Analysis: WGA Awards nominations do well by drama, iffier by comedy
Was "The Office" one of the five best-written comedies of 2010?
"Breaking Bad" got a bunch of WGA Awards nominations.
The Writers Guild of America announced their 2010 WGA Award nominations today. Fienberg has a recap of all the nominees, and after the jump, I have a few random observations on some of the nominees...
First, there are differences between the WGA Awards and the Emmys. Not only are they only voted on by the writers, but they cover the calendar year rather than the TV season, so you'll see shows get celebrated that the Emmys rarely touch, and/or shows from last season competing with ones from this. Some thoughts:
• Per the WGA, the five best-written dramas on TV in 2010 were "Boardwalk Empire," "Breaking Bad," "Dexter," "Friday Night Lights" and "Mad Men." Perfectly happy with four of those five nominees ("FNL" has had better seasons, but it's still great), but "Dexter" season four five has largely been a reminder that what makes that show interesting are the performances, not the writing.
• Not as wild about the nominee field for comedy series: "30 Rock," "Glee," "Modern Family," "Nurse Jackie" and "The Office." "30 Rock" has had a nice rebound this fall, and "Modern Family" is certainly deserving, but "The Office" has largely been a mess, "Nurse Jackie" isn't one of the five best comedies on TV even if you don't require a comedy to be funny, and even people who like "Glee" a lot more than I do haven't been crazy about the episodes that aired in 2010. Would have loved to see "Parks and Rec" and/or "Community" in there, but they were as snubbed here as by the Emmys.
• I'd have to go back over "The Chrysanthemum and the Sword" episode of "Mad Men" to see if I felt that was the season's best-written episode. Still, I'm incredibly amused that the WGA managed to nominate one of the three scripts this season that didn't have Matt Weiner's name on it.
• The Emmys have yet to recognize the great writing of "Breaking Bad," but the WGA nominated one episode last year, and two this year: "I.F.T." and "I See You" And like the Emmy voters, the WGA liked the "Lost" finale enough to nominate it.
• Of the two "30 Rock" episodes nominated, one was "When It Rains, It Pours," the episode that almost singlehandedly restored my faith in the show, while the other was last spring's "Anna Howard Shaw Day," which I didn't think much of. Also, "The Office" episode nominated was "Wuphf.com," which was the episode that inspired me to punt that show from the regular blog rotation.
• I like that the WGA has a category for new series, particularly in a year like this that had so many great rookies. Frustrated that "Terriers" was ignored here and elsewhere, but four of the five actual nominees - "Boardwalk Empire," "Justified," "Men of a Certain Age" and "Treme" - were among my favorite shows of 2010. I didn't like fifth nominee "The Walking Dead" as much, particularly from a writing standpoint, but as with the Weiner thing, it's kind of funny that the show's writing staff got a nomination given all the alleged turmoil in that area.
Winners announced on February 5. These are a few of my thoughts. Yours?
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December 8, 2010 at 4:03PM EST Reply to CommentI love Mad Man as much, if not more, than the next person. But you just know Matthew Weiner is pissing blood right now.
The exclusion of Community, Parks and Rec, and Terriers; along with the inclusion of Glee, The Office, SNL, and any episode of House causes me wonder if the Writers Guild is filled with copywriters rather than script writers.
December 8, 2010 at 4:14PM ESTbelinda Amen squared. Why is it so difficult for commedies to break in?
December 8, 2010 at 11:13PM ESTWould have loved to see Party Down there too. Calendar year, right?
velocityknown I am forever grateful to Weiner for creating Mad Men, but I love this nomination just because his name isn't attached to it. Guy's a total "word-I-won't-say-on-this-blog".
December 9, 2010 at 12:21AM ESTCol Bat Guano Does Glee even have writers? Community, Parks and Rec and Party Down were far more deserving of noms than either it or 30 Rock or The Office, although I still disagree with Alan about the quality of Wuph.com
December 9, 2010 at 2:17PM ESTMarjorie
December 8, 2010 at 4:08PM EST Reply to CommentNo Love for SOA?
December 8, 2010 at 4:13PM EST Reply to CommentI didn't dislike the whupf.com episode as much as you did but REALLY? That got nominated?
December 8, 2010 at 4:17PM EST Reply to Commentyeah wuphf.com was terrible!
Fumi
December 8, 2010 at 4:18PM EST Reply to CommentI definitely think that the WGA chose The Chrysanthemum and the Sword" specifically because Matt Weiner is not well liked. I hope Erin Levy doesn't get fired because of this...
Echos Myron Do you have a source for that? Or are you just extrapolating based on his various Emmy acceptance speeches?
December 8, 2010 at 4:40PM ESTcletus van damme
December 8, 2010 at 4:24PM EST Reply to CommentBreaking Bad, Boardwalk Empire an Dexter obviously deserve it. Dexter had it's best season to date and Trinity was not only because of Lithgows performance one of the greatest Tv-villains of all time. That thanksgiving dinner episode was nothing short of brilliant.
