Producers Guild Award Nominees Announced, Will Oscars Follow Suit?

The Producers Guild of America announced its 2012 award nominees on Tuesday -- not surprisingly, The Artist and The Descendants were nominated for Producer of the Year awards in the Theatrical Motion Picture category. Somewhat surprisingly, Bridesmaids and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo were nominated as well.

The PGA awards have increasingly been considered a strong predictor of the Academy Awards outcome -- the top PGA award winner has taken the Best Picture Oscar the last four consecutive years. In 2011, a surprise PGA win for The King's Speech was the official game-changer in the Oscar race; prior to that point, The Social Network had been the odds-on favorite for the Best Picture Oscar.

For 2012, The Artist is still considered a strong frontrunner, but a PGA upset could change that overnight. The Producers Guild of America award ceremony will take place on Saturday, Jan. 21 at the Hollywood and Highland Center in Los Angeles, Calif.

The Academy Award nominations will be announced three days later, on Jan. 24.

Following is a complete list of Producers Guild of America Award nominees (via TheWrap):

THEATRICAL MOTION PICTURE

The Artist, Producer Thomas Langmann

The Descendants, Producers Jim Burke, Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor

Bridesmaids, Producers Judd Apatow, Barry Mendel, Clayton Townsend

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Producers Ceán Chaffin and Scott Rudin

The Help, Producers Michael Barnathan, Chris Columbus, and Brunson Green

Hugo, Producers Graham King and Martin Scorsese

The Ides of March, Producers George Clooney, Grant Heslov, and Brian Oliver

Midnight in Paris, Producers Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum

Moneyball, Producers Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz, and Brad Pitt

War Horse, Producers Kathleen Kennedy and Steven Spielberg

ANIMATED THEATRICAL MOTION PICTURE

The Adventures of Tintin, Producers Peter Jackson, Kathleen Kennedy and Steven Spielberg

Cars 2, Producer Denise Ream

Kung Fu Panda 2, Producer Melissa Cobb

Puss in Boots, Producers Joe M. Aguilar and Latifa Ouaou

Rango, Producers John B. Carls and Gore Verbinski

DOCUMENTARY THEATRICAL MOTION PICTURE:

Beat, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest, Producers: Michael Rapaport and Edward Parks

Bill Cunningham New York. Producer Philip Gefter

Project Nim, Producer Simon Chinn

Senna, Producer James Gay-Rees

The Union, Producers Cameron Crowe and Michelle Panek

LONG-FORM TELEVISION

Cinema Verite. Producers Zanne Devine and Karyn McCarthy (HBO)

Downton Abbey, Producers Julian Fellowes, Nigel Marchant, and Gareth Neame (PBS)

The Kennedys. Producers Jon Cassar, Jonathan Koch, Stephen Kronish, Steve Michaels, Michael Prupas, Jamie Paul Rock, and Joel Surnow (ReelzChannel)

Mildred Pierce Producers Todd Haynes, Pamela Koffler, Ilene S. Landress, and Christine Vachon (HBO)

Too Big To Fail, Producers Carol Fenelon, Jeffrey Levine, Paula Weinstein (HBO)

EPISODIC TELEVISION, COMEDY

30 Rock, Producers Robert Carlock, Tina Fey, Marci Klein, Jerry Kupfer, Lorne Michaels, David Miner, Jeff Richmond, John Riggi, and Don Scardino (NBC)

The Big Bang Theory, Producers Chuck Lorre, Steve Molaro, Faye Oshima, and Bill Prady (CBS)

Glee, Producers: Ian Brennan, Dante Di Loreto, Brad Falchuk, Ryan Murphy, and Kenneth Silverstein (FOX)

Modern Family. Producers: Paul Corrigan, Abraham Higginbotham, Steven Levitan, Christopher Lloyd, Jeff Morton, Jeffrey Richman, Dan O'Shannon, Brad Walsh, Bill Wrubel, and Danny Zuker (ABC)

Parks and Recreation, Producers Greg Daniels, Dan Goor, Howard Klein, Amy Poehler, Morgan Sackett, and Michael Schur (NBC)

EPISODIC TELEVISION, DRAMA

Boardwalk Empire, Producers Eugene Kelly, Howard Korder, Stephen Levinson, Martin Scorsese, Rudd Simmons, Tim Van Patten, and Terence Winter (HBO)

