The 50th Writers Guild of America Awards, given on 21 February 1998, honored the best writers of 1997

1997 in film

-Events:* The original Star Wars trilogy's Special Editions are released.* Production begins on Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.* Titanic becomes the first film to gross US$1,000,000,000 at the box office making it the highest grossing film in history until Avatar broke the record in 2010.*...

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Film

• Best Adapted Screenplay:
  • L.A. Confidential
    L.A. Confidential (film)
    L.A. Confidential is a 1997 American film based on James Ellroy's 1990 novel of the same title, the third book in his L.A. Quartet. Both the book and the film tell the story of a group of LAPD officers in the 1950s, and the intersection of police corruption and Hollywood celebrity...
    
    - Curtis Hanson
    Curtis Hanson
    Curtis Lee Hanson is an American film director, film producer and screenwriter. His directing work includes The Hand That Rocks the Cradle , L.A...
    
     and Brian Helgeland
    Brian Helgeland
    Brian Thomas Helgeland is an American screenwriter, film producer and director. He is most known for writing the screenplays for L.A...
    
    
• Best Original Screenplay:
  • As Good as It Gets
    As Good as It Gets
    As Good as It Gets is a 1997 American romantic comedy film directed by James L. Brooks and produced by Laura Ziskin. It stars Jack Nicholson as a misanthropic, obsessive-compulsive novelist, Helen Hunt as a single mother with an asthmatic son, and Greg Kinnear as a gay artist. The screenplay was...
    
    -Mark Andrus
    Mark Andrus
    Mark Andrus is an award-winning American screenwriter.After receiving a Master of Business Administration from UC Riverside, Andrus decided to take a creative writing class while waiting to hear from the law schools to which he had applied...
    
     and James L. Brooks
    James L. Brooks
    James Lawrence Brooks is an American director, producer and screenwriter. Growing up in North Bergen, New Jersey, Brooks endured a fractured family life and passed the time by reading and writing. After dropping out of New York University, he got a job as an usher at CBS, going on to write for the...
    
    

Best Episodic Drama

Entrapment

Entrapment

In criminal law, entrapment is conduct by a law enforcement agent inducing a person to commit an offense that the person would otherwise have been unlikely to commit. In many jurisdictions, entrapment is a possible defense against criminal liability...

- Law & Order

Law & Order

Law & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It aired on NBC, and in syndication on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24,...

  - Rene Balcer and Richard Sweren

• Whose Appy Now? - ER
  ER (TV series)
  ER is an American medical drama television series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 19, 1994 to April 2, 2009. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
  
    - Neal Baer
• Deadbeat - Law & Order
  Law & Order
  Law & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It aired on NBC, and in syndication on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24,...
  
    - Ed Zuckerman and I.C. Rapoport

Best Episodic Comedy

The Fatigues

The Fatigues

"The Fatigues" is the 140th episode of the sitcom Seinfeld. This was the sixth episode for the eighth season. It aired on October 31, 1996.-Plot:...

- Seinfeld

Seinfeld

Seinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...

  - Gregg Kavet and Andy Robin

• The Puppy Episode
  The Puppy Episode
  "The Puppy Episode" is a two-part episode of the situation comedy television series Ellen. The episode details lead character Ellen Morgan's realization that she is a lesbian and her coming out. It was the 22nd and 23rd episode of the series' 4th season...
  
  - Ellen
  Ellen (TV series)
  Ellen is a U.S. television sitcom that ran on the ABC network from March 29, 1994 to July 22, 1998, producing 109 episodes.The theme song, "So Called Friend" is by Scottish band Texas...
  
    - Mark Driscoll, Dana Savel, Tracey Newman, Jonathan Stark and Ellen DeGeneres
• The Impossible Dream - Frasier
  Frasier
  Frasier is an American sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for eleven seasons, from September 16, 1993, to May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee in association with Grammnet and Paramount Network Television.A spin-off of Cheers, Frasier stars...
  
    - Rob Greenberg
• The Chicken Roaster
  The Chicken Roaster
  "The Chicken Roaster" is the 142nd episode of the sitcom Seinfeld. This was the 8th episode for the 8th season. It aired on November 14, 1996.-Kramer:...
  
  - Seinfeld
  Seinfeld
  Seinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...
  
    - Alec Berg and Jeff Schaffer
• The Bizarro Jerry
  The Bizarro Jerry
  "The Bizarro Jerry" is the 137th episode of the American television sitcom Seinfeld. This was the third episode for the eighth season. It was originally broadcast on the NBC network on October 3, 1996. The title and plot extensively reference the Bizarro and Bizarro-Earth concepts that originally...
  
  - Seinfeld
  Seinfeld
  Seinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...
  
    - David Mandel
• Ellen, Or Isn't She? - The Larry Sanders Show
  The Larry Sanders Show
  The Larry Sanders Show is a satirical television sitcom that aired from August 1992 to May 1998 on the HBO cable television network in the United States. It starred stand-up comedian Garry Shandling as vain, neurotic talk show host Larry Sanders, and centered on the running of his TV show, and the...
  
    - Judd Apatow, John Markus and Garry Shandling
• The Book - The Larry Sanders Show
  The Larry Sanders Show
  The Larry Sanders Show is a satirical television sitcom that aired from August 1992 to May 1998 on the HBO cable television network in the United States. It starred stand-up comedian Garry Shandling as vain, neurotic talk show host Larry Sanders, and centered on the running of his TV show, and the...
  
    - Maya Forbes

1997 Daytime Serials
Winner- All My Children

All My Children

All My Children is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 5, 1970 to September 23, 2011. Created by Agnes Nixon, All My Children is set in Pine Valley, Pennsylvania, a fictitious suburb of Philadelphia. The show features Susan Lucci as Erica Kane, one of daytime's most...

