The Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Long Form – Adapted is an award presented by the Writers Guild of America to the writers of the best long form program based on the previously published material or work of the season. It has been awarded since the 50th Annual Writers Guild of America Awards in 1996.
Through the 70s and 80s, numerous categories were presented to recognize writing for long-form programs, some of them were for anthology series or limited series while others also included television films as "long form". The divisions between original and adapted were presented in some of the categories presented during these years, though not all of them.
Since the 39th Writers Guild of America Awards in 1976, two categories are presented to recognize the writing in long form television media, these two categories remain to this day and are: Long Form – Original and Long Form – Adapted.
Name history Best Anthology Adaptation (1979) Best Multi-Part Long Form Series and/or Any Production of More Than Two Parts (1978-1979) Best Adapted Drama Anthology (1082-1985) Best Original/Adapted Comedy Anthology (1984-1985) Best Original/Adapted Multi-Part Long Form Series (1984) Best Long Form - Adapted (1986-present)
Winners and nominees The year indicates that each ceremony honored the programs of that year. Single winner of the year is left unmarked, while other winners which also have nominees are highlighted in gold and in bold.
1970s Best Anthology Adaptation Year Program Writer(s) Source material Network 1978 A Christmas to Remember Stewart Stern The novel The Melodeon by Glendon Swarthout CBS A Woman Called Moses Lonne Elder III The book by Marcy Heidish NBC
Best Multi-Part Long Form Series and/or Any Production of More Than Two Parts Year Program Writer(s) Source material Network 1978 Centennial "Only The Rocks Live Forever" John Wilder The novel by James A. Michener NBC 1979 Backstairs at the White House Gwen Bagni and Paul Dubov The novel My Thirty Years Backstairs at the White House by Lillian Rogers Parks NBC
1980s Best Adapted Drama Anthology Year Program Writer(s) Source material Network 1982 Of Mice and Men E. Nick Alexander The novel by John Steinbeck NBC 1983 For Us the Living: The Medgar Evers Story Ossie Davis and Ken Rotcop The book by Myrlie Evers-Williams and William Peters PBS 1984 The Dollmaker Susan Cooper and Hume Cronyn The novel by Harriette Simpson Arnow ABC 1985 The Burning Bed Rose Leiman Goldemberg The novel by Faith McNulty NBC
Best Original/Adapted Comedy Anthology Year Program Writer(s) Source material Network 1984 Hobson's Choice Burt Prelutsky Original TV movie CBS 1985 The Ratings Game Michael Barrie and Jim Mulholland Original TV movie Showtime
Best Original/Adapted Multi-Part Long Form Series Year Program Writer(s) Source material Network 1983 Blood Feud"Part II" Robert Boris Original TV movie Syndicated V"Part I" Kenneth Johnson Original miniseries NBC 1984 The First Olympics: Athens 1896 Charles Gary Allison and William Bast Original miniseries NBC
Best Long Form - Adapted Year Program Writer(s) Source material Network 1986 Peter the Great Edward Anhalt The book Peter the Great: His Life and World by Robert K. Massie NBC Trapped in Silence Vickie Patik The book Murphy's Boy by Torey Hayden CBS 1987 Escape from Sobibor Reginald Rose Various sources CBS Prison for Children Christopher Knopf CBS 1988 Onassis: The Richest Man in the World"Part 1"| style="background:#FAEB86" | Jacqueline Feather and David Seidler| style="background:#FAEB86" | The book Ari: The Life and Times of Aristotle Socrates Onassis by Peter Evans| style="background:#FAEB86" | ABC| rowspan="3"| |- | style="background:#FAEB86" | Hallmark Hall of Fame: Foxfire Susan Cooper The play by Cooper, Hume Cronyn and Jonathan Brielle CBS A Friendship in Vienna Richard Alfieri The book The Devil in Vienna by Doris Orgel Disney Channel 1989 Lonesome Dove"Part I: Leaving" William D. Wittliff The novel by Larry McMurtry CBS
1990s Best Long Form - Adapted Year Program Writer(s) Source material Network 1990 Voices Within: The Lives of Truddi Chase E. Jack Neuman The book When Rabbit Howls by Truddi Chase ABC 1991 Long Road Home Jane-Howard Hammerstein The novel by Ronald B. Taylor NBC 1992 The Broken Cord Ann Beckett The book by Michael Dorris ABC Miss Rose White Anna Sandor The play A Shayna Maidel by Barbara Lebow NBC 1993 Barbarians at the Gate Larry Gelbart The book by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar HBO Silent Cries Walter Halsey Davis, and Vickie Patik The book Guests of the Emperor by Janice Young Brooks NBC 1994 A Family Torn Apart Matthew Bombeck The book Sudden Fury: A True Story of Adoption and Murder by Leslie Walker NBC 1995 Citizen X Chris Gerolmo The book The Killer Department by Robert Cullen HBO Joseph Lionel Chetwynd The novel by James Carrington TNT 1996 The Boys Next Door William Blinn The play by Tom Griffin CBS Homecoming Christopher Carlson and Mark Jean The novel by Cynthia