2024 WGA Awards: “The Holdovers” & “American Fiction” Take Top Prizes

    Jeffrey Wright in
    Jeffrey Wright in "American Fiction"

    This year’s WGA Awards were a long time coming, and the strike-delayed ceremony was finally held this past weekend. The Holdovers and American Fiction dominated movie categories, while Succession, The Bear, and Beef came out victorious in the TV field.

    After losing the Oscar for best original screenplay at the Oscars, The Holdovers was finally honored in the same category at the WGA Awards. It was nominated alongside Air, Barbie, May December, and Past Lives, and defeated them all to take the trophy home.

    Cord Jefferson’s American Fiction, the winner of the Oscar for best adapted screenplay, won big in the same category at the WGA Awards. It competed against Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, Killers of the Flower Moon, Nyad, and Oppenheimer this time around.

    When it comes to the TV categories, the main awards went to three shows that dominated the rest of the award season. Succession, The Bear, and Beef collected trophies for the best drama series, best comedy series, and best limited series, respectively, while The Last of Us was named the best new series.

    After being hit by a major delay caused by last year’s writers’ strike, the WGA Awards returned to Los Angeles on April 14.

    FULL LIST OF WINNERS AT THE 2024 WGA AWARDS:

    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

    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

    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

    NEW SERIES
    The Last of Us, Written by Neil Druckmann, Halley Gross, Craig Mazin, Bo Shim; HBO | Max

    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 SPECIALS
    Sarah Silverman: Someone You Love, Written by Sarah Silverman; 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

    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

    CHILDREN’S EPISODIC, LONG FORM AND SPECIALS
    “Romance Dawn” (One Piece), Written by Matt Owens & Steven Maeda; Netflix

    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

    TV & NEW MEDIA MOTION PICTURES
    Quiz Lady, Written by Jen D’Angelo; Hulu

    SHORT FORM NEW MEDIA
    Carpool Karaoke, Written by Casey Stewart, David Young; Apple TV+

    NEWS SCRIPT – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY
    “Healing and Hope” (60 Minutes), Written by Scott Pelley, Nicole Young, Kristin Steve; CBS News

    NEWS SCRIPT – REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT 
    “Surprise Attack!” (CBS Weekend News), Written by J. Craig Wilson, Ambrose Raferty; CBS News

    DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT
    “Episode One: Blood Memory” (The American Buffalo), Written by Dayton Duncan; PBS

    DIGITAL NEWS
    “The Persuaders: A 5-Part Investigation into the Union-Busting Industry,” Written by Dave Jamieson; HuffPost

    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

    ON AIR PROMOTION
    “WCBS AM Promos,” Written by Bill Tynan; WCBS Newsradio 880