Actress Sperber Loses Breast Cancer Fight 17 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES - Actress Wendie Jo Sperber, who starred opposite Tom Hanks on TV's "Bosom Buddies" and who in his words became "a walking inspiration" after she contracted cancer, has died. She was 46.

Sperber died at home Tuesday after an eight-year battle with breast cancer, publicist Jo-Ann Geffen said Wednesday.

A Los Angeles native, Sperber appeared in dozens of television shows and movies, including all three "Back to the Future" films.

After being diagnosed with breast cancer in 1997, the actress became an advocate for cancer care. In 2001, she founded the weSPARK Cancer Support Center, which provides free emotional support, information and social activities for individuals and families affected by cancer.

Sperber helped unveil and promote a breast cancer stamp for the U.S. Postal Service in 1998, Geffen said.

"The memory of Wendie Jo is that of a walking inspiration," Hanks said in a statement. "She met the challenges of her illness with love, cheer, joy and altruism. We are going to miss her as surely as we are all better for knowing her."

Sperber is survived by a son and daughter, her parents, two sisters and a brother.

'Berenstain Bears' co-creator dies

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Stan Berenstain, who with his wife created the popular children's books about the Berenstain Bears, has died.

He died in Pennsylvania on Saturday, said Audra Boltion, a spokeswoman for HarperCollins Children's Books in New York. He was 82. In more than 200 books, the Berenstain Bears, written and illustrated by Stan and Jan Berenstain, helped children for 40 years cope with trips to the dentist, babysitters, eating junk food and cleaning their messy rooms.

The first Berenstain Bears book, The Big Honey Hunt, was published in 1962. The couple developed the series with children's author Theodor Geisel - better known as Dr. Seuss, then head of children's publishing at Random House - with the goal of teaching children to read while entertaining them.

The books show children - and parents - how to deal with a long list of childhood challenges, from finding ways to share and watch less TV to overcoming the "gimmies" and not succumbing to the "in-crowd."

Despite changes in society in the last four decades, little has changed in "Bears Country."

"Kids still tell fibs and they mess up their rooms and they still throw tantrums in the supermarket," Stan Berenstain told The Associated Press in 2002. "Nobody gets shot. No violence. There are problems, but they're the kind of typical family problems everyone goes through."

Stan and Jan Berenstain began drawing together when they met at Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Art in 1941.

The two married soon after he got out of Second World War-era army service and began submitting cartoons to magazines. They became contributors to The Saturday Evening Post, McCalls and Collier's.

In their early years of collaboration, the couple wrote the All in the Family cartoon series for McCall's and Good Housekeeping. In 1962, they began an association with Geisel, who suggested that they write for the juvenile market.

Their sons Leo and Michael joined them, and many of the recent books are credited collectively to "The Berenstains."

The characters are the subject of their own public television program, DVDs and a Christmas musical.

In addition to his wife, Berenstain is survived by his two sons. A private memorial service was scheduled for Wednesday.

Stones Roll to Super Bowl

The British have always been better at that whole propriety thing.

Maybe that's why, for the second post-Janet year in a row, the NFL has chosen across-the-Pond entertainers to headline TV's most watched event of the year.

The Rolling Stones have been tapped to headline the Super Bowl XL Halftime Show, it was announced Tuesday by the NFL and ABC, which is broadcasting the big game Feb. 5 at Detroit's Ford Field.

"We are thrilled to perform for millions of fans at one of the most exciting and highly anticipated sporting events of the year," the band says in a statement.

The sentiment was echoed by the Super Bowl brain trust.

"We are excited to welcome one of the greatest rock 'n' roll bands in history to the Super Bowl," says Steve Bornstein, the NFL's executive vice president of media, and the man in charge of the event. "As we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Super Bowl this season, it is fitting we work with the Rolling Stones whose music has thrilled audiences around the world for years."

The performance will cap the Stones' season-long promotional deal with the NFL and ABC. The band had earlier created multiple segments and intros for the entire 2005-06 season of Monday Night Football.

Sir Mick and his mates will follow in the footsteps of fellow knight Paul McCartney. The ex-Beatle's halftime extravaganza, though watched in part by more than 133 million viewers in the U.S., generated more headlines for its lack of headline- (and breast-) grabbing theatrics than for its entertainment value.

The NFL went with the decidedly uncontroversial McCartney as part of the damage control from the previous year's highly scrutinized, fine-inducing, wardrobe-malfunctioning Janet Jackson show.

News of their Super Bowl duties marked the second big announcement of the day for the Stones, who earlier revealed plans for a European summer tour, kicking off May 27 in Barcelona.

The Rolling Stones: A Bigger Bang tour is set to hit more than 20 countries in 30 days, and like its North American counterpart, several hundred audience seats are expected to be built into the stage for each performance.

The seemingly unstoppable group just released Rarities: 1971-2003, a collection of hard-to-find B-sides, live recordings and remixes jointly put out by Virgin Records and Starbucks' Hear Music. The Stones' also recently made available a limited edition version of their current album, A Bigger Bang, with expanded audio and video content.

Meanwhile, the band continues on the North American leg of its latest road show, which runs through Dec. 3 in Memphis.

'Squid and the Whale' Leads Indie Nominees

LOS ANGELES - The divorce tale "The Squid and the Whale" led contenders Tuesday for the Independent Spirit Awards with six nominations, including best-picture and honors for director Noah Baumbach and actors Jeff Daniels and Laura Linney.

The other best-picture nominees were the cowboy tales "Brokeback Mountain" and "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada" and the film biographies "Capote" and "Good Night, and Good Luck." Those four movies all had four nominations each for the awards, which honor films whose financing comes at least partly from independent sources outside the Hollywood studio system.

Daniels was nominated for lead actor and Linney for lead actress as parents going through a caustic divorce in "The Squid and the Whale," inspired by writer-director Baumbach's own parents' breakup in the 1980s.

Jesse Eisenberg scored a supporting-actor nomination as Daniels and Linney's son, while Baumbach was nominated for directing and his screenplay.

Other lead-actor nominees were Philip Seymour Hoffman as Truman Capote in "Capote," a chronicle of the author's years creating the true-crime novel "In Cold Blood"; Terrence Howard as a pimp and drug dealer trying to build a rap career in "Hustle & Flow"; Heath Ledger as a family man carrying on a gay affair with an old ranch buddy in "Brokeback Mountain"; and David Strathairn as Edward R. Murrow in "Good Night, and Good Luck," an account of the newsman's battle against the communist witch hunt in the 1950s.

Also among lead-actress contenders were Felicity Huffman in a gender-bending role in "Transamerica," a road-trip tale about a man preparing for the final surgical procedures to become a woman; Dina Korzun as a Russian woman married to a rock 'n' roll legend who becomes involved with her husband's son in "Forty Shades of Blue"; S. Epatha Merkerson as proprietor of a boarding house who takes in an outcast teen in "Lackawanna Blues"; and Cyndi Williams in "Room," about a Texas woman who goes in search of a mysterious place she sees in visions.

The nonprofit group Film Independent, which sponsors the awards, will announce winners March 4, the night before the Academy Awards.

Along with Eisenberg, supporting-actor nominees were Firdous Bamji for "The War Within," about a Middle Eastern man involved in a terrorist plot in New York City; Matt Dillon as a bigoted cop in the ensemble drama "Crash"; Barry Pepper as a Border Patrol agent who kills a Mexican immigrant and is forced by the victim's friend to dig up the body for reburial in Mexico in "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada"; and Jeffrey Wright as a man who sends his neighbor on a quest to find the son he never knew in "Broken Flowers."

The lead actors in the latter two movies — Tommy Lee Jones in "Three Burials" and Bill Murray in "Broken Flowers" — were shut out of the nominations. Jones also directed "Three Burials" but missed out in the directing category, too.

Supporting-actress picks were Amy Adams as a Southern waif captivated by her new sister-in-law from up north in "Junebug"; Maggie Gyllenhaal as a gold-digger pursuing an older man in "Happy Endings"; Allison Janney as a mom trying to hold her crumbling family together in "Our Very Own"; Michelle Williams as a wife stung by revelations her husband is carrying on with another man in "Brokeback Mountain"; and Robin Wright Penn as a married woman thrown into turmoil by a chance encounter with an old lover in "Nine Lives."

Joining Baumbach in the directing category were Gregg Araki for the teen drama "Mysterious Skin"; George Clooney for "Good Night, and Good Luck"; Rodrigo Garcia for "Nine Lives"; and Ang Lee for "Brokeback Mountain.

The Couch Potato Report - November 29th, 2005

This week The Couch Potato Report features 8 new releases, and I will overuse the word "surprise."

One of the most successful films of the year was a complete surprise.

It was surprise that it did as well as it did at the box office, and it was surprisingly entertaining.

That film is MARCH OF THE PENGUINS a documentary about the over-100 kilometer journey that emperor penguins have to make every year in order to survive and procreate.

The film is narrated by Morgan Freeman and at times it is dramatic, suspenseful, and informative. At other times it is just funny and entertaining.

Actually, the film is entertaining from start to finish.

Penguins can either be waddling entertaining, or incredibly graceful and in MARCH OF THE PENGUINS you get to experience both.

The film is a perfect mix of science and entertainment and the whole family will enjoy it.

Yes, the documentary MARCH OF THE PENGUINS was a surprise.

So was the documentary MURDERBALL.

I had no idea what to expect from this film about quadriplegic rugby - or "Murderball" as it was formerly known.

The film shows us players in modified wheelchairs in a hardcore, full-contact sport trying to win Gold at the Athens Paralympics. But in addition to MURDERBALL being about the sport, it is also about some very interesting people who play it.

The film is a unique mix of sports documentary and inspirational profiles of triumph over adversity.

The majority of the people in MURDERBALL are disabled, but since the film doesn't focus on that, by the end of the film you won't be thinking about that it at all.

Unlike MARCH OF THE PENGUINS, MURDERBALL isn't for the entire family. But both documentaries are completely entertaining, and both are full of surprises.

MR. AND MRS SMITH isn't full of surprises, in fact it doesn't have any. But some films don't have to have surprises, or be a surprise to be entertaining.

And make no mistake, MR AND MRS SMITH sure is entertaining.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie play an unhappy couple who are bored with each other and their mundane day to day home life.

Their relationship improves once they discover their mutually-hidden identities as world-class assassins.

Unfortunately they have each been hired to kill the other one.

No MR AND MRS SMITH doesn't contain any major surprises or plot twists, but the performances of Pitt and Jolie are fun to watch and the dialogue is a treat to listen to. Plus, Jolie looks amazing as always, and Pitt is always fun to watch in a film.

Director Doug Liman gave us a better action film with THE BOURNE IDENTITY, and MR AND MRS SMITH should've been a better movie than it is, but I still enjoyed it.

I also sort of enjoyed SKY HIGH, even if I am not in the film's target demographic.

In this film the son of superheroes must save the world, and I suspect the demographic the filmmakers were shooting for was between 12 and 16 years of age.

Sky High is a high school in the clouds for kids with super-human powers or abilities.

At this school gadgets, acts of bravery, and magical skills are part of high school the same way that peer pressure and dating are.

SKY HIGH isn't unique, especially if you've seen THE INCREDIBLES, but it is a surprisingly fun film, whether you are in the correct demographic or not.

Finally this week, I would like to talk about THE MUPPET MOVIE, THE GREAT MUPPET CAPER, MUPPET TREASURE ISLAND and THE MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL because all four films are being re-released to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Kermit The Frog.

Yes, it has really been 50 years since Jim Henson introduced us to Kermit The Frog.

I have made no attempt over the years to hide my adoration for Jim Henson and The Muppets, so I won't bother to review these four releases for you, other than to say that I watched all four again this week and they still entertained me on every level, especially THE MUPPET MOVIE and THE MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL.

I've seen each of these films dozens of times over the years and it still surprises me how much I am entertained by them.

Happy Anniversary Kermit!

THE MUPPET MOVIE, THE GREAT MUPPET CAPER, MUPPET TREASURE ISLAND, THE MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL, SKY HIGH, MR AND MRS SMITH, MURDERBALL and the superb MARCH OF THE PENGUINS are all available now at a store near you.

Coming up in the next Couch Potato Report

CINDERELLA MAN is the underlooked, but very good, true story of heavyweight boxer Jim Braddock starring Russell Crowe, Renee Zellweger and Paul Giamatti.

IMAGINE: JOHN LENNON is the superb 1988 documentary about the man made with home movies. The audio from those movies allows Lennon himself to
be the narrator.

