• Charlie Gibson signed off as anchor of World News for the last time tonight. He's bidding goodbye to ABC News after a 34-year run. [ABC News, AP]
• More advertisers are fleeing from Tiger Woods; Tag Heuer is the latest. [NYP]
• The New York Times says its newsroom layoffs are done with. [Gawker, NYO]
• Twitter was hacked by last night; it's still unclear who was behind it. [LAT]
• Google is reportedly in talks to buy Yelp for as much as $500 million. [NYT]
• How much will Avatar rake in this weekend? That's the big question. [NYM]
• Time Warner Cable and Fox are embroiled in a big feud right now. [NYDN]
• Want to watch 3D movies in your living room? That's coming next. [WSJ]
• Is Dr. Drew Pinsky a real doctor, or does he just play one on TV? [TDB]

We couldn't make it to the premiere of Avatar in L.A. last night, because it's far. Fictional freelancer Betsey Morgenstern cashed in her frequent flier miles and made the trip for us. Here is her report.

• Did Hugh Hefner abandon a deal to sell Playboy because he insisted he be allowed to live at the Playboy Mansion until he dies? That's the rumor. [PC]
• CNN will finish 2009 behind MSNBC, which is a first. How is it that CNN chief Jon Klein still has a job? Ask Jeff Bewkes if you bump into him, please. [NYT]
• Daily Intel has a list of the latest layoffs at the New York Times. [NYM]
• Roy Disney, nephew of Walt and former top Disney exec, is dead at 79. [NYT]
• The war between the Times and Wall Street Journal continues apace. [NYO]
• The Journal is boosting circulation of its glossy quarterly, WSJ. [WWD]
• Pressure's on! Jim Cameron's $300 mil. Avatar debuts this weekend. [THR]
• Two of Hollywood's big PR firms, BNC and PMK, have joined forces. [AdAge]
• Teen Vogue editor Amy Astley is making a cameo on Gossip Girl. [WWD]
• Painful truths: Your boyfriend secretly loves soft-rock, Celine Dion. [NYT]
• Time's 2009 "Person of the Year" is Fed chair Ben Bernanke. Yawn. [Time]

Nikke Finke is digging through the nasty negative campaigning that fills her inbox as the Oscars, Golden Globes, etc. draw near. The most salacious smear: Leonardo DiCaprio bought Tobey Maguire his Brothers Golden Globe nomination... with Blu-Ray DVD players?

For months, the evidence mounted and mounted that James Cameron's long awaited Titanic follow-up was going to be the biggest let down since Phantom Menace. No one wanted to believe that more than we did.

If 'Avatar' makes as much money as 20th Century Fox basically needs it to, we may never see a plain 2D movie again. Variety reports that 3D films tripled their B.O. take this year, to $1.3 billion.

Another slew of awards and nominations came in this weekend and the result is that this year's stagnant deathmarch of an Oscar race got a tiny bit shaken up, or at least it got a bit more confusing.

What's your favorite ancient Norse saga? (And don't say Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks—everyone says that!) Well, make room in your heart for the new Mel Gibson-directed viking film starring Leonardo DiCaprio. It should be epic.

For 12 years, the world has awaited director James Cameron's follow up to Titanic. Today, the misguided prayers of a zillion fanboys have been answered, and they will be sorry.

Next week the world's critics will have their (completely meaningless) say about whether James Cameron's 3D extravaganza was worth waiting a decade for. But today, a couple British papers are jumping the gun to say it didn't suck.

• Goodbyes: After 53 years on the air, CBS has canceled As the World Turns; meanwhile, the Bonnie Hunt Show won't be renewed after this season.
• JuJu Chang will take over for Chris Cuomo on Good Morning America. [NYP]
• Vevo, which is hoping to become the Hulu of music videos and is owned by Universal Music and Sony Music, made its debut today. [NYT, Reuters]
• Advertising is picking up again at the New York Times. Surprise! [AP, NYT]
• Related: The number of people who accepted Times buyouts has topped 50; tech reporter Saul Hansell is leaving the paper for AOL. And the Times is working with Google on a plan to "change the way news is consumed online."
• Bryant Gumbel revealed on Live with Regis and Kelly this morning that he has lung cancer and had surgery to remove a tumor two months ago. [NYP]
• Random House announced plans today to restructure its Crown Publishing Group; the division's publisher, Jenny Frost, is leaving the company. [NYT]
• Daily Variety has hired LAT veteran Leo Wolinsky as its new editor. [Variety]
• Will James Cameron's Avatar achieve Titanic-like success? Not so much. [AP]

[A German photographer's "Get away from her, you bitch" didn't work on Sigourney Weaver who took over the paparazzi line while promoting her latest extra terrestrial movie, Avatar, in Berlin today. Image via Getty]

There were two shots left at shaking up this year's horrifically locked in Oscar race: the musical Nine and Avatar. Well, after today's very mixed reviews of Nine, it looks like Oscar's only got one bullet left.

Actually save it for when the deal actually goes through. But that time has moved closer now that Comcast announced a $30 billion deal to take over NBC Universal from GE. The next big question: Are regulators going to flip?

The evidence continues to pile up that the film the world is waiting to see will, in fact, be the next Phantom Menace. And now, adding to the evidence: an exclusive Defamer eyewitness testimony of Avatar's looming hideousness.

There was a time when it meant something to be racist against Italians. These days, no one bats an eye if you make an "A-pizza pie!" joke. Except this Italian-American organization has drawn the line at MTV's Jersey Shore.

For over a decade, the world has waited for James Cameron's follow up to Titanic. But now that Avatar has at last arrived how are we to prepare ourselves for the fact that it might be godawful?

This week, Jim Behrle's Kartoon Kats solve Afghanistan and NBC. Also: blue alien bazongas in 3D!

In a decade since the launch of Titanic, the eyes of humanity have focused on the James Cameron laboratory wondering what leap forward would emerge, what gifts he would bestow on our species?

When a new James Cameron movie appears, Hollywood's industry watchers reach for their abacuses, first to tabulate the obscene amounts the film cost, and later, generally, to add up the obscene amounts the movie makes.