The Entertainment Tattler

Harry Potter fans could very well have been employing a cloning spell last night, as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 1 grossed a tremendous $24 million from midnight and early morning showings, according to studio estimates. Deathly Hallows debuted at 3,700 theaters at midnight, with many theaters showing the PG-13 movie on multiple screens and adding showtimes as late as 3:15 a.m. The $24 million midnight figure is the most ever for a Harry Potter film, topping Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince‘s $22.2 million midnight debut from last year. Deathly Hallows, however, fell short of the last two Twilight movies: This year’s The Twilight Saga: Eclipse summoned a record $30 million from midnight screenings, while The Twilight Saga: New Moon earned $26.3 million.



Like a fine wine, "Harry Potter" only gets better with age — at least when it comes to midnight debuts.

The seventh film in the boy-wizard franchise, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1" conjured up $24 million domestically from early Friday morning (November 19) screenings, according to box-office tracker Hollywood.com. In so doing, the film outstripped last year's "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," which nabbed $22.2 million from midnight showings, to land the #3 spot on the all-time list for midnight debuts.


The only movies ahead of it belong to another cinematic series that has captivated teens: "The Twilight Saga." Last summer's "Eclipse" ranks first with a whopping $30 million from its midnight showings, and 2009's "New Moon" is a close second with $26.3 million.

While "Deathly Hallows - Part 1" didn't exactly suck the life out of its vampire competition in the midnight-screenings department, the film is well on its way to a magical box-office run. Hollywood.com box-office prognosticator Paul Dergarabedian is forecasting an opening weekend well north of $100 million, which would make it only the second "Potter" film to achieve that feat (2005's "Goblet of Fire" tallied $102.7 million in its opening frame). Other analysts are estimating that it could earn as much as $130 million, solidifying it a spot in the top-five opening weekends in history.

So will "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1" eventually beat out the franchise-topping $317 million domestic gross of the first film in the series, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone"? Largely positive reviews certainly won't hurt it. And neither will the fact that it is "Part 1" of the epic saga's finale and should draw repeat viewings from fans who aren't quite ready to say goodbye. Of course, any records "Part 1" does set will likely be broken when "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2" hits theaters in July.

Glee‘s rendition of Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream” has sold 214,000 digital copies, which bests the cast’s “Don’t Stop Believin,’” Columbia Records announced, which puts it at the top of the digital-track sales this week. Glee also now has the second-most entries ever on the Hot 100 list: Including this week’s new entries, the show has 93 songs that have made the cut. Only Elvis Presley, with 108 tracks, has more.



Admit it ... you've been listening to Darren Criss' version of "Teenage Dream" on repeat. Apparently, so has the rest of the country, because the Katy Perry cover is poised to become one of Glee's best sellers.

If the numbers are correct, this rendition of Perry's hit song is expected to sell around 150,000 to 175,000 downloads on iTunes, which would make it the single-best sales week for a single from the series, beating out current champ "Don't Stop Believing."

Gwyeneth Paltrow showed what it was like to be the coolest substitute in town on last night's (Nov. 16) episode of "Glee."

The actress made her first appearance on our favorite glee club comedy as Holly Holiday, the hippest substitute at McKinley High, who helms the club when Mr. Shuester comes down the flu (and Rachel tries to rule song selections with an ultra-diva attitude). Paltrow attempts to help the show choir modernize and voice their opinions of what songs to perform -- most of which come straight from the Top 40 radio chart. Ironically, three of the four musical numbers in this episode were Broadway classics.



First she sold her country-music song on the CMA Awards; then Gwyneth Paltrow helped make this week’s Glee crisp, fresh fun. Her turn as substitute teacher Holly Holiday was a hoot — Paltrow played her commitment-phobic character with total commitment, without ever making it seem like a straining effort.

Glee always benefits when strong actors invade its space, and Paltrow is one of the first guest stars to go toe-to-toe with Jane Lynch and come out looking refreshed, not squashed. As they sat side-by-side watching Animal Hoarders, they made the script sound like swift improv, and earlier, Paltrow had handled the obligatory Glee-style put-down — “You’re, like, 40″ — by delivering the retort with a wet-towel snap: “Top 40, sweet cheeks.”

Your full Glee TV Watch, courtesy of Glee-master Tim Stack, is now available for your enjoyment. But I’m on Paltrow Watch this week. When her Holly took down Rachel (“You’re a total drag”), Paltrow executed a 180-degree mood swing, from sarcasm to enthusiasm, with the sort of ease the rest of the cast deploys during the musical numbers.

Speaking of which, Paltrow’s performances were fun — literally kicky. But it was the quick, carefully-thought-out throwaway moments — Holly dressed as Mary Todd Lincoln, with Paltrow doing effusive “bipolar” shtick — that made this episode one in which the guest star both stood out and meshed with the cast.
Agree? Disagree?

NBC drama The Event will get a relaunch on the channel in January 2011, in a bid to restore its falling ratings, according to cast and crew of the series.

Entertainment Weekly reports that members of the show’s ensemble were gathered at the Screen Actors Guild headquarters in Los Angeles.

Bill Smitrovich – who plays Vice President Raymond Jarvis – said: “We will finish up with our first 13 and then there will be a break, and then we’ll come back with a one-hour compilation clip show of the first 13 so everybody can catch up with story.”



Blair Underwood (President Elias Martinez) added: “Ratings are one of the variables that we don’t have control over.

