36th Writers Guild of America Awards

Award ceremony for writing of 1983

36th WGA Awards
Date	1984
Organized by	Writers Guild of America, East and the Writers Guild of America, West
← 35th WGA Awards 37th →

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

Winners and nominees

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.

External links

WGA.org

v t e Writers Guild of America Awards
Film Awards	Best Adapted Screenplay Best Original Screenplay Best Documentary Screenplay
Television/ New Media Awards	Animation Comedy Series Comedy/Variety Talk Series Comedy/Variety Specials Comedy/Variety Sketch Series Daytime Serials Drama Series Episodic Comedy Episodic Drama Long Form – Adapted Long Form – Original Short Form New Media New Series Children's Script Documentary Script – Current Events Documentary Script – Other Than Current Events
Special Awards	Paul Selvin Award Valentine Davies Award Animation Writers Caucus Animation Writing Award Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement Laurel Award for TV Writing Achievement Evelyn F. Burkey Award
Former Awards	Musical Western American Scene Drama Comedy
Ceremonies	1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 Years are of film release; ceremonies are held the following year

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