Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Long Form – Adapted explained

Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Long Form – Adapted
Awarded For:	Outstanding Writing for a Long Form – Adapted
Presenter:	Writers Guild of America
Country:	United States
Year:	1976
Holder:	Maid – Bekah Brunstetter, Marcus Gardley, Michelle Denise Jackson, Colin McKenna, Molly Smith Metzler (2021)
Website:	www.wga.org

The Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Long Form – Adapted is an award presented by the Writers Guild of America to the writers of the best long form program based on the previously published material or work of the season. It has been awarded since the 50th Annual Writers Guild of America Awards in 1996.

Through the 70s and 80s, numerous categories were presented to recognize writing for long-form programs, some of them were for anthology series or limited series while others also included television films as "long form". The divisions between original and adapted were presented in some of the categories presented during these years, though not all of them.

Since the 39th Writers Guild of America Awards in 1976, two categories are presented to recognize the writing in long form television media, these two categories remain to this day and are: Long Form – Original and Long Form – Adapted.

Name history

• Best Anthology Adaptation (1979)
• Best Multi-Part Long Form Series and/or Any Production of More Than Two Parts (1978-1979)
• Best Adapted Drama Anthology (1082-1985)
• Best Original/Adapted Comedy Anthology (1984-1985)
• Best Original/Adapted Multi-Part Long Form Series (1984)
• Best Long Form - Adapted (1986-present)

Winners and nominees

The year indicates that each ceremony honored the programs of that year. Single winner of the year is left unmarked, while other winners which also have nominees are highlighted in gold and in bold.

1970s

Best Anthology Adaptation

Year	Program	Writer(s)	Source material	Network
1978
	A Christmas to Remember				^[1]
	A Woman Called Moses		The book by Marcy Heidish	NBC

Best Multi-Part Long Form Series and/or Any Production of More Than Two Parts

Year	Program	Writer(s)	Source material	Network
1978
	Centennial "Only The Rocks Live Forever"	John Wilder
1979
	Backstairs at the White House				^[2]

1980s

Best Adapted Drama Anthology

Year	Program	Writer(s)	Source material	Network
1982
	Of Mice and Men	E. Nick Alexander			^[3]
1983
		Ossie Davis and Ken Rotcop			^[4]
1984
	The Dollmaker				^[5]
1985
	The Burning Bed	Rose Leiman Goldemberg			^[6]

Best Original/Adapted Comedy Anthology

Year	Program	Writer(s)	Source material	Network
1984
	Hobson's Choice	Burt Prelutsky	Original TV movie
1985
	The Ratings Game		Original TV movie

Best Original/Adapted Multi-Part Long Form Series

Year	Program	Writer(s)	Source material	Network
1983
	Blood Feud "Part II"	Robert Boris	Original TV movie	Syndicated
	V "Part I"		Original miniseries	NBC
1984
			Original miniseries

Best Long Form - Adapted

Year	Program	Writer(s)	Source material	Network
1986
	Peter the Great	Edward Anhalt	The book by Robert K. Massie	NBC	^[7]
	Trapped in Silence	Vickie Patik		CBS
1987
	Escape from Sobibor	Reginald Rose	Various sources	CBS	^[8]
	Prison for Children			CBS
1988
	"Part 1"	Jacqueline Feather and David Seidler	The book Ari: The Life and Times of Aristotle Socrates Onassis by Peter Evans	ABC	^[9]
	Hallmark Hall of Fame Foxfire	Susan Cooper	The play by Cooper, Hume Cronyn and Jonathan Brielle	CBS
	A Friendship in Vienna	Richard Alfieri		Disney Channel
1989
	Lonesome Dove "Part I: Leaving"	William D. Wittliff	The novel by Larry McMurtry	CBS	^[10]