My other nominatons would have been Sons of Anarchy and Lost or Justified. With SOA as the winner. Too bad that Sutter behaves too often like a juvenile douchebag and pisses of most of the people who know him. :(
Comedy: They are right about The Office. Still the best network comedy. Nice to see Nurse Jackie. It's unbelievable that the Pay TV dramedies don't win the half hour categories every year. Must be because of peope like Alan who can't see past the comedy label. They should rename it to half hour or Comedy/Dramedy so shows like Weeds, Hung, Tara and Californication get the kudos they deserve. They have better scripts and more nuanced characters than most dramas.
sepinwall Dexter is being nominated for season 5, not season 4.
December 8, 2010 at 4:27PM ESTcletus van damme F'g timemachine. I never buy something cordless again. :(
December 8, 2010 at 4:34PM ESTJeff W
December 8, 2010 at 4:29PM EST Reply to Comment"'Dexter' season four has largely been a reminder..." You mean season five, right? Four was Lithgow.
sepinwall Yes. Fixed.
December 8, 2010 at 4:34PM ESTcletus van damme
December 8, 2010 at 4:30PM EST Reply to CommentForgot Walking Dead. Next to Boardwalk the best new series. Even a best series nomination would have been deserved.
(I also forgot a few letters ...thx to my vandamned cordless keyboard.)
JC
December 8, 2010 at 4:32PM EST Reply to CommentAfter last night's "Glee," I'm so over that show. While you could argue that it's been poignant at times this season, it hasn't been very funny. The whole Sue Sylvester "I'm mean, I hate Will Schuester" shtick, and the Brittany "I'm not very smart" routine used to be funny, now it's just getting tired.
December 8, 2010 at 4:48PM EST Reply to CommentOk, so where's "The Suitcase?" And how has Dexter been better than Justified or Treme, or even Lost this year? Is this award compromised as terribly as I suspect by the cronyism of the WGA, as I assume they all vote for their friends?
sepinwall The Suitcase was clearly the best Mad Men episode of the year. The question is about how much of what made it great was Hamm and Moss, and how much was that script. Obviously, the script helps the actors, but a lot of those big moments felt as special as they did because of how they were played.
December 8, 2010 at 5:00PM ESTAs others have pointed out, the "Fly" script for Breaking Bad being ignored is the weirder one, because as good as Cranston and Paul are in that episode, it's also a fantastic piece of writing.
Guest Agree The Suitcase was the best of season 4(and the best in the entire series I think), but The Crysanthemum and the Sword was a pretty clear second. Roger confronting the Japanese, Pete confronting Roger, Don pulling one over on both the Japanese and Teddy Chow-guh-ga. Peggy riding in circles. Just a fantastic episode.
December 8, 2010 at 6:24PM EST
December 8, 2010 at 6:42PM ESTTC The Suitcase was awesome but it requires more advanced knowledge of the story and characters to fully appreciate. The Crysanthemum and the Sword makes more sense for a writing nomination because everything involving Honda, the Japanese visitors, Roger's reaction to them, and the trick Don plays on Teddy are all entirely self-contained in that episode. Any guild voter can watch that one episode and appreciate the excellent writing, while The Suitcase was written to be more of a payoff for loyal Mad Men fans who've been watching Don and Peggy since the beginning.
December 8, 2010 at 6:44PM EST
December 8, 2010 at 7:29PM ESTDAG "The Suitcase was awesome but it requires more advanced knowledge of the story and characters to fully appreciate"
December 8, 2010 at 8:03PM ESTFor me that is the 'awesomeness' of the writing of The Suitcase- that there were a number of callbacks to earlier stories - Pete, the baby, Duck, Peggy hitting on Don, Don's secretary issues, Anna Draper - it was as if it was an hour study of both Don's story (death of "Dick Whitman") and Peggy's story (her birthday, coming to terms with who she is - work before family/relationships), and their relationship - past, present, and moving forward - told in a way that didn't feel forced and that moved the season arc along. To me the writing on this one feels a lot like both Jon Hamm's and Elizabeth Moss' performances - damn near perfect.
tag8833
December 8, 2010 at 5:22PM EST Reply to CommentFor me Justified is the clear winner for best new show. The Walking dead is the freshest show in a while thanks to its premise, but Justified had the better season.
James Boardwalk Empire easily beats the both of them.
December 8, 2010 at 5:37PM ESTtag8833 Boardwalk Empire doesn't offer anything fresh at all. It is good, but it is things that I've seen before on the Sopranos or Deadwood or Rome or other high brow show from the past.
