Nominees for feature films will be announced in January. The Writers Guild Awards are scheduled for Feb. 9.

Below is a partial list of the television nominees. The full list is at WGA.org.

Dramatic Series

"Dexter," Showtime
"Friday Night Lights," NBC
"Mad Men," AMC
"The Sopranos," HBO
"The Wire," HBO

Comedy Series

"30 Rock," NBC
"Curb Your Enthusiasm," HBO
"Entourage," HBO
"Flight of the Conchords," HBO
"The Office," NBC

New Series

"Damages," FX
"Flight of the Conchords," HBO
"Mad Men," AMC
"Pushing Daisies," ABC
"The Sarah Silverman Program," Comedy Central

Comedy/Variety Series

"The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," Comedy Central
"The Colbert Report," Comedy Central
"Late Night with Conan O'Brien," NBC
"Penn & Teller: Bulls**t!," Showtime
"Real Time with Bill Maher," HBO
"Saturday Night Live," NBC

Episodic Drama

"Final Grades" ("The Wire"), teleplay by David Simon, story by David Simon and Ed Burns
"The Second Coming" ("The Sopranos"), Terence Winter
"The Round File" ("The Closer"), Michael Alaimo
"Flashes Before Your Eyes" ("Lost"), Damon Lindelof and Drew Goddard
"The Hobo Code" ("Mad Men"), Chris Provenzano
"The Dark Defender" ("Dexter"), Tim Schlattmann

Episodic Comedy

"Pie-lette" ("Pushing Daisies"), Bryan Fuller
"The Job" ("The Office"), Paul Lieberstein and Michael Schur
"Negotiation" ("30 Rock"), Matt Hubbard
"Local Ad" ("The Office"), B.J. Novak
"Phyllis's Wedding ("The Office"), Caroline Williams
"Sally Returns" ("Flight of the Conchords"), James Bobin, Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie

Long Form - Original

"Pandemic" (Hallmark Channel), Bryce Zabel and Jackie Zabel
"The Lost Room" (Sci Fi), night one teleplay Laura Harkcom and Christopher Leone, story by Christopher Leone and Paul Workman; nights two and three, Laura Harkcom and Christopher Leone

Long Form - Adaptation

"The Company" (TNT), teleplay by Ken Nolan, based on the novel by Robert Littell
"Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" (HBO), teleplay by Daniel Giat, based on the book by Dee Alexander Brown
"The Starter Wife" (USA), teleplay by Sara Parriott and Josann McGibbon, based on the novel by Gigi Levangie Grazer

Animation

"The Haw-Hawed Couple" ("The Simpsons"), Matt Selman
"The Homer of Seville" ("The Simpsons"), Carolyn Omine
"Kill Gil Volumes 1 & 2" ("The Simpsons"), Jeff Westbrook
"Stop or My Dog Will Shoot!" ("The Simpsons"), John Frink
"The Passion of the Dauterive" ("King of the Hill"), Tony Gama-Lobo and Rebecca May
"Lucky's Wedding Suit" ("King of the Hill"), Jim Dauterive


Take Care,

Sal