Red hot “Slumdog Millionaire” favorite among feature nominees in a final tune up before Oscars

By Alex Ben Block

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) -Steve Carell (The Office, The 40-Year-Old Virgin), Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon), Jon Hamm (Mad Men), Kate Walsh (Private Practice), Alfre Woodard (Desperate Housewives), Zach Braff (Scrubs), Sarah Silverman (The Sarah Silverman Program), Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad), Julia Louis-Dreyfus (The New Adventures of Old Christine), Sandra Oh (Grey’s Anatomy), Jamie Lee Curtis (Beverly Hills Chihuahua), Rob Reiner (The Bucket List) and Garry Marshall (Georgia Rule) will join host Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother) to present this year’s Writer’s Guild of America honors on Saturday evening in Los Angeles, with a simultaneous ceremony in New York.

This will be one of the final tunes ups leading up to the Feb. 22 Academy Awards, and the winner of the best adapted screenplay award could be an indication of which movie has the most support. The front-runner is now “Slumdog Millionaire,” screenplay by Simon Beaufoy, from a novel by Vikas Swarup, after the story of an Indian street orphan won top honors at the Directors Guild on Saturday, and before that from Producers, the Golden Globes, the Screen Actors Guild and several major critics groups.

In the adapted category, Slumdog will face off with “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” written by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord, based on a 1922 short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald; Doubt, by Jonn Patrick Shanley, based on his stage play; “Frost/Nixon,” written by Peter Morgan, based on his stage play; and “The Dark Knight,” written by director Christopher Nolan and his brother Jonathan Nolan, based on the DC Comic characters created by Bob Kane.

In the original screenplay category are “Burn After Reading,” by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen; “Milk,” by Dustin Lance Black: “Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” by Woody Allen; “The Visitor,” by Tom McCarthy, who also directed the low budget film for Overture Films; and “The Wrestler,” Written by Robert Siegel, for which Mickey Rourke has been winning awards and getting a lot of critic attention.
In the category of Documentary Screenplay, there is special interest among nominees in “Waltz with Bashir,” an Israeli animated movie written and directed by Ari Folman, who was honored on Saturday by the Director’s Guild in its documentary category. It is also nominated for an Academy Award as Best Foreign Language Film, making it a rare thing indeed – an animated Israeli production with an anti-war theme, which was chosen by the state of Israel as its Oscar nominee.
The other nominees for the documentary screenplay honor are “Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story,” by Stefan Forbes and Noland Walker; “Chicago 10,” by Brett Morgen; “Fuel,” by Johnny O’Hara,” and “Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson,” by Alex Gibney, based on the words and writings of the late Hunter S. Thompson.

A list of nominees in TV and other categories follows:

DRAMATIC SERIES
Dexter, Written by Scott Buck, Daniel Cerone, Charles H. Eglee, Adam E. Fierro, Lauren Gussis, Clyde Phillips, Scott Reynolds, Melissa Rosenberg, Tim Schlattmann; Showtime

Friday Night Lights, Written by Bridget Carpenter, Kerry Ehrin, Brent Fletcher, Jason Gavin, Carter Harris, Elizabeth Heldens, David Hudgins, Jason Katims, Patrick Massett, Aaron Rahsaan Thomas, John Zinman; NBC

Lost, Written by Carlton Cuse, Drew Goddard, Adam Horowitz, Christina M. Kim, Edward Kitsis, Damon L. Lindelof, Greggory Nations, Kyle Pennington, Elizabeth Sarnoff, Brian K. Vaughan; ABC

Mad Men, Written by Lisa Albert, Jane Anderson, Rick Cleveland, Kater Gordon, David Isaacs, Andre Jacquemetton, Maria Jacquemetton, Marti Noxon, Robin Veith, Matthew Weiner; AMC

The Wire, Written by Ed Burns, Chris Collins, David Mills, David Simon, William F. Zorzi, Richard Price, Dennis Lehane, George Pelecanos; HBO

