38th Writers Guild of America Awards

Award ceremony for writing of 1985

38th WGA Awards

Date| 1986
Organized by| Writers Guild of America, East and the Writers Guild of America, West

* ← 37th
* WGA Awards
* 39th →

The 38th Writers Guild of America Awards honored the best television, and film writers of 1985. Winners were announced in 1986.[1]

## Winners and nominees

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[2]

### Film

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Winners are listed first highlighted in boldface.

Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screenplay

* Witness, Written by Earl W. Wallace and William Kelley; Story by Earl W. Wallace, Pamela Wallace and William Kelley
* Back to the Future, Written by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale
* Cocoon, Written by Tom Benedek; Story by David Saperstein
* Mask, Written by Anna Hamilton Phelan
* The Purple Rose of Cairo, Written by Woody Allen

Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium

* Prizzi's Honor, Screenplay by Richard Condon and Janet Roach; Based on the novel by Richard Condon
* Agnes of God, Screenplay by John Pielmeier; Based on his play
* The Color Purple, Screenplay by Menno Meyjes; Based on the novel by Alice Walker
* Out of Africa, Screenplay by Kurt Luedtke; Based on the book Isak Dinesen: The Life of a Story Teller by Judith Thurman and the book Silence Will Speak by Errol Trzebinski
* The Trip to Bountiful, Screenplay by Horton Foote; Based on his play

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### Television

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Episodic Comedy

* "Pilot" – Moonlighting (ABC) – Glenn Gordon Caron (Tie with Steambath)
* "Madison Avenue Madness" – Steambath (Showtime) – David Pollock and Elias Davis (Tie with Moonlighting)
* "Fairy Tales Can Come True" – Cheers (NBC) – Sam Simon
* "The Executive's Executioner" – Cheers (NBC) – Heide Perlman
* "Goodbye, Mr. Fish" – The Cosby Show (NBC) – Earl Pomerantz
* "The Uh-Oh Feeling" – Webster (ABC) – Steven Sunshine and Madeline Sunshine

Episodic Drama

* "Unusual Occurrence" – Cagney & Lacey (CBS) – Georgia Jeffries
* "Brother's Keeper" – Miami Vice (NBC) – Anthony Yerkovich
* "Who Says It's Fair" – Cagney & Lacey (CBS) – Patricia Green
* "Child Witness" – Cagney & Lacey (CBS) – Deborah Arakelian
* "A Wind from the East" – Call to Glory (ABC) – Josef Anderson
* "Watt a Way to Go" – Hill Street Blues (NBC) – David Milch, Roger Director, Steven Bochco and Jeffrey Lewis
* "Sweet Dreams" – St. Elsewhere (NBC) – John Masius and Tom Fontana

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Daytime Serials

* One Life to Live (ABC) – Peggy O'Shea, Sam Hall, S. Michael Schnessel, Lanie Bertram, Ethel Brez, Mel Brez, Barbara Morgenroth, Don Wallace, Peter Swet and Eugenie Hunt
* Guiding Light (CBS) – Pete T. Rich, Elaine Potwardoski, Emily Squires, John Kuntz, N. Gail Lawrence, Stephen Demorest, Christopher Whitesell, Megan McTavish, Trent Jones, Jeff Ryder, Addie Walsh and Robin Amos
* The Edge of Night (ABC) – Lee Sheldon, David Snell, Marty Ross and Eric Rubinton

Adapted Drama Anthology

* The Burning Bed (NBC) – Rose Leiman Goldemberg

Original/Adapted Comedy Anthology

* The Ratings Game (Showtime) – Michael Barrie and Jim Mulholland

Original Drama Anthology

* Do You Remember Love (CBS) – Vickie Patik
* Not My Kid (CBS) – Christopher Knopf and Beth Polson

Children's Show

* "Booker" – WonderWorks (PBS) – Charles Johnson, John Allman and Avon Kirkland
* "Babies Having Babies" – CBS Schoolbreak Special (CBS) – Kathryn J. Montgomery and Jeffrey Auerbach
* "Fuzz Bucket" – Wonderful World of Disney (ABC) – Mick Garris
* "Time Flyer" – Wonderful World of Disney (ABC) – Mark Rosman

### Special awards

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Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement

Waldo Salt
Laurel Award for TV Writing Achievement
Richard Levinson, and William Link
Valentine Davies Award
Ronald Austin
Morgan Cox Award
Arthur E. Orloff

## References

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1. ^ "Awards Winners". wga.org. Writers Guild of America. Archived from the original on 2012-12-05. Retrieved 2010-06-06.
2. ^ "Writers Guild of America, USA (1986)". IMDb. Retrieved 2019-07-06.

## External links

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* 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
* Limited Series
* TV & New Media Pictures
* Short Form New Media
* New Series
* Children's Script

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
* Long Form – Adapted
* Long Form – Original
* Documentary Script – Current Events
* Documentary Script – Other Than Current Events

Ceremonies|

* 1948
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Years are of film release; ceremonies are held the following year
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