The movie version of the classic comic book FANTASTIC 4 is less than classic, and much less than fantastic, but it isn't horrible. On the other hand the film version of THE DUKES OF HAZZARD is horrible, but somehow it is worth seeing.

I'm Dan Reynish. I'll have more on those, and some other releases, in seven days.

For now, that's this week's COUCH POTATO REPORT.

Enjoy the movies and I'll see you back here next week on The Couch!

Kazaa owners working to install filters for copyright material

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) - The owners of the Kazaa online file-sharing network are working on a new version to meet a court mandate aimed at preventing users from illegally swapping copyright music and movies.

Sharman Networks Ltd. has until next week to develop a filtering system that would block files based on about 3,000 keywords, most likely the names of popular recording artists.

Federal Court Judge Murray Wilcox ordered Kazaa's owners last week to install the new filters as part of lawsuit filed by the Australian recording industry. Wilcox also told Sharman to urge Kazaa users to download the new software.

"There will have to be filters in place by Dec. 5 or Kazaa will be shut down," Stephen Peach, chief executive of the Australian Record Industry Association, said in a statement Monday.

Although Sharman is legally incorporated in the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu, its main offices are in Sydney.

It is unlikely Kazaa could be shut down completely. Any order would only cover Australian users; the software is used by millions of people around the world to exchange files containing music, movies and other material. Also, users of older versions of the Kazaa software would likely be unaffected by the new filters.

Furthermore, it's not clear how well filters will end piracy. In the past, users of file-sharing networks have countered filters by purposely misspelling the names of artists and songs.

Sharman spokeswoman Julie Fenwick said the company is working to comply with the order, even as it appeals the September ruling that found Sharman liable for copyright infringement.

In that ruling, Wilcox said it had been in the financial interest of Sharman and its partners "to maximize, not minimize, music file-sharing."

A hearing to set damages is expected next year.

Angelina Jolie Might Be Back as Lara Croft

Angelina Jolie might be making a third trip into the world of Lara Croft's Tomb Raider movie series. The Business Online reports that talks are already underway between Paramount Pictures and SCI, the company that owns the Lara Croft video game. Jolie has apparently made it known she's interested in playing the thrill-seeking British archeologist again, no doubt prompting the licensing negotiations. Combined, the previous Tomb movies have earned over $450 million at the box office, and while the films are based on the video game of the same name, unlike other game-genre films, SCI is not planning to release any game titles in conjunction with the film.

NEW CD RELEASES FOR NOVEMBER 29, 2005

13 Ghosts Cicada (Skybucket)

Anthony B My Hope (Minor7Flat5)

Ryan Cabrera Live at the Wiltern (Atlantic)

The Darkness One Way Ticket to Hell...and Back (Atlantic)

Egg Cream Sweet Harmony (Collectables)

Zac Harmon The Blues According to Zachariah (Bluestone/33rd Street)

Hot Chip Coming on Strong (2004 UK-only release w/three bonus tracks) (Astralwerks)

INXS Switch (first album w/new singer J.D. Fortune) (Epic)

Arthur Kell The Traveller (Fresh Sound)

Chris Liebing/Speedy J Collabs 3000 - Metalism (Mute)

Dave Matthews Band Weekend on the Rocks (two CDs/DVD; live album from September 2005 shows at Red Rocks) (RCA)

Mel Melton & the Wicked Mojos Papa Mojo's Roadhouse (Louisiana Red Hot)

Nous Non Plus Nous Non Plus (Aeronaut)

Rancid Vat Vs. the Rest of the World (Steel Cage)

The Samples Rehearsing for Life (Apache)

Shakira Oral Fixation 2 (guest Carlos Santana) (Epic)

Three (David J. or Bauhaus/Love and Rockets) Evocations (Arena Rock)

Twilight featuring Joel Katz Once Upon a Time (Collectables)

Winechuggers Grand Rapids (Arena Rock)

Wintergreen Wintergreen EP (Mt. Fuji)

VA Chicano Rap con Reggaeton (PR)

OST Nick Cave and Warren Ellis The Proposition (original score to film written by Cave) (Mute)

DVD Drift (art film w/soundtrack by Sonic Youth's Lee Ranaldo) (Plexifilm)

DVD The Diplomats & Friends Book of Hip Hop: Chapter 1 (Image)

DVD Todd Rundgren Liars Live (June 2004 performance) (Sanctuary)

Black Eyed Peas rock Grey Cup

VANCOUVER (CP) - Black Eyed Peas were on the Grey Cup menu Sunday as the Grammy-winning recording artists put on an energetic - and raunchy - hip-hop halftime show before a sellout crowd at B.C. Place.

Led by demonstrative lead rapper Will.I.Am and sultry female vocalist Fergie, the Los Angeles quartet got the crowd of 59,157 out of its seats with Pump It and Don't Phunk With My Heart. Things took a turn for the sleazy when Fergie - adorned in short shorts and a black tank top - suggestively shook her derriere during My Humps.

As she gyrated on stage, Will.I.Am found his way down to the front of the stage, where he mingled with cheerleaders.

Their performance was a far cry from the usual conservative Grey Cup halftime shows. Last year, Canadian icons The Tragically Hip entertained the crowd in Ottawa.

Black Eyed Peas, who have sold over 7.5 million albums worldwide, finished up with a boisterious performance of Let's Get it Started, a song made popular during the 2004 NBA playoffs.

At least two members of the band were in the Grey Cup spirit: the DJ wore a Ricky Ray Edmonton jersey, while the drummer sported a jersey of Eskimos teammate Jason Tucker.

R&B singer Jully Black, a Toronto native, performed O Canada.

Rock Hall of Fame Announces Inductees

NEW YORK - Black Sabbath, Miles Davis and the Sex Pistols are among five musical legends to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation will hold its induction ceremony March 13 at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Manhattan, the organization announced Monday.

Also to be inducted into the class of 2006: 1980s New Wave band Blondie and Southern rockers Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, who founded A&M records in 1962, will receive a lifetime achievement award in the non-performer category.

Inductees into the side-men category will be announced at a later date.

Musicians, industry professionals and journalists vote on the nominations. Artists are eligible to be inducted into the Rock Hall after at least 25 years have passed since their first record was released.

STATE OF 'FLUX'

An actor prepares. Charlize Theron goes to the grass roots. For acclaimed turns in "Monster" and "North Country," the dedicated actress spent weeks studying the methods and motivations of a murderous Florida prostitute and sexually harassed Minnesota mining women.

For "Aeon Flux," she studied a gecko.

Yes, gecko - as in tropical lizard.

"There's a scene where Charlize runs on all fours, and her belly's only 3 or 4 inches off the ground," says stunt coordinator Charlie Croughwell, "so we watched National Geographic videos of geckos to analyze their movement."

Says Theron: "I'm from Africa. I know all about geckos. I used to play 'Alcatraz' with them in my yard."

"Aeon Flux," which opens Friday, is the big-screen adaptation of an animated MTV sci-fi series about a mysterious assassin who prowls the underworld of the futuristic city-state of Bregna.

But for Theron, getting cartoon-lethal meant more than dying her blond hair black. Big-bad Bregna meanies don't just keel over because you're drop-dead gorgeous.

"She had to look effortless but powerful, fluid yet ferocious," says Croughwell. "And we didn't want a lot of weapons. We wanted Charlize to get into a guy's face before she killed him."

Three months before filming, Theron began training in L.A. with Croughwell, whose workout regimen incorporated trampoline, hand-to-hand Krav Maga combat techniques and the Brazilian martial art of capoeira.

To teach her the dance-derived skills of capoeira (pronounced capo-edda), Croughwell called in master teacher Neal "Xingu" Rodil.

"Charlize was all-in, she had a lot of drive - and a strong kick," said Xingu, 27, who started Theron out with basic maneuvers like an au' (cartwheel) or bencaou' (push kick). "She used to be a ballerina, so it came naturally."

At the outset, Theron still carried some of the 30 pounds she'd put on for her Oscar-winning role in "Monster." But after three months of grueling, four-hour workouts - plus trampoline training with Cirque du Soleil's Terry Bartlett - Theron was ready for her close-up macaco (monkey flip).

It's in the film, when Theron sneaks up on a guard, springs into a one-armed cartwheel, scissors her legs around the goon's head and spins down to the ground, snapping his neck.

"I'd practiced that hundreds of times but never quite nailed it," Theron says. "On the day of shooting, we had a stunt person try, but after maybe 15 times she still couldn't get it. I looked at Charlie and said, 'I'm ready, let's do it!' Then I nailed it five times in a row."

During filming, Theron herniated a disc in her neck after landing awkwardly on a back flip, but she returned after a six-week production delay and continued to do most of her own stunts.

"Charlize isn't the type to complain," says Xingu. "No matter how difficult the maneuver, she'd keep saying, " 'Let's do it again.'"

Post-Ted Koppel Era Begins on 'Nightline'

NEW YORK - Like a Broadway show in rehearsals too long, the post-Ted Koppel "Nightline" finally has its opening night.

"There are many people out there who are looking to prejudge us one way or another," said James Goldston, the show's new executive producer. "There's a great feeling of `will this remain true to the original `Nightline' and all that. All I would say is that I'd like the show to be judged on what we do, rather than a theoretical version of what we might do."

The new "Nightline" with Martin Bashir, Cynthia McFadden and Terry Moran debuts Monday (11:35 p.m. EST).

It's all-new — new anchors, new look, new pace, new production team. It's literally a Broadway show, originating from ABC's Times Square studios. That's new, too.

Part of the newness is inevitable, given the loss of the only anchor "Nightline" has known for nearly 26 years. But it's also by design, an attempt to correct perceived weaknesses while trying not to alienate the show's longtime fans.

"Most programs, if they stay around for a long time, take on a structure imparted by the anchors," said ABC News President David Westin. "So when you change the personality, you have to make changes in the program. Ted is a very strong example of that, but he's not unique."

The multiple anchor format is at least partly a recognition that it would have been a lot of pressure on one person to succeed Koppel, he said.

McFadden and Bashir will be based in New York. McFadden, a former legal correspondent and "Primetime Live" reporter, is a known quantity who has been with ABC News since 1994.

Bashir is best known in this country, in a not altogether flattering way, for an interview with Michael Jackson. But he has a 20-year reputation as an investigative reporter and interviewer from his work in England, Goldston said. (On Monday, Bashir reports on the California School for the Deaf and its football squad, the Riverside Cubs, who are looking to complete an undefeated season as the only deaf team in their league.)

Moran, ABC's former White House correspondent, will be in Baghdad for the first week as a new studio set is built for him in Washington.

Their feelings about succeeding Koppel are a mystery; ABC News, perhaps showing some nervousness about the relaunch, hasn't made any of them available for interviews prior to opening night.

Gone will be the "Nightline" tradition of focusing on a single story each night. That may happen during big news events, but a typical show will have three stories and a wry ending segment.

The old format left "Nightline" vulnerable to missing out on stories that weren't worth the full show, Westin said.

"You have two choices — either you ignore them altogether, or you stretch," he said. "If you go away from the ironclad commitment to the single topic, it gives you more flexibility to cover the stories that you think really matter to people."

McFadden has been working on a story about AIDS in India. Instead of making it the subject of a single show, "Nightline" will break it up and present it over several nights.

Westin also was insistent on making "Nightline" live again, even if it's more of a magazine-type show than a newscast. In recent years, Koppel had been taping "Nightline" several hours in advance, much like the late-night comics.

"I certainly wanted to make sure we were totally responsive to being on the news, and that's hard to do when you've taped the program at 6 (o'clock) in the evening and people have largely gone home," Westin said.

Goldston talks about making the show "vibrant" again. Most of that comes with thought-provoking reporting, but also with an improved presentation. Expect to see, for example, more "teases" about upcoming material heading into commercial breaks.

"In this kind of a multichannel world you have to make a bit of a song and dance about your material," he said. "I don't think it has any implications for the quality of our journalism. I think we can present the show in a much more modern way."

Between McFadden's AIDS series and several upcoming stories on the impact of the war in Iraq and at home, Goldston's plans show that his first priority is convincing the typical "Nightline" audience of 3.6 million people that despite everything new, it's still a serious show that they'll be comfortable with.

Only then can ABC seek someone new, like the 2 million regular "Nightline" viewers who have tuned out over the past decade.

At his going-away party at the Kennedy Center in Washington on Nov. 16, Koppel noted that critic Tom Shales called "Nightline" after its first broadcast "at best a great leap sideways and at worst a pratfall backwards for television news." But 10 months later Shales revisited, calling the show "smart, classy."

"I don't know if everyone will give you a fair amount of time ... but I promise you I will," Koppel said.