COMEDY SERIES

30 Rock, Written by Jack Burditt, Kay Cannon, Robert Carlock, Tina Fey, Donald Glover, Andrew Guest, Matt Hubbard, Jon Pollack, John Riggi, Tami Sagher, Ron Weiner; NBC

Entourage, Written by Daniel Cohn, Doug Ellin, Jeremy Miller, Ally Musika, Ben Nedivi, Wesley Nickerson III, Steve Pink, Rob Weiss, Matt Wolpert; HBO

The Office, Written by Steve Carell, Jennifer Celotta, Greg Daniels, Lee Eisenberg, Anthony Farrell, Brent Forrester, Dan Goor, Charlie Grandy, Mindy Kaling, Ryan Koh, Lester Lewis, Paul Lieberstein, Warren Lieberstein, B.J. Novak, Michael Schur, Aaron Shure, Justin Spitzer, Gene Stupnitsky, Halsted Sullivan; NBC

The Simpsons, Written by J. Stewart Burns, Daniel Chun, Joel H. Cohen, Kevin Curran, John Frink, Tom Gammill, Valentina Garza, Stephanie Gillis, Dan Greaney, Reid Harrison, Ron Hauge, Al Jean, Brian Kelly, Billy Kimball, Rob LaZebnik, Tim Long, Ian Maxtone-Graham, David Mirkin, Bill Odenkirk, Carolyn Omine, Don Payne, Michael Price, Max Pross, Mike Reiss, Mike Scully, Matt Selman, Matt Warburton, Jeff Westbrook, Marc Wilmore, William Wright; Fox

Weeds, Written by Roberto Benabib, Mark A. Burley, Ron Fitzgerald, David Holstein, Rolin Jones, Brendan Kelly, Jenji Kohan, Victoria Morrow, Matthew Salsberg; Showtime

NEW SERIES

Breaking Bad, Written by Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould, Patty Lin, George Mastras, J Roberts; AMC

Fringe, Written by JJ Abrams, Jason Cahill, Julia Cho, David H. Goodman, Felicia Henderson, Brad Caleb Kane, Alex Kurtzman, Darin Morgan, J.R. Orci, Roberto Orci, Jeff Pinkner, Zack Whedon; Fox

In Treatment, Written by Rodrigo Garcia, Bryan Goluboff, Davey Holmes, William Merritt Johnson, Amy Lippman, Sarah Treem; HBO

Life on Mars, Written by Josh Appelbaum, Andre Nemec, Scott Rosenberg, Becky Hartman Edwards, David Wilcox, Adele Lim, Bryan Oh, Tracy McMillan, Sonny Postiglione, Phil M. Rosenberg, Meredith Averill; ABC

True Blood, Written by Alan Ball, Brian Buckner, Raelle Tucker, Alexander Woo, Nancy Oliver, Chris Offutt; HBO

EPISODIC DRAMA – any length – one airing time

“Don’t Ever Change” (House), Written by Doris Egan & Leonard Dick; Fox

“Double Booked” (Burn Notice), Written by Craig O’Neill & Jason Tracey; USA

“Gray Matter” (Breaking Bad), Written by Patty Lin; AMC

“Pilot” (Breaking Bad), Written by Vince Gilligan; AMC

“Pilot” (Eli Stone), Written by Greg Berlanti & Marc Guggenheim; ABC

“There’s Something About Harry” (Dexter), Written by Scott Reynolds; Showtime

EPISODIC COMEDY – any length – one airing time

“Believe in the Stars” (30 Rock), Written by Robert Carlock; NBC

“Cooter” (30 Rock), Written by Tina Fey; NBC

“Crime Aid” (The Office), Written by Charlie Grandy; NBC

“Crush’d” (Ugly Betty), Written by Tracy Poust & Jon Kinnally; ABC

“Succession” (30 Rock), Written by Andrew Guest & John Riggi; NBC

“Monkeys Take a Bath” (My Name is Earl), Written by Greg Garcia; NBC

LONG FORM – ORIGINAL – over one hour – one or two parts, one or two airing times

An American Crime, Written by Tommy O’Haver & Irene Turner; Showtime

“Pilot” (Fringe), Written by JJ Abrams & Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci; Fox

