36th Writers Guild of America Awards

Award ceremony for writing of 1983

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The 36th Writers Guild of America Awards honored the best television, and film writers of 1983. Winners were announced in 1984.^[1]

Winners and nominees

^[2]

Film

Winners are listed first highlighted in boldface.

Best Drama Written Directly for the Screenplay

Tender Mercies, Written by Horton Foote
- Silkwood, Written by Nora Ephron and Alice Arlen
- WarGames, Written by Lawrence Lasker and Walter F. Parkes

Best Comedy Written Directly for the Screenplay

The Big Chill, Written by Lawrence Kasdan and Barbara Benedek
- Risky Business, Written by Paul Brickman
- Zelig, Written by Woody Allen

Best Drama Adapted from Another Medium

Reuben, Reuben, Screenplay by Julius J. Epstein; Based on the novel by Peter De Vries and the play by Herman Shumlin
- The Right Stuff, Screenplay by Philip Kaufman; Based on the book by Tom Wolfe
- The Year of Living Dangerously, Screenplay by David Williamson, Peter Weir and C.J. Koch; Based on the novel by C.J. Koch

Best Comedy Adapted from Another Medium

Terms of Endearment, Screenplay by James L. Brooks; Based on the novel by Larry McMurtry
- A Christmas Story, Written by Jean Shepherd, Leigh Brown, and Bob Clark; Based on the novel "In God We Trust, All Other Pay Cash" by Jean Shepherd
- To Be or Not to Be, Written by Thomas Meehan and Ronny Graham; Based on the 1942 screenplay by Edwin Justus Mayer and the story of Melchior Lengyel and Ernst Lubitsch

Television

Episodic Comedy *"Give Me a Ring Sometimes" – Cheers* (NBC) – Glen Charles and Les Charles "Boys in the Bar" – Cheers (NBC) – Ken Levine and David Isaacs** "The Spy Who Came in for a Cold One" – Cheers (NBC) – David Lloyd "Let Me Count the Ways" – Cheers (NBC) – Heide Perlman "Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen" – MASH* (CBS) – Alan Alda, Burt Metcalf, John Rappaport, Dan Wilcox, Thad Mumford, Elias Davis, David Pollock and Karen Hall "Scenskees from a Marriage: Part 1 & 2" – Taxi (NBC) – Howard Gewirtz and Ian Praiser "Jim's Inheritance" – Taxi (NBC) – Ken Estin	Episodic Drama *"Trial by Fury" – Hill Street Blues* (NBC) – David Milch** "Jane Doe #37" – Cagney & Lacey (CBS) – Peter Lefcourt "Gung Ho" – Hill Street Blues (NBC) – David Milch, Jeffrey Lewis and Michael Wagner "Eugene's Comedy Empire Strikes Back" – Hill Street Blues (NBC) – Anthony Yerkovich, David Milch, Karen Hall, Steven Bochco and Jeffrey Lewis "Addiction" – St. Elsewhere (NBC) – John Masius and Tom Fontana "Pilot" – Two Marriages (ABC) – Carol Sobieski
Daytime Serials Ryan's Hope (ABC) – Claire Labine, Mary Munisteri, Paul Avila Mayer and Nancy Fordh Capitol – John William Corrington, Joyce Hooper Corrington, Shirley Hartman, Steve Hayes, Susan Goldberg, David Carren, Stephen Karpf, Elinor Karpf, Peggy O'Shea, Craig Carlson, Granville Burgess, Richard Camp and Peggy Sloane	Adapted Drama Anthology For Us the Living: The Medgar Evers Story (PBS) – Ossie Davis and Ken Rotcop
Original/Adapted Comedy Anthology The Other Woman – Lila Garret and Anne Meara	Original Drama Anthology Special Bulletin (NBC) – Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick
Original/Adapted Multi-Part Long Form Series *"Part II" – Blood Feud* (OPT) – Robert Boris** "Part I" – V (NBC) – Kenneth Johnson	Children's Show *"The Woman Who Willed a Miracle" – ABC Afterschool Special* (ABC) – Arthur Heinemann** "Big Bird in China" – Sesame Street (PBS) – Jon Stone and Joseph A. Bailey "Oh Boy! Babies!" – NBC Special Treat (NBC) – Carole Hart, Bruce Hart and Sherry Coben

Special awards

Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement
Jack Rose, Melville Shavelson, Melvin Frank, and Norman Panama
Laurel Award for TV Writing Achievement
John Gay
Valentine Davies Award
Jerome Lawrence, and Robert E. Lee
Morgan Cox Award
Nate Monaster

References

^ "Awards Winners". wga.org. Writers Guild of America. Archived from the original on 2012-12-05. Retrieved 2010-06-06.
^ "Writers Guild of America, USA (1984)". IMDb. Retrieved 2019-07-04.