December 8, 2010 at 5:55PM ESTJustified features a level of banter and several fresh stylistic choices that overcome its done-to-death premise. Also Timothy Olephant and Walter Goggins have out performed everyone on Boardwalk empire beside Jack Huston who's bit part doesn't do enough to elevate the show. Michael K Williams was great in "These are my Daddy's tools" but got nothing else to do all season.
A new show that I think should have gotten some recognition is Rubicon. It reached higher highs than Treme or Men of a Certain Age.
cletus van damme I loved Justified and can' wait for season 2 but in the first half of the season it had too many forgettable standalone episodes. One of them was almost US-Network bad. So it clearly wasn't in the same league as Boardwalk Empire and Walking Dead,
December 8, 2010 at 7:11PM ESTBryan
December 8, 2010 at 5:41PM EST Reply to CommentGee - you'd think the Writer's Guild would be immune to the type of popularity contest voting that plagues the other awards shows - guess not.
The Office? Nurse Jackie? Glee? WTF?
Michael G.
December 8, 2010 at 5:52PM EST Reply to CommentSo basically, drama=cable, comedy=networks. That makes sense, actually.
The lack of Community and Terriers is disappointing. Even with some of the flaws of the first few episodes, the first season of Community is amazing.
Echos Myron Network TV is a joke, but not a funny one.
December 8, 2010 at 8:03PM ESTasdf
December 8, 2010 at 6:04PM EST Reply to CommentHas there been an episode of Community ever that wasn't better written then Wuphf.com?
Mark No. Well, perhaps Troy's birthday episode. But that's about it.
December 8, 2010 at 6:59PM ESTcletus van damme Yeah..pretty much the whole first half of the first season was mediocre. Before the brillant paintball episode I wouldn't even have cared much about it's cancellation.
December 8, 2010 at 7:22PM ESTThis season is great so far, but a lot of the episodes played like a live action version of Family Guy. The only difference is that Community would have been hyped to death for an episode like the Murder by Death Hommage while Family Guy would have earned eye rollin for the tired Return of the Living Dead Hommage.
klg19
December 8, 2010 at 6:42PM EST Reply to CommentThe inclusion of Glee--which has been on a swift downward trajectory since the beginning of this season--is simply mystifying. Even more so given the exclusion of Community, which is in my mind overwhelmingly the best comedy of the past year.
The exclusion of Terriers, however, is a crime of a level I'm not even sure I can calculate. That show was just beautifully written, and every single actor brought those words to vivid life. Hearing this, the same week as the official cancellation, is just like being kicked when you're down.
J
December 8, 2010 at 7:10PM EST Reply to Comment'The Walking Dead' got a nomination for its writing? Yikes. Maybe a presence on AMC + some ratings success = an automatic nomination?
It is the best zombie show since 'Joey,' I'll give it that.
J
December 8, 2010 at 7:16PM EST Reply to CommentAnd no 'Party Down?' Come ON.
MechTimber
December 8, 2010 at 8:36PM EST Reply to CommentThe Venture Brothers is definitely the best written animated show on TV and am disapointed it gets no attention from anyone beyond its fans.
December 8, 2010 at 8:49PM EST Reply to CommentVery surprised at the Breaking Bad episodes that got nominated. I would have thought "Half Measures" would be a no-brainer, considering the topic of child drug dealer pawns, Jesse's attempt to take vengeance, and Walt making the last-minute kills for him. Same with "Sunset", where the situation is resolved by Walt having Saul fake an emergency call to Hank, or "One Minute", in which Hank and Jesse both get to soliloquize.
And yes, very sad to see no New Show love for Terriers.
Nerg
December 8, 2010 at 10:41PM EST Reply to CommentDisappointed that FNL's "The Son" didn't get nominated. Zach Gilford definitely deserves all the praise he got for his performance, but for me the episode was made by Rolin Jones's incredible script.
Although now that I think about it, it's possible that "The Son" was eligible last year, since it aired on DirecTV in 2009. How does this work?
Ed W
December 8, 2010 at 11:49PM EST Reply to CommentWuph.com is such an odd choice that it makes me wonder if they included it just to stack the deck so something else could win. Like they had to include an Office episode so lets pick one that won't be a spoiler. I know that sounds silly conspiratorial but it's the only answer that doesn't make the WGA simply look like they are ignorant at their job of picking good scripts.
BTW as a footnote to the above, I have a lot of respect for Aaron Shure and don't mean that to imply that he in general isn't deserving of praise and awards - just not for that.
Chaz
December 9, 2010 at 7:15AM EST Reply to CommentHey everyone. Newsflash. Alan doesn't like The Walking Dead. Have you heard that yet? I think he left it out of his last couple articles.
December 9, 2010 at 9:52AM ESTSue
December 10, 2010 at 9:30PM EST Reply to CommentWrite a comment...
Sue
December 10, 2010 at 9:32PM EST Reply to CommentI'm disappointed that Rubicon wasn't nominated in the new series category. Episodes 4 or 11 were standouts in this well written series.