Recount, Written by Danny Strong; HBO

LONG FORM – ADAPTATION – over one hour – one or two parts, one or two airing times

Generation Kill, “Episode 6,” Teleplay by Ed Burns, Story by David Simon & Ed Burns, Based on the book by Evan Wright; “Episode 7,” Teleplay by David Simon, Story by David Simon & Ed Burns, Based on the book by Evan Wright; HBO

John Adams, “Episode 1, Join or Die,” Teleplay by Kirk Ellis, Based on the book by David McCullough; “Episode 2, Independence,” Teleplay by Kirk Ellis, Based on the book by David McCullough; HBO

The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, Teleplay by John Pielmeier, Based on the book by Kim Edwards; Lifetime

ANIMATION – any length – one airing time

“Apocalypse Cow” (The Simpsons), Written by Jeff Westbrook; Fox

“The Debarted” (The Simpsons), Written by Joel H. Cohen; Fox

“E Pluribus Wiggum” (The Simpsons), Written by Michael Price; Fox

“Homer and Lisa Exchange Cross Words” (The Simpsons), Written by Tim Long; Fox

“Life: A Loser’s Manual” (King of the Hill), Written by Dan McGrath; Fox

“Strangeness on a Train” (King of the Hill), Written by Jim Dauterive; Fox
COMEDY / VARIETY – (INCLUDING TALK) SERIES

Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Writers Mike Sweeney, Chris Albers, Jose Arroyo, Dan Cronin, Kevin Dorff, Daniel J. Goor, Michael Gordon, Berkley Johnson, Brian Kiley, Michael Koman, Brian McCann, Guy Nicolucci, Conan O’Brien, Matt O’Brien, Robert Smigel, Brian Stack, Andrew Weinberg; NBC

Late Show with David Letterman, Head Writers Eric Stangel, Justin Stangel, Writers Michael Barrie, Jim Mulholland, Steve Young, Tom Ruprecht, Lee Ellenberg, Matt Roberts, Jeremy Weiner, Joe Grossman, Bill Scheft, Bob Borden, Frank Sebastiano, David Letterman; CBS

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

Saturday Night Live, Head Writers Seth Meyers, Andrew Steele, Paula Pell, Writers Doug Abeles, James Anderson, Alex Baze, Jessica Conrad, James Downey, Charlie Grandy, Steve Higgins, Colin Jost, Erik Kenward, Rob Klein, John Lutz, Seth Meyers, Lorne Michaels, John Mulaney, Paula Pell, Simon Rich, Marika Sawyer, Akiva Schaffer, Robert Smigel, John Solomon, Emily Spivey, Andrew Steele, Kent Sublette, Jorma Taccone, Bryan Tucker, Additional Sketches by Robert Carlock; NBC

The Colbert Report, Head Writers Allison Silverman, Tom Purcell, Rich Dahm, Writers Bryan Adams, Michael Brumm, Stephen Colbert, Rob Dubbin, Glenn Eichler, Peter Grosz, Peter Gwinn, Barry Julien, Laura Krafft, Jay Katsir, Frank Lesser, Meredith Scardino; Comedy Central

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Head Writer Steve Bodow, Writers Rory Albanese, Rachel Axler, Kevin Bleyer, Rich Blomquist, Tim Carvell, Wyatt Cenac, J.R. Havlan, DJ Javerbaum, Rob Kutner, Josh Lieb, Sam Means, John Oliver, Jason Ross, Jon Stewart; Comedy Central

COMEDY / VARIETY – MUSIC, AWARDS, TRIBUTES – SPECIALS

2008 Film Independent Spirit Awards, Written by Billy Kimball, Aaron Lee, Jennifer Celotta, Rainn Wilson; IFC/AMC

Jimmy Kimmel’s Big Night of Stars, Written by Jimmy Kimmel, Gary Greenberg, Molly McNearney, Bryan Paulk, Ned Rice, Jon Bines, Will Burke, Rick Rosner, Jake Lentz, Sal Iacono, Tony Barbieri; ABC