“There is the crossfire competition from Dancing With The Stars, football and the number one comedy Two And A Half Men. Then, this is the type of genre show like 24 and Lost where viewership always picks up in the second season because people go back and watch during the summer or get the DVD.

“That builds an audience. And this show was sold in 200 international markets before it premiered here so there is incentive to keep the show going. We are in a good place.”

Update, 11-15: NBC announced a new midseason lineup that includes The Event going off the air on Nov. 29 and returning Feb. 28.

Ratings for NBC’s high-concept drama The Event may be depressingly low, but the network (and the show’s cast) isn’t giving up. Members of the show’s ensemble told a crowd gathered at the Screen Actors Guild headquarters in Los Angeles Saturday that NBC will relaunch the show in January in an effort to attract more viewers.

“We will finish up with our first 13 and then there be a break, and then we’ll come back with a one-hour compilation clip show of the first 13 so everybody can catch up with story,” says Bill Smitrovich, who plays Vice President Raymond Jarvis. “I hope that will spark another increase in the audience.”

The star's husband, Prince Frederic von Anhalt, says Gabor is back home and has the assistance of two nurses, according to the Associated Press. She was treated for a leg infection at a Los Angeles hospital and is taking antibiotics, orally and intravaneously.

If antibiotics don't help, the 93-year-old actress may have to undergo leg surgery. In August, after one of several hospitalizations, Gabor asked a priest to read her last rites.



Gabor is being treated with intravenous antibiotics and is also taking oral medication for a separate blood infection. Von Anhalt says if the infections don't clear up within a week, Gabor could undergo surgery.

He also said Gabor is in stable condition, and she has two round-the-clock nurses to take care of her.

The 93-year-old actress was taken to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center after doctors found massive blood clots in her legs, after she complained to her husband, Prince von Anhalt, of leg pain and swelling.

The blood clots make her more vulnerable to the possibility of a heart attack.

Gabor's health has been failing since she had hip replacement surgery in July.

She has been hospitalized several times this year and even had a priest read her last rites in August. At that time, she declined to have any more medical procedures and returned home.

But at the end of August, she was taken back to the hospital after her husband found her unresponsive, but doctors were able to stabilize her and she was released.

The creator of the widely syndicated comic "Garfield" has apologized for a strip that ran on Veterans Day that some critics saw as making fun of the holiday honoring those who served in the U.S. military.

Thursday's strip showed a spider warning the comic's featured cat, the lazy and overweight Garfield, that if the feline "squishes" him, an annual day of remembrance will be held in his honor.

Garfield, who frequently crushes spiders in the series, apparently is undeterred and the strip closes with a classroom of spiders being asked why they celebrate "National Stupid Day."

The cartoon drew such Internet comments as "Surely this isn't in the best of taste for Armistice Day/Veterans Day'' and that Garfield creator Jim Davis "is way off the mark with this cartoon. Shame on him."

Although others said they doubted creator had such intentions or that they didn't read the strip the way the critics did, Davis issued a statement apologizing.

"Please accept my apologies for any offense today's Garfield may have created. It was unintentional and regrettable," the statement said.

It said the cartoon had been written almost a year previously and that Davis, who had a brother who served in Vietnam and a son who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, had not known when it was going to appear.

The Garfield Website, garfield.com/, says the cartoon strip is the most widely syndicated in the world, according to Guinness World Records, and appears in more than 2,600 newspapers.

ABC came out on top Wednesday for doling out trophies on the 44th Annual Country Music Association Awards. The network finished the night with a 4.7 rating/13 share among adults 18-49 and averaged 16.4 million viewers, with the three-hour kudofest attracting its largest audience during the 9 p.m. hour (17.1 million). The show hosted by Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood was still down 11 percent in the demo from last season, however, and represents the show’s lowest-rated telecast ever, according to early returns.


Fox and CBS were tied for second place among 18-49 (2.7/7 versus 2.7/8). Hell’s Kitchen returned after a three-week hiatus because of baseball and earned a 2.7/7 and 5.6 million viewers. Survivor: Nicaragua earned a 3.2/9 and 11.2 million, followed by Criminal Minds (3.0/8, 12.4 million) and The Defenders (1.8/5, 8.3 million).
NBC was third for the night with a 1.6/5 (yikes). Undercovers earned a 1.2/4 (hate to hit a canceled show when it’s already down but that’s its lowest-rated telecast ever) and averaged 5.0 million, followed by Law & Order: SVU (2.0/5, 7.1 million), and Law & Order: LA (1.7/5, 6.7 million). The L&O franchise needs a decent lead-in, stat.
In the total viewer race, CBS came in second for the night behind ABC with 10.6 million, followed by NBC (6.3 million), Fox (5.7 million), Univision (3.9 million) and the CW (2. million).

Veteran small-screen actor Bob Newhart is coming to TV’s No. 1 program! EW has learned exclusively that Newhart — who last played Morty on ABC’s Desperate Housewives — will guest star in a January episode of CBS’ addictive series NCIS. He’ll play Dr. Walter Magnus, a character who’s described as a “shrewd, eccentric nostalgic” with a whole lot of charm.



Want more? He’s also a former medical examiner who comes out of retirement to relive the magic — but something unexpected happens that catches Ducky (David McCallum) and the others by surprise.

Newhart comes at a particularly good time for NCIS, which at 21.4 million, is TV’s most-watched drama.