On his final broadcast, Koppel also asked viewers to give the new folks a break, saying, "If you don't, I promise you the network will just put another comedy show in this time slot. Then you'll be sorry." It was a none-too-subtle reference to ABC's 2002 courtship of David Letterman to replace him.

Westin said he has no indication that the clock is ticking on "Nightline," any more than it is for every show that must earn its place on the air by doing good work and drawing an audience.

"I've been getting no pressure in that regard," he said. "The only pressure for us is putting on a really good program and succeeding. If we do that, we're fine. If we don't do that, we shouldn't be fine."

Harry's 'Goblet' Nets $54.9M at Box Office

LOS ANGELES - A boy wizard and a country-music legend outclassed a flurry of box-office newcomers over Thanksgiving. " Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" took in $54.9 million over the three-day weekend to remain the top movie, while the Johnny Cash film biography "Walk the Line" stayed in second place with $19.7 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

For the whole five-day Thanksgiving period, "Goblet of Fire" grossed $81.3 million to lift its 10-day total to $201.1 million, while "Walk the Line" took in $27.6 million, raising its 10-day total to $54.7 million.

The two films paced Hollywood to a healthy holiday weekend. If estimates hold when final numbers are released Monday, it would be the second-highest gross ever for the five-day Thanksgiving period at $218.3 million, beating last year's haul by 3 percent but finishing behind 2000's record $232.1 million.

That was a boost for the slumping movie business, which has had attendance running 8 percent behind last year's.

"You've got to look at 'Harry Potter' as being the savior of the box office right now," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations. "Who would have thought in a year we're having this down box office that we'd have the second-biggest Thanksgiving ever?"

Dennis Quaid and Rene Russo's family flick "Yours, Mine & Ours" overcame bad reviews to lead the new movies, finishing third with $17.5 million. The movie's five-day total since opening Wednesday was $24.5 million.

The animated tale "Chicken Little" held up strongly at No. 4 with $12.4 million, lifting its four-week total to $118.2 million.

"Rent," featuring Taye Diggs and Rosario Dawson in an adaptation of the Broadway musical sensation, debuted in fifth with a three-day total of $10.7 million and $18.1 million since opening Wednesday.

Premiering at No. 6 was Ryan Reynolds' romantic comedy "Just Friends" with $9.3 million from Friday to Sunday and $13.6 million since Wednesday.

R&B singer Usher's first starring role with the mob romance "In the Mix" opened at No. 9 with $4.5 million for the weekend and $6.2 million since Wednesday. John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton's crime caper "The Ice Harvest" debuted at No. 10 with $3.7 million Friday to Sunday and $5.1 million since Wednesday.

"Goblet of Fire" shot past $200 million domestically in just 10 days, the fastest of the four "Harry Potter" movies to cross that mark. The fastest-grossing of the previous movies was the first, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," which took in $186 million in 10 days.

"Goblet of Fire" could be on track to beat the $317.6 million domestic gross of "Sorcerer's Stone," the franchise's most successful installment.

"Goblet of Fire" has disproved speculation that its PG-13 rating — the first of the franchise to carry that tag, after PG ratings for the first three — might hurt the film by scaring off younger fans.

"We've learned the audience has grown older with the movies, so the PG-13 rating just played into the core of the audience," said Dan Fellman, head of distribution for Warner Bros., which releases the "Harry Potter" films.

Warner Bros. also had terrific results for its limited-release debut of "Syriana," whose ensemble cast includes George Clooney and Matt Damon in a thriller centered on the oil industry. The film took in a whopping $372,147 in five theaters over the weekend and $553,372 since Wednesday. "Syriana" goes into nationwide release Dec. 9.

Heer are the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," $54.9 million.
2. "Walk the Line," $19.7 million.
3. "Yours, Mine & Ours," $17.5 million.
4. "Chicken Little," $12.4 million.
5. "Rent," $10.7 million.
6. "Just Friends," $9.3 million.
7. "Pride & Prejudice," $7 million.
8. "Derailed," $4.7 million.
9. "In the Mix," $4.5 million.
10. "The Ice Harvest," $3.7 million.

Actor Pat Morita Dies at 73

LOS ANGELES - Actor Pat Morita, who offered the famous advice "wax on, wax off" to a young karate student in his performance as the wise Mr. Miyagi in "The Karate Kid," has died. He was 73.

Morita died Thursday at his Las Vegas home of natural causes, said his wife of 12 years, Evelyn. She said in a statement that her husband, who first rose to fame with a role on "Happy Days," had "dedicated his entire life to acting and comedy."

His role in the 1984 film defined his career. As Kesuke Miyagi, the mentor to Ralph Macchio's "Daniel-san," he taught karate while trying to catch flies with chopsticks and offering such advice as "wax on, wax off" to help Daniel improve his skills while doing his chores.

"It was both my honor and privilege to have worked with him and create a bit of cinema magic together," Macchio said in a statement. "My life is all the richer for having known him. I will miss his genuine friendship."

"Forever my Sensei," Macchio added, referring to Morita's role in "The Karate Kid."

The role earned Morita an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actor, but he lost to Haing S. Ngor, who appeared in "The Killing Fields."

Morita said in a 1986 interview with The Associated Press he was billed as Noriyuki (Pat) Morita in the film because producer Jerry Weintraub wanted him to sound more ethnic. He said he used the billing because it was "the only name my parents gave me."

For years, Morita played small and sometimes demeaning roles in such films as "Thoroughly Modern Millie" and TV series such as "The Odd Couple" and "Green Acres." His first breakthrough came with "Happy Days," and he followed with his own brief series, "Mr. T and Tina."

"The Karate Kid" led to three sequels, the last of which, 1994's "The Next Karate Kid," paired him with a young Hilary Swank.

Morita was prolific outside of the "Karate Kid" series as well, appearing in "Honeymoon in Vegas," "Spy Hard," "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues" and "The Center of the World." He also provided the voice for a character in the Disney movie "Mulan" in 1998.

Born in northern California on June 28, 1932, the son of migrant fruit pickers, Morita spent most of his early years in the hospital with spinal tuberculosis. He later recovered only to be sent to a Japanese-American internment camp in Arizona during World War II.

"One day I was an invalid," he recalled in a 1989 AP interview. "The next day I was public enemy No. 1 being escorted to an internment camp by an FBI agent wearing a piece."

After the war, Morita's family tried to repair their finances by operating a Sacramento restaurant. It was there that Morita first tried his comedy on patrons.

Because prospects for a Japanese-American standup comic seemed poor, Morita found steady work in computers at Aerojet General. But at age 30 he entered show business full time.

"Only in America could you get away with the kind of comedy I did," he said. "If I tried it in Japan before the war, it would have been considered blasphemy, and I would have ended in leg irons."

Morita was to be buried at Palm Green Valley Mortuary and Cemetery.

He is survived by his wife and three daughters from a previous marriage.

Crowe slams media over phone toss

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) - Oscar-winning actor Russell Crowe slammed the media on Thursday for blowing his phone throwing incident out of proportion.

Crowe pleaded guilty earlier this month to third-degree assault, admitting to a judge that he threw a phone that hit a Manhattan hotel concierge in June. A Manhattan criminal court sentenced the actor to a conditional discharge, which means he must not get arrested for one year.

The judge also instructed Crowe to pay a $160 US court surcharge.

"I think it brings things back into perspective," Crowe told reporters in Melbourne when asked if he was happy with the outcome.

"Travelling businessmen get touchy or testy with hotel staff in every major city all around the world," Crowe told reporters in Melbourne. "That doesn't excuse the fact that I lost my temper ... What I did was stupid. I admitted that straight away."

But, he added: "I got a $160 court cost fine for something that would have had more news print about it than some very horrific and specific things that we should know about in our community," he told reporters in Melbourne.

"That is what I mean by getting it into perspective."

Had Crowe been convicted of the more serious charges initially filed against him - assault and criminal possession of a weapon, the telephone - he could have lost his right to work in the United States and might have faced seven years of prison time.

Crowe, 41, who won the Academy Award for best actor in 2001 for Gladiator, has also starred in such films as A Beautiful Mind and Cinderella Man.

The actor said he was planning to make a film next year with Australian director Baz Luhrmann - who made Moulin Rouge! and Strictly Ballroom - and fellow Oscar-winner Nicole Kidman, but would not provide any details.

AND THE TURKEY GOES TO...

It's time for Hollywood's roll call of shame for The New York Post's seventh annual Turkey Awards.

Ben Affleck may have taken the year off - and his "Gigli" co-star Jennifer Lopez got stuffed into one of the Weinsteins' 2004 leftovers - but Brad, Angelina, Nicole, Ewan and unpromising newcomers like Jessica Simpson and 50 Cent stepped up for critical bastings in another bumper crop of cinematic butterballs. So without further adieu, this year's Tinseltown list of the bad, the worse and the truly ugly:

† Most Likely to Have Their Oscars Confiscated: Adrien Brody chewing the scenery as a wacky veteran in "The Jacket"; Jamie Foxx hamming it up as a Navy flier in "Stealth"

† Cinematic Disaster Prefiguring a Real Disaster: The lame New Orleans-set horror movie "The Skeleton Key"

† Most Annoying Child Actor: Gap-toothed Dakota Fanning, screaming through "War of the Worlds" and "Hide and Seek"

† Most Financially Successful Cinematic Atrocity: The brain-dead and cheesy-looking "The Fantastic Four"

† Most Pointless Screen Reunion: John Travolta and Uma Thurman, fruitlessly trying to rekindle their "Pulp Fiction" chemistry in the uncool "Be Cool"

† War Movie Most Likely to be Used as an Instrument of Torture: The excruciatingly boring "The Great Raid"

† Most Convincing Impression of a Wax Dummy: Paris Hilton, in every single scene of "House of Wax"

† Don't Give Up Your Day Job: Jessica Simpson, impersonating an actress in "Dukes of Hazzard"; Nicole Ritchie as the world's oldest teenager in "Kids in America"; 50 Cent wearing a single expression in "Get Rich or Die Tryin'"

† Most Pointless Remakes: "The Longest Yard," "Amityville Horror."

† Worst Remake: "The Bridge of San Luis Rey" with Robert De Niro and Kathy Bates.

† Worst Sequel: "The Mask 2," a PG-rated horror flick filled with smutty jokes

† Most Totally Misconceived Movie Based on TV series: "Bewitched," starring Nicole Kidman as a real witch who plays one on TV in "Bewitched."

† Least Convincing Femme Fatale: Jennifer Aniston, "Derailed"

† Stick a Fork in Him: Orlando Bloom, lacking presence as a leading man in "Elizabethtown" and "Kingdom of Heaven"

† Most Dubious Demonstration of Versatility: Ice Cube in the witless family comedy "Are We There Yet?" and the witless action comedy "XXX: State of the Union"

† Worst Performance by the Director's Soon-to-Be Ex-Wife: Jenny McCarthy, "Dirty Love" (Director: John Asher)

† Worst Performance by the Director's Wife, Playing his Mother: Tea Leoni, "House of D" (Director: David Duchovny)

† Worst Movie Based on a Story by the Director's Son: "The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D" (Director: Robert Rodriguez).

† Best Reason to Hope for Ed Burns' Retirement: The hopeless sci-fi adventure "A Sound of Thunder"

† Best Reason to Hope for Gwyneth Paltrow's Retirement: As the world's unlikeliest math genius in "Proof"

† Best Performance in a Bad Movie Full of Overpaid Stars: Bart the Bear, who fared better than Jennifer Lopez, Robert Redford or Morgan Freeman in "An Unfinished Life"

† Most Prentiously Empty Art Films: "Palindromes," "Last Days"

† Most Aggressively Stupid Movie Vaguely Based on a Real Person: Tony Scott's execrable "Domino"

† Why Will Ferrell Needs a New Agent: "Bewitched," "Kicking and Screaming," "Melinda and Melinda"

† Most Dubious Pro-Life Arguments: "The Island" (Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johanssen are clones) "Just Like Heaven." (Reese Witherspoon is in a coma)

† Most Embarrassingly Bad Oscar Bid: Terry Gilliam's "The Brothers Grimm"

† Three Reasons to Join Naomi Watts in Crying: "The Ring 2," "Stay," "Ellie Parker"

† So Bad We (Almost) Missed Ben Affleck: "Elektra" with Jennifer Garner

† Worst Chemistry: Sean Penn and the much taller Nicole Kidman, "The Interpeter,'' Will Ferrell and Nicole Kidman, "Bewitched''

† Best Chemistry in an Appallingly Bad Movie: Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, "Mr. And Mrs. Smith"

† Beneath Contempt: "The Pacifier" with Vin Diesel, "Doom" with the Rock, "The Weather Man" with Nicolas Cage "The Perfect Man" with Hilary Duff - or was that Lindsay Lohan?

