LOS ANGELES – Kathryn Bigelow played field commander to bring her raw, relentless Iraq War thriller The Hurt Locker to the screen.

The Oscars this year brought big wins for The Hurt Locker, Bigelow, Bullock, and Bridges.

After her film triumphed at the Academy Awards with six prizes and made her the first woman ever to win the directing Oscar, she graduated to diplomat with her deft handling of some uncomfortable personal questions from reporters after the show.

Bigelow’s rivals included a man from her past — ex-husband James Cameron, whose science-fiction epic Avatar also was nominated for the best picture and director that she won.

Backstage, Bigelow judiciously handled reporters’ queries about Cameron, who was seated right behind her at the Oscars and joined the standing ovation she received, clapping heartily and saying, “Yes, yes” after she won best director.

“Jim is very inspiring. I think he inspires filmmakers around the world, and for that, I think I can speak for all of them. We’re quite grateful,” Bigelow said.

Asked what she might say to Cameron about winning over him, Bigelow gave a big laugh and shrugged off the question.

“You left me speechless,” Bigelow said. She and Cameron were married from 1989-91, and Cameron won best director and picture for his 1997 blockbuster Titanic.

First-time winners took all four acting prizes: Sandra Bullock as best actress for The Blind Side; Jeff Bridges as best actor for Crazy Heart; Mo’Nique as supporting actress for Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire; and Christoph Waltz as supporting actor for Inglourious Basterds.

Bigelow downplayed descriptions of herself as a female filmmaker throughout awards season. After the Oscars, she reiterated that sentiment but made it clear she was eager for other women to follow her lead in winning Hollywood’s top filmmaking honor.

“I hope I’m the first of many, and of course, I’d love to just think of myself as a filmmaker. And I long for the day when that modifier can be a moot point,” Bigelow said. “But I’m very grateful if I can inspire some young, intrepid, tenacious male or female filmmaker and have them feel that the impossible is possible, and never give up on your dream.”

Bullock’s win came a day after she won worst-actress for her romantic comedy flop All About Steve at the Razzies, a spoof of the Oscars that mocks Hollywood’s low-points of the year.

The Razzie win makes Bullock the only actress to receive that dubious prize and an Oscar on the same weekend. Bullock became one of the few Razzie winners ever to collect her trophy in person, showing up at the ceremony Saturday pulling a little red wagon filled with DVDs of All About Steve for the audience there.

Where will she keep her Oscar and Razzie?

“They’ll sit side by side on a nice little shelf somewhere. The Razzie maybe on a different shelf. Lower,” said Bullock, who was a great sport throughout awards season, joking about her worst-actress Razzie nomination. “You take the good with the not-so-good.”

The Oscar marks a career peak for Bridges, a beloved Hollywood veteran who had been nominated four times in the previous 38 years without winning. Describing his long career, he borrowed some lines from one of his most endearing and enduring characters, the laid-back bowler the Dude from The Big Lebowski.

“Ups and downs. What does the Dude say? Strikes and gutters, man,” Bridges said backstage. “I’m big on the Dude. I love him.”

Known mainly for brazen comedy routines and roles in lowbrow films, Mo’Nique startled audiences with a dark turn as a reprehensible welfare mother in Precious.

Asked backstage if things would change for her, Mo’Nique declared, “I am a standup comedian who won an Oscar.”

Austrian-born Waltz, a veteran TV and stage actor in Europe but virtually unknown in Hollywood before Quentin Tarantino cast him in Inglourious Basterds, reflected on his sudden Oscar celebrity.

“It’s mind-boggling. It’s fantastic. It’s very intense,” Waltz said. “And tomorrow I’ll probably be sorry it’s over,” he said.

The Hurt Locker scored a victory for war-on-terror dramas, which until now had found little favor with audiences shell-shocked by nightly news coverage of the action in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The film stars Jeremy Renner as the ace leader of a bomb-disposal unit in Iraq, a man whose addiction to the adrenaline rush of war endanger his colleagues (Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty).

War films normally are the arena of male directors, but Bigelow has made action and stories about tough men a specialty, her films including the Keanu Reeves-Patrick Swayze thriller Point Break and Harrison Ford’s submarine adventure K-19: The Widowmaker.

K-19 was a 2002 flop, and it took Bigelow years to get back in action with The Hurt Locker, which premiered at the Venice and Toronto film festivals in September 2008.

While it pulled in $12.6 million domestically, a respectable showing for an independent film without big stars, The Hurt Locker is the lowest-grossing best-picture winner in this modern era of detailed box-office bookkeeping.

