48th Writers Guild of America Awards (1996)

Film
Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screenplay
Braveheart, Written by Randall Wallace
Clueless, Written by Amy Heckerling
Muriel's Wedding, Written by P. J. Hogan
Mighty Aphrodite, Written by Woody Allen
The American President, Written by Aaron Sorkin
Best Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published
Sense and Sensibility, Screenplay by Emma Thompson; based on the novel by Jane Austen
Leaving Las Vegas, Screenplay by Mike Figgis; based on the novel by John O'Brien
Apollo 13, Screenplay by William Broyles Jr, and Al Reinert; based on the book by Jim Lovell, and Jeffrey Kluger
Babe, Screenplay by George Miller, and Chris Noonan; based on the novel by Dick King-Smith
Get Shorty, Screenplay by Scott Frank; based on the novel by Elmore Leonard
Television
Episodic Drama
"Lover's Labor Lost" - ER (NBC) - Lance Gentile
"Fits Like a Glove" - Homicide: Life on the Street (NBC) - Bonnie Mark, Tom Fontana, and Julie Martin
"Saint Zach" - Picket Fences (CBS) - Nick Harding, and David E. Kelley
"Duane Barry" - The X-Files (FOX) - Chris Carter
Episodic Comedy
"The Matchmaker" - Frasier (NBC) - Joe Keenan
"The Club" - Frasier (NBC) - Elias Davis, and David Pollock
"The One Where Underdog Gets Away" - Friends (NBC) - Jeff Greenstein, and Jeff Strauss
"Our Fifteen Minutes" - Mad About You (NBC) - Jack Burditt
"The Ride Home" - Mad About You (NBC) - Liz Coe
"Hank's New Assistant" - The Larry Sanders Show (HBO) - John Riggi
"Arthur After Hours" - The Larry Sanders Show (HBO) - Peter Tolan
"Roseanne's Return" - The Larry Sanders Show (HBO) - Maya Forbes, Steven Levitan, and Garry Shandling
Daytime Serials
General Hospital (ABC) - Claire Labine, Matt Labine, Eleanor Mancusi, Meg Bennett, Ralph Ellis, Michele Val Jean, Stephanie Braxton, Karen Harris, Lewis Arlt, Judith Pinsker
All my Children (ABC) - Agnes Nixon, Hal Corley, Frederick Johnson, N. Gail Lawrence, Jeff Beldner, Karen Lewis, Elizabeth Smith, Michelle Patrick, Bettina F. Bradbury, Pete T. Rich, Judith Donato, Megan McTavish
Another World (NBC) - Carolyn Culliton, Janet Iacobuzio, Samuel D. Ratcliffe, Lorraine Broderick, Victor Miller, Mimi Leahey, Peter Brash, Sharon Epstein, Sofia Landon Geier, Kathy Ebel, Elizabeth Page, Kathleen Kennedy
Guiding Light (CBS) - James H. Brown, Craig Carlson, Michael Conforti, Stephen Demorest, Barbara Esensten, Jeannie Glynn, Tom King, Kathleen Klein, Megan McTavish, Lynda Myles, Roger Newman, Courtney Simon, Peggy Sloane, Nancy Williams Watt
Original Long Form
"24 Hours" - ER (NBC) - Michael Crichton
A Father for Charlie (CBS) - H. Haden Yelin
Lily in Winter - Robert Eisele, J. Michael Riva, Julie Moskowitz, and Gary Stephens
Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story (NBC) - Alison Cross
Adapted Long Form
Citizen X (HBO) - Chris Gerolmo
Joseph (TNT) - Lionel Chetwynd
Special Awards
Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement
Daniel Taradash
Laurel Award for TV Writing Achievement
Paul Henning
Morgan Cox Award
Mort Thaw
Paul Selvin Award
David E. Kelley