The New Yorker cover this week spoofs the recent injuries that marred the debut of Disney/Marvel's Spider-Man production on Broadway before the holidays.

The good news: the production appears to be back on track, grossing $6 million during 29 previews and becoming the highest-grossing production on Broadway last week, knocking Wicked from top spot.

Its injured Spidey stuntman, Christopher Tierney, is also back on his feet, though not flying through the air (at least just yet).

Step aside, Lady Gaga. Turns out you're not the most successful musical performer on the planet, at least in terms of concert ticket sales. Between 2000 and 2009, according to Billboard Boxscore, the Dave Matthews Band sold over 11 million tickets to its concerts — more than any other band.Continue reading...

It's calling itself “the world’s biggest live-video get together.”

Blip City, which launches next month, is the latest venture from TV veteran Fred Silverman, who helmed each of America's three major broadcast networks in the 1970’s and brought America such beloved hits as All in the Family, The Waltons, Charlie's Angels and Roots.

PaidContent sees it as being closer to Stickam.com, given Silverman's goal of building a social network of users live-streaming content on a wide range of subjects and offering services such as online retail and personal shopping.Continue reading...

Forbes' top-earning dead celebrity of 2010 is back with a new single (a preview, above) and album: Michael, the first posthumous release in a seven-year deal between Sony Music and Jackson's estate. The New York Times' review: "Not a great start."

The tectonic plates are shifting as Comcast’s purchase of NBC Universal gets closer to federal regulatory approval, and the players rearrange in a virtual Who’s Who in media.

With NBCU CEO Jeff Zucker already exiting, here's the latest line-up as America's largest cable operator puts its stamp on NBCU:

• Jeff Gaspin (above), chairman of NBC Universal TV Entertainment, is stepping down as he couldn't reach an agreement on a new role reporting to NBCU's incoming CEO, Steve Burke, who is currently COO at Comcast. Gaspin told NBCU employees, "As is his prerogative, Steve has determined that he wants to move in a different direction."Continue reading...

The Muscles from Brussels is heading down under. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is commissioning Jean-Claude Van Damme to do the dirty work of getting Australians to clean out their old DVD collections and buy new movies. The tagline: “Send in your DVDs, or we send in Van Damme.”

Sony's Great DVD Amnesty urges Australians to raise the white flag, offering $5 cash back to the first 200,000 claimants when they buy selected new DVDs and send in their unwanted ones. The campaign features TV and web spots with Van Damme kicking ass over “crybaby movies” and other DVDs Australians ought to be ashamed to own.Continue reading...

Visitors to Apple.com today can't miss today's big news — the Beatles are now available on iTunes.

Starting today, fans can purchase the group’s 13 original (and remastered) studio albums, the two-volume "Past Masters" compilation and the classic "Red" and "Blue" collections on iTunes as either albums or individual songs (at $1.29 each). Apple is also offering an exclusive digital “Beatles Box Set” featuring the “Live at the Washington Coliseum, 1964” concert film, the Beatles’ iconic first US concert.

"We’re really excited to bring the Beatles’ music to iTunes," said Sir Paul McCartney in the press release. "It’s fantastic to see the songs we originally released on vinyl receive as much love in the digital world as they did the first time around."Continue reading...

Microsoft seems poised to party like it’s 1999 with the global launch of its Kinect hands-free control system for Xbox 360. The prelaunch buzz has been justifiably massive. Now, with the wind of strong presales at their back, Microsoft has upped their 2010 sales estimates from 3 million to 5 million, but even at those numbers it looks like there will be a lot of disappointed shoppers this holiday season.

Kinect launched November 4 in the U.S. and already it’s selling out at major retailers like Target, Walmart and Best Buy across the country. And you can forget about buying one online.

The rollout of the device continues in Europe November 10; Australia, New Zealand and Singapore on November 18; and Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong on November 20. Already the supply shortage stories are leading the coverage on all fronts.

Every holiday shopping season has its buzz product—the one that everyone wants and only the most cutthroat get, generating bemused reports of victorious pillagers and trampled shoppers. If Microsoft can manage to keep the balance of supply and demand on the desperate-for-a-miracle level, this might just be the season of Kinect.