The Writers Guild of America East and Writers Guild of America West announced the winners of the 2026 Writers Guild Awards, recognizing outstanding achievement in writing across film, television, streaming, news, radio, and audio, and promotional categories. This year’s awards were presented during the New York ceremony on Sunday, March 8, at the Edison Ballroom.
In screenplay categories, Ryan Coogler won for Sinners in Original Screenplay, while Paul Thomas Anderson took Adapted Screenplay for One Battle After Another, inspired by Thomas Pynchon’s Vineland. Mstyslav Chernov won Documentary Screenplay for 2,000 Meters to Andriivka.
On the television and streaming side, The Pitt emerged as one of the night’s biggest winners, taking both Drama Series and New Series. The Studio won the Comedy Series award, while Dying for Sex earned the Limited Series award. In the TV and Streaming Motion Pictures category, Deep Cover, written by Derek Connolly and Colin Trevorrow, took top honors.
Other notable winners included Long Story Short for Animation with the episode “Shira Can’t Cook,” The Pitt episode “7:00 A.M.” for Episodic Drama, and The Righteous Gemstones episode “Prelude” for Episodic Comedy. Last Week Tonight with John Oliver won in Comedy and Variety Series for talk or sketch, while Marc Maron: Panicked took the prize for Comedy and Variety Specials.
In unscripted and specialty categories, Celebrity Jeopardy! won for Quiz and Audience Participation, The Young and the Restless won for Daytime Drama, and Tab Time won in Children’s Episodic, Long Form, and Specials for the episode “When We Lose Someone.” The Rabbit Hole with Jimmy Kimmel was recognized in the Short Form Streaming category.
News and documentary winners included Frontline for both Documentary Script Current Events with “Trump’s Power & the Rule of Law” and Documentary Script Other Than Current Events with “Forgotten Hero: Walter White and the NAACP.” ABC News won for News Script in the regularly scheduled, bulletin, or breaking report category for “Devastating Flooding in Texas,” while MSNBC’s Ayman won for analysis, feature, or commentary with “Remembering Palestinian Journalists Killed by Israeli Forces.” HuffPost won for Digital News with “An Isolated Boarding School Promised to Help Troubled Girls. Former Students Say They Were Abused.”
In radio and audio, Slate’s Decoder Ring won Radio and Audio Documentary for “Jerry Lewis’ Lost Holocaust Clown Movie.” ABC News Radio won for regularly scheduled, bulletin, or breaking report, and CBS News Radio won for analysis, feature, or commentary with “The Life and Legacy of Jimmy Carter.”
CBS also picked up the On Air Promotion award for “CBS Comedy,” written by Dan Greenberger.
Roy Wood Jr. hosted the 2026 New York ceremony, which drew attendees from across entertainment, journalism, and government. Among those in attendance were Bowen Yang, Tony Gilroy, Danny McBride, Liz Meriwether, David Koepp, David Krumholtz, Desi Lydic, Jordan Klepper, Mo Amer, Lesley Stahl, WGAE President Tom Fontana, and others.
The New York ceremony also featured the presentation of honorary awards. Stephen Colbert received the Walter Bernstein Award, presented by Robert Smigel. Terry George received the Ian McLellan Hunter Award for Career Achievement, presented by Don Cheadle. Diana Son received the Richard B. Jablow Award for Devoted Service to the Guild, presented by Kathy McGee.
The Writers Guild of America West’s 2026 ceremony was canceled. The Los Angeles event had been scheduled to honor James Cameron with the Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement, Don Reo with the Paddy Chayefsky Laurel Award for Television Writing Achievement, and Mstyslav Chernov with the Paul Selvin Award for 2,000 Meters to Andriivka.
