‘Breaking Bad,’ ‘Modern Family’ dominate Writers Guild TV nominations

“Breaking Bad” and “Modern Family” were the leading nominees for the 2013 Writers Guild Awards, which were announced on Thursday (December 6) morning. 

Both “Breaking Bad” and “Modern Family” picked up series nods and dominated the respective drama and comedy episodic categories. This isn’t exactly surprising, since “Breaking Bad” and “Modern Family” were the winners in the WGA Awards series categories last year.

On the drama side, “Breaking Bad” will be going up against, “Boardwalk Empire,” “Game of Thrones,” “Homeland” and “Mad Men.” That’s the same field as last year, only with “Mad Men” returning after a year’s absence and replacing “The Good Wife.”

When it comes to episodic drama, four of six slots went to “Breaking Bad,” with Gennifer Hutchinson’s “Buyout” script going against George Mastras’ “Dead Freight” episode, Sam Catlin’s “Five-One” script and Thomas Schnauz’s “Say My Name.” The category’s only non-“Breaking Bad” scripts are “Mad Men” scribes Semi Chellas and Matthew Weiner’s work on “The Other Woman” and Meredith Stiehm’s work on the “Homeland” episode “New Car Smell.”

The comedy series field finds “Modern Family” going against “30 Rock,” “Louie” and “Parks and Recreation,” plus new addition “Girls,” which replaces “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” 

“Modern Family” doesn’t have quite the same stranglehold on the comedy episodic field that “Breaking Bad” has on the drama side, but the ABC favorite has three nominees in Cindy Chupack’s “Little Bo Bleep,” Jeffrey Richman’s “Mistery Date” and Elaine Ko’s “Virgin Territory.” The other three slots go to Luke Del Tredici’s “Leap Day” episode of “30 Rock,” David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik’s “Episode 9” installment of “Episodes” and Amy Poehler’s “The Debate” episode of “Parks and Recreation.” 

It’s no surprise to see that “Girls” is also up in the New Series category, going against HBO stablemates “Veep” and “Newsroom,” plus network freshmen “Nashville” and “The Mindy Project.”

Among other nomination notables, Frontline picked up all six nods in the Documentary – Current Events category, “American Horror Story” was snubbed in the Longform – Original category and somehow “Partners” was the only show worthy of nomination in the On-Air promotion category despite being one of the fall’s largest ratings disappointments.

The 2013 Writers Guild Awards will be held on Sunday, February 17 in simultaneous ceremonies in New York and Los Angeles.

Here’s the full list of nominees, including the shows recognized in Longform and Comedy/Variety categories:

 

DRAMA SERIES

Boardwalk Empire, Written by Dave Flebotte, Diane Frolov, Chris Haddock, Rolin Jones, Howard Korder, Steve Kornacki, Andrew Schneider, David Stenn, Terence Winter; HBO

 

Breaking Bad, Written by Sam Catlin, Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould, Gennifer Hutchison, George Mastras, Thomas Schnauz, Moira Walley-Beckett; AMC

 

Game of Thrones, Written by David Benioff, Bryan Cogman, George R. R. Martin, Vanessa Taylor, D.B. Weiss; HBO

Homeland, Written by Henry Bromell, Alexander Cary, Alex Gansa, Howard Gordon, Chip Johannessen, Meredith Stiehm; Showtime

Mad Men, Written by Lisa Albert, Semi Chellas, Jason Grote, Jonathan Igla, Andre Jacquemetton, Maria Jacquemetton, Brett Johnson, Janet Leahy, Victor Levin, Erin Levy, Frank Pierson, Michael Saltzman, Tom Smuts, Matthew Weiner; AMC

COMEDY SERIES

30 Rock, Written by Jack Burditt, Kay Cannon, Robert Carlock, Tom Ceraulo, Vali Chandrasekaran, Luke Del Tredici, Tina Fey, Lauren Gurganous, Matt Hubbard, Colleen McGuinness, Sam Means, Dylan Morgan, Nina Pedrad, John Riggi, Josh Siegel, Ron Weiner, Tracey Wigfield; NBC

Girls, Written by Judd Apatow, Lesley Arfin, Lena Dunham, Sarah Heyward, Bruce Eric Kaplan, Jenni Konner, Deborah Schoeneman, Dan Sterling; HBO

