Which pop culture dinner most resembles your family’s Thanksgiving feast?

It’s 4 p.m., PopWatchers. At this point, you’re doing one of the following: 1) Furiously attempting to get all the lumps out of the mashed potatoes while your little 6-year-old cousin clings to your leg, begging you to go hoop-rolling — or whatever it is kids enjoy these days; 2) Watching football from your couch while your mom furiously attempts to get all the lumps out of the mashed potatoes (moms are the best); or 3) Reading PopWatch. Okay, clearly the answer is No. 3, unless you’ve figured out a way to Doug Kinney yourself, but chances are you’ll find yourself participating in either No. 1 or No. 2 later in the day. Because, as we know, today is Thanksgiving — and that means you can prepare yourself for plenty of dysfunctional dynamic family dinner conversation!

But because we know you’d prefer not to talk about your single status, your new boyfriend/girlfriend, or your recent divorce at dinner, here’s something you all can discuss: Which pop culture dinner scene most resembles your family’s Thanksgiving feast? For my family, I’m going to go with Hook. Not because we don’t eat anything — my waistline will more than let me know that we do come Nov. 26 — but because we never do a traditional Thanksgiving, opting for colorful foods (Tex-Mex with plenty of guacamole, scallops with peach salsa, etc.) over the holiday’s customary beige-colored eats. (Also, as in the Robin Williams-Peter Pan flick, we have been known to get into a cream pie fight or two after dinner.)

But now it’s your turn, PopWatchers! Which iconic dinner scene most resembles your own? Are you forced to endure your family’s gluttony and — ahem — bathroom habits like Sherman Klump in The Nutty Professor? Do you play with your food like Richard Dreyfuss in Close Encounters of the Third Kind — or Weird Al Yankovic in UHF? Do you find yourself explaining very grown-up topics to a very young child, like the Hoover family did in Little Miss Sunshine? Or are you all just secretly judging each other à la Dinner for Schmucks? Let us know — and Happy Thanksgiving!

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Under-appreciated Entertainer of the Year: Thomas Gibson or Katey Sagal? Robyn? Cat? Mondo?

We’re down to the elite eight in our quest to salute the Under-appreciated Entertainer of the Year. And things are really starting to heat up.

Image Credit: Michael Yarish/CBS; Prashant Gupta/FX; Frank Masi; Industrial Light & Magic/Marvel

In the scripted TV bracket, we have two actors who have shed their sitcom personas and embraced more strictly dramatic roles: Thomas Gibson on Criminal Minds and Katey Sagal on Sons of Anarchy. (Though she still makes me laugh as the voice of Leela on Futurama.) On the reality side, it’s hostess with the mostess Cat Deeley taking on everyone’s favorite Runway runner-up Mondo Guerra. If they tie, can Mondo design Cat something awesome to wear on So You Think You Can Dance? Here’s hoping.Image Credit: Frank Micelotta/Fox; Lifetime; Rankin; LeAnn Mueller

Over in the film bracket, it’s the battle of the snarly dudes: Sam Rockwell and Karl Urban. The both made their marks in comic book adaptations this year — Rockwell in Iron Man 2, and Urban in Red — but who was more beloved by fans? Finally, the music faceoff is down to a chanteuse-off. Will Idol alum Allison Iraheta topple top-seed Robyn? It’s up to you, PopWatchers. Click here to see the whole bracket, and then vote vote vote!

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‘Dancing with the Stars’ victor: ‘We never thought of winning… only about creating memorable dances’

Image Credit: Adam Larkey/ABCThough many thought (or worried) that rumors of a voting conspiracy would prove true and viewers would vote for Sarah Palin’s daughter Bristol, talent ultimately triumphed and Jennifer Grey became the season 11 winner of Dancing with the Stars. Speaking with the press after the two-hour finale with a cold compress tied to her back, Grey talked about how she and partner Derek Hough “never thought of winning” and tried instead to focus on creating memorable dances.

