Game of Thrones nominated for 2016 Writers Guild Awards

Yesterday, just before HBO dropped the first teaser for Game of Thrones Season 6 and blew all other news for the day out of the water, the Writer’s Guild of America announced that the show had once again scored a couple nominations, this time for Season 5. The WGAs, as they are known, award outstanding achievements in writing—both fiction and non-fiction—film, television, radio, and (since 2008) videogames. The awards are presented jointly by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America, West. This year they will be held on Saturday, February 13, 2016. Since they are jointly held by the East and West Guilds, there are simultaneous ceremonies in both Los Angeles and New York City.

Game of Thrones is nominated in two categories: Outstanding Drama Series overall, and the Episodic Drama category for “Mother’s Mercy,” the season finale. The overall nomination includes series showrunners and writers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, plus Bryan Cogman and Dave Hill. “Mother’s Mercy” was written by Benioff and Weiss.

The show’s competition comes from some of the usual suspects, with perennial favorites The Americans and Mad Men in the running for the Outstanding Drama Series nomination, along with first timers Better Call Saul (filling the usual Breaking Bad slot) and, in a surprising nod, USA’s Mr. Robot. Game of Thrones is also going up against Mad Men in the Episodic Drama category, along with another critic favorite, The Good Wife. Better Call Saul again fills the Breaking Bad slot. HBO’s The Leftovers and Netflix’s Narcos (which stars former Game of Thrones alumni Pedro “Oberyn Martell” Pascal) round out the category.

Congrats to Benioff, Weiss, Cogman and Hill for their nominations. And may the best episode win.

Next: It's the first teaser trailer for Game of Thrones Season 6!