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Thursday was a big day for HBO’s Barry. The show was nominated for best TV comedy, best lead actor in a comedy for star Bill Hader and best supporting actor for Henry Winkler by the Golden Globes and then nominated for three Writers Guild of America nominations.
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That tied Fox’s Bob’s Burgers for the most WGA nominations, beating Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale, HBO’s Succession and Fox’s The Simpsons with two each.
The WGA nominated Barry for best comedy series, best new series and best comedy episode for its pilot, which was directed by Hader. Both Hader, who plays a hit man who decides he would rather be an actor, and Winkler, who plays his oblivious acting teacher, won acting Emmys for Barry in September.
Bob’s Burgers received its three nominations for three episodes in the animated category.
The Handmaid’s Tale, which was somewhat snubbed by the Globes this year with only two acting nominations for lead actress Elisabeth Moss and supporting actress Yvonne Strahovski, was nominated best drama series and best drama episode. Handmaid’s won both of these categories in 2018. Succession was nominated best drama and best new series. The Simpsons scored its nominations for best-written episodes.
Joining Handmaid’s Tale and Succession in the best drama category were FX’s The Americans, which ended its run this year; AMC’s Breaking Bad prequel Better Call Saul; and Netflix’s The Crown. Best comedies besides Barry are FX’s Atlanta, Netflix’s GLOW, NBC’s The Good Place and Amazon’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. HBO’s Veep, which didn’t air this year, was the WGA’s best comedy in 2018.
Besides Barry and Succession, other new series nominees are Netflix’s The Haunting of Hill House, Amazon’s Homecoming and FX’s Pose. And beyond Handmaid’s Tale, nominations for top drama episodes went to Netflix’s Narcos: Mexico and Ozark, NBC’s This Is Us, and Showtime’s The Affair and Homeland.
Nominations for best comedy episodes went to Barry as well as Amazon’s Forever, starring Hader’s SNL compatriots Fred Armisen and Maya Rudolph and written by Aziz Ansari’s brother Aniz Adam Ansari; Netflix’s Santa Clarita Diet and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, ABC’s The Kids Are Alright and Netflix’s Orange is the New Black.
The 39 writers of NBC’s Saturday Night Live, which won in the comedy/variety sketch series category in 2018, were again nominated this year. Joining SNL in the category are TruTV’s At Home with Amy Sedaris, IFC’s Portlandia, Hulu’s I Love You, America and Comedy Central’s Nathan for You.
The WGA’s pick for best-written comedy/variety talk series, HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, was nominated again. Oliver was joined by TBS’ Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, Late Night with Seth Meyers and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
Longform originals, also known as TV movies or limited series, had only three nominees: HBO’s My Dinner With Herve and Paterno and Hulu’s Castle Rock. The adapted longform category generated nominations for FX’s The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story along with Hulu’s The Looming Tower, Netflix’s Maniac and HBO’s Sharp Objects. In 2018, Lifetime’s Flint and HBO’s Big Little Lies won those two categories.
Three pieces were nominated as this year’s best written on-air promotion: CBS’ FBI 2018 Promo Reel by Ralph Buado; CBS’ Tribute to Star Trek for the 2019 Creative Arts Emmys, written by Sean Brogran; and HBO’s Westworld season 2 promo/Super Bowl spot, written by show creator Jonathan Nolan.
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Eligibility for this year’s awards was extended to 13 months while the WGA shifts to an awards schedule that follows the calendar year; thus shows that aired between Dec. 1, 2017, and Dec. 31, 2018 were eligible.
The WGA Awards will be presented Feb. 17 in joint ceremonies at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., and at New York City’s Edison Ballroom.
Go to Variety for full list of WGA nominations.
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