Louie, Written by Pamela Adlon, Vernon Chatman, Louis C.K.; FX

Modern Family, Written by Cindy Chupack, Paul Corrigan, Abraham Higginbotham, Ben Karlin, Elaine Ko, Steven Levitan, Christopher Lloyd, Dan O”Shannon, Jeffrey Richman, Audra Sielaff, Brad Walsh, Bill Wrubel, Danny Zuker; ABC

Parks and Recreation, Written by Megan Amram, Greg Daniels, Nate Dimeo, Katie Dippold, Daniel J. Goor, Norm Hiscock, Dave King, Greg Levine, Joe Mande, Aisha Muharrar, Nick Offerman, Chelsea Peretti, Amy Poehler, Alexandra Rushfield, Michael Schur, Mike Scully, Harris Wittels, Alan Yang; NBC

NEW SERIES

Girls, Written by Judd Apatow, Lesley Arfin, Lena Dunham, Sarah Heyward, Bruce Eric Kaplan, Jenni Konner, Deborah Schoeneman, Dan Sterling; HBO

The Mindy Project, Written by Ike Barinholtz, Jeremy Bronson, Linwood Boomer, Adam Countee, Harper Dill, Mindy Kaling, Chris McKenna, B.J. Novak, David Stassen, Matt Warburton; Fox

Nashville, Written by Wendy Calhoun, Jason George, David Gould, David Marshall Grant, Dee Johnson, Todd Ellis Kessler, Callie Khouri, Meredith Lavender, Nancy Miller, James Parriott, Liz Tigelaar, Marcie Ulin; ABC

The Newsroom, Written by Brendan Fehily, David Handelman, Cinque Henderson, Paul Redford, Ian Reichbach, Amy Rice, Aaron Sorkin, Gideon Yago; HBO

Veep, Written by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Roger Drew, Sean Gray, Armando Iannucci, Ian Martin, Tony Roche, Will Smith; HBO

EPISODIC DRAMA

“Buyout” (Breaking Bad), Written by Gennifer Hutchison; AMC

“Dead Freight” (Breaking Bad), Written by George Mastras; AMC

“Fifty-One” (Breaking Bad), Written by Sam Catlin; AMC

“New Car Smell” (Homeland), Written by Meredith Stiehm; Showtime

“The Other Woman” (Mad Men), Written by Semi Chellas and Matthew Weiner; AMC

“Say My Name” (Breaking Bad), Written by Thomas Schnauz; AMC

EPISODIC COMEDY

“The Debate” (Parks and Recreation), Written by Amy Poehler; NBC

“Episode 9” (Episodes), Written by David Crane & Jeffrey Klarik; Showtime

“Leap Day” (30 Rock), Written by Luke Del Tredici; NBC

“Little Bo Bleep” (Modern Family), Written by Cindy Chupack; ABC

“Mistery Date” (Modern Family), Written by Jeffrey Richman; ABC

“Virgin Territory” (Modern Family), Written by Elaine Ko; ABC

LONG FORM – ORIGINAL

Hatfields and McCoys, Nights Two and Three, Teleplay by Ted Mann and Ronald Parker, Story by Bill Kerby and Ted Mann; History Channel

Hemingway & Gelhorn, Written by Jerry Stahl and Barbara Turner; HBO

“Pilot” (Political Animals), Written by Greg Berlanti; USA

LONG FORM – ADAPTED

Coma, Nights 1 and 2, Teleplay by John McLaughlin, Based on the book by Robin Cook; A&E

Game Change, Written by Danny Strong, Based on the book by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann; HBO

ANIMATION

“A Farewell to Arms” (Futurama), Written by Josh Weinstein; Comedy Central

“Forget-Me-Not” (Family Guy), Written by David A. Goodman; Fox

“Holidays of Future Passed” (The Simpsons), Written by J. Stewart Burns; Fox

“Ned and Edna”s Blend Agenda” (The Simpsons), Written by Jeff Westbrook; Fox

“Treehouse of Horror XXIII” (The Simpsons), Written by David Mandel & Brian Kelley; Fox

COMEDY / VARIETY (INCLUDING TALK) – SERIES

The Colbert Report, Writers: Michael Brumm, Stephen Colbert, Rich Dahm, Paul Dinello, Eric Drysdale, Rob Dubbin, Glenn Eichler, Dan Guterman, Peter Gwinn, Barry Julien, Jay Katsir, Frank Lesser, Opus Moreschi, Tom Purcell, Meredith Scardino, Scott Sherman, Max Werner; Comedy Central