It took in less than one-fourth the haul of 2005 best-picture winner Crash, itself one of the least commercially successful recipients of the top Oscar.

Along with Avatar, the biggest modern blockbuster with $720 million domestically, the best-picture competition included the $200 million smashes Up and The Blind Side and the $100 million hits District 9 and Inglourious Basterds.”

Like Crash, The Hurt Locker was a rare film that swooped in from outside the Hollywood studios to earn the industry’s highest tribute. The Hurt Locker was acquired by Summit Entertainment after the film played at the Toronto festival, where Crash also was bought by distributor Lionsgate.

Joining Bigelow to collect the best-picture Oscar were Hurt Locker producers Mark Boal, who also won the prize for original screenplay, and Greg Shapiro.

A fourth producer — financier Nicolas Chartier, a key money man behind the film — was barred from attending as punishment for violating awards rules by sending e-mails to Oscar voters urging them to back The Hurt Locker over Avatar.

Oscar overseers said Chartier still will receive his best-picture Oscar, but at a later time.

“We haven’t spoken to him yet,” Shapiro said. “He sent me a very beautiful e-mail. He had a party thrown for him, and I think he’s very pleased.”

NEW YORK – Early indications are that an Academy Awards telecast where The Hurt Locker topped the popular Avatar for best picture was popular with viewers.

The Nielsen Co.’s overnight measurement of the nation’s 56 biggest markets gave ABC’s telecast a 26.5 rating and 40 audience share. That’s a 14 percent increase over the same rating for last year’s telecast, when Slumdog Millionaire was named best picture.

Nielsen is expected to give an estimate of the audience size later Monday. Last year’s telecast was seen by 36.3 million people. Each rating point represents 1,149,000 households, and the share means that 40 percent of the televisions being used at the time were tuned into the Oscars. The Oscars had a 29.4 rating in the New York market, Nielsen said. That was 11 percent above the average for other big cities and No. 13 among those cities.

NEW YORK – Production of the Fox network thriller “24″ has been temporarily shut down so that star and executive producer Kiefer (KEE’-fur) Sutherland can undergo surgery.

Shooting is expected to resume next week with Sutherland’s return. Twentieth Century Fox Television would not comment on the nature of Sutherland’s ailment, referring to it only as “a medical procedure.” The Los Angeles Times first reported the production halt and says Sutherland suffered from a ruptured cyst.

About six more weeks of production time remains for the season. Fox says no disruption is expected in airing the episodes.

Sutherland plays counter-terrorist hero Jack Bauer on the series. The show is now in its eighth season.

NEW YORK – By noon, it had been quite a day for Razzle Dazzle.

Fraiser, a 2-year-old dachshund is groomed backstage during the 134th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, Monday, Feb. 15, 2010 in New York. There are 2,500 dogs competing at Madison Square Garden for the coveted title of best in show. The top prize will be presented Tuesday night. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

She’d already walked off with a repeat ribbon as the best bulldog at the Westminster Kennel Club show Monday, and now it was time for a catnap. So she put her big, wrinkled head down in her crate and tried to take a snooze.

No luck. Minutes later, the backstage crowd at America’s most prestigious dog show kept clamoring for a closer look. The 3-year-old bruiser woke, raised up and unleashed a full, throaty bark.

Co-owner Robert Speiser did his best to shield her from all the commotion, pressing his body against the front of her crate.

“Go back to bed, honey,” he whispered.

Madison Square Garden was steamy for the opening session of the two-day event. More than half of the 2,500 dogs were housed right off the main floor and thousands of fans jammed in on a holiday to see them.

“It’s a madhouse,” said Jane Bates, co-owner of a top golden retriever called Treasure.

Sadie the Scottish terrier loomed as the clear favorite to win best in show Tuesday night. Treasure, Razzle Dazzle, a crowd-pleasing puli and an alert Doberman pinscher were poised to contend for the silver bowl.

Judging began at 8 a.m. Monday, with 173 breeds and varieties competing. They included three newcomers: the Irish red and white setter, the Norwegian buhund and the Pyrenean shepherd.

The hound, toy, nonsporting and herding groups were to be judged Monday night. The sporting, working and terrier groups were set for Tuesday evening, with judge Elliott Weiss ready to make his best in show pick shortly before 11 p.m.

Clint Livingston hoped to be in that best of seven showdown.

He handles Treasure, along with 16 other champion dogs at Westminster. It’s a family affair — brother Brian brought 12 and sister Colette had four. Naturally, their mom and dad were in the business.

“She wouldn’t let me show unless I made straight A’s,” Clint said.

Lesson learned well. The valedictorian of his high school class in Texas, he began coming to Westminster in 1984 and has done his share of winning in best of breed and best of group judging.