Voigt Showtime Kissinger and Nixon Lionel Chetwynd The book Kissinger: A Biography by Walter Isaacson TNT 1997 Bastard Out of Carolina Anne Meredith The novel by Dorothy Allison Showtime George Wallace Paul Monash and Marshall Frady The book Wallace: The Classic Portrait of Alabama Governor George Wallace by Frady TNT The Hunchback John Fasano The novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo In the Gloaming Will Scheffer A New Yorker short story by Alice Elliott Dark HBO 1998 The Love Letter James Henerson The short story by Jack Finney CBS Don King: Only in America Kario Salem The book Only in America: The Life and Crimes of Don King by Jack Newfield HBO Thicker Than Blood Bill Cain The play Stand-Up Tragedy by Cain TNT 1999 The Confession David Black The novel Fertig by Sol Yurick Cinemax A Cooler Climate Marsha Norman The book by Zena Collier Showtime Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years Emily Mann The book by Sarah Louise Delany, Annie Elizabeth Delany and Amy Hill Hearth CBS The Devil's Arithmetic Robert J. Avrech The novel by Jane Yolen Showtime
2000s Year Program Writer(s) Source material Network 2000 RKO 281 John Logan The film The Battle Over Citizen Kane by Richard Ben Cramer and Thomas Lennon from American Experience HBO Tuesdays with Morrie Thomas Rickman The book by Mitch Albom ABC Deliberate Intent Andy Wolk and Lisa Mohan The book by Rod Smolla FX A House Divided Paris Qualles The book Woman of Color, Daughter of Privilege: Amanda Dickson by Kent Anderson Leslie Showtime 2001 Anne Frank: The Whole Story Kirk Ellis The book Anne Frank: The Biography by Melissa Müller ABC Baby David Manson, Kerry Kennedy and Patricia MacLachlan The novel by MacLachlan TNT The Mists of Avalon Gavin Scott The novel by Marion Zimmer Bradley Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows Robert L. Freedman The memoir by Lorna Luft ABC The Song of the Lark Joseph Maurer The novel by Willa Cather PBS 2002 Band of Brothers"Bastogne"| style="background:#FAEB86" | Bruce C. McKenna| style="background:#FAEB86" | The book by Stephen E. Ambrose| style="background:#FAEB86" | HBO| rowspan="4"| |- | Last Call || Henry Bromell || The memoir Against the Current: As I Remember F. Scott Fitzgerald by Frances Kroll Ring || Showtime |- | Hysterical Blindness || Laura Cahill || The book by Cahill || HBO |- | Roughing It || Steven H. Berman || The book by Mark Twain || Hallmark |- | rowspan="5" style="text-align:center"| 2003 |- | style="background:#FAEB86" | Out of the Ashes Anne Meredith The book I Was a Doctor in Auschwitz by Gisella Perl Showtime Normal Jane Anderson The play Looking for Normal by Anderson HBO Rudy: The Rudy Giuliani Story Stanley Weiser The book Rudy!: An Investigative Biography of Rudy Giuliani by Wayne Barrett USA Network The Stranger Beside Me Matthew McDuffie and Matthew Tabak The book by Ann Rule 2004 Angels in America Tony Kushner The play by Kushner HBO Cavedweller Anne Meredith The novel by Dorothy Allison Showtime The Wool Cap William H. Macy and Steven Schachter The film Gigot by Gene Kelly TNT 2005 The Life and Death of Peter Sellers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely The book by Roger Lewis HBO The Colt Stephen Harrigan The short story by Mikhail Sholokhov Hallmark Lackawanna Blues Ruben Santiago-Hudson The play by Santiago-Hudson HBO Our Fathers Thomas Michael Donnelly The book by David France Showtime 2006Not awarded 2007 The Company Ken Nolan The novel by Robert Littell TNT Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee Daniel Giat The book by Dee Brown HBO The Starter Wife Josann McGibbon and Sara Parriott The novel by Gigi Levangie USA Network 2008 John Adams"Join or Die", "Independence"| style="background:#FAEB86" | Kirk Ellis| style="background:#FAEB86" | The book by David McCullough| style="background:#FAEB86" | HBO| rowspan="3"| |- | Generation Kill"Stay Frosty", "Bomb in the Garden" || Ed Burns and David Simon || The book by Evan Wright || HBO |- | The Memory Keeper's Daughter || John Pielmeier || The novel by Kim Edwards || Lifetime |- | rowspan="3" style="text-align:center"| 2009 |- | style="background:#FAEB86" | Taking Chance Michael Strobl and Ross Katz The journal by Strobl HBO America Joyce Eliason and Rosie O'Donnell The novel by E. R. Frank Lifetime
2010s Year Program Writer(s) Source material Network 2010 The Pacific"Part Eight: Iwo Jima"| style="background:#FAEB86" | Robert Schenkkan and Michelle Ashford| style="background:#FAEB86" | Various sources | style="background:#FAEB86" | HBO| rowspan="4"| |- | The Pillars of the Earth || John Pielmeier || The novel by Ken Follet || Starz |- | Temple Grandin || Christopher Monger and William Merritt Johnson || The memoirs Emergence by Temple Grandin and Margaret Scariano, and Thinking in Pictures by Grandin || rowspan="2"|HBO |- | The Pacific"Part Four: Gloucester/Pavuvu/Banika" || Robert Schenkkan and Graham Yost || Various sources |- | rowspan="3" style="text-align:center"| 2011 |-