† And Finally, a Drumstick, er, Drumroll For the Absolute Worst Movie of 2005 and the Decade So Far . . . "Deuce Bigelow, European Gigolo," starring the unforgivable Rob Schneider

Don't watch any of these and you're certain to have a Happy Thanksgiving.

Martina Joins The Muppets

Martina McBride's version of "When Love Is Gone" is a new addition to "The Muppet Christmas Carol" soundtrack, reissued yesterday (Nov. 22) in conjunction with an anniversary DVD edition of the classic holiday film. The balance of the Walt Disney Records set mirrors the original version, with Paul Williams' songs and score as sung by such beloved characters as Kermit the Frog (as Bob Crachit), Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem and Statler and Waldorf (as the late Marley Brothers).

Still featured on the disc is Meredith Braun's original "When Love Is Gone," as well as star Michal Caine (Ebenezer Scrooge) singing the joyous "Thankful Heart" upon his Christmas morning epiphany.

Dubbed "Kermit's 50th Anniversary Edition," in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Jim Henson Company, the new DVD due Tuesday (Nov. 29) includes remastered version of the film in full-frame and widescreen format. Also reissued on DVD Tuesday are "The Muppet Movie," "The Great Muppet Caper" and "Muppet Treasure Island."

...ABC's 'Alias' to end run after 5 years

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - "Alias," the ABC espionage drama starring Jennifer Garner as a sexy, globe-trotting secret agent, will end its prime-time run in May after five seasons on the air, the network said on Wednesday.

No reason was given for bringing the series to a close, but the show has declined sharply in the ratings since moving to a tougher time slot on Thursdays this season opposite the CBS reality hit "Survivor: Guatemala."

"Alias" also has undergone a creative make-over this season as producers wrote the real-life pregnancy of Garner into the show's story line.

It was not immediately clear what role, if any, Garner's impending motherhood played in the decision to conclude the series at the end of its fifth season. The Houston-born actress, 33, is married to Hollywood star Ben Affleck, her co-star in the 2003 comic book movie "Daredevil."

In a statement announcing the move, ABC Entertainment President Stephen McPherson and executive producer Jeff Pinkner promised fans that the show would "rev up" for the remainder of the season as it heads for a climactic finale.

Garner has earned four back-to-back Emmy Award nominations for her role as super spy Sydney Bristow, a master of disguise who has chased terrorists and dodged danger in hot spots around the world, even finding time for occasional romance.

The CIA was so impressed by her character that Garner was enlisted last year to film a recruitment video for the agency on its employment Web site.

"Alias" enjoyed its biggest ratings success last season in a plum Wednesday night time slot following ABC's hit castaway thriller "Lost." But the show has struggled this fall on Thursday nights against "Survivor," averaging 7 million viewers a week, down from 10.3 million last season, according to Nielsen Media Research.

By comparison, "Survivor" tallied nearly 19 million viewers last week, giving Viacom Inc.-owned CBS control of its hour. ABC is a unit of the Walt Disney Co.

Simpson, Lachey Officially Separating

LOS ANGELES - After months of rumors, denials and salacious magazine covers, Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey are officially calling it quits.

The couple jointly announced their separation Wednesday, their publicists Meredith O'Sullivan and Rob Shooter confirmed.

"After three years of marriage, and careful thought and consideration, we have decided to part ways," Simpson and Lachey said in an official statement.

"This is the mutual decision of two people with an enormous amount of respect and admiration for each other. We hope that you respect our privacy during this difficult time."

The couple wed in October 2002 and went on to star in their own reality show, "Newlyweds," on MTV. The show made them A-list celebrities.

Following Simpson's role in 2004's "The Dukes of Hazzard," tabloid magazines began reporting trouble in the marriage.

Us Weekly first reported the couple's split in its Oct. 17 issue.

SHORT SIGHTED

Billy Crystal made $10 million on Broad way last season with his autobiographical show "700 Sundays," so why not Martin Short?

The popular comedian recently unveiled his show, "Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me," for an invited audience made up of theater owners, potential investors, celebrity pals (Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick, Steve Martin, Eugene Levy) and other showbiz insiders.

People who saw it are still laughing.

Unlike Crystal's carefully wrought, sentimental trip back to his childhood on Long Beach, Short's show is pure, old-fashioned sketch comedy and musical revue.

"It's loose, very loose," says a theater executive.

Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman — Broadway's favorite funny couple who wrote the score to "Hairspray" — supplied the original songs and comic routines.

Wittman calls the show a cross between "Hellzapoppin' " — the legendary Olsen and Johnson vaudeville from 1938 — and "New Faces of 1952," a revue that launched the careers of Eartha Kitt, Paul Lynde and lyricist Sheldon Harnick ("Fiddler on the Roof").

"The notion behind this is: It's OK to be entertaining," Wittman says. "We're just being funny for the sake of being funny."

Short, who is joined on stage by four other performers, plays himself at times, though his life story is completely made up.

"Marty's had a wonderful life, so we had to create some angst," Wittman says.

Short pokes fun at all the autobiographical shows that have swamped Broadway in recent years, including Crystal's.

Crystal talked about the "boulder" he had to push through life, a symbol for the sudden death of his father when Crystal was a kid; Short talks about a symbolic "snowball" he's had to deal with while struggling to make it in showbiz.

"It's hard. Sometimes you forget to wear your mittens."

Where Elaine Stritch dragged around a stool on stage in "At Liberty," Short drags around a bar stool and talks about the 12-step program.

In the second half of the show, Short trots out his Jiminy Glick character, the fawning celebrity interviewer and host of his own entertainment cable show in Butte, Montana.

Glick sings a song called "Every Saturday at Sardi's" — "where we stop by and sip Bacardis" — and then pulls a celebrity out of the audience for an interview (Lane, Paul Shaffer and "Sweeney Todd" star Michael Cerveris all obliged him at the workshop).

When the show gets to Broadway, Wittman says Short will make good use of any celebrity who's in town that night to appear on David Letterman's show.

Another routine, which I hear is hysterical, concerns famous Broadway directors, including Tommy Tune, who is played by an actor on stilts.

Bob Fosse makes an appearance as well. A drink in his hand, a cigarette hanging from his lips, he's in the middle of choreographing a number when he has a heart attack.

The dancers think his convulsions are steps and mimic him until they wind up dead.

If all of this sounds funny to you, then you're probably a showbiz insider — or at least a theater queen.

And the one criticism that some people have about "Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me" is that it's too insider-y for its own good.

Wittman is aware of that pitfall, however, and he says he's taken pains to make sure everyone is in on the joke.

"It has to stand on its own," he says. "It can't just be 10 gay men laughing."

"Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me" (a good title, but not as funny as the original, "If I'd Saved, I Wouldn't Be Here") will likely play out-of-town tryouts in Chicago and San Francisco before opening on Broadway in the spring.

Cruise Buys Sonogram Machine for Katie

NEW YORK - Tom Cruise has made an unusual purchase for his fiancee Katie Holmes — one that will let them see the development of their baby. "I bought a sonogram machine," Cruise says on ABC's "Barbara Walters Presents: The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2005," to air Nov. 29 (10 p.m. EST). Excerpts of the interview are published in the latest issue of People magazine, on newsstands Friday.

The 43-year-old actor said the couple will do their own sonograms, which show fetus development with ultrasound waves. Cruise said he will donate the machine to a hospital after the baby is born. Sonogram machines range in cost from $25,000 to $200,000.

Holmes' pregnancy was announced in early October. The couple, who have been dating since April, became engaged in June.

"We are gonna get married next summer or early fall," Cruise told Walters. "We don't have a date set yet."

Cruise said he didn't know if the baby is a boy or a girl. He has two children, Connor, 10, and Isabella, 12, from his marriage to Nicole Kidman. It will be the first child for 26-year-old Holmes.

Hollywood, BitTorrent software creator Bram Cohen reach agreement

LOS ANGELES (AP) - In a deal aimed at reducing illegal Internet traffic in pirated films, Hollywood reached an agreement Tuesday with the creator of the popular file-sharing software BitTorrent.

The agreement requires 30-year-old software designer Bram Cohen to prevent his website, bittorrent.com, from locating pirated versions of popular movies, effectively frustrating people who search for illegal copies of films.

BitTorrent must remove web links leading to illegal content owned by the seven studios that are members of the Motion Picture Association of America.

"BitTorrent Inc. discourages the use of its technology for distributing films without a licence to do so," Cohen said in the statement. "As such, we are pleased to work with the film industry to remove unauthorized content from bittorrent.com's search engine."

MPAA chief executive Dan Glickman declared, "They're leading the way for other companies by their example."

The agreement represents the latest effort by the entertainment industry to discourage illegal Internet downloads. It also demonstrates Cohen's sensitivity toward Hollywood's piracy problems, making him potentially more attractive to studios for future deals related to movie downloads.

Cohen disclosed in September his company had raised $8.75 million US in venture funding to develop commercial distribution tools for media companies.

The BitTorrent technology pioneered by Cohen - and used by an estimated 45 million people - assembles digital movies and other computer files from separate bits of data downloaded from other computer users across the Internet. Its decentralized nature makes downloading more efficient but also frustrates the entertainment industry's efforts to find and identify movie pirates.

The agreement with Cohen would not prevent determined Internet users from finding movies or other materials using tools or websites other than Cohen's, but it removes one of the most convenient methods people have used.

Singer-Songwriter Chris Whitley Dies

HOUSTON - Chris Whitley, a chameleon singer-songwriter who oscillated between roots rock 'n' roll, blues and alt-rock, has died. He was 45.

Whitley died Sunday of lung cancer in Houston, according to his record label, Messenger Records.

The Texas-based singer was surrounded by his family and girlfriend, according to his Web site.

"I hope you all will mourn my brother's death, but more important, celebrate his life as Chris was all about life and living," read a message from his brother, Daniel. "I started the celebration by cranking up `Dirt Floor' in his honor."

"Dirt Floor" was Whitley 1998 album. He recorded eleven albums since his 1991 debut, "Living with the Law," including this year's "Soft Dangerous Shores."

Tim McGraw, Green Day Big Winners at AMAs

LOS ANGELES - The American Music Awards spread things around Tuesday, with country star Tim McGraw, alternative rockers Green Day, soul stars Destiny's Child and hip-hop chart toppers Black Eyed Peas each winning two awards.

Mariah Carey, in the midst of a career comeback, had gone into the evening's competition the heavy favorite with a leading four nominations, but the pop diva took home only one award, for favorite female artist in the soul-R&B category.

"Thank you so much for the warmth and the love," she said as she accepted the evening's first award moments after opening the show with a rousing rendition of "Don't Forget About Us." Carey, who appeared in a sequined, silver, spaghetti-strap gown slit to the waist, had to quickly change into a black evening gown before accepting her award.

The show was as much about those who didn't show up as those who did. Many of the night's biggest names, including Green Day, Black Eyed Peas, Eminem, Kelly Clarkson and 50 Cent, were nowhere to be seen.

Notable moments provided by those who were there included an inspired pairing of Cyndi Lauper and Sarah McLachlan for a soulful version of Lauper's 1980s hit "Time After Time."

The rapper Pharrell, Gwen Stefani and the Eurythmics also took to the stage, and the Rolling Stones closed the show with a two-song performance from Salt Lake City, wrapping up the evening with a spirited rendition of "It's Only Rock&Roll (But I Like It)."

Stefani, who bested out Carey for the favorite female pop artist award, barely had time to get to the podium after completing her performance.

"What did I win?" she asked as she was presented her first American Music Award. "I guess whatever I won, I just want to say thank you to the fans, especially all my girls. Imagine what it feels like to be me all these years and have your support. It's just outrageous."

McGraw roped in both awards in the country category in which he was nominated. He came out ahead of Kenny Chesney and Toby Keith for favorite male artist and his album, "Live Like You Were Dying," beat albums by Keith and Gretchen Wilson, who took the honor for country female artist.

The Black Eyed Peas earned favorite group honors in both the rap/hip-hop and pop-rock categories.

Rapper 50 Cent's album, "The Massacre," won the favorite rap/hip-hop album honor, while Missy Elliott took home the favorite female artist award in the rap/hip-hop category for the second year in a row.

"I got to thank God because that's my inspiration for everything that I do," Elliott said. She also dedicated the award to the late singer Aaliyah, who died in a plane crash shortly after takeoff in 2001.

