Filmmaker Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu ("Babel," ''Amores Perros") won for best commercial for a Procter and Gamble spot he directed.
Among other TV winners:
— Reality program: Brian Smith, "Master Chef."
— Musical variety: Glenn Weiss, "The 66th Annual Tony Awards."
— Daytime serial: Jill Mitwell, "One Life to Live."
— Children's program: Paul Hoen, "Let It Shine."
Affleck's win Saturday nicks the Directors Guild record as a strong forecast for the eventual directing recipient at the Oscars. Only six times in the 64-year history of the guild awards has the winner there failed to follow up with an Oscar. This will be the seventh, since Affleck is not up for the best-director Oscar.
Peer loyalty might play in Affleck's favor at the Oscars. The acting branch in particular, the largest block of the academy's 5,900 members, might really throw its weight behind "Argo" because of Affleck's directing snub. Actors love it when one of their own moves into a successful directing career, and Affleck — who's rarely earned raves for his dramatic chops — also delivers one of his best performances in "Argo."
Affleck has had no traction in acting honors this season, and he's joked that no one considered it a snub when he wasn't nominated for best actor. So a best-picture vote for "Argo" might be viewed as making right his omission from the directing lineup and acknowledging what a double-threat talent he's become in front of and behind the camera.
A best-picture prize also would send Affleck home with an Oscar. The award would go to the producers of "Argo": George Clooney, Grant Heslov and Affleck.
But it's not as though Affleck has never gotten his due at Hollywood awards before. He and Matt Damon jump-started their careers with 1997's "Good Will Hunting," for which they shared a screenplay Oscar.
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AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen contributed to this report.
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