“We collaborated so much and I think that this guy is so talented in terms of concept and execution and attention to detail,” Grey said. “He wants to make memorable dances, which is what he told me when I met him. That’s why I was so completely thrilled and blessed to get him as a partner. He’s the real deal. He gets the big picture.”

At the start of the show, Grey told host Tom Bergeron that she ruptured a disc during Monday’s performances but – as has been the case throughout the season - she was able to continue because doctors “put me back together.”  ”I think it might have been one of those flips or kicks [that caused the rupture],” Grey said. “When you dance with a 25 year old, it’s a risk you take.”

But it was a risk worth taking because Grey ended up dancing with the winningest professional on the show. Tuesday’s win with Grey meant that Hough would take home his third mirror ball trophy! (Another record was broken on Tuesday: Bergeron said the show received an unprecedented number of votes from the viewing public). But Hough didn’t do much talking after the show because Grey was too busy recapping all that Stars had given her. ”The absolute destination for me was the journey in the true sense of the word,” said the 50-year-old actress. “This journey was the gift. Saying yes was the gift. Getting Derek as a partner was a huge gift.”

Since it was Grey and not Palin who ended up winning, the other dancers weren’t in much of a mood to discuss the accusations of voter tampering that plagued the latter half of the show. “This show has everything under control and I think it was just people’s rumors that were sparking,” says pro Lacey Schwimmer, who together with Kyle Massey, finished the season in second place. ”We got here, Bristol got here, and Jennifer got here all on fair terms. People just need to realize that.”

Executive producer Conrad Green certainly thought the best person won. “I think Jennifer was the judges favorite throughout, and she’s probably been the viewers’ favorite throughout. She is a brilliant champion,” he told EW. “I’m so proud of Bristol for getting where she did. I think she really proved her point and I’m really happy with how things turned out. I think it feels right.

“This was definitely our most surprising season,” he continued. “There were so many twists and turns. It was definitely unpredictable, and the audience got so into it. But if you look at the spirit of the final three couples, they were really thrilled for each other.”

Indeed. Schwimmer and Massey weren’t cheering about how they beat Palin, nor were they licking their wounds for trailing Grey and Hough. “We all made it to the finals, which is somethig to be celebrated, not to feel bad about or to feel angry about,” Schwimmer told reporters. “It’s such a cool thing to make it to this point of the competition.” And Massey’s response? “I’m just so hungry.”

As for Palin, who used the season finale to talk about how her win would give a “big middle finger to all the people out there who hate my mom and hate me,” the teen activist said she “decided there’s nothing I’m going to regret if  I just go out there and do my best.” When asked if it was her intention to come out strong in the finale and talk about flipping America the bird, Palin only said, “my plan was to go out there and have fun and that’s what I did.”

Palin did admit the fascination over her survival on the show has boosted ratings, but she and partner Mark Ballas were in no mood to talk about her notoriety. “I don’t know why we are still talking about controversy and negativity,” he said. “Jennifer and Derek won tonight, it’s to be celebrated. Let’s live in the now, not with things that are going to give us a heart attack.”

Basking in her win, Grey said it was great to be in a movie like Dirty Dancing that brought so many people joy – only to follow that up with being part of a TV show “that means so much to people.” She can’t say what she’ll do next but she does know where’s she storing the mirror ball trophy.

“The kid’s room!” she exclaimed.

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Harry Potter still No. 1: $50.3M

Image Credit: Jaap BuitendijkAlthough the “chosen one” was nearly defeated by a long-haired princess, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 1 managed to keep its grip on first place by grossing $50.3 million over the three-day weekend, according to studio estimates. Add in Wednesday and Thursday, and Deathly Hallows collected $76.3 million during the five-day Thanksgiving weekend — the fourth best Thanksgiving weekend ever. The PG-13 fantasy film has now earned $220.4 million in 10 days, which is the tenth-best 10-day tally on record. However, Deathly Hallows is slipping a bit quicker than some of its predecessors. For instance, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the last Potter film to be released a week before Thanksgiving, earned $81.3 million over this five-day holiday weekend. But if it’s any consolation to Potter fans, Deathly Hallows did garner better Thanksgiving numbers than The Twilight Saga: New Moon, which drained $66.3 million during the same five-day frame last year.

