Bill Lawrence to be Honored with the WGA East’s Herb Sargent Award for Comedy Excellence
NEW YORK, NY (January 8, 2025)—The Writers Guild of America East (WGAE) is proud to announce that it will present Bill Lawrence with the Herb Sargent Award for Comedy Excellence at the 77th Annual Writers Guild Awards ceremony at New York’s Edison Ballroom on Saturday, February 15, 2025.
The Sargent Award is awarded to a writer who embodies the spirit, commitment and comic genius of Mr. Sargent, as well as his dedication to mentoring new writers. A legendary writer and television producer, Sargent served as president of the WGAE for 14 years and his credits include being a writer/producer of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE for more than 20 years. The Sargent Award has been presented to influential comedy writers Paul Simms, Judd Apatow, Tina Fey & Robert Carlock, Steve O’Donnell, Norman Stiles, Lorne Michaels, Paula Pell and James L. Brooks.
Upon learning of the accolade, Lawrence said, “I couldn’t be more honored to be included with the amazing writers who received this before me. I hope people think I look young.”
A Guild member since 1991, Lawrence is best known as the creator of the beloved medical comedy SCRUBS. His impressive list of credits includes co-creating SPIN CITY, COUGAR TOWN, CLONE HIGH, and the Writers Guild Award-winning series TED LASSO. His current projects include SHRINKING, BAD MONKEY, and the untitled Steve Carell show, amongst others.
Bill also executive-produced/supervised numerous other shows under his Doozer banner including WHISKEY CAVALIER, UNDATEABLE, SURVIVING JACK, and GROUND FLOOR.
Lawrence’s first WGA-covered job was on the short-lived series BILLY. He would go on to start building his career as a writer on the first season of FRIENDS.
Lisa Takeuchi Cullen, President of the Writers Guild of America East, said, “I first met Bill Lawrence at the Showrunner Training Program, where he imparted his wisdom and experience with his trademark extreme candor. What I remember most, though, are his eyes, which are the blue of the tablet you put in toilet tanks. Beyond showrunning and creating iconic shows, Bill embodies the spirit of this award by mentoring an enormous cadre of writers. We are thrilled to present him with the Herb Sargent Award at this year’s ceremony in New York.”
The Writers Guild Awards honor outstanding writing in film, television, new media, news, radio and promotional categories. The 2025 Writers Guild Awards (77th Annual) will be presented at concurrent ceremonies on Saturday, February 15, 2025, in New York City and in Los Angeles.
For more information about the 2025 Writers Guild Awards submission process, guidelines and official entry forms, please visit www.wgaeast.org or www.wga.org.
For media inquiries about the 2025 WGA New York show, please contact Jason Gordon in the WGAE Communications Department at (212) 767-7809 or email: jgordon@wgaeast.org.
For media inquiries about the 2025 WGA Los Angeles show, please contact Bob Hopkinson in the WGAW Communications Department at: (310) 801-8563 or email: bhopkinson@wga.org.
The Writers Guild of America East (WGAE) and the Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) are labor unions of writers in motion pictures, television, news, podcasts and online media. The Guilds negotiate and administer contracts that protect the creative and economic rights of their members; conduct programs, seminars, and events on issues of interest to writers; and present writers’ views to various bodies of government. For more information on the Writers Guild of America East, visit wgaeast.org. For more information on the Writers Guild of America West, visit wga.org.
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