The Producers Guild of America has announced the nominees for their 2012 awards.  The PGA chose ten nominees this year for Best picture, but the Oscars will choose between five and ten.  The PGA nominees include the usual suspects (The Artist, The Descendants, Hugo) as wellas movies that have stagnated in the awards race or never really got it into (Moneyball, The Help, The Ides of March).  If you want to get a good prediction for the Best Picture Oscar, the PGAs can be a good barometer.  Follow the PGA choice to the Director's Guild of America choice to Best Director and finally to Best Picture.

Among the TV nominees were 30 Rock, Modern Family, Game of Thrones, and Mad Men.  I'm going to be generous and assume Breaking Bad was ruled ineligible and that's why it wasn't nominated.  Hit the jump for the full list of nominees.

Here's the press release, which includes all of the nominees:

PRODUCERS GUILD OF AMERICA

ANNOUNCES THEATRICAL Motion Picture and

LONG-FORM TELEVISION nominations for the

2012 producers guild awards

LOS ANGELES, CA (January 3, 2012) – The Producers Guild of America (PGA) announced today the motion picture and long-form television nominations for the 23rd Annual Producers Guild Awards. The categories include: The Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures; The Producers Guild of America Producer of the Year Award in Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures; and The David L. Wolper Producer of the Year Award in Long-Form Television. The documentary film category and other television category nominations were already announced by the Guild in December 2011.

All 2012 Producers Guild Award winners will be announced on January 21, 2012 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. This year, the Producers Guild will also award special honors to Leslie Moonves (Milestone Award), Steven Spielberg (David O. Selznick Achievement Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures), Don Mischer (Norman Lear Achievement Award in Television), Stan Lee (Vanguard Award), and IN THE LAND OF BLOOD AND HONEY (The Stanley Kramer Award). The 2012 Producers Guild Awards co-chairs are Paula Wagner and Michael Manheim.

The 2012 Producers Guild nominated films and television programs are listed below in alphabetical order by category, along with producers. The producers’ names listed for each nominated production are listed in alphabetical order and are not necessarily the proper order of credits.

The theatrical motion picture nominees are:

Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures:

THE ARTIST

Producer: Thomas Langmann

BRIDESMAIDS

Producers: Judd Apatow, Barry Mendel, Clayton Townsend

THE DESCENDANTS

Producers: Jim Burke, Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO

Producers: Ceán Chaffin, Scott Rudin

THE HELP

Producers: Michael Barnathan, Chris Columbus, Brunson Green

HUGO

Producers: Graham King, Martin Scorsese

THE IDES OF MARCH

Producers: George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Brian Oliver

MIDNIGHT IN PARIS

Producers: Letty Aronson, Stephen Tenenbaum

MONEYBALL

Producers: Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz, Brad Pitt

WAR HORSE

Producers: Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg

The Producers Guild of America Producer of the Year Award in Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures:

THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN

Producers: Peter Jackson, Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg

CARS 2

Producer: Denise Ream

KUNG FU PANDA 2

Producer: Melissa Cobb

PUSS IN BOOTS

Producers: Joe M. Aguilar, Latifa Ouaou

RANGO

Producers: John B. Carls, Gore Verbinski

The television nominees are:

The David L. Wolper Producer of the Year Award in Long-Form Television:

“Cinema Verite” (HBO)

Producers: Zanne Devine, Karyn McCarthy

“Downton Abbey” (Masterpiece) (PBS)

Producers: Julian Fellowes, Nigel Marchant, Gareth Neame

“The Kennedys” (ReelzChannel)

Producers: Jon Cassar, Jonathan Koch, Stephen Kronish, Steve Michaels, Michael Prupas, Jamie Paul Rock, Joel Surnow

“Mildred Pierce” (HBO)

Producers: Todd Haynes, Pamela Koffler, Ilene S. Landress, Christine Vachon

“Too Big To Fail” (HBO)

Producers: Carol Fenelon, Jeffrey Levine, Paula Weinstein

*The Long-Form Television category encompasses both movies of the week and mini-series.

In December 2011, the Producers Guild of America announced the Documentary Theatrical Motion Picture, Television Series and Non-Fiction Television Nominations; the following list includes complete producer credits.

The Producers Guild of America Producer of the Year Award in Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures:

BEATS, RHYMES & LIFE: THE TRAVELS OF A TRIBE CALLED QUEST

Producers: Michael Rapaport, Edward Parks (*additional producers eligibility pending arbitration completion)

BILL CUNNINGHAM NEW YORK

Producer: Philip Gefter

PROJECT NIM

Producer: Simon Chinn

SENNA

Producer: James Gay-Rees

THE UNION

Producers: Cameron Crowe, Michelle Panek

The Danny Thomas Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Comedy:

“30 Rock” (NBC)

Producers: Robert Carlock, Tina Fey, Marci Klein, Jerry Kupfer, Lorne Michaels, David Miner, Jeff Richmond, John Riggi, Don Scardino

“The Big Bang Theory” (CBS)

