Except for the peculiar look of a sure flightless waterfowl, Saturday evening’s WGA Awards have been a well-known affair.
“Hacks” gained its second trophy in 4 years for Greatest Comedy Collection, in addition to its second trophy in the identical span for Greatest Episodic Comedy, persevering with a victory parade that started on the 2024 Emmys when it upset “The Bear” for the highest prize. That scorching streak has continued into 2025 with wins on the Casting Society of America, Costume Designers Guild Awards, Administrators Guild Awards, Producers Guild Awards, and AFI Awards, amongst others. With Season 4 having wrapped manufacturing in January, creators Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, and Jen Statsky’s Max authentic ought to enter the 2025 Emmy season because the presumptive favourite.
The season’s dominant drama, “Shōgun,” gained’t be again in time to compete in 2025 — the writers’ room continues to be plugging away at Season 2 — however its Season 1 profitable streak additionally saved rolling on the WGA Awards, the place Justin Marks and Rachel Kondo took dwelling Greatest Drama Collection, Greatest Episodic Drama, and Greatest New Collection. Add these trophies to a mantle straining to assist recognition from the Artwork Administrators Guild (which have been additionally awarded on Saturday), CSA, CDG, DGA, PGA, and AFI Awards — to not point out these 18 Emmys and potential additional wins on the SAG Awards and Impartial Spirit Awards (“Shōgun” has 5 nominations at every) — and odds are excessive awards voters will keep in mind the sweeping epic at any time when it returns.
Further winners included “Bob’s Burgers,” which took dwelling the Animation honor for the episode “Saving Favourite Drive-in,” written by Katie Crown; “Final Week Tonight with John Oliver,” for Comedy/Selection Collection – Speak or Sketch; and “Nikki Glaser: Sometime You’ll Die,” for Comedy/Selection Particular. “Bob’s Burgers” has been nominated 16 instances throughout 11 seasons, and now has two wins. “Final Week Tonight with John Oliver” has eight wins in 10 years. Each are anticipated to earn extra Emmy love in 2025, having been extremely profitable all through their respective runs.
All in all, there weren’t many alternatives for brand new Emmy contenders to flex their would possibly. There have been zero new collection nominated for Greatest Comedy Collection, and of the brand new exhibits nominated for Greatest Drama — “Fallout,” “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” and “Shōgun” — none are anticipated to compete this 12 months. Even the New Collection class was sparse, with “English Instructor” and “No one Needs This” unable to crack the Greatest Comedy Collection race, not to mention topple “Shōgun” of their shared class. (New Collection doesn’t discriminate between comedies and dramas.)
However then there’s that peculiar “Penguin.” A hybrid of legacy HBO dramas and Warner Bros. Discovery I.P., Lauren LaFranc’s fall favourite got rid of the presumed frontrunner Saturday evening, beating “Ripley” for Greatest Restricted Collection. That it didn’t need to compete with “Child Reindeer,” which gained final 12 months’s Emmy however wasn’t eligible on the WGA Awards, might have helped preserve the class from wanting as repetitious as all of the others, however “The Penguin” besting “Ripley,” FX’s “Say Nothing,” HBO’s personal “True Detective: Evening Nation,” and the Apple TV+ summer season sensation “Presumed Harmless” continues to be lots spectacular.
Nonetheless, the win isn’t fully out of left discipline. As IndieWire identified when “The Penguin” landed three SAG nominations in January, the “Batman” spinoff is shaping as much as be an Emmy heavyweight. It pulled in three DGA nominations (earlier than shedding to “Ripley”) and a PGA nomination (the place it misplaced to “Child Reindeer”), however now “The Penguin” is incomes wins. Along with its WGA Award, the collection took dwelling an AFI Award, triumphed in two of its 4 Critics Alternative classes, and gained Greatest Restricted Collection on the Artwork Administrators Guild Awards and the Particular Make-Up Results honor from the Make-Up and Hair Stylists Guild — the latter two each occurring Saturday evening.
And “The Penguin” is probably not accomplished — this winter, or this 12 months. Colin Farrell is the present favourite to win a SAG Award, and Cristin Milioti has an honest shot at profitable the Indie Spirit Award, too. As for the Emmys, all bets are off. With widespread enchantment throughout each department of TV Academy and HBO’s exemplary awards staff operating the marketing campaign, “The Penguin” ought to have a big presence on TV’s massive evening. As at all times, we’ll have to attend and see how the spring releases carry out — Netflix has “Zero Day” and “Adolescence,” Apple has “The Studio” and “Dope Thief,” Hulu has “Dying for Intercourse,” and HBO may even be operating “Job” — however “The Penguin” is definitely mirroring its title character’s regular emergence as the brand new boss.