Here is the complete list of WGA winners:
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Sinners, Written by Ryan Coogler; Warner Bros. Pictures
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
One Battle After Another, Screenplay by Paul Thomas Anderson, Screen Story by Paul Thomas Anderson, Inspired by the novel Vineland by Thomas Pynchon; Warner Bros. Pictures
DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY
2,000 Meters to Andriivka, Written by Mstyslav Chernov; Frontline Features
TELEVISION, STREAMING, AND NEWS WINNERS
DRAMA SERIES
The Pitt, Written by Cynthia Adarkwa, Simran Baidwan, Valerie Chu, R. Scott Gemmill, Elyssa Gershman, Joe Sachs, Noah Wyle; HBO | Max
COMEDY SERIES
The Studio, Written by Evan Goldberg, Alex Gregory, Peter Huyck, Frida Perez, Seth Rogen; Apple TV
NEW SERIES
The Pitt, Written by Cynthia Adarkwa, Simran Baidwan, Valerie Chu, R. Scott Gemmill, Elyssa Gershman, Joe Sachs, Noah Wyle; HBO | Max
LIMITED SERIES
Dying for Sex, Written by Sheila Callaghan, Harris Danow, Madeleine George, Elizabeth Meriwether, Amelia Roper, Kim Rosenstock, Sasha Stewart, Sabrina Wu, Keisha Zollar; FX/Hulu
TV & STREAMING MOTION PICTURES
Deep Cover, Written by Derek Connolly & Colin Trevorrow; Prime Video
ANIMATION
“Shira Can’t Cook” (Long Story Short) Written by Mehar Sethi; Netflix
EPISODIC DRAMA
“7:00 A.M.” (The Pitt), Written by R. Scott Gemmill; HBO | Max
EPISODIC COMEDY
“Prelude” (The Righteous Gemstones), Written by John Carcieri, Jeff Fradley, Danny R. McBride; HBO | Max
COMEDY/VARIETY SERIES – TALK OR SKETCH
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, Sofía Manfredi, John Oliver, Taylor Kay Phillips, Chrissy Shackelford; HBO | Max
COMEDY/VARIETY SPECIALS
Marc Maron: Panicked, Written by Marc Maron; HBO | Max
QUIZ AND AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
Celebrity Jeopardy!, Head Writer: Bobby Patton Writers: Kyle Beakley, Michael Davies, Terence Gray, Amy Ozols, Tim Siedell, David Levinson-Wilk; ABC
DAYTIME DRAMA
The Young and the Restless, Associate Head Writers: Jeff Beldner, Marla Kanelos, Dave Ryan; Writers: Susan Banks, Amanda L. Beall, Marin Gazzaniga, Rebecca McCarty, Madeleine Phillips; CBS/Paramount +
CHILDREN’S EPISODIC, LONG FORM AND SPECIALS
“When We Lose Someone” (Tab Time), Written by Sean Presant; YouTube
SHORT FORM STREAMING
The Rabbit Hole with Jimmy Kimmel, Writers: Jimmy Kimmel & Jesse Joyce; YouTube
DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT – CURRENT EVENTS
“Trump’s Power & the Rule of Law” (Frontline), Written by Michael Kirk & Mike Wiser; PBS
DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT – OTHER THAN CURRENT EVENTS
“Forgotten Hero: Walter White and the NAACP” (American Experience), Written by Rob Rapley; PBS
NEWS SCRIPT – REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT
“Devastating Flooding in Texas” (World News Tonight with David Muir), Written by David Muir, Karen Mooney, and Dave Bloch; ABC News
NEWS SCRIPT – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY
“Remembering Palestinian Journalists Killed by Israeli Forces” (Ayman), Written by Lisa Salinas; MSNBC
DIGITAL NEWS
“An Isolated Boarding School Promised to Help Troubled Girls. Former Students Say They Were Abused.,” Written by Sebastian Murdock and Taiyler Mitchell; HuffPost
RADIO/AUDIO WINNERS
RADIO/AUDIO DOCUMENTARY
“Jerry Lewis’ Lost Holocaust Clown Movie” (Decoder Ring), Written by Max Freedman; Slate
RADIO/AUDIO NEWS SCRIPT – REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT
“ABC News Radio Top of the Hour News”, Written by Robert Hawley; ABC News Radio
RADIO/AUDIO NEWS SCRIPT – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY
“The Life and Legacy of Jimmy Carter,” Written by Gail Lee; CBS News Radio
REELated:
Actor Awards: Complete List of 2026 Winners