1990s

Best Long Form - Adapted

Year	Program	Writer(s)	Source material	Network
1990
		E. Jack Neuman	The book When Rabbit Howls by Truddi Chase	ABC	^[11]
1991
	Long Road Home	Jane-Howard Hammerstein	The novel by Ronald B. Taylor	NBC	^[12]
1992
	The Broken Cord	Ann Beckett	The book by Michael Dorris	ABC	^[13]
	Miss Rose White		The play A Shayna Maidel by Barbara Lebow	NBC
1993
	Barbarians at the Gate	Larry Gelbart	The book by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar	HBO	^[14]
	Silent Cries	Walter Halsey Davis, and Vickie Patik	The book Guests of the Emperor by Janice Young Brooks	NBC
1994
	A Family Torn Apart	Matthew Bombeck	The book Sudden Fury: A True Story of Adoption and Murder by Leslie Walker	NBC	^[15]
1995
	Citizen X	Chris Gerolmo	The book The Killer Department by Robert Cullen	HBO	^[16]
	Joseph		The novel by James Carrington	TNT
1996
	The Boys Next Door	William Blinn	The play by Tom Griffin	CBS	^[17] ^[18]
	Homecoming	Christopher Carlson and Mark Jean		Showtime
	Kissinger and Nixon			TNT
1997
	Bastard Out of Carolina	Anne Meredith	The novel by Dorothy Allison	Showtime	^[19] ^[20]
	George Wallace		The book Wallace: The Classic Portrait of Alabama Governor George Wallace by Frady	TNT
	The Hunchback
	In the Gloaming			HBO
1998
	The Love Letter	James Henerson	The short story by Jack Finney	CBS	^[21] ^[22]
				HBO
	Thicker Than Blood		The play Stand-Up Tragedy by Cain	TNT
1999
	The Confession	David Black	The novel Fertig by Sol Yurick	Cinemax	^[23] ^[24]
	A Cooler Climate	Marsha Norman	The book by Zena Collier	Showtime
	Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years			CBS
	The Devil's Arithmetic			Showtime

2000s

Year	Program	Writer(s)	Source material	Network
2000
	RKO 281	John Logan	The film The Battle Over Citizen Kane by Richard Ben Cramer and Thomas Lennon from American Experience	HBO	^[25] ^[26]
	Tuesdays with Morrie	Thomas Rickman	The book by Mitch Albom	ABC
	Deliberate Intent	Andy Wolk and Lisa Mohan		FX
	A House Divided		The book Woman of Color, Daughter of Privilege: Amanda Dickson by Kent Anderson Leslie	Showtime
2001
		Kirk Ellis	The book by Melissa Müller	ABC	^[27] ^[28]
	Baby		The novel by MacLachlan	TNT
	The Mists of Avalon		The novel by Marion Zimmer Bradley
				ABC
	The Song of the Lark	Joseph Maurer		PBS
2002
	Band of Brothers "Bastogne"	Bruce C. McKenna	The book by Stephen E. Ambrose	HBO	^[29] ^[30]
	Last Call			Showtime
	Hysterical Blindness	Laura Cahill	The book by Cahill	HBO
	Roughing It	Steven H. Berman		Hallmark
2003
	Out of the Ashes	Anne Meredith	The book I Was a Doctor in Auschwitz by Gisella Perl	Showtime	^[31] ^[32]
	Normal		The play Looking for Normal by Anderson	HBO
				USA Network
	The Stranger Beside Me	Matthew McDuffie and Matthew Tabak	The book by Ann Rule
2004
	Angels in America	Tony Kushner	The play by Kushner	HBO	^[33]
	Cavedweller	Anne Meredith		Showtime
	The Wool Cap			TNT
2005
	The Life and Death of Peter Sellers	Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely	The book by Roger Lewis	HBO	^[34] ^[35]
	The Colt			Hallmark
	Lackawanna Blues		The play by Santiago-Hudson	HBO
	Our Fathers	Thomas Michael Donnelly		Showtime
2006
	Not awarded				^[36]
2007
	The Company	Ken Nolan	The novel by Robert Littell	TNT	^[37] ^[38]
	Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee	Daniel Giat		HBO
	The Starter Wife	Josann McGibbon and Sara Parriott		USA Network
2008
	John Adams "Join or Die", "Independence"	Kirk Ellis	The book by David McCullough	HBO	^[39] ^[40]
	Generation Kill "Stay Frosty", "Bomb in the Garden"			HBO
	The Memory Keeper's Daughter	John Pielmeier		Lifetime
2009
	Taking Chance	Michael Strobl and Ross Katz	The journal by Strobl	HBO	^[41] ^[42]
	America			Lifetime