With so many dogs, the family got its own corner grooming area, away from the pack of people and pooches. They also employed five assistants, and the constant whirl of brushes, clippers and blow dryers made it look like Livingston Spa.

This year, Clint is handling a petits bassets griffons vendeen, a long-haired dachshund, a German shepherd, a Chinese shar-pei and an Australian cattle dog, among others. Inevitably, the siblings wind up competing against each other.

At one point Monday, the boys found themselves in the same Australian shepherd ring. Brian took the top prize. Clint, meanwhile, dutifully dashed off to show his brother’s Finnish spitz.

Any gloating, bro?

“I might wink at him,” Brian said, smiling.

Was it the New Orleans Saints’ opportunity to revive a city that’s longing for some life? Or was it the league’s MVP trying to win his second Super Bowl ring? Or was it simply the fact that Americans love football? Whatever the reason may be, the Super Bowl had its best year ever, with approximately 106.5 million people tuning in from their homes.

The season finale of M-A-S-H, airing in 1983, has held the record for largest television audience for 27 years.

To many this number is huge and shocking, but to those that follow the history of television, the number is epic. The season finale of M-A-S-H, airing in 1983, has held the record for largest television audience for 27 years. M-A-S-H, the beloved show about the comedic happenings in a military hospital based in Korea, was first released in 1972.

There are some suggesting that this record was “made to be broken,” given the astronomical increase in the amount of homes with television sets since 1983. However, Super Bowl fans argue that there was much less of a viewing option at that time. Regardless of circumstance, it is generally agreed that this new record is a great thing for both Super Bowl fans and the people of New Orleans.

Alan Alda (Hawkeye Pierce), the star of the now second-place television series M-A-S-H is not bitter about the defeat at all. In fact, while having your record broken may never be a happy occurrence, when it comes to how it was broken, he couldn’t be happier. “If the M-A-S-H audience was eclipsed, it was probably due in large part to the fact that the whole country is rooting for New Orleans to triumph in every way possible,” said Alda “I am too, and I couldn’t be happier for them. I love that city.”

Not everyone watched Super Bowl XLIV, but for the struggling city of New Orleans and their Saints, they probably didn’t mind the attention.

NEW YORK – Super Bowl viewers were rubbing their eyes at the sight of a TV spot pairing CBS late-night host David Letterman with longtime NBC archrival Jay Leno, plus media magnate Oprah Winfrey.

In an image from video provided by CBS, David Letterman, Oprah Winfrey and Jay Leno, from right, record a promo for CBS' "Late Show" that aired during the broadcast of the NFL football Super Bowl on Sunday, Feb. 7, 2010. The promo was recorded earlier in the week at the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York. The ad revisited Letterman and Winfrey's Super Bowl spot from 2007, but with another person watching the game with them - late night talk show host Jay Leno. (AP Photo/CBS) ** MANDATORY CREDIT NO SALES ARCHIVE OUT NORTH AMERICAN USE ONLY **

Appearing early in the CBS-aired game Sunday, the ad depicted Letterman and Leno glumly sharing a couch watching the Super Bowl, with Winfrey seated between them trying to make peace.

Letterman grumbles, “This is the worst Super Bowl party ever.”

“Now, Dave, be nice,” Winfrey urges.

A disgruntled Leno replies that Letterman is only complaining “because I’m here.”

In a whiny high voice, Dave mocks what Jay has just said.

Oprah shakes her head and sighs.

That’s it. The spot only lasts 15 seconds.

It revisited a promo from the 2007 Super Bowl with Letterman and Winfrey watching the big game. But with the surprise addition of Leno, the 2010 version addresses in compact form the talk-show turmoil at NBC, and the soon-to-be-rekindled competition between Letterman and Leno when he reclaims NBC’s The Tonight Show on March 1.

In the age of Avatar, some viewers might have thought that getting Jay and Dave, plus the super-busy Oprah, together in the same frame was probably accomplished through sophisticated computer-graphic imagery.

But no, the spot was produced the old-fashioned way, according to Rob Burnett, executive producer of Late Show with David Letterman.

And it was put together quickly. And very hush-hush.

According to Burnett, CBS offered Late Show a slot for a promo to air during the Super Bowl.

“Dave had this idea, ‘What about getting Jay and Oprah together with me?’ and he wrote it,” Burnett explained by phone shortly after the spot had its single airing Sunday. (It is posted on the CBS Web site.)

“We said, ‘This is too funny to pass up.’ First we called Oprah.” Then Leno was approached, and he, too, signed on. That was two weeks ago.

