Wham, bam, thank you Sean Cullen, who once again steered a roomful of half-soused writers through their annual awards gala in what must be record time – doling out seven Canadian Screenwriting Awards in just over half an hour on April 19, playing to a packed house at Toronto nightspot This is London.

‘This is what I love about the awards – they’re over,’ he quipped towards the end, after riffing on Telefilm’s secret deal with CAA, the production slump and the Banff bankruptcy. ‘Now the place writers can’t afford to go to can’t afford to have anyone.’

Made in Canada, which came in with a hefty nine nominations, was the biggest winner of the night when two of its final season eps – ‘Bestseller’ by Mark Farrell and ‘Dock Cops’ by Alex Ganetakos – tied for the win in the comedy and variety category.

Howard Busgang, creator of An American in Canada, followed with a win for kids series with his script for Decode Entertainment’s The Blobheads ‘The Blobs Drop In,’ thanking organizers at the Writers Guild of Canada for both the prize and for the ‘higher order of dental care’ provided by their benefits package.

‘It’s one thing to be praised by your peers, but it’s another to hear a dentist say, ‘That’s okay. It’s covered.”

Best documentary went to Helene Klodawsky for her Undying Love, and Howard Wiseman went home with the radio writing prize for his adaptation of the Mordecai Richler novel Barney’s Version.

Slings and Arrows had three of the 12 noms for dramatic series, so it was not entirely surprising when its ‘Outrageous Fortune’ ep beat out the competition from Blue Murder, Da Vinci’s Inquest and The Eleventh Hour, all of which had two noms each. Writers Susan Coyne, Bob Martin and Mark McKinney thanked the production team at Rhombus Media for saving the series from near-death. ‘We were canceled by CBC, I think, in the middle of an elevator ride,’ McKinney told the crowd, ‘and by the time we got out Niv Fichman had got us onto TMN.’

The Investigation by Bruce Smith won among features, minis and MOWs, and Aaron Martin’s ‘Pride’ script for Degrassi: The Next Generation got top marks for youth programming.

-www.wgc.ca