35th Writers Guild of America Awards

35th WGA Awards
Date	1983
Organized by	Writers Guild of America, East and the Writers Guild of America, West
← 34th WGA Awards 36th →

The 35th Writers Guild of America Awards honored the best television, and film writers of 1982. Winners were announced in 1983.^[1]

Winners and nominees

Film

Winners are listed first highlighted in boldface.^[2]

Best Drama Written Directly for the Screenplay E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Written by Melissa Mathison An Officer and a Gentleman, Written by Douglas Day Stewart Shoot the Moon, Written by Bo Goldman	Best Comedy Written Directly for the Screenplay Tootsie, Written by Larry Gelbart and Murray Schisgal; Story by Don McGuire and Larry Gelbart Diner, Written by Barry Levinson My Favorite Year, Written by Norman Steinberg and Dennis Palumbo; Story by Dennis Palumbo
Best Drama Adapted from Another Medium Missing, Screenplay by Costa-Gavras and Donald E. Stewart; Based on the book by Thomas Hauser Sophie's Choice, Screenplay by Alan J. Pakula; Based on the novel by William Styron The Verdict, Screenplay by David Mamet; Based on the novel by Barry Reed The World According to Garp, Screenplay by Steve Tesich; Based on the novel by John Irving	Best Comedy Adapted from Another Medium Victor Victoria, Screenplay by Blake Edwards; Based on the concept by Hans Hoemburg, and the 1933 script by Reinhold Schünzel Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Screenplay by Cameron Crowe; Based on his book

Television

Episodic Comedy "Hunger Strike" – Barney Miller (ABC) – Tony Sheehan and Stephen Neigher "The Calico Kid Returns" – Best of the West (ABC) – Mitch Markowitz "The Birthday Girls" – M*A*S*H (CBS) – Karen Hall "Pilot" – Making the Grade (CBS) – Gary David Goldberg "Terry Runs Away" – Open All Night (ABC) – Ken Levine and David Isaacs "Elegant Iggy" – Taxi (ABC) – Ken Estin	Episodic Drama "The World According to Freedom" – Hill Street Blues (NBC) – Michael Wagner "Closed Circuit" – Darkroom (ABC) – Alan Brennert "A Special Place" – Fame (NBC) – Parke Perine "Fruits of the Poisonous Tree" – Hill Street Blues (NBC) – Jeffrey Lewis "Review" – Lou Grant (CBS) – Jeffrey Lane
Daytime Serials Ryan's Hope (ABC) – Claire Labine, Mary Munisteri, Eugene Price and Rory Metcalf The Edge of Night (ABC) – Henry Slesar	Adapted Drama Anthology Of Mice and Men (NBC) – E. Nick Alexander
Original Comedy Anthology Sidney Shorr: A Girl's Best Friend (NBC) – Oliver Hailer and Marilyn Canton Baker	Original Drama Anthology Skokie (CBS) – Ernest Kinoy
Variety, Musical or Comedy I Love Liberty (ABC) – Rita Mae Brown, Arthur Allan Seidelman, Rick Mitz, Richard Alfieri and Norman Lear	Children's Show "First Kill" – CBS Afternoon Playhouse (CBS) – Josef Anderson "Goldie and the kids... Listen to Us" – ABC Afterschool Special (ABC) – Buz Kohan "Please Don't Hit Me, Mom" – ABC Afterschool Special (ABC) – Jeri Taylor and Sydney Julien "The Wave" – ABC Afterschool Special (ABC) – Johnny Dawkins

Special awards

Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement
Lamar Trotti
Laurel Award for TV Writing Achievement
Herbert Baker
Valentine Davies Award
Hal Kanter
Morgan Cox Award
Oliver Crawford

References

1. "Writers Guild Awards Winners: 1995-1949". wga.org. Writers Guild of America. Archived from the original on December 4, 2025. Retrieved February 20, 2026.
2. "Writers Guild of America, USA (1983)". IMDb. Retrieved July 4, 2019.

External links

• WGA.org