Chris here. One of the final major set of prizes before the Oscar ceremony was handed out over the weekend, the Writers' Guild of America awards. The WGA awarded their screenplay honors to Get Out in original and Call Me By Your Name in adapted. Even though the latter's Oscar competition is now even further in the dust, its safest-bet-of-the-night odds to win the big prize will still be an exciting victory lap for its never-awarded legend screenwriter James Ivory.
Meanwhile original screenplay is the tightest race and Get Out's Jordan Peele has gained an advantage in what will be a photo finish to Oscar. With the heat waning on Three Billboards Outside, Ebbing Missouri (which, it should be noted, was ineligible here) and Lady Bird looking for a second wind, this win here is a much needed leg up. And paired with Peele's Debut Director win at the DGA, signs point to voters being eager to award him overall. If it had recently looked like Get Out and Lady Bird were directly competing with one another, Lady Bird's fans might want to rally their support around its actresses to see a win because I think we have a new frontrunner.
WGA also handed out their Documentary writing prize to Oscar miss Jane, though it faced no competition from Oscar doc nominees. Because the fluidity of television awards is the real shape of water, The Handmaid's Tale picked up multiple TV prizes (Drama Series and New Series) and returning winner Veep won Comedy Series. The episodic prizes were awarded to Better Call Saul ("Chicanery") and Will & Grace ("Rose's Quinceañera"), and additional prizes for Big Little Lies and Bojack Horseman.