Actor-singer Will Smith won favorite make artist in the pop-rock division, edging out Rob Thomas and 50 Cent, while R. Kelly edged Omarion and John Legend for favorite soul-R&B male artist.

Shakira, who picked up the favorite Latin music artist award, praised the trend toward the presentation of more Spanish music on U.S. radio.

"I can only say that when a Spanish song gets played on Top 40 American radio, it means the pseudo rules of the industry are changing," she said. "America is a cross-cultural open country and music is a language on its own."

Destiny's Child was two-thirds absent, as only singer Kelly Rolland was on hand to accept the group's awards.

"This feels very awkward being up here by myself," she said as she accepted the favorite band award in the soul-R&B category. "I miss my girls, Beyonce and Michelle, wherever you are. I love you so much."

In a cross-genre category, country group Sugarland bested alternative rockers The Killers and singer Jesse McCartney for breakthrough new artist.

In awards presented off-camera, Green Day won favorite artist in the Alternative category and the band's album, "American Idiot," received the pop-rock category honor.

Eminem won the favorite male artist in the rap/hip-hop division, while Clarkson received the honor for favorite artist in the adult contemporary category.

Nominees were chosen on the basis of record sales, with winners selected through a survey of about 20,000 listeners.

Comedian Cedric The Entertainer hosted the three-hour ceremony, broadcast live on ABC from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.

He took to the stage wearing a grey pinstripe suit and holding a boombox that he dubbed the first iPod. He quickly noted that new versions of Apple Computer Inc.'s digital music player seem to be coming out all the time and getting smaller and smaller.

"I got the new Apple Tic-Tac. It freshens your breath and plays one song," he joked.

The scene on the red carpet before the show reflected the hodgepodge of musical genres being honored at the AMAs, with hip-hop, pop and country stars making their way through the gantlet of press.

"It's an American quilt," said Lauper, who arrived in a black dress with sheer sleeves and a fringed hem.

She and McLachlan exchanged compliments backstage after the rousing response they received for their duet on "Time After Time," which was co-written by Lauper.

"'Time after Time' is one of the best pop songs ever written, in my opinion. It's an incredible, beautiful, timeless song," McLachan said.

The Couch Potato Report - November 22nd, 2005

This week The Couch Potato Report features Cruise, Spielberg and "The Beav."

For some summer films, like THE LONGEST YARD, FANTASTIC FOUR, and THE DUKES OF HAZZARD, it was easy to check your brain at the door and just enjoy them.

Doing that with some other summer movies was harder, primarily due to expectations.

For instance, if Steven Spielberg decided to make another science fiction movie, there would be expectations.

After all he's the man who made CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND and E.T. - THE EXTRA TERRESTRIAL.

And if that film starred Tom Cruise, the world's biggest movie star, and was going to be based on the classic H.G. Wells book "The War Of The Worlds", well, talk about expectations!

In the end, despite that pedigree, and the best special effects money can buy, the newest version of WAR OF THE WORLDS isn't very good.

The film is very faithful to the book and the story still focuses on aliens who are looking destroy humankind as quick as possible.

But unlike the WAR OF THE WORLDS inspired INDEPENDENCE DAY this movie doesn't give us much of a thrill ride. Ultimately, that is why I didn't find it very entertaining.

Yes, it has the special effects, Spielberg's unflappable direction, and Cruise's reliable performance as a divorced father who has to rise to the challenge to save his kids, but it doesn't have enough thrill ride moments to make it a great action film, or even a great summer movie.

In reality, it is just a dramatic film with some summer explosions thrown in for good measure.

But it is the second most popular film of 2005 in theatres, so people must have enjoyed it, right?

Well, I didn't enjoy it when I saw it in a theatre, and when I watched the DVD this week I was more than bored.

WAR OF THE WORLDS has great special effects, great directing, a great cast and a great premise, but unfortunately the sum of the movie's parts are nowhere near great.

Another film base on a book is also new on video and DVD this week and I hope this film becomes a cherished holiday classic alongside IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE and A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS.

When THE POLAR EXPRESS was released in theatres a little over a year ago much of the publicity the film received was due to the fact that the film used a "performance capture" technique to translate live performances into all-digital characters.

I admit that if you focus on the technological side of the film you won't enjoy THE POLAR EXPRESS as much as you should.

However, if you can enjoy the film you will find it to be a classic! It is a wonderful celebration of the Christmas spirit, and yes I said Christmas and not Holiday Spirit.

Late one Christmas Eve night, a doubting boy boards a magical train with many other pajama-clad children. The train is headed to the North Pole and only one of the children will be chosen to receive a magical gift that only those who still believe in Santa are eligible.

Tom Hanks' voice stars in THE POLAR EXPRESS and he is directed by Robert Zemeckis, the man who gave us FORREST GUMP and the BACK TO THE FUTURE FILMS.

Yes, THE POLAR EXPRESS is visually stunning, but the story is what is most overwhelming. And who knows, it might even fill you with the childhood joy of Christmas.

Christmas - and Holiday - gift giving might be easier this year if you have people on your list who love TV shows on DVD.

After all there is a wide array of DVD Box Sets already available, and this week we add four more.

And I must admit that it is about time for one of these releases!

My friends, LEAVE IT TO BEAVER has finally debuted on DVD!

LEAVE IT TO BEAVER premiered in the fall of 1957 and instead of looking at life from a parents point of view it focused on the adventures of seven-year-old Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver and his 12-year-old brother, Wally.

Ward and June Cleaver try to keep their youngest son in line, but he always ends up in one kind of jam or another.

Some of the stories are a little dated today, but the show's charm still shines through. It remains one of the best TV shows ever and now all 39 episodes from the show's first season have been digitally remastered and they are available in a three-disc box set.

"Seinfeld" is another classic television show, albeit from a different era. SEINFELD - SEASON 5 and SEASON 6 are also new on DVD this week.

Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer continue to go through life, discussing and experiencing things that we can all relate to on one level or another.

SEASON FIVE includes: The Puffy Shirt, The Sniffing Accountant, The Bris, The Lip Reader, The Stall and The Opposite and you will find The Big Salad, The Gymnast, The Soup, The Race, The Label Maker and The Kiss Hello on the SEASON SIX set.

Each of the sets are four discs and they also include an array of retrospective interviews and behind-the-scenes features.

Since I have already raved about seasons ONE to FOUR here on The Couch Potato Report, you know I love the show, so let me just conclude by saying: Giddy-up!

The final DVD set that I am going to speak about this week is also our final "leftover." Yes, we have now covered all of the major titles that came out while there were no shows this summer.

So, that final "leftover" is the DVD set for A DIFFERENT WORLD - SEASON ONE.

IN 1987 the show debuted as a spin off of THE COSBY SHOW. Daughter Denise was sent off to college to find out that there was "a different world" awaiting her outside the Huxtable house.

In addition to Lisa Bonet as Denise, this first season of the show stars the young, and always beautiful, Marisa Tomei, who would eventually go on to win an Academy Award for her work in MY COUSIN
VINNY.

Denise, Maggie, Whitley, Dwayne Wayne, Ron. They are all still attending Hillman College on this new 4-DVD box set.

A DIFFERENT WORLD - SEASON ONE, SEINFELD - SEASONS 5 & 6, LEAVE IT TO BEAVER - SEASON ONE, THE POLAR EXPRESS and WAR OF THE WORLDS are all available now at a store near you.

Coming up in the next Couch Potato Report is the superb documentary THE MARCH OF THE PENGUINS; Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie star in MR. AND MRS. SMITH as a couple who hide their real jobs from each other; and in SKY HIGH the son of superheroes must save the world.

There is also FAMILY GUY - VOLUME THREE, MURDERBALL and THE MUPPET MOVIE, THE GREAT MUPPET CAPER, MUPPET TREASURE ISLAND and THE MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL are being re-released to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Kermit The Frog!

I'm Dan Reynish. I'll have more on those, and some other releases, in seven days.

For now, that's this week's COUCH POTATO REPORT.

Enjoy the movies and I'll see you back here next week on The Couch!

Hit Me With Your Best Shot, Pretty Lady named Cdn classics by Socan

TORONTO (CP) - Pat Benatar's Hit Me With Your Best Shot and Trooper's Pretty Lady were among five oldies added Monday to the list of homegrown classics by the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada.

Jann Arden's Insensitive, Paul Carrack's Don't Shed A Tear and Nick Gilder's Hot Child In the City rounded out the list of tracks, which passed the 100,000-airplay mark on domestic radio in 2004.

All the songs were written by Canadians.

In addition to marking classics, Socan, which collects and distributes royalty cheques on behalf of songwriters, acknowledged newly written songs which dominated radio last year.

They included Nelly Furtado's Powerless and Try, Sarah McLachlan's Fallen and Stupid, Sarah Harmer's Almost, k-os's Crabbuckit, Finger Eleven's One Thing and Emerson Drive's Waitin' On Me.

The songwriters were to receive trophies at a gala dinner reception on Monday night.

Former 'Showgirl' Crosses 'Threshold'

The dramatic arc of this story would be better if the actress, having starred in a widely derided film that would for years be an easy Hollywood punchline, picked herself up and vowed, Scarlett O'Hara-like, never to go hungry, creatively speaking, again.

Instead, Elizabeth Berkley just went back to work.

"It really has been a great lesson," she says. "Even though people knew me from 'Saved by the Bell,' after that movie it was really up to me to pave my own way."

That movie, of course, is "Showgirls," the legendarily savaged production that also was Berkley's first major role in a feature film. Ten years removed, though, Berkley has forged a nice working actor's career for herself, bouncing between stage, movie and TV work. Her latest role comes Tuesday (Nov. 22) on CBS' first-year drama "Threshold."

In the episode, she plays the trophy wife of an oil magnate who becomes infected with the alien DNA that the government team led by Molly Anne Caffrey (Carla Gugino) is trying to contain. Her character starts to behave rather strangely -- and violently -- but, Berkley notes, "she feels she has a purpose for the first time ever."

"Her drive to spread [the alien DNA] is uncompromised," the actress says from New York, where last week she was filming an episode of NBC's "Law & Order: Criminal Intent." "That's her mission, and she'll stop at nothing to do that, because of this passion and newfound thrill of actually having that purpose. Whether that means seduction, fighting -- whatever it takes. So it was kind of fun to play the bad girl."

The part also allowed her to do something she's never done before: punch through a window. "It was fake glass, obviously, but I've never done a stunt like that in my life," she says, adding with a laugh, "I'm not used to punching."

Berkley has landed a number of guest roles on high-profile shows in recent years, including spots on "CSI" and "Without a Trace." She says doing guest roles requires a somewhat different approach than longer-term work, but it boils down to respecting the fact that a show's regular cast determines the tone on set.

That wasn't an issue on "Threshold," she says, partly because she and Gugino are friends outside of work and partly because the show's cast and crew "are excited about what they're doing, and you can feel that."

"You can really feel the tone on set if people are creatively happy," she says," because then people don't care about the hours. They just love the work. That's what I felt here -- people really cared about what they were doing."

Berkley, whose recent work also includes turns on stage in "Sly Fox" and "Hurlyburly" and the well-received indie film "Roger Dodger," says she doesn't really know what's up next for her. (She does mention that she'd love to work on FX's "Nip/Tuck.") But that's okay -- in fact, it's part of the appeal of acting for her.

"I wouldn't want to know exactly what the next thing is all the time," she says. "The adventure is what moves me ...

"I love what I do so much, and even with the highs and lows of the business, my love for what I do is my salvation, always. It's always exciting that way."

NEW CD RELEASES FOR NOVEMBER 22, 2005

Akon Trouble (CD/DVD combo; Special Edition of 2004 album) (Universal Motown)

Alexisonfire/Moneen Split EP (Vagrant)

Birch Book (In Gowan Ring) Birch Book (In Gowan Ring) (Secretly Canadian)

Michael Bublé Caught in the Act (CD/DVD combo; live performance) (Reprise)

Chamillionaire The Sound of Revenge (two-CD limited edition available same day) (Universal Motown)

Ray Davies Thanksgiving Day EP (V2)

Death from Above 1979 Romance Bloody Romance (remix album; w/Queens of the Stone Age's Josh Homme) (Vice)

DJ Kay Slay The Champions - North Meets South (Koch)

Dr. John Sippiana Hericane EP (Blue Note)

Enya Amarantine (Reprise)

Fort Minor (Linkin Park's Mike Shinoda) The Rising Tied (w//Black Thought, Common, John Legend and more; executive produced by Jay-Z) (Warner Bros.)

