Fox SearchlightThere's a reason oddsmakers don't think Slumdog Millionaire is an Oscar underdog. It's not.
The India-set indie cemented its front-runner status with a win Saturday night for Danny Boyle at the 61st Annual Directors Guild of America Awards.
The Office, The Wire, Recount and America's Next Top Model were among the honorees in the TV categories.
Boyle beat out David Fincher (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), Ron Howard (Frost/Nixon) and Gus Van Sant (Milk), all of whom he'll face at the Oscars, plus Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight), whom he won't.
Since 1948, the DGA winner has only missed out on the Oscar six times. Half of those instances, however, have occurred since 1995. Ang Lee is the last DGA winner to win Best Director and not see his film (2005's Brokeback Mountain) win Best Picture, too.
Slumdog's DGA win comes one week after it claimed top prizes from the producers and actors guilds.
Carl Reiner, who was to host tonight's ceremony, was a last-minute scratch (food poisoning, Variety reported). Jon Cryer was a last-minute substitute.
(Originally published Jan. 31, 2009, at 11 p.m. PT.)