Producers:  Chuck Lorre, Steve Molaro, Faye Oshima, Bill Prady

“Glee” (FOX)

Producers: Ian Brennan, Dante Di Loreto, Brad Falchuk, Ryan Murphy, Kenneth Silverstein

“Modern Family” (ABC)

Producers: Paul Corrigan, Abraham Higginbotham, Steven Levitan, Christopher Lloyd, Jeff Morton, Jeffrey Richman, Dan O’Shannon, Brad Walsh, Bill Wrubel, Danny Zuker

“Parks and Recreation” (NBC)

Producers: Greg Daniels, Dan Goor, Howard Klein, Amy Poehler, Morgan Sackett, Michael Schur

The Norman Felton Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Drama:

“Boardwalk Empire” (HBO)

Producers: Eugene Kelly, Howard Korder, Stephen Levinson, Martin Scorsese, Rudd Simmons, Tim Van Patten, Terence Winter

“Dexter” (Showtime)

Producers: Sara Colleton, John Goldwyn, Chip Johannessen, Robert Lloyd Lewis

“Game of Thrones” (HBO)

Producers: David Benioff, Frank Doelger, Mark Huffam, Carolyn Strauss, D.B. Weiss

“The Good Wife” (CBS)

Producers: Brooke Kennedy, Michelle King, Robert King, Ridley Scott, Tony Scott, David W. Zucker

“Mad Men” (AMC)

Producers: Jonathan Abrahams, Scott Hornbacher, Andre Jacquemetton, Maria Jacquemetton, Blake McCormick, Dwayne Shattuck, Dahvi Waller, Matthew Weiner

The Award for Outstanding Producer of Live Entertainment & Talk Television:

“The Colbert Report” (Comedy Central)

Producers: Meredith Bennett, Stephen T. Colbert, Richard Dahm, Tanya Michnevich Bracco, Tom Purcell, Jon Stewart (*additional producers eligibility pending arbitration completion)

“The Ellen DeGeneres Show” (Syndicated)

Producers: Mary Connelly, Ellen DeGeneres, Melissa Geiger Schrift, Ed Glavin, Andy Lassner, Kevin A. Leman II, Jonathan Norman, Derek Westervelt

“Real Time with Bill Maher” (HBO)

Producers: Scott Carter, Sheila Griffiths, Marc Gurvitz, Dean Johnsen, Bill Maher, Billy Martin

“Saturday Night Live” (NBC)

Producers: Ken Aymong, Steve Higgins, Erik Kenward, Lorne Michaels, John Mulaney

“The 64th Annual Tony Awards” (CBS)

Producers: Ricky Kirshner, Glenn Weiss

The Award for Outstanding Producer of Competition Television:

“The Amazing Race” (CBS)

Producers: Jerry Bruckheimer, Elise Doganieri, Jonathan Littman, Bertram van Munster, Mark Vertullo

“American Idol” (FOX)

Producers: Charles Boyd, Cecile Frot-Coutaz, Simon Fuller, Patrick Lynn, Nigel Lythgoe, Megan Michaels, Ken Warwick

“Dancing with the Stars” (ABC)

Producers: Ashley Edens Shaffer, Conrad Green, Joe Sungkur, Rob Wade

“Project Runway” (Lifetime)

Producers: Jane Cha Cutler, Desiree Gruber, Tim Gunn, Heidi Klum, Jonathan Murray, Sara Rea, Colleen Sands

“Top Chef” (Bravo)

Producers: Daniel Cutforth, Casey Kriley, Jane Lipsitz, Dan Murphy, Nan Strait

The Award for Outstanding Producer of Non-Fiction Television:

“30 for 30” (ESPN)

Producers: John Dahl, Connor Schell, Bill Simmons

“American Masters” (PBS)

Producers: Susan Lacy, Julie Sacks

“Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations” (Travel Channel)

Producers: Christopher Collins, Julie Lei, Lydia Tenaglia, Tom Vitale

“Deadliest Catch” (Discovery Channel)

Producers: Thom Beers, Jeff Conroy, John Gray, Sheila McCormack, Ethan Prochnik, Bill Pruitt, Matt Renner

“Undercover Boss” (CBS)

Producers: Chris Carlson, Susan Hoenig, Eli Holzman, Sandi Johnson, Stephen Lambert, Allison Schermerhorn

**Below are new categories for the 2012 Producers Guild Awards; three television categories and one web category. As such, these programs were not vetted for producer eligibility this year but winners in these categories will be announced at the official ceremony on January 21st:

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: (*There was a tie, which is why there are six nominees.)

“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)

About the Producers Guild of America

The Producers Guild of America is the non-profit trade group that represents, protects and promotes the interests of all members of the producing team in film, television and new media. The PGA has over 4,750 members who work together to protect and improve their careers, the industry and community by providing members with health benefits, employment opportunities, the creation of fair and impartial standards for the awarding of producing credits, as well as other education and advocacy efforts such as promoting sustainable production practices. Visit www.producersguild.org and www.pgagreen.org for more information.