Fra Lippo Lippi Songs (Rune Arkiv)

The Fully Down Don't Get Lost in a Movement (Fearless)

Bill Harley One More Time: More Favorite Songs and a New Story (Empyrean)

Seu Jorge Life Aquatic Studio Sessions (Hollywood)

Talib Kweli Right About Now... (w/Mos Def and Jean Grae) (Blacksmith/Warner Bros.)

Jens Lekman Oh, You're So Silent Jens (Secretly Canadian)

Lil' Tweety Confessing a Feeling (enhanced CD) (Thump)

Samara Lubelski The Spectacular Passage (Secretly Canadian)

Gerard Malanga Up from the Archives (Sub Rosa)

Ricky Martin Life (guests Fat Joe, Amerie, the Black Eyed Peas' Will.I.Am and more) (Columbia)

John Mayer Trio Try! (recorded in Chicago) (Columbia)

The Mendoza Line Full of Light and Full of Fire (Secretly Canadian)

MX-80 We're an American Band (Secretly Canadian)

Nelly Sweatsuit (best of two 2004 albums plus new songs w/Diddy, Notorious B.I.G., Paul Wall and more) (Universal Motown)

The Never Enders Air Raid Romance (Indianola)

Okkervil River Black Sheep Boy Appendix EP (Secretly Canadian)

Part Chimp I Am Come (Secretly Canadian)

Queens of the Stone Age Over the Years and Through the Woods (CD/DVD combo) (Interscope)

The Rolling Stones A Bigger Bang (deluxe edition w/bonus tracks, remixes and more) (Virgin)

Juelz Santana What the Game's Been Missing (deluxe limited-edition CD/DVD combo available same day) (Def Jam)

Ray Scott My Kind of Music (Warner Bros. Nashville)

Southern Kaos Get It How U Live (Dollywood)

Scott Stapp (ex-Creed) The Great Divide (Wind-Up)

Static Re: Talking About Memories (City Centre Offices)

System of a Down Hypnotize (produced by Rick Rubin) (Columbia)

Tristeza A Coloures (Better Looking)

Wayne B Night of the Hunter (Quartermass)

Mike West A Westside Story - Chapter 1 (w/Daz Dillinger, the Outlawz, Pitbull and more) (Integrated)

VA Big Boi Presents...Got That Purp? Vol. 2 (w/Goodie Mob, Bubba Sparxxx, Killer Mike, Sleepy Brown and more) (Purple Ribbon/Virgin)

VA High School Reunion: A Tribute to Those Great Eighties Films! (covers of '80s tunes from popular films; w/Kristin Hersch performing the Pixies' "Wave of Mutilation," Matthew Sweet covering Tom Petty's "American Girl," Frank Black doing Iggy Pop's "Repo Man" and more) (American Laundromat/Face Down)

VA Hurricane Relief: Come Together Now (two CDs; new songs by Coldplay, Elton John, Barbra Streisand and more, plus classics by Louis Armstrong, Dr. John and others) (Concord)

VA Jazz at Lincoln Center Presents Higher Ground: Hurricane Relief Benefit Concert (Blue Note)

VA Just Like Paradise: A Millennium Tribute to Diamond David Lee Roth (w/current and former members of Aerosmith, Poison, Black Sabbath, Dio and more) (Versailles)

VA Yo Gotti Presents: The Blackout Squad Volume 2 (w/Yo Gotti, Al Kapone and more) (Inevitable Entertainment)

OST Four Dead Batteries (Hightone)

OST Muppets Christmas Carol (Disney)

OST Rent (film adaptation of Broadway musical) (Reprise)

OST Stargate: Atlantis (score by Joel Goldsmith) (Varèse Sarabande)

OST The High and the Mighty (score by Richard Kaufman) (Varèse Sarabande)

OST Zathura (score by John Debney) (Varèse Sarabande)

DVD The Best and Worst of American Idol, Seasons 1-4 (three DVDs; also available separately; limited edition w/interviews and behind-the-scenes footage) (Fremantle/Capital Entertainment)

DVD The MC: How We Do It (interviews w/Kanye West, 50 Cent, KRS-One, RZA and many more) (Image)

DVD Harry Connick, Jr. and Branford Marsalis Harry and Branford: A Duo Occasion (Marsalis Music/Rounder)

DVD Cradle of Filth Peace Through Superior Firepower (live concert w/behind-the-scenes footage and music videos) (Roadrunner)

DVD Franz Ferdinand Franz Ferdinand (two DVDs; live collection) (Epic)

DVD Peter Gabriel Still Growing Up: Live and Unwrapped (two DVDs; includes material from 2003's "Growing Up Live," plus many other previously unreleased tracks and documentary) (Rhino)

DVD Hellogoodbye OMG HGB DVD ROTFL (w/music videos, interviews, performance footage and more) (Drive Thru)

DVD The Hives Tussles in Brussels (Interscope)

DVD Jack Johnson A Weekend at the Greek & Live in Japan (two DVDs) (Universal)

DVD Keane Strangers (two DVDs) (Interscope)

DVD Killswitch Engage (Set This) World Ablaze (Roadrunner)

DVD Lifehouse Everything (Geffen)

DVD Nailbomb (Soulfly's Max Cavalera and Fudge Tunnel's Alex Newport) Live at Dynamo (Roadrunner)

DVD Papa Roach Live and Murderous in Chicago (Geffen)

DVD Radiohead The Astoria London Live (Capitol)

DVD Rush R30 (two DVDs; deluxe edition w/two CDs available same day; live 2004 Frankfurt show) (Rounder)

DVD Carly Simon Queen Mary 2 Concert (Columbia)

BACK ON TRACK

Per Variety, New Line Cinema sealing a deal with Chris Tucker, Jackie Chan, director Brett Ratner and scribe Jeff Nathanson to make the long-delayed third Rush Hour movie.

Oprah Agrees to Appear on the 'Late Show'

NEW YORK - Oprah, Dave. Dave, Oprah. The cold war between television titans Oprah Winfrey and David Letterman has thawed to the point where Winfrey has accepted Letterman's invitation to appear on the "Late Show" on Dec. 1.

Letterman made the announcement during a taping of his show on Monday. Winfrey's appearance will coincide with opening night of the Broadway musical "The Color Purple," which she is producing.

"What a big night that is going to be — not only for us, not only for Oprah, but for Broadway," Letterman said. "You have the big `Color Purple' Broadway opening, and then right across the street here in this theater, you have Oprah appearing here. I mean, that's what Broadway is all about — it's a street of dreams."

It's Winfrey's first visit to "Late Show," although she was twice Letterman's guest on his NBC show before the late-night comic moved to CBS in 1993.

The origin of their "feud" was murky, although Letterman has frequently joked about her through the years. Letterman's failed 1995 stint as Academy Awards host is best remembered for his awkward "Oprah, Uma. Uma, Oprah" introduction.

Winfrey told Time magazine in 2003 that she wouldn't go on Letterman's show because she's been "completely uncomfortable" as the target of his jokes.

"This just gives you an idea of what a big, big star this really is," Letterman said on Monday. "She's huge. Put bygones behind us, the water under the bridge, over the dam, wherever water goes — standing in your basement — she's going to be here on this show and it's going to be fantastic."

Back in 2003, Letterman joked about wanting Winfrey on his show to hold "the Super Bowl of love." Winfrey — who had sent an olive branch gift of books for Letterman's newborn son — called his bluff and invited him on her show. He declined.

"Here's what would happen: I would go on the `Oprah' show, and I would break down and sob like a little girl ... I don't want to have that happen," he said at the time. "I'd feel ridiculous. I'd never be able to live that down, that Oprah would make me sob."

Former Winfrey protege Dr. Phil has been a frequent Letterman guest, offering his own form of "tough love" in a needling relationship.

Oprah's appearance is a big boost for Letterman, who has been struggling in the ratings this season and falling further behind his nemesis, NBC's Jay Leno.

The timing isn't quite ideal, however: Winfrey will visit the day after the November ratings sweeps period ends.

Peak 'Seinfeld' Seasons to Be Released

NEW YORK - "Seinfeld" has not suffered from shrinkage. Seven years after its finale, not only does the classic sitcom air up to two hours a day in some markets, but the reruns remain fresh enough to spark watercooler chitchat about everything from puffy shirts to mimbos.

"Isn't it weird how present it still is on the television landscape?" Jerry Seinfeld wondered during a recent joint interview with Jason Alexander (who played George), Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Elaine) and Michael Richards (Kramer).

"I hear it all the time, `We go to bed with you guys. We never miss it,'" says Alexander.

Tuesday marks the DVD release of seasons five and six, a period when "Seinfeld" was at its peak with episodes like "The Fusilli Jerry," "The Face Painter" and "The Opposite."

"Most people, you do a TV series, it ends three, four, five years later; it's a relic," Seinfeld says. "But we're still hearing from the people, the audience, the people on the street, as if we're still doing it.

"It feels alive."

Seeing the four principals together again is like a reunion of the Beatles — for the actors as well, who are rarely together any more. Despite last year's acrimony over DVD proceeds, today they revel in each other's company, quickly recounting dialogue when certain scenes are mentioned.

Recalling Kramer's exploits to save a severed pinky toe by commandeering a city bus, Alexander repeats Jerry's line: "You kept makin' all the stops?"

"They kept ringing the bell!" Richards replies, in character.

And they all laugh — it's still funny to them. Similarly, on many of the DVD commentaries, insider insight devolves into simple laughter; the viewer no longer has a guide, but a companion on the couch.

"The show had an intense comedic energy that you do not find on other shows," Seinfeld says. "There's an intense comedic scene happening all the time, and that's the way we tried to make them, really packed, tight, strong — and that just holds the audience."

Alexander adds, "On this show, the comedy was the thing, so if you had to kind of trash a character a little bit..."

"Or entirely," chimes Louis-Dreyfus, whose character perhaps suffered the most — a long, subtle descent from "sponge-worthy" to flirting with Newman, if needed.

"Seinfeld" nearly didn't get the chance to become a hit. It wasn't until the third or fourth season that the show really found its rhythm and audience.

"It seemed early on that it was such a specific audience and when every new element of the audience came on, I was just thinking, `Wow,'" Alexander says. He remembers being astounded when he saw, through his mother's friends, "the senior citizen community groovin' on our show."

"It really was written and geared for a very specific audience, but our comedic strength trumps all of that," Seinfeld says. "The subject matter, the dialogue, the tone isn't right for most of America."

Part of what he's referring to is the racy material. Though vulgarity is often hidden by acrobatic metaphors and pregnant omissions ("You know, I was alone..."), "Seinfeld" still managed to slide plenty past the censors.

How did they get away with their most heralded triumph, "The Contest," from season 4?

"We were somewhat unsupervised," Seinfeld says. "The audience was there and the network is not going to complain if everyone's liking the show."

But one fact of television life is that it can't help but eventually feel dated. While "I Love Lucy," "M A S H" and "Cheers" still have their charms, they are very much of their era.

The absence of cell phones, Jerry's old computer and the group's fondness for "Melrose Place" may soon feel antiquated. Louis-Dreyfus cringes at some of her outfits and hairstyles, and is quick to correct Seinfeld's claim that her clothes have aged more than his.

After the show ended, Seinfeld, 51, mostly went back to standup, a journey chronicled in the documentary "Comedian." The other three have tried new shows: Alexander with last season's canceled "Listen Up," Richards with the failed "The Michael Richards Show," and Louis-Dreyfus on "Old Christine," which debuts at midseason on CBS.

But being pigeonholed by "Seinfeld" is a price the cast will gladly pay. "What actor wouldn't want that kind of experience?" says Louis-Dreyfus, 44.

Perhaps inevitably, the foursome is further removed from "Seinfeld" than many fans. Richards, 56, says he never says "Giddy up!" — "not even when I'm on a horse."

They say they rarely watch their old show, though Alexander, 46, recounts the fun of watching "Seinfeld" with his children, who were surprised what a jerk their father was.

The cast will nevertheless have plenty to remind them of "Seinfeld." People actually practice Mr. Constanza's pseudo Christmas holiday, Festivus, for example. Alexander still gets shouts of "Can't-stand-ya" and "these pretzels are makin' me thirsty!" Louis-Dreyfus hears "yada yada yada," and Seinfeld is asked "where's Kramer?"

So what does Richards get?

"Wish you were back."

Bono Says His Music Will Last 100 Years

NEW YORK - Bono says he'd rather be remembered for his music than his activism.

A dedicated lobbyist for the world's poor and AIDS-stricken, the U2 frontman told CBS' "60 Minutes" that "I think my work — the activism — will be forgotten.

"And I hope it will. Because I hope those problems will have gone away," he said in an interview that aired Sunday.

