Courtesy of our friends at the Montreal Gazette (Q101 is #1 in Montreal!):

With that dire Mayan doomsday prophecy hanging over the next year, we needed to stare extra-deep into our crystal ball to make predictions on 2012′s world of entertainment.

Knowing Armageddon may be in the cards, many important questions arise, such as: How can the world end before Christopher Nolan completes his Batman trilogy? And how can the world not end when Charlie Sheen premieres his new TV series?

Without further ado, and while the world is still spinning, we offer some pop-culture trends and events to look forward to in 2012.

Who killed Rosie Larsen? Who killed Ned Stark? We’ll finally learn the answer to the former when AMC’s The Killing returns for Season 2 in April. The answer to the second question is author George R.R. Martin, who wrote the series, A Song of Ice and Fire, that gave birth to HBO’s celebrated Game of Thrones. The more important question: Who will Martin kill next (read the books for spoilers) when Game of Thrones returns for Season 2 in March?

New Year’s TV babies: Alcatraz (Jan. 26); The Firm (Jan. 8); The Finder (Jan. 12); Luck (Jan. 29). Winter is the new fall, with a slew of hot shows. These four have the best chances of success. Alcatraz reunites Lost’s J.J. Abrams and Jorge Garcia, who played Hurley on Lost. (I’m quietly hoping the premiere is an alternative, more satisfying version of the Lost finale.) The Firm takes John Grisham’s character Mitch McDeere into the future. Originally played by Tom Cruise in the 1993 film, Josh Lucas’s fine acting chops will offer a less artificial, more nuanced, more credible version of the lawyer. The Finder offers a spinoff of Bones. Meanwhile, Luck tries its luck at doing for horse racing what Boardwalk Empire did for bootlegging. My prediction: Luck star Dustin Hoffman will contend with Steve Buscemi and Jon Hamm for the 2012 best-actor Emmy.

Bad boys: Daniel Craig’s Bond is finally back in Skyfall (Nov. 9), in which 007′s loyalty to M (Judi Dench) is tested. Bond’s even bigger test, and one of our anticipated joys of the film? Javier Bardem as the villain. Meanwhile, Canadian bad boy Kiefer Sutherland – Jack Bauer himself – returns to the small screen in Touch. A preview will air Jan. 25 following American Idol, with the premiere pegged for March 19. Created by Tim Kring (Heroes), the show finds Sutherland playing the father of a mute son with special powers of prediction. (I predict a hit in 2012 – and a few more entertaining “Kiefer walks into a bar …” tabloid stories.)

Mad Men and the Man: With stalled contract negotiations and endless delays, it’s easy to forget that when we last saw Mad Men, it was finishing its best season yet. When the AMC show finally returns with new episodes in March, it will be the pop-cultural TV event of the year. Forget the ad agency – what will come of Don’s hasty marriage to his young secretary (Montreal’s lovely Jessica Paré)? Meanwhile, the Man, Canadian legend Leonard Cohen, releases a new album, Old Ideas, on Jan. 31. At 77, Cohen could still outcharm and out-seduce Don Draper any day of the week.

Caped crusaders: Spider-Man reborn; the Dark Knight hangs up his cape; the Avengers assemble. The Avengers (May 4) will test whether putting an orgy of heroes onscreen at the same time will in any way deter Robert Downey Jr. from stealing scenes. The Amazing Spider-Man (July 3) dumps Tobey Maguire for Andrew Garfield (The Social Network), and Kirsten Dunst for the ever-delightful and intelligent Emma Stone. Last, but not least, Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy ends with The Dark Knight Rises (July 20). As for the next Batman? I hear Tobey Maguire is looking for work.