WGA Strike Alters Awards but Not Abundance of Choice
No individual writer or writers room achieved greater success this year than the entirety of the 11,500-member union — while billions of dollars in the economy vanished into ether during the 148-day strike, the Writers Guild of America largely prevailed on the issues most important to its members.
But the aftermath of all that tumult is still being felt and the WGA made the dramatic decision to postpone its awards until after the Oscars in order to allow enough time for members to submit work to occur after the strike. The 76th annual ceremony will now be held on April 14.
This will change how WGA’S nominations and awards potentially affect
Oscar voters. Guild members can cast their preliminary votes for TV series (drama, comedy, new, limited) and screenplay (original and adapted) between Jan. 22 to Feb. 9, with the nominations unveiled Feb. 21.
That’s a month after the Academy Award nominations for adapted and original screenplay nominations are unveiled, but the WGA Awards could still influence voters since Oscar voters have to make their final choices between Feb. 22-27. (The deadline for final WGA voting is now March 8.) Even if studios and streamers are less inclined to lobby or make their presence (and their writers’ presence) felt at the ceremony, the television side of the awards will likely pick up any slack, since the new dates will not alter any influence the TV side of the awards might have on the next round of Emmy voters later in the year.
The WGA Awards traditionally carry less weight among voters than other pre-oscar talent celebrations because many indie and international productions are not eligible because their respective scribes are not WGA members. Last year, “The Banshees of Inisherin” was among the Wga-ineligible, Oscar-nominated screenplays. This year that list could include “All of Us Strangers,” “Anatomy of a Fall” and “Zone of Interest.”
TV was massively impacted by the strike and several shows that might have expected a 2023 release, such as “Severance” — which won trophies for drama series and new series in 2022 — have been pushed into 2024. Still, even with those absences and the departure of perennial favorite “Better Call Saul,” there’s plenty to choose from.
Drama series
The final season of “Succession” justifiably dominated news coverage of television this year and the two-time champ is indubitably the heavy favorite to move into a tie for second most wins ever behind “Hill Street Blues,” which remains the champ with four. (Even in death no one wants a pissed
off Logan Roy.) Last year’s nominees “Severance,” “Saul” and “Andor” are off the table, while the other two, “Yellowjackets” and “The Crown,” both reached screens this year and have to be considered contenders along with “The Last of Us” and “Poker Face” (both of which also have a shot in the new series category.)
Comedy series
The most acclaimed and beloved show in the category, “Reservation Dogs,” was nominated the past two years and may have the edge since this was its final season. But it must contend with the defending champion, “The Bear,” which was perhaps second to “Succession” in media and cultural buzz in its sophomore outing this year. (Even if “Reservation Dogs” wins, “The Bear” could easily snatch the episodic award for “Fishes,” its Christmas showcase for family dysfunction.)
“Barry,” which has three nominations and one win, may get a final salute despite finishing up more a drama than comedy (even more so than “Reservation Dogs” and “The Bear”). Sweeter or downright funnier shows like “Somebody, Somewhere” and “The Other Two” (which also ended its run) could garner attention.
New series
It feels like networks and streamers are putting more and more muscle into limited series and, in combination with the strike, that leaves the new series category feeling thinner than usual. Still, there were a handful of rookies that garnered enough attention to warrant consideration: Besides the aforementioned “The Last of Us” and “Poker Face,” they include two genre-bending series, the reality-sitcom “Jury Duty” and the latest twisted take from Nathan Felder, “The Curse,” as well as some shows that earned good notices but failed to find an audience such as the “The Horror of Dolores Roach.”
Limited series
Last year, the WGA broke off television and new media motion pictures into its own category, freeing up more space in the burgeoning world of limited series. It’s a good thing they did because there were a wildly diverse array of options this year, ranging from “Beef” to “I’m a Virgo” to “Dead Ringers,” with other slots possibly going to “A Small Light,” “A Murder at the End of the World,” “Love and Death” and “The Fall of the House of Usher.”
Original screenplay
There are some starry names in the original screenplay category but none bigger than Bradley Cooper, who, with Josh Singer, co-wrote “Maestro.” And yes, most of his past awards (such as four of his Oscar nods) are for acting, but Cooper is no stranger to the WGA, having earned a nomination for “A Star Is Born” in 2018.
With the exception of Wes Anderson for “Asteroid City,” the other most intriguing contenders on the original screenplay front are all new to the dance: Celine Song for “Past Lives,” Samy Burch for “May December,” David Hemingson for “The Holdovers,” A.V. Rockwell for “A Thousand and One” and Alex Convery for “Air.”
Adapted screenplay
Adapted screenplay, by contrast, is filled with familiar names, starting with Martin Scorsese and Eric Roth, who co-wrote “Killers of the Flower Moon.” Scorsese has only been nominated twice before (for “Mean Streets” and “Goodfellas”) but he has fared OK as a director; Roth, meanwhile, has been nominated five times — second in the adapted screenplay category only to Steve Zaillian — and won for “Forrest Gump.”
Their competition will definitely include another iconic director, Christopher Nolan, who has been nominated twice, winning for “Inception.” And Greta Gerwig, who also came to fame on screen, is likely to receive her third writing nod for “Barbie,” along with her partner, co-writer and fellow twotime nominee, Noah Baumbach. Cord Jefferson (“American Fiction”) is new to feature films but is a WGA Awards veteran as well, thanks to his work on nominated shows “Master of None,” and “The Good Place” and winners in “Watchmen” and “Succession.” So if Tony Mcnamara (“Poor Things”) captures the final slot, he’ll be the only rookie in the bunch. ⚫