The 61st Writers Guild of America Awards honored the best film, television, and videogame writers of 2008. Winners were announced on February 7, 2009.[1]
| 61st WGA Awards | |
|---|---|
| Date | February 7, 2009 |
| Organized by | Writers Guild of America, East and the Writers Guild of America, West |
| |
Names in bold denote the winners.
| Title | Writers | Network |
|---|---|---|
| Breaking Bad | Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould, Patty Lin, and George Mastras | AMC |
| Fringe | J. J. Abrams, Jason Cahill, Julia Cho, David H. Goodman, Felicia Henderson, Brad Caleb Kane, Alex Kurtzman, Darin Morgan, J. R. Orci, Roberto Orci, Jeff Pinkner, and Zack Whedon | Fox |
| In Treatment | Rodrigo García, Bryan Goluboff, Davey Holmes, William Meritt Johnson, Amy Lippman, and Sarah Treem | HBO |
| Life On Mars | Josh Appelbaum, Andre Nemec, Scott Rosenberg, Becky Hartman Edwards, David Wilcox, Adele Lim, Bryan Oh, Tracy McMillan, Sonny Postiglione, Phil M. Rosenberg, and Meredith Averill | ABC |
| True Blood | Alan Ball, Brian Buckner, Raelle Tucker, Alexander Woo, Nancy Oliver, and Chris Offutt | HBO |
| Title | Series | Writers | Network |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Don't Ever Change" | House | Doris Egan & Leonard Dick | Fox |
| "Double Booked" | Burn Notice | Craig O'Neill & Jason Tracey | USA |
| "Gray Matter" | Breaking Bad | Patty Lin | AMC |
| "Pilot" | Breaking Bad | Vince Gilligan | AMC |
| "Pilot" | Eli Stone | Greg Berlanti & Marc Guggenheim | ABC |
| "There's Something About Harry" | Dexter | Scott Reynolds | Showtime |
| Title | Series | Writers | Network |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Believe in the Stars" | 30 Rock | Robert Carlock | NBC |
| "Cooter" | 30 Rock | Tina Fey | NBC |
| "Crime Aid" | The Office | Charlie Grandy | NBC |
| "Crush'd" | Ugly Betty | Tracy Poust & Jon Kinnally | ABC |
| "Succession" | 30 Rock | Andrew Guest & John Riggi | NBC |
| "Vote for This and I Promise to Do Something Crazy at the Emmys" | My Name Is Earl | Greg Garcia | NBC |
| Title | Writers | Network |
|---|---|---|
| An American Crime | Tommy O'Haver & Irene Turner | Showtime |
| Pilot (Fringe) | J. J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci | Fox |
| Recount | Danny Strong | HBO |
| Title | Writers | Network |
|---|---|---|
| Generation Kill | "Stay Frosty" - Teleplay by Ed Burns, Story by David Simon & Ed Burns, Based on the book by Evan Wright "Bomb in the Garden" - Teleplay by David Simon, Story by David Simon & Ed Burns, Based on the book by Evan Wright |
HBO |
| John Adams | "Join or Die" & "Independence" - Teleplay by Kirk Ellis; Based on the bookbyDavid McCullough) | HBO |
| The Memory Keeper's Daughter | Teleplay by John Pielmeier; Based on the book by Kim Edwards | Lifetime |
| Title | Series | Writers | Network |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Apocalypse Cow" | The Simpsons | Jeff Westbrook | Fox |
| "The Debarted" | The Simpsons | Joel H. Cohen | FOX |
| "E Pluribus Wiggum" | The Simpsons | Michael Price | FOX |
| "Homer and Lisa Exchange Cross Words" | The Simpsons | Tim Long | FOX |
| "Life: A Loser's Manual" | King of the Hill | Dan McGrath | FOX |
| "Strangeness on a Train" | King of the Hill | Jim Dauterive | FOX |
| Title | Writers | Network |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 Film Independent Spirit Awards | Written by Billy Kimball, Aaron Lee, Jennifer Celotta, and Rainn Wilson | IFC/AMC |
| Jimmy Kimmel's Big Night of Stars | Written by Jimmy Kimmel, Gary Greenberg, Molly McNearney, Bryan Paulk, Ned Rice, Jon Bines, Will Burke, Rick Rosner, Jake Lentz, Sal Iacono, and Tony Barbieri | ABC |
| Title | Writers | Network |
|---|---|---|
| As the World Turns | Written by Jean Passanante, Leah Laiman, Courtney Simon, Lisa Connor, David A. Levinson, Peter Brash, Richard Culliton, Susan Dansby, Cheryl Davis, and Leslie Nipkow | CBS Daytime |
| One Life to Live | Written by Ron Carlivati, Carolyn Culliton, Elizabeth Page, Aida Croal, Shelly Altman, Janet Iacobuzio, Chris Van Etten, Anna Theresa Cascio | ABC Daytime |
| Title | Series | Writers | Network |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Elmo's Christmas Countdown" | Sesame Workshop | Written by Joey Mazzarino | ABC |
| "Spencer's 18th Birthday" | South of Nowhere | Written by Arika Lisanne Mittman | The N |
| "The Un-Party" | Imagination Movers | Written by Scott C. Gray & Rick Gitelson | Disney Channel |
| Title | Series | Writers | Network |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Polar Bears" | The Naked Brothers Band | Written by Polly Draper | Nickelodeon |
| Title | Series | Writers | Network |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Bush's War: Part One" | Frontline | Written by Michael Kirk | PBS |
| Depression: Out of the Shadows | Written by Larkin McPhee | PBS | |
| "Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial" | NOVA | Written by Joseph McMaster | PBS |
| "Rules of Engagement" | Frontline | Written by Arun Rath | PBS |
| "The Medicated Child" | Frontline | Written by Marcela Gaviria | PBS |
| Title | Series | Writers | Network |
|---|---|---|---|
| Andrew Jackson: Good, Evil, and the Presidency | Written by Carl Byker | PBS | |
| "Kit Carson" | American Experience | Written by Michelle Ferrari | PBS |
| "Secrets of the Parthenon" | NOVA | Written by Gary Glassman | PBS |
| Episode Two: "The Best of Times, The Worst of Times (1924-1945)," | The Jewish Americans | Written by David Grubin | PBS |
| The Truth about Cancer | Written by Linda Garmon | PBS | |
| Title | Series | Writers | Network |
|---|---|---|---|
| ABC Weekend News | Joel Siegel, Karen Mooney, and David Muir | ABC | |
| "Up to the Minute" | CBS News | Matt Nelko | CBS |
| Title | Series | Writers | Network |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Exonerated" | 60 Minutes | Tom Anderson and Jenny Dubin | CBS |
| "Show Me the Love: Amazing Pen Pal Connection" | Good Morning America | Raquel Hecker | ABC |
| "The Warren Buffett Challenge: Are the Rich Taxed Enough?" | Good Morning America | Lisa Ferri | ABC |
| "Yankee Stadium and the New Gilded Age" | Bill Moyers Journal | Bill Moyers & Michael Winship | PBS |