Dexter, Producers Sara Colleton, John Goldwyn, Chip Johannessen, and Robert Lloyd Lewis (Showtime)

Game of Thrones, Producers David Benioff, Frank Doelger, Mark Huffam, Carolyn Strauss, and D.B. Weiss (HBO)

The Good Wife, Producers Brooke Kennedy, Michelle King, Robert King, Ridley Scott, Tony Scott, and David W. Zucker (CBS)

Mad Men, Producers Jonathan Abrahams, Scott Hornbacher, Andre Jacquemetton, Maria Jacquemetton, Blake McCormick, Dwayne Shattuck, Dahvi Waller, and Matthew Weiner (AMC)

LIVE ENTERTAINMENT AND TALK TELEVISION

The Colbert Report, Producers Meredith Bennett, Stephen T. Colbert, Richard Dahm, Tanya Michnevich Bracco, Tom Purcell, and Jon Stewart (Comedy Central)

The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Producers Mary Connelly, Ellen DeGeneres, Melissa Geiger Schrift, Ed Glavin, Andy Lassner, Kevin A. Leman II, Jonathan Norman, and Derek Westervelt (Syndicated)

Real Time with Bill Maher, Producers Scott Carter, Sheila Griffiths, Marc Gurvitz, Dean Johnsen, Bill Maher, Billy Martin (HBO)

Saturday Night Live Producers: Ken Aymong, Steve Higgins, Erik Kenward, Lorne Michaels, and John Mulaney (NBC)
The 64th Annual Tony Awards, Producers Ricky Kirshner, Glenn Weiss (CBS)

COMPETITION TELEVISION

The Amazing Race, Producers Jerry Bruckheimer, Elise Doganieri, Jonathan Littman, Bertram van Munster, Mark Vertullo (CBS)

American Idol, Producers Charles Boyd, Cecile Frot-Coutaz, Simon Fuller, Patrick Lynn, Nigel Lythgoe, Megan Michaels, and Ken Warwick (FOX)

Dancing with the Stars, Producers: Ashley Edens Shaffer, Conrad Green, Joe Sungkur, and Rob Wade (ABC)

Project Runway, Producers Jane Cha Cutler, Desiree Gruber, Tim Gunn, Heidi Klum, Jonathan Murray, Sara Rea, and Colleen Sands (Lifetime)

Top Chef, Producers Daniel Cutforth, Casey Kriley, Jane Lipsitz, Dan Murphy, and Nan Strait (Bravo)

NONFICTION TELEVISION

30 for 30, Producers John Dahl, Connor Schell and Bill Simmons (ESPN)

American Masters, Producers Susan Lacy and Julie Sacks (PBS)

Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, Producers Christopher Collins, Julie Lei, Lydia Tenaglia, and Tom Vitale (Travel Channel)

Deadliest Catch, Producers Thom Beers, Jeff Conroy, John Gray, Sheila McCormack, Ethan Prochnik, Bill Pruitt, and Matt Renner (Discovery Channel)

Undercover Boss, Producers Chris Carlson, Susan Hoenig, Eli Holzman, Sandi Johnson, Stephen Lambert, and Allison Schermerhorn (CBS)

*NEW CATEGORIES

News Programs:
Anderson Cooper 360 (CNN)
BBC World News America (BBC)
NBC News with Brian Williams (NBC)
The Rachel Maddow Show (MSNBC)
60 Minutes (CBS)

Sports Programs (because of a tie, there are six nominees instead of five):

Monday Night Football (ESPN)
Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel (HBO)
Sports Center (ESPN)
30 for 30 (ESPN)
2010 FIFA World Cup (ABC / ESPN / ESPN2)
U.S. Open Tennis Championship (CBS / ESPN2 / Tennis Channel)

Children's Programs:
Dora the Explorer (Nickelodeon)
iCarly (Nickelodeon)
Phineas and Ferb (Disney Channel)
Sesame Street (PBS)
SpongeBob Squarepants (Nickelodeon)

Web Series:
Ask a Ninja (blip.tv)
The Guild (WatchTheGuild.com)
Parks and Recreation Presents: 'April & Andy's Road Trip' (NBC.com)
30 Rock Presents Jack Donaghy, Executive Superhero (NBC.com)
Web Therapy (LStudio.com)