WGA ANNOUNCES NOMINATIONS EARLY: HBO TOPS THE LIST (THR, VAR, AP)

By Nancy Vialatte

Although the Writers Guild had planned to announce its TV and radio nominations on Thursday, it surprised the industry by doing so late Wednesday without previous notice. HBO leads all networks with two nominations in the dramatic category and three for comedy writing.

In the dramatic series category, HBO's "The Sopranos" and "The Wire" are joined by Showtime's "Dexter," NBC's "Friday Night Lights" and AMC's "Mad Men."

In the comedy series category, HBO attracted nods for "Curb Your Enthusiasm," "Entourage" and "Flight of the Conchords." Also nominated in the category are NBC's "The Office" and "30 Rock."

In the new TV series category, "Conchords" also attracted a nom along with "Mad Men," FX's "Damages," ABC's "Pushing Daisies" and Comedy Central's "The Sarah Silverman Program."

Writing teams for Comedy Central's �The Daily Show with Jon Stewart� and �The Colbert Report� and NBC's �Late Night with Conan O'Brien� and �SNL� were among the nominees in the comedy/variety category.

"In order to maximize press coverage for the 2008 Writers Guild Awards as well as not compete with Golden Globes' nominees�we made the decision to go out a day earlier than previously announced," WGA West spokesman Gregg Mitchell told the Hollywood Reporter.

The WGA Awards will be held on Feb. 9, with simultaneous ceremonies planned in LA and New York.

See links for a full list of nominees.

Related Links

HBO tops WGA awards list with five noms (THR)
WGA announce TV, radio nominees (VAR)
Writers Guild announces annual awards nominations despite strike (AP)