In parallel ceremonies on Sunday night in New York and Los Angeles, the Writers Guild Awards for 2023 were presented.
The Bear for comedy series, Severance for drama series and new series, The White Lotus for limited series, Better Call Saul for episodic drama, and Hacks for episodic comedy were among the winners. Other winners included Everything Everywhere All at Once for original screenplay, Women Talking for adapted screenplay, and The Bear for comedy series.
After also triumphing at the Spirit Awards on Saturday, the victory gave EEAAO a historic sweep of the major guild awards honors. Daniel Scheinert acknowledged, “Writing is difficult and hard and we felt so lost so frequently,” as he accepted the night’s top honor. He thanked their team members for wading through “very, very rough manuscripts.” Daniel Kwan utilized the occasion to discuss the approaching talks between the Writers Guild, adding, “I’m really glad to be a part of the WGA. This award is for all of you guys; thank you so much for being so inspirational. “What you do for the industry, you are a blazing beacon,” he said. Let’s go make them suffer.
Mike White also made a rare appearance at the L.A. show to accept for The White Lotus, saying, “I love living a writer’s life, and an award like this can let me keep living a writer’s life.”
Abbott Elementary actress and comedian Janelle James hosted the L.A. ceremony, while comedian and actress Michelle Buteau (The Circle, Welcome to Buteaupia) hosted the New York ceremony.
In her monologue, Buteau urged Steven Spielberg, who was in the audience, to make a movie about “happy Black people”; Spike Lee, also in the audience, said he’d co-direct. She also quipped that Dave Chappelle is the “GOAT” if that means “going after trans people.”