2010s

Year	Program	Writer(s)	Source material	Network
2010
	The Pacific "Part Eight: Iwo Jima"	Robert Schenkkan and Michelle Ashford	Various sources	HBO	^[43] ^[44]
	The Pillars of the Earth			Starz
	Temple Grandin	Christopher Monger and William Merritt Johnson	The memoirs Emergence by Temple Grandin and Margaret Scariano, and Thinking in Pictures by Grandin	HBO
	The Pacific "Part Four: Gloucester/Pavuvu/Banika"	Robert Schenkkan and Graham Yost	Various sources
2011
	Too Big to Fail	Peter Gould	The book by Andrew Ross Sorkin	HBO	^[45]
	Mildred Pierce			HBO
2012
	Game Change	Danny Strong	The book by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann	HBO	^[46]
	Coma "Part 1", "Part 2"			A&E
2013
	Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight	Shawn Slovo	The book by Howard Bingham and Max Wallace	HBO	^[47] ^[48]
	Killing Kennedy			Nat Geo
2014
	Olive Kitteridge	Jane Anderson	The novel by Elizabeth Strout	HBO	^[49]
	Houdini		The book Houdini: A Mind in Chains: A Psychoanalytic Portrait by Bernard C. Meyer	History
	Klondike	Paul Scheuring, Josh Goldin, Rachel Abramowitz		Discovery
	The Normal Heart		The play by Kramer	HBO
	The Leftovers "Pilot"		The novel by Perrotta
2015
	Fargo	Steve Blackman, Bob DeLaurentis, Noah Hawley, Ben Nedivi, and Matt Wolpert	The film by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen	FX	^[50]
	The Red Tent	Elizabeth Chandler and Anne Meredith	The novel by Anita Diamant	Lifetime
	Show Me a Hero	David Simon and William F. Zorzi	The book by Lisa Belkin	HBO
2016		Scott Alexander, Joe Robert Cole, D.V. DeVincentis, Maya Forbes, Larry Karaszewski and Wally Wolodarsky	The book The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson by Jeffrey Toobin	FX	^[51]
	11.22.63	Bridget Carpenter, Brigitte Hales, Joe Henderson, Brian Nelson and Quinton Peeples	The novel by Stephen King	Hulu
	Madoff	Ben Robbins	The book The Madoff Chronicles: Inside the Secret World of Bernie and Ruth by Brian Ross	ABC
	The Night Of	Richard Price and Steven Zaillian	The television series Criminal Justice by Peter Moffat	HBO
	Roots	Lawrence Konner, Alison McDonald, Charles Murray and Mark Rosenthal	The novel by Alex Haley	History
2017	Big Little Lies	David E. Kelley	The novel by Liane Moriarty	HBO	^[52]
	Fargo	Monica Beletsky, Bob DeLaurentis, Noah Hawley, Ben Nedivi and Matt Wolpert	The film by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen	FX
	The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks	Peter Landesman, Alexander Woo and George C. Wolfe	The book by Rebecca Skloot	HBO
	The Wizard of Lies	Sam Levinson, John Burnham Schwartz and Samuel Baum	The book by Diana B. Henriques and Truth and Consequences by Laurie Sandell
2018		Maggie Cohn and Tom Rob Smith	The book Vulgar Favors by Maureen Orth	FX	^[53]
	The Looming Tower	Bash Doran, Dan Futterman, Alex Gibney, Shannon Houston, Adam Rapp, Ali Selim and Lawrence Wright	The novel by Lawrence Wright	Hulu
	Maniac	Nick Cuse, Cary Joji Fukunaga, Amelia Gray, Danielle Henderson, Mauricio Katz, Patrick Somerville and Caroline Williams	The television series by Espen PA Lervaag, Håakon Bast Mossige, Kjetil Indregard and Ole Marius Araldsen	Netflix
	Sharp Objects	Ariella Blejer, Scott Brown, Vince Calandra, Gillian Flynn, Dawn Kamoche, Alex Metcalf and Marti Noxon	The novel by Flynn	HBO
2019	Fosse/Verdon	Debora Cahn, Joel Fields, Ike Holter, Thomas Kail, Steven Levenson, Charlotte Stoudt, Tracey Scott Wilson	The book Fosse by Sam Wasson	FX	^[54]
		Vince Gilligan	The television series Breaking Bad by Vince Gilligan	Netflix
	Unbelievable	Michael Chabon, Susannah Grant, Becky Mode, Jennifer Schuur and Ayelet Waldman	Various source
	The Loudest Voice	John Harrington Bland, Laura Eason, Tom McCarthy, Alex Metcalf, Gabriel Sherman and Jennifer Stahl	The book The Loudest Voice in the Room by Gabriel Sherman	Showtime