“It was quick, it was easy,” he said. “The attitude was professional and cordial. Dave and Jay were fine with each other.”

Maybe so. But that very funny, very startling promo has neatly paved the way for a late-night battle between rivals that will resume in just weeks.

On Sunday, Jan. 31, millions around the United States hunkered down in front of their televisions at 8 pm, Eastern Time, to view the 52 annual Grammy Awards. The top names in the music industry swept up the red carpet, adorned in the most glitzy and unusual garments, to watch the award distributions and intense musical numbers. Always a captivating awards show, this year’s Grammy celebration was like no other.

The Grammys have made sweet music in the ratings, with the show's biggest TV audience in six years.

The show opened with “Poker Face” by Lady Gaga in her usual, or maybe unusual, style. She then returned to the stage with Elton John in a musical duet that rivaled John’s last Grammy performance with Eminem in 2001. The night was off to a fantastic start musically. The first couple of awards, Song of the Year for Beyonce’s “Single Ladies”, Record of the Year for “Use Somebody” by Kings of Leon, and Country Album of the Year (awarded to Taylor Swift) showcased the high diversity of this year’s nominees. Most of the industry’s most popular names, including Swift, Beyonce, Kings of Leon, and the Black Eyed Peas, were up for numerous awards and considerations.

The night continued with fantastic performances by Beyonce and P!NK. The Black Eyed Peas took the stage with a fantastic rendition of “I’ve Got a Feeling” and Taylor Swift graced the stage with her idol, Stevie Nicks. Country group Lady Antebellum performed one of their more popular songs and Green Day joined the cast of their newly inspired Broadway show to perform “21 Guns.”  More awards were also distributed: New Artist went to the Zac Brown Band and Rock Album went to Green Day.

While some performances definitely stood out, a few seemed slightly lackluster for the Grammy stage. Maxwell sung a slow graceful ballad while a powerful group featuring Lil Wayne, Eminem, and Drake seemed more focused on effects than the musical abilities of the artists.  However, audience members seemed pleased overall with the performances, as many stood up and danced along with the music.

Allowing for audience participation at home, Bon Jovi performed three songs live, accompanied with Sugarland’s Jennifer Nettles. Viewers at home could vote for the last song of the set during the awards ceremony and the actual performance. The winner? One of Jovi’s most popular songs, “Livin on a Prayer.”

The most inspirational moments of the Grammys this year did not come from acceptance speeches, but from memorable performances. Celine Dion, Jennifer Hudson, Usher, Smoky Robinson, and Carrie Underwood took to the stage in memory of Michael Jackson, practically singing one of his songs with him. Two of his children, Paris and Prince, accepted his lifetime achievement award with tears and thanks. Then, Mary J. Blige and Andre Bocelli joined forces to sing “Bridge Over Troubled Water” in memory of those lost in Haiti in a moment that was both brilliant and moving.

Overall, the Grammy Awards this year were momentous, exciting, and filled with the usual intrigue of the music industry. The final award of the night, Album of the Year, went to the young and thoroughly surprised Taylor Swift, who accepted graciously. Hopefully, next year’s Grammy Awards can compete with the show Sunday night.

NEW YORK – The Grammys have made sweet music in the ratings, with the show’s biggest TV audience in six years.

Beyonce accepts the award for best female pop vocal performance at the Grammy Awards on Sunday, Jan. 31, 2010, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)

Preliminary Nielsen figures Monday show the CBS broadcast attracted 25.8 million viewers. That would be the annual music award show’s highest ratings since 2004.

The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards logged a year-to-year viewer boost of more than a third and dominated network rivals Sunday night.

ABC took the runner-up position for the evening. It beat out the third-place Fox network with 9.1 million versus 4.3 million viewers, respectively.

Recently NBC has had its hands full with the debacle between Jay Leno, of The Tonight Show With Jay Leno and The Jay Leno Show, and Conan O’Brien, of Late Night with Conan O’Brien and  The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien. The root of this situation can be traced to 2009, when Conan O’Brien replaced Jay Leno as host of The Tonight Show and Leno received his own prime time talk show, The Jay Leno Show. Flash forward to January 2010, and due to both shows having lower than desired ratings, NBC and its affiliates wanted change.

Conan's support was centered around "Team Conan," which used the internet, specifically social networking sites, to push posters touting "I'm with Coco" and a headshot of Conan among others.

The new schedule proposed by NBC was to shorten The Jay Leno Show to a half hour and to push it later to 11:35 PM, resulting in The Tonight Show being pushed back to 12:05 AM, and getting an hour time slot. These changes did not violate either host’s contract; however, Conan plainly stated that he would resign if the changes took effect, because The Tonight Show has always been at 11:35 PM and changing that would damage the show.