Since 1999, Bono has helped persuade Republicans and Democrats, presidents and lawmakers, to provide millions to help end the scourge of AIDS, eliminate poverty in Africa and forgive Third World debt.

The Irish rocker also predicted that his music will still be around in 100 years, explaining that his songs occupy "an emotional terrain that didn't exist before our group did."

And Bono said he has no intention of slowing down. He noted that people in rock 'n roll burn out at age 40, and said he wanted to see if his band could continue making "extraordinary" music.

"You know I'm still hungry," said the 45-year-old winner of 14 Grammy awards. "I still want a lot out of music."

Copy-protection turning fans off buying music: retailers

TORONTO (CP) - It's becoming a regular occurrence in CD shops across the country: an irate customer comes in complaining the CD they bought won't play on their computer, and worse yet, they can't transfer the tunes to their IPod.

The culprit is copy-protected or copy-controlled CDs - something many Canadian music retailers say they would like to see pulled from store shelves.

"This is just another really, really ridiculous way of telling our customers, 'We don't want your business,' " said Tim Baker of Sunrise Records, which has 31 shops in southern Ontario.

"It's so stupid."

The issue was underscored last week with news that the anti-piracy technology used on about 50 Sony BMG titles released in the United States and 37 in Canada secretly left spyware behind on people's computers.

The software - developed as a way to fight music piracy - made the machines susceptible to viruses and hackers. And trying to remove the software disabled CD drives.

Needless to say, the technology irked consumers. Thousands flocked to the web to vent, using blogs and online petitions to encourage people to boycott Sony products altogether.

"There's still plenty of work to be done if we are to achieve our goal of being treated like the music lovers we are rather than the criminals that (Sony) assumes us to be," read one posting on www.boycottsony.us.

Sony BMG said Friday that about 120,000 of the 4.7 million faulty CDs were sold in Canada.

They are not the only company to issue copy-protected CDs in Canada.

EMI has been releasing select albums - including the latest Nickelback album, All The Right Reasons - this way for about three years. The company intends to ship out all its releases with the technology by year's end.

The EMI discs use different software than Sony BMG, and have yet to cause any computer troubles.

Labels say they need the technology in order to stop people from sharing music with those who haven't paid for it.

Still, retailers say such technology is punishing those who are actually willing to fork over cash for music - an ever-dwindling group as it is.

"Consumers are not liking it," says Leslie Purchase, assistant manager at CD Plus in the Halifax Shopping Centre. "People are getting very frustrated by (copy-protected CDs)."

She's noticed an increase in customers who put CDs down after noticing the "copy-controlled" or "copy-protected" label.

"A lot of customers won't buy them now. They say 'I don't want it'," she said.

The copy controls are possible through digital rights management technology, or DRM. It lets labels restrict the number of times a CD can be shared - meaning burned or copied.

More controversial is the ability to control which programs consumers can use to playback their music. With EMI and Sony BMG discs, for instance, the music is compatible only with Windows Media Player but not with ITunes (for PC users).

That means people with IPods can't add the newly purchased CD to their playlists without some complicated steps.

CDs with this technology are marked with a warning on the back, usually in a black box.

EMI and Sony openly admit its copy protection measures have upset and annoyed some of its music fans - specifically IPod users. They've even provided websites outlining ways to override the controls, www.emimusic.info and cp.sonybmg.com respectively, in order to get the songs on IPod players.

Complaints even trickled down to the actual musicians, who subsequently posted ways to circumvent the protection measures on their own websites. Bands include Dave Matthews and the Foo Fighters.

The grumbling doesn't come as a surprise, says Terry Millar, director of manufacturing at EMI Canada.

"People have had the freedom to give 10 friends a copy of a disc. For anybody that's used to doing that, all of a sudden they're limited," he said.

"We're going to get complaints. We know that people are used to a certain thing. The thing about it is that it's not the right thing to be doing."

He expects other labels, like Universal and Warner, will eventually follow with similar technology.

But at least one label says it's vehemently opposed to the content protection practice saying it unfairly punishes the music buying public.

"It's backwards thinking. It's protectionism," said Terri McBride, president of Vancouver-based Nettwerk, whose roster includes the Be Good Tanyas. "The average consumer who's not tech-savvy is going to buy the CD, thinking that they can load it onto their IPod . . . They're going to be royally pissed off."

He added: "Why do you want to piss off the people who buy?"

Koppel Exits 'Nightline'

It won't be the same without him, since Ted Koppel and "Nightline" have been so intertwined for so long.

The much-honored journalist leaves the 25-year-old program -- and ABC News, after 42 years overall -- with the show's Tuesday, Nov. 22, telecast. Evolved from a nightly series of specials about U.S. hostages then held in Iran, "Nightline" will continue with a trio of anchors: Martin Bashir, Cynthia McFadden and Terry Moran, who assume their new roles Monday, Nov. 28. Still, a "Nightline" without Koppel may be hard for longtime viewers to grasp, if not for Koppel himself.

"Look," he says, "the same was said of 'The Tonight Show' when Steve Allen left, then when Jack Paar left, then when Johnny Carson left. I think Jack Paar only did it for three years, but it was very difficult for people to imagine there could ever be another Paar. Well, there wasn't; there was a Carson. When he left, Jay [Leno] had a hard time the first couple of years ... understandably, because he had big shoes to fill, but he's done a brilliant job."

Koppel assesses his soon-to-be-former franchise in terms of "the kinds of programs 'Nightline' has done. Sometimes, those are subject-related, as with AIDS and our prison system and race relations. Those are topics we've come back to again and again. Sometimes, they're event-related. You can hardly talk about 'Nightline' without talking about the hostage crisis in Iran, and I find it hard to think about the program's evolution without the week we spent in South Africa in the mid-'80s, or the week we spent bringing Palestinians and Israelis together in the Middle East.

"There was a slogan some bright person in the P.R. department came up with for 'Nightline' many years ago: 'Bringing people together who are worlds apart.' In many respects, 'Nightline' did that when nobody else did, before CNN existed." Which isn't to say Koppel doesn't have a certain affinity for the cable news network: One of his three daughters, Andrea, is among its veteran international correspondents.

In an era of ever-increasing television news options -- some 24/7 -- Koppel and "Nightline" have kept distinguishing themselves, as with the "Day in the Life" profiles and the controversial 2004 broadcast, "The Fallen." That roll call of more than 700 U.S. soldiers killed in the Iraq war prompted one station group to order its ABC affiliates not to carry the episode. Koppel takes particular pride in approaches unique to "Nightline," although he concedes some concepts were born out of necessity.

"The top correspondents at ABC News really didn't want to stay up that late," he muses, "so we were always looking around for reporters to cover stories for us. The first ranks were always too busy; the second ranks were not that easy to find, either; and the third ranks, we didn't want, so we created new styles of covering television news."

Declining to specify his plans until he has left ABC, Koppel is a bit bittersweet about his departure, which comes shortly after the death of longtime friend and colleague Peter Jennings. "Sam Donaldson and Barbara Walters and Charlie Gibson and I are really sort of the last old-timers here," he reflects. "Most of the people I grew up with and admired when I came here as a young man have passed on, quite literally, so it's not quite as traumatic as if I'd left here 20 years ago."

Underwood Aims For Crossover

Unlike the winners before her, current "American Idol" champ Carrie Underwood is gunning for success in not only the pop format, but the country arena too.

Thus, Arista Nashville, a division of RCA Label Group, is partnering with 19 Recordings and J Records in New York to work Underwood's Nov. 15 debut, "Some Hearts."

Underwood has already scored with "Inside Your Heaven," this year's best-selling retail single. The song -- which has sold 434,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan -- topped The Billboard Hot 100 in July because of its strong sales. Now she will try to earn fans at country radio.

"It's a dual approach," says RCA Label Group chairman Joe Galante, who says his Nashville office will handle country radio promotion for Underwood's single "Jesus, Take the Wheel," as well as other marketing and promotion efforts in the country community. The J Records staff is working the album's title track to top 40 and AC radio as well as taking the record to retail.

Underwood is depending on both labels to shepherd her efforts. "They know what they're doing," she says. "I'm a country singer, but because of my exposure on 'American Idol,' I might tend to cross over naturally."

"Jesus, Take the Wheel" is off to a great start at country radio, debuting at No. 39 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and already up to No. 23. It is the first time a newcomer has debuted in the top 40 on that chart with a track from a debut album since Billboard adopted Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems' monitored airplay information as the basis for its radio charts in 1990.

"I'm not preaching," Underwood says of the tune. "It's just a beautiful song I figured a lot of people could relate to whether they believe in God or not. Everybody has had a time in their life when they needed help with something."

In recording the album with producers Mark Bright and Dann Huff, the Checotah, Okla., native says it was important to "keep things as country as possible." Her manager, Simon Fuller (who heads the 19 imprint) suggested she meet with Nashville writers. That turned into a weekend retreat that resulted in one of her co-writes, "I'm Not in Checotah Anymore," making it onto the record. She is buying a home in Nashville and looks forward to more co-writing opportunities.

"Everybody seems to have their arms wide open to me, so that's been great," says Underwood, who admits her first Nashville experience was not so positive. At 15, she was pitched to labels on Music Row and turned down.

Confirmed appearances for Underwood include the Country Music Association Awards, "Dateline," the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, "Dr. Phil," "The View," "Today," "Live With Regis and Kelly," "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," "Late Show With David Letterman" and "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno."

Underwood has also gotten exposure through her spokeswoman deals with Skechers and Hershey's. She appears in Skechers print ads and Hershey's TV ads.

'Rent' veterans turn musical into lively movie

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "Rent" is one of the best film musicals in years -- exuberant, sexy and life affirming in equal measure.

Jonathan Larson's 1996 Tony- and Pulitzer Prize-winning rock musical, based upon Puccini's opera "La Boheme," makes an electrifying move to the screen as director Chris Columbus and choreographer Keith Young push the singing and dancing out into New York streets and subways.

Stylized action in real locations doesn't always work in movies, but it does here perhaps because six of the eight actor-performers from the original Broadway show return for the movie version. These actors know their roles down to the grit in their fingernails, so the film feels loose and real, unfettered by a proscenium and opened up in an almost spiritual way.

"Chicago" proved that American audiences can still, on occasion, embrace a genre that has largely gone out of style. But what will mainstream audiences make of a musical about AIDS, drug addiction, homelessness and drag queens? "Rent" will be strong in major markets but needs crackerjack marketing to draw a broad young audience to the film.

"Rent," which Larson, its author and composer, did not live to see became a worldwide success, focuses on a group of impoverished young artists and musicians, struggling to survive in New York's East Village neighborhood in the 1980s under the shadow of AIDS. "Rent" shares with "La Boheme" an affirmation of the bohemian lifestyle, of creativity and art over anything as mundane as earning a living or paying the rent.

The reason, of course, is these lives might be short. Drugs and HIV inflict several characters. Each feels a pressing need to create a legacy, one in which whom you love is at least important as what you create. You live your art -- and life -- with a metaphorical gun to your head.

Roger ( Adam Pascal) is a handsome yet melancholy songwriter coming off a long bout with heroin. Downstairs neighbor Mimi ( Rosario Dawson), a spectacularly beautiful exotic dancer, has a definite eye for Roger, but he is emotionally shut down and understandably wary of her drug habit. What eventually brings them together, for a moment at least, is the realization that both are HIV-positive.

Roger's roommate Mark ( Anthony Rapp), a struggling filmmaker, starts to document life around him, starting with his circle of friends. He also carries the torch for mercurial performance artist Maureen ( Idina Menzel), who left him for -- the indignity of it all -- a woman, Harvard-trained attorney Joanne (Tracie Thoms).

Returning to the circle of friends is Tom ( Jesse L. Martin), a former professor and computer whiz who is jobless. Moments after getting mugged outside his former digs, Tom meets the love of his life, Angel (Wilson Jermaine Heredia), a drag queen street musician. These two also are HIV-positive.

The outsider of the group is Benjamin Coffin III ( Taye Diggs). Benny married the landlord's daughter and, despite a vow to keep his former roommates in the loft rent-free, has become the "enemy," a capitalist who wants to transform the 'hood by evicting everyone and building a headquarters for a cyberspace enterprise.

The threat of eviction ostensibly gives the story its dramatic impetus: Maureen means to stage a one-woman show in protest, Benny pressures Roger and Mark to stop her and so on. But the real dramatic propulsion comes from love. Tom and Angel fall hard for one another and revel in that love as their time together will be short. Mimi and Roger share an equally profound passion, but Roger refuses to acknowledge it. Mark still pines for Maureen, whose open behavior with men and women sparks doubt and jealousy in Joanne.