2020s

Year	Program	Writer(s)	Source material	Network
2020	The Queen's Gambit	Scott Frank and Allan Scott	The novel by Walter Travis	Netflix	^[55]
	Bad Education	Mike Makowsky	The New York Magazine article "The Bad Superintendent' by Robert Kolker	HBO
	Clouds	Kara Holden, Casey La Scala & Patrick Kopka	The book Fly A Little Higher by Laura Sobiech	Disney+
	The Good Lord Bird	Jeff Augustin, Ethan Hawke, Erika L. Johnson, Mark Richard, Kristen SaBerre, Lauren Signorino	The novel by James McBride	Showtime
	Little Fires Everywhere	Harris Danow, Rosa Handelman, Shannon Houston, Attica Locke, Raamla Mohamed, Amy Talkington, Liz Tigelaar, Nancy Won	The novel by Celeste Ng	Hulu
2021	Maid	Bekah Brunstetter, Marcus Gardley, Michelle Denise Jackson, Colin McKenna, Molly Smith Metzler	The book Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive by Stephanie Land	Netflix	^[56]
		Flora Birnbaum, Sarah Burgess, Halley Feiffer, Daniel Pearle	The book A Vast Conspiracy by Jeffrey Toobin	FX
	The Underground Railroad	Jihan Crowther, Allison Davis, Jacqueline Hoyt, Barry Jenkins, Nathan C. Parker, Adrienne Rush	The novel by Colson Whitehead	Prime Video
	Halston	Ian Brennan, Ted Malawer, Ryan Murphy, Tim Pinckney, Sharr White, Kristina Woo	The book Simply Halston by Steven Gaines	Netflix
	WandaVision	Peter Cameron, Mackenzie Dohr, Laura Donney, Bobak Esfarjani, Chuck Hayward, Megan McDonnell, Jac Schaeffer, Cameron Squires	The Marvel Comics	Disney+