DAYTIME SERIALS

As the World Turns, Written by Jean Passanante, Leah Laiman, Courtney Simon, Lisa Connor, David A. Levinson, Peter Brash, Richard Culliton, Susan Dansby, Cheryl Davis, Leslie Nipkow; CBS

One Life to Live, Written by Ron Carlivati, Carolyn Culliton, Elizabeth Page, Aida Croal, Shelly Altman, Janet Iacobuzio, Christopher Van Etten, Anna Theresa Cascio; ABC

CHILDREN’S EPISODIC & SPECIALS

“Elmo’s Christmas Countdown” (Sesame Workshop), Written by Joey Mazzarino; ABC

“Spencer’s 18th Birthday” (South of Nowhere), Written by Arika Lisanne Mittman; The “N”

“The Un-Party” (Imagination Movers), Written by Scott Gray & Rick Gitelson; Disney Channel

CHILDREN’S SCRIPT- LONG FORM OR SPECIAL

“Polar Bears” (The Naked Brothers Band), Written by Polly Draper; Nickelodeon

DOCUMENTARY – CURRENT EVENTS

“Bush’s War: Part One” (Frontline), Written by Michael Kirk; PBS

Depression: Out of the Shadows, Written by Larkin McPhee; PBS

“Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial” (NOVA), Written by Joseph McMaster; PBS

“Rules of Engagement” (Frontline), Written by Arun Rath; PBS

“The Medicated Child” (Frontline), Written by Marcela Gaviria; PBS

DOCUMENTARY – OTHER THAN CURRENT EVENTS

Andrew Jackson: Good, Evil & The Presidency, Written by Carl Byker; PBS

“Kit Carson” (American Experience), Written by Michelle Ferrari; PBS

“Secrets of the Parthenon” (NOVA), Written by Gary Glassman; PBS

The Jewish Americans, Episode Two: “The Best of Times, The Worst of Times (1924-1945),” Written by David Grubin; PBS

The Truth About Cancer, Written by Linda Garmon; PBS

NEWS – REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN OR BREAKING REPORT

ABC Weekend News, Written by Joel Siegel, Karen Mooney, David Muir; ABC

“Up to the Minute” (CBS News), Written by Matt Nelko; CBS

NEWS – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY

“Exonerated” (60 Minutes), Written by Tom Anderson and Jenny Dubin; CBS

“Show Me the Love: Amazing Pen Pal Connection” (Good Morning America), Written by Raquel Hecker; ABC

“The Warren Buffett Challenge: Are the Rich Taxed Enough?” (Good Morning America), Written by Lisa Ferri; ABC

“Yankee Stadium and the New Gilded Age” (Bill Moyers Journal), Writers Bill Moyers & Michael Winship; PBS

RADIO NOMINEES

DOCUMENTARY

Black History Month, Written by Anthony J. McHugh; CBS

NEWS – REGULARLY SCHEDULED OR BREAKING

Edmund Hillary Obituary, Written by Steven Gosset; CBS

Passages, Written by Gail Lee; CBS

Paul Harvey News, Written by Stu Chamberlain; ABC

The Passing of George Carlin, Written by Thomas A. Sabella; CBS

World News This Week, Written by Marianne J. Pryor; ABC

NEWS – ANALYSIS, FEATURE OR COMMENTARY

Our Fathers’ Magic Carpet, Written by Mike Silverstein; ABC

Tributes, Written by Gail Lee; CBS

PROMOTIONAL WRITING AND GRAPHIC ANIMATION NOMINEES

ON-AIR PROMOTION (RADIO OR TELEVISION)

How to Bluster in the Jungle While Staying Two Steps Ahead, Written by Michelle Straebler; WNBC

Jericho: Two-Minute Drills, Written by Eric Jacobson; CBS

TELEVISION GRAPHIC ANIMATION

Coverage of PGA Golf, David Keller; CBS

Three Animations, Monica DiNatale Eureyecko; CBS

“Medical Animations” (CBS Evening News), David Rosen; CBS