The film spills out of the cold-water lofts into nearby streets, bars, restaurants, performance spaces and churches in a celebration of the bohemian life. Stephen Goldblatt's camera is constantly in motion, and Young's dances have a athletic dynamism that energizes the screen. Some dialogue has been added in Steve Chbosky's adaptation, but like the stage show the story is told in musical numbers that flow smoothly one into another. Meanwhile, Larson's music honors a host of traditions, ranging from rock and blues to gospel, soul and even tango.

Columbus managed the complicated logistics of the first two " Harry Potter" movies but never put his own stamp on those huge productions. Something in "Rent," though, hooked him emotionally for the movie represents his best work -- confident of the material inherited from Larson, true to that legacy yet willing to make changes and expand the possibilities for the screen.

Nearly every big movie has its set pieces around which the film develops, but "Rent" is all set pieces. Each requires ingenuity and sweat to get the best out of a super-talented cast. That each succeeds on its own terms yet flows together so easily is a tribute to Columbus' passion for the material.

Howard Cummings' interior sets, the location work, Aggie Guerard Rodgers' vibrant costumes, the terrific dances and adventurous cinematography all add up to pure pleasure.

Revolution Studios presents in association with 1492 Pictures a Tribeca production

CAST:

Mimi: Rosario Dawson

Benny: Taye Diggs

Angel: Wilson Jermaine Heredia

Tom: Jesse L. Martin

Maureen: Idina Menzel

Roger: Adam Pascal

Mark: Anthony Rapp

Joanne: Tracie Thoms

Director: Chris Columbus; Screenwriter: Steve Chbosky; Based on the play by: Jonathan Larson; Producers: Jane Rosenthal, Robert De Niro, Chris Columbus, Mark Radcliffe, Michael Barnathan; Executive producers: Jeffrey Seller, Kevin McCollum, Allan S. Gordon, Lata Ryan; Director of photography: Stephen Goldblatt; Production designer: Howard Cummings; Music and lyrics: Jonathan Larson; Choreographer: Keith Young; Costumes: Aggie Guerard Rodgers; Editor: Richard Pearson.

Bowie ponders 'Prestige' thriller

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Rock star David Bowie is in talks to play inventor Nikola Tesla in "The Prestige," a thriller from "Batman Begins" director Christopher Nolan.

The cast also includes Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale and Michael Caine in a tale of rival magicians in early 20th century London. The Tesla character is based on the real-life Serbian-American who discovered the rotating magnetic field.

The script, on which Nolan is working, is based on Christopher Priest's 1996 novel and was adapted by Nolan's brother, Jonathan, who also wrote the short story on which Nolan's breakout movie, "Memento," was based.

The movie is scheduled to shoot in January with a budget in the $40 million range. Disney will distribute the film domestically, and Warner Bros. internationally.

Bowie's acting credits range from 1976's "The Man Who Fell to Earth" to 1983's "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence," 1966's "Basquiat" and, most recently, 2000's "Mr. Rice's Secret."

CBC, CTV share Gemini honours

TORONTO (CP) - The Eleventh Hour, a program already cancelled by CTV after its third season of low ratings, won the 2005 Gemini Award as Canada's best dramatic series.

Michael Riley and Cara Pifko of CBC's legal drama This Is Wonderland were named best drama series actor and actress.

The results were announced Saturday night at a black-tie gala, the finale of three successive nights of Gemini events marking the award's 20th anniversary.

"I believe that's why they invented the word bittersweet," said Eleventh Hour producer Peter Simpson, who was reluctant to blame the network for the show's cancellation.

"In terms of audience, we were on life support for a long time."

Simpson said they just couldn't hustle the ratings.

"We were very proud of our quality, the problem was we didn't know how to whore ourselves enough to get the numbers."

The Gemini telecast, airing for the first time on Global TV, got off to a rocky technical start but soon picked up steam with a sketch that featured a wide variety of Canadian TV entertainers past and present, from 8-year-old kids' show host Daniel Cook to veteran comic Dave Broadfoot, who turns 80 in a few weeks.

Best dramatic miniseries was CBC's Sex Traffic, an intense story about the modern-day international slave market. Nominated for 14 Geminis, it won seven.

In comedy, CTV's runaway hit sitcom Corner Gas was voted the best, although the Brent Butt series was not nominated in other key categories. Conversely, that other popular comedy, Showcase's Trailer Park Boys, was not nominated in the best comedy series category this year but won for best ensemble performance.

Best lead actor in a dramatic program or miniseries was Brendan Fletcher for his chilling performance as a psycho killer in The Death and Life of Nancy Eaton. It was his second win out of four nominations. Kristen Thomson won best actress in a drama or miniseries for CBC's I, Claudius.

"My mom is going to be so happy," said Fletcher, 23, who confessed he was so nervous he forgot to go to the washroom.

"Can you say holy crap on TV?" blurted an excited Pifko in accepting her statue.

The Eleventh Hour, which dealt with life behind the scenes at a fictional TV newsmagazine show, went into the Gemini weekend with a leading 15 nominations. On Friday, it won four other awards, for best direction (David Wellington), writing (Semi Chellas and Tassie Cameron), makeup (Marilyn O'Quinn) and guest actor (Henry Czerny).

In a departure from tradition, Global's Kevin Newman - who already has two Emmys - won the best news anchor Gemini, although Global News did not win in the best newscast category at Thursday's non-televised gala.

"I want to thank you for giving me the Peter Mansbridge award," he said, referring to the usual winner in that category.

"We are blessed in this country with three fabulous newsrooms," the former ABC-TV newsman said. "Canadians have a good choice in this country. I think we should be very proud of that."

Newman called Global National a "small guerrilla team" that works hard to be worth viewers' support.

The nod for best writing in a comedy or variety show went to Ken Finkleman for The Newsroom on CBC while best drama program or miniseries writing went to Alan DiFiore and Chris Haddock for CTV's gritty street crime drama The Life.

"The best thing about writing is you don't have to thank anyone," is all the droll Finkleman said in accepting his award.

Best sports host or interviewer honours went to Scott Russell of CBC Sports Saturday and the Gemini Viewers' Choice award went to Marilyn Denis of Cityline on CHUM's Toronto-based Citytv.

Denis conceded she felt like the Susan Lucci of Canadian TV, a reference to the much-nominated U.S. soap actress. Denis was nominated five times in the past but this was her first win.

"I'm so happy for our show," she declared, noting she had been doing it for 17 years.

Here are some of the key winners at the 2005 Gemini Awards:

Best Dramatic Mini-Series

Sex Traffic

(Big Motion Pictures Ltd., Granada Television, in association with the CBC)

Wayne Grigsby, Michele Buck, David MacLeod, Derek Wax

Best Dramatic Series

The Eleventh Hour

(Norstar Filmed Entertainment)

Ilana Frank, Semi Chellas, Daphne Park, Ray Sager, Peter Simpson, David Wellington

Best Comedy Program or Series

Corner Gas

(Prairie Pants Productions II Inc)

Brent Butt, Mark Farrell, Paul Mather, David Storey, Virginia Thompson

Donald Brittain Award for Best Social/Political Documentary Program

Runaway Grooms

(ASLI Films Inc.)

Ali Kazimi

Best Direction in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series

Chris Abraham - I, Claudia

Best Writing in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series

Alan DiFiore, Chris Haddock - The Life

Best Writing in a Comedy or Variety Program or Series

Ken Finkleman - The Newsroom Season III - Baghdad Bound

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series

Brendan Fletcher - The Death and Life of Nancy Eaton

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series

Kristen Thomson - I, Claudia

Best Performance by an Actor in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role

Michael Riley - This Is Wonderland - Episode 213

Best Performance by an Actress in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role

Cara Pifko - This Is Wonderland - Episode 212

Best Ensemble Performance in a Comedy Program or Series

John Paul Tremblay, Cory Bowles, Lucy Decoutere, Barrie Dunn, Sarah Dunsworth, John Dunsworth, Jeanna Harrison-Steinhart, Michael Jackson, Garry James, Tyrone Parsons, Pat Roach, Mike Smith, Shelley Thompson, Jonathan Torrens, Robb Wells - Trailer Park Boys: Season 4 - Working Man

Best News Anchor

Global National with Kevin Newman

(Global National)

Kevin Newman

Best Host or Interviewer in a Sports Program or Sportscast

Scott Russell - CBC Sports Saturday

Gemini Viewers' Choice Award

Marilyn Denis - Cityline

A complete list of winners is available at www.geminiawards.ca

Aguilera Reportedly Marries Music Exec

NEW YORK - Christina Aguilera has found out what a girl wants, and now she's married him. The 24-year-old pop singer tied the knot with music executive Jordan Bratman in a Saturday evening ceremony at Staglin Family Vineyard in northern California's Napa Valley, Us Weekly reported on its Web site.

Sources told the magazine that Aguilera, her hair decorated in jewels and pulled back in a bun topped by white flowers, walked down the aisle in a Christian Lacroix gown. The couple exchanged rings in front of about 130 guests.

Aguilera and Bratman arrived in Napa Valley on Wednesday to kick off wedding festivities, with a Japanese-themed rehearsal dinner Friday night at the Auberge Du Soleil resort, Us Weekly reported.

Bratman, 28, proposed to Aguilera in February while on vacation in Carmel, Calif. Their hotel room was filled with rose petals, balloons and gift boxes.

"When I got to the last box, there was a ring in it," Aguilera told People magazine. "He got down on one knee and said 'Will you do me the honor of being my wife?' I've been floating ever since."

'Harry Potter' Dominates Box Office

LOS ANGELES - The bespectacled boy wizard has worked his biggest box-office magic to date.

"Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" grossed $101.4 million in its debut weekend, the best results yet for the franchise, according to studio estimates released Sunday.

The latest Potter movie led a lineup that helped reverse the Hollywood box-office slump, with the top 12 films raking in $171 million, up 19 percent from the same weekend last year when "National Treasure" was No. 1 with $35.1 million.

"Goblet of Fire" was the fourth-best, three-day opening weekend ever, behind "Spider-Man" at $114.8 million in 2002 and "Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith" and "Shrek 2," at $108 million apiece.

The fourth installment of the adventures of Harry and his curious classmates at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is the first Potter film to earn a PG-13 rating for its fantasy violence and special effects. But that did not deter audiences.

"The Potter franchise is just irresistible to moviegoers," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations. "The combination of the Potter books and the love audiences have for the movies conspired a big opening weekend."

Debuting in second place was the Johnny Cash film biopic "Walk the Line," which took in $22.4 million. The film chronicles the early musical career of Cash, played by Joaquin Phoenix, and also stars Reese Witherspoon as Cash's lifelong love, June Carter. Phoenix and Witherspoon do their own singing.

Disney's computer-animated film "Chicken Little," which held the top spot last week, slipped to No. 3 with $14.8 million. Jennifer Anniston's thriller "Derailed" ranked fourth with $6.5 million and the sci-fi fantasy "Zathura: A Space Adventure" rounded out the top five with $5.1 million.

Based on the best-selling books by J.K. Rowling, "Goblet of Fire" follows 14-year-old Harry, who unwillingly competes against three older wizards in a dangerous Triwizard Tournament. The movie features a dramatic face-off between Harry and Lord Voldemort — He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named — the dark warlock who killed Harry's parents and who tried to kill him when he was a baby.

Dan Fellman, head of distribution at Warner Bros., which released "Goblet of Fire," said the results exceeded the studio's expectations. The third Potter film, "Prisoner of Azkaban," premiered last year at $93.7 million.

"As the audience has gotten older in time, faithful readers of the Potter books will remain faithful to the movies," Fellman said.

Here are the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," $101.4 million
2. "Walk the Line," $22.4 million
3. "Chicken Little," $14.8 million
4. "Derailed," $6.5 million
5. "Zathura," $5.1 million
6. "Jarhead," $4.8 million
7. "Get Rich or Die Tryin," $4.4 million
8. "Saw II," $3.9 million
9. "Legend of Zorro," $2.3 million
10. "Pride and Prejudice," $2.1 million

Trio Punches Clock for "24"

Jack is back. And he's bringing some friends with him.

The Fox hit 24 is dusting off the welcome mat for three more veteran actors this season, with Peter Weller, JoBeth Williams and Julian Sands joining the ever-revolving cast, the network announced Friday.

When viewers last saw Kiefer Sutherland's rogue agent Jack Bauer, he was dropped off south of the border, handed a new identity and warned not to return to the U.S.

The new season, Day 5 in Bauer-land, kicks off 18 months later, with national security once again "brutally breached."

The presumed-dead Bauer has taken up a new life with his girlfriend and her