The weekend’s real box-office story, however, was Disney’s Tangled, which surpassed the studio’s wildest fairy-tale expectations by grossing $49.1 million during the three-day weekend, and $69 million for the five-day period. Those numbers gave Tangled the second largest Thanksgiving weekend opening ever, behind only Disney’s Toy Story 2. In fact, Disney essentially has a monopoly on the harvest festival — the studio is responsible for nine out of the top 11 Thanksgiving weekend debuts. Tangled earned 56 percent of its gross from 3-D showings, even though the PG movie had to share its 3-D screens with Megamind. And word-of-mouth couldn’t be more favorable, as CinemaScore audiences handed the animated retelling of Rapunzel the first “A+” grade of the year.

Third place went to Megamind, which dropped only 20 percent for $12.9 million. The animated superhero comedy has tallied $130.5 million in four weeks. In fourth place was the new musical Burlesque, which shimmied to $11.8 million (and $17.2 million for the five-day frame). The PG-13 movie, starring Cher and Christina Aguilera, attracted an audience that was 69 percent female and received an “A-” from CinemaScore graders. Within a tiptoe of Burlesque was the Denzel Washington action thriller Unstoppable, which declined only 10 percent for $11.75 million. The week’s other two new releases, Love and Other Drugs and Faster, claimed sixth and seventh place with $9.9 million and $8.7 million, respectively.

In limited release, The King’s Speech debuted in four theaters and summoned an outstanding $350,000. The R-rated drama, an Oscar frontrunner that stars Colin Firth as the stuttering King George VI, earned $87,500 per location — the largest per-theater average so far this year. The Nutcracker in 3D, however, barely made a sound. The $90 million adaptation of the Tchaikovsky ballet grossed just $68,000 from 42 theaters. Check back next weekend as one new wide release, the long-delayed action film The Warrior’s Way, joins what is sure to be another fierce battle between Deathly Hallows and Tangled.

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 1 — $50.3 mil
2. Tangled — $49.1 mil
3. Megamind — $12.9 mil
4. Burlesque — $11.8 mil
5. Unstoppable — $11.75 mil
6. Love and Other Drugs — $9.9 mil
7. Faster — $8.7 mil

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‘The X Factor’ exclusive: First look at Fox’s promo!

In the words of the immortal Pointer Sisters, “I’m so excited/ And I just can’t hide it/ I’m about to lose control and I think I like it.” Yes, reality TV fans, Fox has just unleashed the first promo spot for the fall 2011 premiere of the U.S. version of The X Factor, and after the jump, EW has your exclusive first look! It’s short, it’s simple, it’s got a slight Battlestar Galactica vibe, and it answers the question that’s been floating in my head for the last year or so: Can I be equally excited for the return of American Idol and the much-buzzed-about American incarnation of Simon Cowell’s popular British singing competition? Long answer: Can I be equally excited for tomorrow’s stuffing and mashed potatoes? Short answer: Oh hell yeah! Check out the promo for yourself, and then head to the comments to tell us what you think: Who’s stoked for The X Factor? Does this promo get you a’tinglin’? All must be revealed! (And for all my Idol- and X Factor-related scoop, follow me on Twitter @EWMichaelSlezak.)

More:
Simon Cowell’s rep on ‘X-Factor’ judges: ‘No decisions made’
Simon Cowell confirms his departure from ‘American Idol’ this season
‘American Idol’: New promo accurately reflects my anticipation for Season 10 premiere!
‘American Idol’: New night, music videos, no semifinals, one-hour results shows. Which changes will do us good?

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