31st Writers Guild of America Awards

Award ceremony for writing of 1978

31st WGA Awards
Date	1979
Organized by	Writers Guild of America, East and the Writers Guild of America, West
← 30th WGA Awards 32nd →

The 31st Writers Guild of America Awards honored the best film writers and television writers of 1978. Winners were announced in 1979.

Winners and nominees

Film

Winners are listed first highlighted in boldface.

Best Drama Written Directly for the Screenplay

Coming Home, Written by Waldo Salt and Robert C. Jones; Story by Nancy Dowd
- An Unmarried Woman, Written by Paul Mazursky
- Days of Heaven, Written by Terrence Malick
- The Deer Hunter, Written by Deric Washburn, Michael Cimino, Louis Garfinkle and Quinn K. Redeker
- Interiors, Written by Woody Allen

Best Comedy Written Directly for the Screenplay

Movie Movie, Written by Larry Gelbart and Sheldon Keller
- A Wedding, Screenplay by John Considine, Patricia Resnick, Allan F. Nicholls and Robert Altman; Story by Robert Altman and John Considine
- House Calls, Screenplay by Max Shulman, Julius J. Epstein, Alan Mandel, and Charles Shyer; Story by Max Shulman and Julius J. Epstein
- National Lampoon's Animal House, Written by Harold Ramis, Douglas Kenney and Chris Miller
- Once in Paris..., Written by Frank D. Gilroy

Best Drama Adapted from Another Medium

Midnight Express, Screenplay by Oliver Stone; Based on the book by Billy Hayes and William Hoffer
- Bloodbrothers, Screenplay by Walter Newman; Based on the novel by Richard Price
- Go Tell the Spartans, Screenplay by Wendell Mayes; Based on de novel by Daniel Ford
- Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Screenplay by W.D. Richter; Based on the novel by Jack Finney
- Who'll Stop the Rain, Screenplay by Judith Rascoe and Robert Stone; Based on the novel by Robert Stone

Best Comedy Adapted from Another Medium

Heaven Can Wait, Screenplay by Elaine May and Warren Beatty; Based on the play by Harry Segall
- California Suite, Screenplay by Neil Simon; Based on his play
- Same Time, Next Year, Screenplay by Bernard Slade; Based on his play
- Superman, Screenplay by Mario Puzo, David Newman, Leslie Newman and Robert Benton; Based on the character created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster
- Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?, Screenplay by Peter Stone; Based on the novel by Nan Lyons and Ivan Lyons

Television

Episodic Comedy *"Baby, It's Cold Outside" – MASH (CBS) – Gary David Goldberg** "California, Here We Are" – All in the Family (CBS) – Milt Josefsberg, Phil Sharp, Bob Schiller and Bob Weiskopf "The Ghost" – Barney Miller (ABC) – Reinhold Weege "Point of View" – MASH* (CBS) – Ken Levine and David Isaacs "Pilot" – Mork & Mindy (ABC) – Dale McRaven "Rhoda vs. Ida" – Rhoda (CBS) – Bob Ellison "Memories of Cab 804: Part 1 & 2" – Taxi (ABC) – Barry Kemp "Blind Date" – Taxi (ABC) – Michael Leeson	Episodic Drama *"Prisoner" – Lou Grant* (CBS) – Seth Freeman** "The Conspirators" – Columbo (NBC) – Howard Berk "Murder" – Lou Grant (CBS) – Gary David Goldberg "The House on Willis Avenue" – The Rockford Files (NBC) – Stephen J. Cannell "The Illusion" – The Waltons (CBS) – John McGreevey "The Captive" – The Waltons (CBS) – Ray Cunneff
Daytime Serials Ryan's Hope (ABC) – Claire Labine, Jeffrey Lane, Paul Avila Mayer, Mary Munisteri and Judith Pinsker Love of Life (CBS) – Gabrielle Upton One Life to Live (ABC) – Lanie Bertram, Margaret DePriest, Marisa Gioffre, Sam Hall, Peggy O'Shea, Gordon Russell and Don Wallace	Children's Script - Episodic & Specials *"Mom and Dad Can't Hear Me" – ABC Afterschool Special* (ABC) – Irma Reichert and Daryl Warner** Christmas Eve on Sesame Street (PBS) – Jon Stone and Joseph A. Bailey "The Tap Dance Kid" – NBC Special Treat (NBC) – Barra Grant
Anthology Adaptation A Christmas to Remember (CBS) – Stewart Stern; Based on the novel by Glendon Swarthout A Woman Called Moses (NBC) – Lonne Elder III; Based on the book by Marc Heidish	Anthology Adaptation Scott Joplin (NBC) – Christopher Knopf
Variety: Series or Special: Musical or Comedy "Steve Martin and Betty White" – The Carol Burnett Show (CBS) – Roger Beatty, Rick Hawkins, Liz Sage, Bob Illes, James R. Stein, Franelle Silver, Larry Siegel, Tim Conway, Bill Richmond, Gene Perret, Dick Clair, Jenna McMahon and Ed Simmons

Special awards

Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement
Neil Simon
Laurel Award for TV Writing Achievement
James Costigan
Valentine Davies Award
Melville Shavelson
Morgan Cox Award
George Seaton

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 (1979)". IMDb. Retrieved 2019-06-21.

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 2024 Years are of film release; ceremonies are held the following year

Categories: