The Producers Guild of America 2009 Award Nominations

By Tom Rose
Fancast.com

In the great movie Wag The Dog, Stanley Motss (played brilliantly by Dustin Hoffman, channeling Robert Evans) complains there is no Academy Award for Producers. Forget the fact that the Best Picture Award is traditionally presented to the man (or woman) behind the curtain. The point is well made. Why is there no Best Producer Award come Oscar night?

Well, the Producers Guild of America 2009 Award Nominations were announced yesterday, and the voting committee, made up largely of the producers themselves, have gone a long way toward salving the open wound. It’s no Oscar. It’s not even an Emmy. But the prize is coveted by every producer in the world who has ever looked askance at a budget sheet or a daily rush.

Since we are TV addicts here, the list is confined to the tube. (Sorry Bob!) But some of these entries are worthy of the big screen, nonetheless. Wide in scope (John Adams, A Raisin In The Sun) or small and intimate (Bernard And Doris, This American Life) television has increasingly taken on the task of defining modern culture and society with themes traditionally reserved for the box office blockbuster.

So read on and celebrate with us those largely unheralded achievements by the people in the back office, the most famous names you’ve never heard of, and get ready for the award ceremony when it takes place on January 24th at the Hollywood Palladium.
(Editor’s note: TBD indicates nominees to be announced at the award ceremony.)

And The Nominees Are:

The Danny Thomas Producer of the Year Award In Episodic Television - Comedy:

CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM
Larry David
Jeff Garlin
Tim Gibbons
Erin O’Malley
Alec Berg
Dave Mandel
Jeff Schaffer

ENTOURAGE
Stephen Levinson
Doug Ellin
Rob Weiss
Denis Biggs
Lori Jo Nemhauser
Wayne Carmona

THE OFFICE
Greg Daniels
Kent Zbornak

30 ROCK
Lorne Michaels
Tina Fey
Marci Klein
Robert Carlock
Jeff Richmond
Jerry Kupfer
David Miner

WEEDS
TBD

Norman Felton Producer of the Year Award in Episodic Television-Drama:

BOSTON LEGAL
Bill D’Elia
David E. Kelley
Mike Listo
Steve Robin
Janet Knutsen

DAMAGES
Mark A. Baker
Glenn Kessler
Todd A. Kessler
Daniel Zelman

DEXTER
John Goldwyn
Sara Colleton
Clyde Phillips
Robert Lloyd Lewis

LOST
Jack Bender
Carlton Cuse
Drew Goddard
Jean Higgins
Edward Kitsis & Adam Horowitz
Damon Lindelof
Liz Sarnoff
Stephen Williams
Ra’uf Glasglow

MAD MEN
TBD

Producer of the Year Award in Non-Fiction Television:

DEADLIEST CATCH
Thom Beers
Jeff Conroy
Lisa Tanzer
Ethan Prochnik

FRONTLINE
David Fanning

KATHY GRIFFIN: MY LIFE ON THE D-LIST
Marcia Mulé
Bryan Scott
Lisa M. Tucker
Kathy Griffin
Chris Carlson
Amy Kohn

60 MINUTES
Jeff Fager

THIS AMERICAN LIFE
Ken Druckerman
Ira Glass
Lisa Pollak
Julie Snyder
Banks Tarver
Nancy Updike
Kevin Vargas
Christopher Wilcha

Producer of the Year Award in Live Entertainment and Competition Television:

THE AMAZING RACE
Jerry Bruckheimer
Bertram van Munster
Jonathan Littman
Hayma “Screech” Washington
Amy Chacon
Elise Doganieri
Mark Vertullo

THE COLBERT REPORT
Stephen T. Colbert, DFA
Jon Stewart
Allison Silverman
Richard Dahm
Meredith Bennett
Tom Purcell

PROJECT RUNWAY
Rich Bye
Rich Buhrman
Jane Cha
Dan Cutforth
Desiree Gruber
Heidi Klum
Jane Lipsitz

REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER
Bill Maher
Scott Carter
Sheila Griffiths
Dean Johnsen

TOP CHEF
Rich Buhrman
Liz Cook
Dan Cutforth
Jane Lipsitz
Shauna Minoprio
Nan Strait
Andrew Wallace

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

24: REDEMPTION
TBD

BERNARD AND DORIS
TBD

JOHN ADAMS
David Coatsworth
Frank Doelger
Gary Goetzman
Tom Hanks
Steven Shareshian

A RAISIN IN THE SUN
TBD

RECOUNT
TBD

PGA honorary awards and recipients:

Norman Lear Achievement Award in Television
David Chase

Stay on top of all your TV News right here on Fancast.