"The Social Network" and "Inception" triumphed at the Writers Guild of America Awards on Saturday night -- the former as a prohibitive favorite coming into the show, the latter as a surprise winner over "The Kids Are All Right" and "The Fighter."
Also read: Full List of WGA Winners
Aaron Sorkin won the WGA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, following his victory Friday night at the Scripter Awards. Nolan (pictured below, on set with Leonardo DiCaprio and Cillian Murphy) won for Original Screenplay.
Oscar frontrunner "The King's Speech" was not eligible.
"I think I wrote a good script," said Sorkin in the press room afterwards. "But David Fincher made a great movie. That's why I'm here tonight."
Charles Ferguson's "Inside Job" won the award for documentary, just as it had last week at the Directors Guild Awards.
In the WGA television awards, "Mad Men" and "Modern Family" won for Drama and Comedy Series, respectively, while "Boardwalk Empire" was honored with the New Series. "The Pacific" beat "Temple Grandin" for Long-Form Adaptation, and "The Special Relationship" beat the only other nominee, "You Don't Know Jack," for Long-Form Original.
Other TV awards went to "The Colbert Report" and episodes of "Mad Men" and "30 Rock."
The WGA film awards are limited in their ability to influence or predict the Oscars, because the list of eligible films is dramatically different than the Academy's. "The King's Speech," "Winter's Bone," "Toy Story 3" and "Another Year," all of which received Oscar nominations for screenwriting, did not qualify under WGA rules, which restrict eligibility to films that were produced under the guild's Minimum Basic Agreement, or under an agreement with an affiliated international guild.
The field of eligible entrants for the WGA Awards for feature film numbered only 76, fewer than one-third of the 241 eligible films in the Oscar screenwriting categories.
The full list of eligible films is here.
Last year, only four of the 10 WGA nominees went on to receive Oscar nominations; among them was Mark Boal, who won both the WGA and the Oscar for his original screenplay for "The Hurt Locker." (The WGA Award for adapted screenplay went to "Up in the Air," while at the Oscars the award went to "Precious.")
For Sorkin and "The Social Network," the WGA Award was a must-win that keeps the film's Oscar hopes alive despite the recent run of guild awards (PGA, DGA and SAG) by "The King's Speech." For "Inception," the Original Screenplay win gives a shot to a film that was hurt by the Academy's failure to nominate Nolan for Best Director.
"The Kids Are All Right" and "The Fighter," which were also competing in the Original Screenplay category, could have used a boost in a screenplay race expected to go to "The King's Speech" on Oscar night.
The WGA also handed out a variety of honorary awards on Saturday night.