Conan, Writers: Jose Arroyo, Andres du Bouchet, Deon Cole, Josh Comers, Dan Cronin, Michael Gordon, Brian Kiley, Laurie Kilmartin, Rob Kutner, Todd Levin, Brian McCann, Conan O”Brien, Matt O”Brien, Jesse Popp, Andy Richter, Brian Stack, Mike Sweeney; TBS

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Writers: Rory Albanese, Kevin Bleyer, Richard Blomquist, Steve Bodow, Tim Carvell, Hallie Haglund, J.R. Havlan, Elliott Kalan, Dan McCoy, Jo Miller, John Oliver, Zhubin Parang, Daniel Radosh, Jason Ross, Jon Stewart; Comedy Central

Jimmy Kimmel Live, Writers: Tony Barbieri, Jonathan Bines, Joelle Boucai, Sal Iacono, Eric Immerman, Gary Greenberg, Josh Halloway, Bess Kalb, Jimmy Kimmel, Jeff Loveness, Molly McNearney, Bryan Paulk, Danny Ricker, Rick Rosner; ABC

Key & Peele, Writers: Jay Martel, Ian Roberts, Keegan Michael Key, Jordan Peele, Sean Conroy, Colton Dunn, Charlie Sanders, Alex Rubens, Rebecca Drysdale; Comedy Central

Portlandia, Writers: Fred R. Armisen, Carrie Brownstein, Karey Dornetto, Jonathan Krisel, Bill Oakley; IFC

Real Time with Bill Maher, Writers: Scott Carter, Adam Felber, Matt Gunn, Brian Jacobsmeyer, Jay Jaroch, Chris Kelly, Mike Larsen, Bill Maher, Billy Martin; HBO

Saturday Night Live, Head Writer: Seth Meyers, Writers: James Anderson, Alex Baze, Neil Casey, Jessica Conrad, James Downey, Shelly Gossman, Steve Higgins, Colin Jost, Zach Kanin, Chris Kelly, Joe Kelly, Erik Kenward, Rob Klein, Lorne Michaels, John Mulaney, Christine Nangle, Mike O”Brien, Josh Patten, Paula Pell, Marika Sawyer, Sarah Schneider, Pete Schultz, John Solomon, Kent Sublette, Bryan Tucker, Additional Sketch By Emily Spivey, Jorma Taccone, Additional Material By Frank Sebastiano; NBC Universal

COMEDY / VARIETY – MUSIC, AWARDS, TRIBUTES – SPECIALS

66th Annual Tony Awards, Written by Dave Boone; Special Material by Paul Greenberg; Opening and Closing Songs by David Javerbaum, Adam Schlesinger; CBS

2012 Film Independent Spirit Awards, Written by Billy Kimball, Wayne Federman; IFC

After the Academy Awards, Head Writers Gary Greenberg, Molly McNearney; Writers Tony Barbieri, Jonathan Bines, Sal Iacono, Eric Immerman, Jimmy Kimmel, Jeffrey Loveness, Bryan Paulk, Danny Ricker, Richard G. Rosner; ABC

National Memorial Day Concert, Written by Joan Meyerson; PBS

DAYTIME DRAMA

Days of Our Lives, Written by Lorraine Broderick, Carolyn Culliton, Richard Culliton, Rick Draughon, Christopher Dunn, Lacey Dyer, Janet Iacobuzio, David A. Levinson, Ryan Quan, Dave Ryan, Melissa Salmons, Roger Schroeder, Elizabeth Snyder, Christopher J. Whitesell, Nancy Williams Watt; NBC

One Life to Live, Written by Lorraine Broderick, Ron Carlivati, Anna Theresa Cascio, Daniel J. O”Connor, Elizabeth Page, Jean Passanante, Melissa Salmons, Katherine Schock, Scott Sickles, Courtney Simon, Chris Van Etten; ABC

The Young & The Restless, Written by Amanda Beall, Jeff Beldner, Brent Boyd, Susan Dansby, Janice Ferri Esser, Jay Gibson, Scott Hamner, Maria Kanelos, Natalie Minardi Slater, Beth Milstein, Michael Montgomery, Anne Schoettle, Linda Schreiber, Lisa Seidman, Sarah K. Smith, Christopher J. Whitesell, Teresa Zimmerman; CBS

CHILDREN”S – EPISODIC & SPECIALS

“The Good Sport” (Sesame Street); Written by Christine Ferraro; PBS

CHILDREN”S – LONG FORM OR SPECIAL

“Girl vs. Monster,” Story by Annie De Young; Teleplay by Annie De Young and Ron McGee; Disney Channel