Multiple Grammy-winners Lady Antebellum debuts at number-one on the Billboard chart: “The extremely good-looking country trio surged into pop superstardom on the strength of its 2010 middle-of-the-road single ‘Need You Now.’ But the band’s new album, ‘Own the Night,’ leaped to Number One in its first week, selling 347,000 copies, with no hit single … For the most part, to have lasting success on the album charts these days, an artist needs smash singles on YouTube and radio. Undoubtedly Lady Antebellum will pursue this strategy, since its album is full of obvious radio hits. But for now, it’s possible country artists have the unique power to grab Number One without a smash single.” ROLLING STONE
“The X Factor” has a solid debut, but Emmy-winner “Modern Family” posts blockbuster ratings: “Simon Cowell made a solid return to Fox last night, but his new show ‘The X Factor’ was no match for the Dunphys and Pritchetts (and a far cry from ‘American Idol‘). ‘X Factor’ debuted to 12.5 million viewers and a 4.4 adults 18-49 rating, while ABC’s Emmy-winning ‘Modern Family’ delivered 14.3 million viewers and a whopping 6.0 series-high rating.” EW.COM
Grammy-winner John Legend transitions to TV by executive producing a new project for NBC: “John Legend and Mike Jackson are executive producing though their Get Lifted Film Co. and Weinberg’s through her Yellow Brick Road banner. Universal Television will produce. Inspired by Jackson’s childhood growing up in suburban Philadelphia, ‘Mixed Blessings’ centers on a prominent, black, street-bred hip-hop artist enjoying his single life who discovers that he has a teenage son and decides to connect with him and his white suburban family.” DEADLINE
David Fincher‘s upcoming “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” unveils its new trailer: “The clip maps out the film’s dark story, based on Stieg Larsson‘s bestselling novel, and gives a closer look at its two stars – Daniel Craig as journalist Mikael Blomkvist and Rooney Mara as enigmatic hacker Lisbeth Salander. We also get glimpses of the mysterious Vanger family, helmed by patriarch Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer). This new clip is longer, and gives more context, than the intense, fast-paced teaser set to Trent Reznor and Karen O‘s cover of ‘Immigrant Song’ that was released earlier this summer. The film hits theaters on Dec. 21.” CBS NEWS
Robert Bianco not fond of Whitney Cummings‘s new NBC sitcom, “Whitney,” debuting tonight: “Whitney Cummings already has scored with viewers this fall as co-creator of one of the year’s most promising sitcoms, CBS’ 2 Broke Girls, which had a blockbuster (albeit ‘Two and a Half Men‘ return-inflated) opening on Monday. What a shame she felt the need to lessen our affection with Whitney. Shot in front of an audience — a rarity for NBC — ‘Whitney’ is Cummings’ attempt to turn her stand-up act into a sitcom, and it falls into every trap that the best such transfers avoid.” USA TODAY
“Monster” director to take the reins on “Thor 2”? “Marvel Studios is getting close to naming a director for ‘Thor 2,’ and I’m hearing they might go with a surprise: Patty Jenkins, best known for directing Charlize Theron to an Oscar in ‘Monster,’ and also for directing the superb pilot for AMC’s ‘The Killing.’ This would be a real surprise, because women directors aren’t usually high on the list for superhero movies. Let’s see how this plays out, but it looks pretty serious. Kenneth Branagh directed the original.” DEADLINE
Legendary indie-rock quartet R.E.M. breaks up after 31 years together: “In just over three decades as a band, R.E.M. released 15 albums including landmark works such as ‘Murmur,’ ‘Reckoning,’ ‘Document,’ ‘Out of Time’ and ‘Automatic For the People.’ The band’s final album, ‘Collapse Into Now,’ was released in March of this year. The band have plans to release a career-spanning greatest hits collection later this year, which will include a handful of new songs finished after the band completed ‘Collapse Into Now.'” ROLLING STONE