: Agnes Nixon

Agnes Nixon

Agnes Nixon is an American writer and producer. She attended Northwestern University where she was a member of Alpha Chi Omega sorority, and is best known as the creator of soap operas such as One Life to Live and All My Children...

; Lorraine Broderick

Lorraine Broderick

Lorraine Broderick is an American television soap opera writer who got her start on All My Children as a protégée of the show's creator, Agnes Nixon.-Bio:...

; Hal Corley

Hal Corley

-Career:Two of Hal's plays, "An Ounce of Prevention" and "Finding Donis Anne," have been widely performed...

; Fredrick Johnson; Gail Lawrence

N. Gail Lawrence

N. Gail Lawrence is an American television soap opera writer. She has written for soaps for nearly 24 years.-Positions held:All My Children * Associate Head Writer: 1994 - 1996, 1998–2001...

; Jeff Beldner

Jeff Beldner

-Positions held:All My Children *Script Editor: May 14, 2004 - January 14, 2008, March 19, 2008–present*Associate Head Writer: 1994 - 1998, September 17, 2001 - May 2004*Script Writer: 1991 - 1994*Writer's Assistant: 1989 - 1991...

; Christina Covino

Christina Covino

-Positions held:All My Children* Script Writer *Breakdown Writer As the World Turns* Script Writer *Breakdown Writer -Awards and nominations:Daytime Emmy Award...

; Courtney Sherman; Millee Taggart

Millee Taggart

Millee Taggart is an American actress, best known for her long-running role as Janet Bergman Collins on Search for Tomorrow. She portrayed the character from 1971 to 1982...

; Karen Harris; Elizabeth Smith; Michelle Patrick

Michelle Patrick

Michelle Patrick is an African American television soap opera writer. She has written for soaps for nearly 17 years.-Positions held:All My Children* Associate Head Writer...

; Bettina F. Bradbury

Bettina F. Bradbury

Bettina F. Bradbury is an award-winning American television soap opera screenwriter. She is the daughter of American science fiction writer Ray Bradbury.-Positions held:*Days of our Lives...

; Judith Donato; Kathleen Klein

Kathleen Klein

-Staff writer:*All My Children *Another World *Guiding Light -Awards and nominations:*Writers Guild of America Award...

; Jane Owen Murphy

Other Nominees:
General Hospital

General Hospital

General Hospital is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-running American soap opera currently in production and the third longest running drama in television in American history after Guiding Light and As the World Turns....

: Claire Labine

Claire Labine

-Early career:Although she originally aspired to be an actress, Labine eventually became a critically acclaimed writer. She attended the University of Kentucky where her major was journalism, but later she switched to playwriting major at Columbia University’s School of Dramatic Arts...

; Matthew Labine

Matthew Labine

Matthew Labine is an American soap opera writer, the son of Claire Labine and the brother of Eleanor Labine Mancusi.In spring 1996, Claire Labine was offered the Head Writer role at CBS Daytime's As the World Turns but turned it down because she and Matthew Labine were trying to get Heart And Soul...

; Robert Guza Jr.; Karen Harris

Karen Harris

Karen Harris was one of the first exclusive models for Estee Lauder, Inc. from 1962 until 1971, when she was replaced by Karen Graham. As with all Lauder models prior to 1993, Victor Skrebneski photographed the ads Miss Harris appeared in....

; Michele Val Jean

Michele Val Jean

Michele Val Jean is an American television writer on the ABC Daytime soap opera General Hospital. Val Jean made television history when in 2000 she was promoted, alongside Elizabeth Korte, to the post of Head Writer; making her the first African American in the history of daytime television...

; Meg Bennett

Meg Bennett

Meg Bennett is an American television soap opera writer and occasional actress. She is married to General Hospital Head Writer Robert Guza, Jr.-Early life:...

; Ralph Ellis; Mary Ryan; Jane Atkins

Jane Atkins

Jane Atkins is an American television soap opera writer and actress. She is a native of Calhoun County, Florida. As an actress, she has performed with the American Conservatory Theatre, the Actors’ Theatre of Louisville and the London Young Vic. Atkins is a member of the Writers Guild of America...

; Stephanie Braxton

Stephanie Braxton

Stephanie Braxton is an American television writer, playwright and actress. She married Dan Hamilton in 1970, but they are currently divorced...

; Judith Pinsker

Judith Pinsker

Judith Pinsker is an American television writer.Pinsker co-wrote the 1995 New York Times bestseller General Hospital tie-in novel Robin's Diary, based in the AIDS storyline between characters Stone Cates and Robin Scorpio....

; Lynda Myles

Lynda Myles

Lynda Myles is a British writer and producer. She served as director of the Edinburgh International Film Festival , director and curator of film at the Pacific Film Archive, University of California, Berkeley, Senior Vice–President at Columbia Pictures, Commissioning Editor for Drama at the BBC for...

; Elizabeth Korte

Elizabeth Korte

Elizabeth Korte is an American television writer for the ABC Daytime soap opera General Hospital.- Positions held :General Hospital*Occasional Breakdown Writer: 2005 - 2008*Script Editor: 2002 - January 3, 2008, March 17, 2008 – present...

; Patrick Mulcahey

Patrick Mulcahey

Patrick Mulcahey is an award-winning American television writer who graduated from Yale University.-Career:Among his accomplishments, Mulcahey wrote The Bold and the Beautifuls 5,000th episode. In a recent interview, he acknowledged his close friendships with CBS Daytime's Senior Vice President...

; Lisa Lieberman