Notes and References

1. Web site: WGA Awards 1978. IMDb. January 20, 2022.
2. Web site: WGA Awards 1979. IMDb. January 20, 2022.
3. Web site: WGA Awards 1982. IMDb. January 20, 2022.
4. Web site: WGA Awards 1983. IMDb. January 20, 2022.
5. Web site: WGA Awards 1984. IMDb. January 20, 2022.
6. Web site: WGA Awards 1985. IMDb. January 20, 2022.
7. Web site: WGA Awards 1986. IMDb. January 20, 2022.
8. Web site: WGA Awards 1987. IMDb. January 20, 2022.
9. Web site: WGA Awards 1988. IMDb. January 20, 2022.
10. Web site: WGA Awards 1989. IMDb. January 20, 2022.
11. Web site: WGA Awards 1990. IMDb. January 20, 2022.
12. Web site: WGA Awards 1991. IMDb. January 20, 2022.
13. Web site: WGA Awards 1992. IMDb. January 20, 2022.
14. Web site: WGA Awards 1993. IMDb. January 20, 2022.
15. Web site: WGA Awards 1994. IMDb. January 20, 2022.
16. Web site: WGA Awards 1995. IMDb. January 20, 2022.
17. Web site: WGA Awards 1996. IMDb. January 20, 2022.
18. Web site: WGA Awards 1997. WGA. December 24, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20160307145015/http://awards.wga.org/wga-awards/previous-nominees-winners2. March 7, 2016. dead.
19. Web site: WGA Awards 1997. IMDb. January 20, 2022.
20. Web site: WGA Awards 1998. WGA. December 24, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20160307145015/http://awards.wga.org/wga-awards/previous-nominees-winners2. March 7, 2016. dead.
21. Web site: WGA Awards 1998. IMDb. January 20, 2022.
22. Web site: WGA Awards 1999. WGA. December 24, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20160307145015/http://awards.wga.org/wga-awards/previous-nominees-winners2. March 7, 2016. dead.
23. Web site: WGA Awards 1999. IMDb. January 20, 2022.
24. Web site: WGA Awards 2000. WGA. December 24, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20160307145015/http://awards.wga.org/wga-awards/previous-nominees-winners2. March 7, 2016. dead.
25. Web site: WGA Awards 2000. IMDb. January 20, 2022.
26. Web site: WGA Awards 2001. WGA. December 24, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20160307145015/http://awards.wga.org/wga-awards/previous-nominees-winners2. March 7, 2016. dead.
27. Web site: WGA Awards 2001. IMDb. January 20, 2022.
28. Web site: WGA Awards 2002. WGA. December 24, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20160307145015/http://awards.wga.org/wga-awards/previous-nominees-winners2. March 7, 2016. dead.
29. Web site: WGA Awards 2002. IMDb. January 20, 2022.
30. Web site: WGA Awards 2003. WGA. December 24, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20160307145015/http://awards.wga.org/wga-awards/previous-nominees-winners2. March 7, 2016. dead.
31. Web site: WGA Awards 2003. IMDb. January 20, 2022.
32. Web site: WGA Awards 2004. WGA. December 24, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20160307145015/http://awards.wga.org/wga-awards/previous-nominees-winners2. March 7, 2016. dead.
33. Web site: WGA Awards 2004. IMDb. January 20, 2022.
34. Web site: Peacock laffers have the write stuff. McNary. Dave. 14 December 2005. Variety. 23 February 2019.
35. Web site: Writers Guild Awards Winners. 23 February 2019. Writers Guild of America, West. 2010. https://archive.today/20120525050852/http://www.wga.org/awards/awardssub.aspx?id=1517. 2012-05-25.
36. Web site: WGA Awards 2007. WGA. December 24, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20160307145015/http://awards.wga.org/wga-awards/previous-nominees-winners2. March 7, 2016. dead.
37. Web site: HBO tops WGA Award noms with five. DiOrio. Carl. 13 December 2007. The Hollywood Reporter. 23 February 2019.
38. Web site: Cody, Coens bros. top WGA Awards. Thielman. Sam. McNary. Dave. 9 February 2008. Variety. 23 February 2019.
39. Web site: 2009 Writers Guild Awards Television, Radio, News, Promotional Writing, And Graphic Animation Nominees Announced. 8 December 2008. Writers Guild of America East. 23 February 2019.
40. Web site: 'Milk,' 'Slumdog' top WGA Awards. McNary. Dave. Littleton. Cynthia. 7 February 2009. Variety. 23 February 2019.
41. Web site: WGA announces TV noms. 14 December 2009. Variety. 23 February 2019.
42. Web site: 2010 Writers Guild Award Winners. McNary. Dave. 21 February 2010. TV Source Magazine. 23 February 2019.
43. Web site: PBS Dominates News Categories in Writers Guild Award Nominations. Weprin. Alex. 8 December 2010. TV Newser. 23 February 2019.
44. Web site: 'Inception,' 'Social Network' Win Top WGA Awards. Fernandez. Jay A.. Szalai. Georg. 5 February 2011. The Hollywood Reporter. 23 February 2019.
45. Web site: Writers Guild Awards: Complete Winners List. Fernandez. Jay A.. 19 February 2012. The Hollywood Reporter. 23 February 2019.
46. 2013 WGA Awards: The Complete List Of Winners. Kim. Wook. 18 February 2013. Time. 23 February 2019.
47. Web site: 'Captain Phillips,' 'Her' Win Top Screenplay Awards. McNary. Dave. 1 February 2014. Variety. 23 February 2019.
48. Web site: 'Simpsons' & 'Futurama' Dominate WGA Nominations. Milligan. Mercedes. 5 December 2013. Animation Magazine. 23 February 2019.
49. Web site: 'Grand Budapest Hotel,' 'True Detective' Top WGA Awards. McNary. Dave. 14 February 2015. Variety. 23 February 2019.
50. Web site: WGA Honors 'Big Short,' 'Spotlight,' 'Mad Men' at 68th Awards. McNary. Dave. 13 February 2016. Variety. 23 February 2019.
51. Web site: WGA Awards: 'Moonlight,' 'Arrival' Win For Best Screenplay, 'Atlanta' Wins Twice. Littleton. Cynthia. McNary. Dave. 19 February 2017. Variety. 23 February 2019.
52. Web site: WGA Awards: The Complete Winners List. 11 February 2018. Variety. 23 February 2019.
53. Web site: WGA Awards 2019 Winners: 'Can You Ever Forgive Me?,' 'Eighth Grade' Win Screenplay Awards. McNary. Dave. 17 February 2019. Variety. 23 February 2019.
54. Web site: Writers Guild Awards 2020: 'Parasite' and 'JoJo Rabbit' Win Screenplay Awards. Lindhal. Chris. 1 February 2020. IndieWire. 3 February 2020.
55. Web site: WGA Awards: 'Better Call Saul' Scores Leading 5 Noms as TV, New Media, News Categories Unveiled . Lewis . Hillary . February 3, 2021 . The Hollywood Reporter . February 4, 2021.
56. Web site: Writers Guild Unveils 2022 WGA TV Award Nominees: 'Yellowjackets,' 'Hacks,' 'Reservation Dogs,' 'Only Murders in the Building' and More. Variety. Michael. Schneider. January 13, 2022. January 14, 2022.