NBC’s response to Conan’s refusal of the deal was less than amiable. All Headline News reported that NBC had stated their intention to keep Conan off the air for up to three and a half years if he did not accept the agreement. Despite both NBC and Conan agreeing that this claim was false, it is spawned from NBC Universal chief Jeff Zucker’s belief that Conan’s contract contained a clause allowing NBC to keep him off the air for an additional year after his contract expired.

It is at this point where the massive outpouring of support for Conan O’Brien came into play, and the polarization of the issue to back either Conan or Leno. Conan’s support was centered around “Team Conan,” which used the internet, specifically social networking sites, to push posters touting “I’m with Coco” and a headshot of Conan among others. Besides the internet support, Conan had physical support in the form of gatherings outside of the studio where his show is taped, where people wore orange and held “I’m with Coco” signs.

Additionally, numerous celebrities such as Jim Gaffigan, Norm Macdonald, and Patton Oswalt have all taken Conan’s side, vocalizing their support. Perhaps even more significant are the fellow late night hosts who support Conan including David Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel, and Jon Stewart.

Jay Leno did not have the same show of support that Conan had, and it is not because he had no fans, it is because his show appealed to an older audience. Leno’s audience, being older,  is not as active on the internet. In fact, Leno’s show had more regular viewers than Conan’s did; however, due to the younger audience watching Conan, it is more likely that many of his supporters watch clips of his online rather than actually watching the show during its airtime.

The conclusion of this conflict came in the form of a $45 million dollar agreement between  Conan and NBC. Specifically, Conan’s agreement grants him $33 million and his staff $12 million, also stating that he cannot return to television on another network until September 1, 2010. Jay Leno’s agreement with NBC states that he will become the host of The Tonight Show again beginning on March 1. Until March 1, it has been speculated that reruns of The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien will be shown.

Whether it’s “You are a complete and utter drama queen. I’ve never met anyone else in my life, with the exception of Paula, who was so desperate to be famous,” to a Top 36 contestant or “If it’s any consolation, you wouldn’t have won either” to a recently eliminated contestant, no one can deny that Simon Cowell is the surly American Idol judge people love to hate.

Cowell, who makes a whopping $36 million per year on American Idol, will be departing the show he has helped to launch into macro success after nine seasons. “I was offered a lot of money to stay on,” Cowell said. “But that wasn’t the reason behind it. I wanted to do something different. I wanted a new challenge.” In fact, Cowell announced that he will serve as an executive producer as well as a judge on the US version of The X Factor, the successful talent competition originally from the UK. The X Factor, a show which Simon Cowell created and owns, will be joining the FOX network in fall 2010.

So, what makes The X Factor so different from American Idol? Well, the age limit of the contestants is a huge part. Although American Idol has an age restriction from 16-28, Cowell says that his show actually starts as young as 14 with no limits on a maximum age—a decision that was influenced by 48 year-old Susan Boyle’s performance on Britain’s Got Talent.

As for American Idol, losing Simon Cowell would mean losing some of the luster that attracted so many viewers in the first place: “I think it’s that brand of sarcasm combined with professional know-how that makes Simon the audience magnet that he is,” analyst Shari Anne Brill claims. “I really believe the show revolves around him. He’s the linchpin of the show’s success. He has tremendous influence on how the audience votes. He’s interesting to listen to. He’s brutally honest.” Because Cowell’s tough criticism and harsh personality is what helped draw audiences to tune into the show to begin with, a drop in ratings and sink in popularity following his exit would not be shocking.

Nevertheless, talk show host Ellen DeGeneres replacing former judge Paula Abdul on American Idol will serve as a distracting yet exciting factor. She joins fellow judges Randy Jackson, Kara DioGuardi, and Simon Cowell, in his last season, this year. Though the choice to replace Abdul may be puzzling, Ellen DeGeneres’ guest spot on the dance competition, So You Think You Can Dance garnered the attention of the FOX network enough to reach a five-year contract with her. DeGeneres will continue hosting her show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and was just signed on for another three years. Preston Beckman, a FOX executive, says DeGeneres brings “something unique and will be the nurturing person on the show and create an interesting dynamic with Simon. But at the end of the day, it’s not on her shoulders to carry the show.”

Given that American Idol is recognized for propelling the careers of now worldwide sensations such as Kelly Clarkson, Chris Daughtry, and Carrie Underwood, as well as other contestants, Simon Cowell is nothing short of praising: “You want to leave on a high. I’m very proud of what the show has achieved.” As of now, no one has been named as a replacement for Cowell.