Not since the films of David Lean (Bridge on the River Quai, Lawrence of Arabia, Ryan's Daughter) has a big-budget movie extravaganza attracted the nearly boundless praise that Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring has managed to garner from reviewers. Los Angeles Times critic Kenneth Turan's torrid (if wordy) enthusiasm for the production is typical: "Made with intelligence, imagination, passion and skill, propulsively paced and shot through with an aged-in-oak sense of wonder, the trilogy's first film so thrillingly catches us up in its sweeping story that nothing matters but the vivid and compelling events unfolding on the screen," he raves. Says Eleanor Ringel Gillespie in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "Whatever it is that makes great movies stand apart from great theater or great literature, this film has it." Michael Wilmington in the Chicago Tribune calls it "an extraordinary work, grandly conceived, brilliantly executed and wildly entertaining." Jay Carr in the Boston Globe writes that director Peter Jackson has succeeded in bringing off the transformation of J.R.R. Tolkien's classic "with visual flair, epic scale, enlivening detail, and, above all, conviction." Peter Howell in the Toronto Star judges the movie one of the best of the year. "Well cast, carefully written and handsomely mounted, it provides all the spectacle that audiences expect of an epic adventure without stinting on character or plot details," he writes. Several critics compare this latest extravaganza with the one that preceded it a month ago. Jack Mathews in the New York Daily News comments: "The Fellowship of the Ring runs circles around The Sorcerer's Stone -- for filmmaking, storytelling, characters, settings, creatures, action and scares." However, Rita Kempley in the Washington Post observes: "Some pundits have compared Lord of the Rings to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, but it's more of a medieval Star Wars, and every bit as stirring. It's clearly a labor of love for Jackson -- one that makes you forgive all the horrible hype bestowed upon it." A few critics do present some quibbles. The Philadelphia Inquirer's Steven Rea, an admitted fan of the Tokien books, finds actor Elijah Wood "a wimpy protagonist." And Roger Ebert, another fan, finds the book far more satisfying, but adds, "That Fellowship of the Ring doesn't match my imaginary vision of Middle-earth is my problem, not yours." And Philip Wuntch in the Dallas Morning News warns that the 178-minute length of the movie seems just like "three hours, no more but no less." Nevertheless, he adds, the film is "plot-heavy rather than cumbersome, but do pick a 'plex with comfortable seating." (On the other hand, Lou Lumenick in the New York Post warrants that "it's the three most exciting hours we've seen on a movie screen in years.")

Although Barry Diller has developed a reputation for "micromanaging" the companies that he has been involved with, Universal Studios President Ron Meyer says that he has been assured that he will not lose his authority over the movie studio in the wake of Diller's ascension as Universal's chairman and CEO. In an interview with today's (Wednesday) Los Angeles Times, Meyer said, "The assurances that I got from Barry and [Vivendi Universal Chairman] Jean-Marie [Messier] are that we will be able to run the studio as we have been running it." He insisted that Diller would not be directly involved in the operation of the studio. "Barry is going to be working on a much bigger picture, creating shareholder value for this company," Meyer said, without providing specifics.

Following new revelations of irregularities in voting procedures in last October's SAG election balloting, it now appears likely that a new election will be ordered, Daily Variety reported today (Wednesday). The trade paper disclosed that SAG execs told a closed meeting of the union's elections committee that they were aware of the irregularities in advance and acknowledged that they attempted to cover them up.

Boosted by surprisingly strong ratings for its Sunday-night movie, A Town without Christmas, CBS increased its lead over its rivals for the season, averaging an 8.4 rating and a 14 share. NBC continued to dominate the top ten, taking six of the top-ten positions, including the top spot with E.R. (featuring Eriq La Salle's swan song). But CBS's overall lineup proved to be more potent. While the network was able to claim its sixth consecutive win in overall households, NBC was able to boast that it won the key 18-49-year-old demo -- by a large margin. In overall households, it scored a 7.9/13. ABC finished third with a 6.4/11, followed by Fox with a 3.7/10.

The top ten shows of the week according to Nielsen Research: 1. E.R. NBC, 18.2/29; 2. Friends, NBC, 14.9/25; 3. Law and Order, NBC, 13.3/22; 4. Everybody Loves Raymond, CBS, 12.7/19; 5. Will & Grace (8:00 p.m.), NBC, 12.5/19; 6. The West Wing, NBC, 12.2/19; 7. CBS Sunday Movie: A Town without Christmas, CBS, 11.8/19; 8. Will & Grace (8:30 p.m.), NBC, 11.6/18; 9. Just Shoot Me, NBC, 11.4/17; 10. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CBS, 11.2/18.

Although it's hard to imagine that an actress who will turn 65 next week would be a big draw among 18-49-year-olds, the guest appearance of Mary Tyler Moore on The Ellen Show Monday night is being credited for boosting the show's ratings in that prized demo by 36 percent, according to Nielsen Research. (It posted a 5.3 rating and a 14 share versus a 3.9/10 the previous week.) In overall households, Ellen scored a 9.1/14. The sitcom, which stars Ellen DeGeneres, has been performing significantly better on Monday nights than it did on Fridays, where it was slotted at the beginning of the season. Last Saturday, the DeGeneres-hosted Saturday Night Live produced SNL's best ratings since Jan. 20.

Johnny Knoxville, who said last August that he had had enough of hosting MTV's Jackass, will return for a series of three Jackass specials and star in a forthcoming theatrical movie based on the show, MTV programming chief Brian Graden said Tuesday. The music channel said that it had signed a new deal with the show's three creators, Knoxville, Jeff Tremaine and Spike Jonze, who will exec produce the specials and movie. Knoxville has already landed roles in the forthcoming movies Men in Black 2 and Big Trouble. In a statement, Graden, presumably speaking tongue in cheek, lauded what he called "the creative genius of the underground skateboard mentality of Jackass." Although the show drew big audiences, it also produced a fair number of headaches for the channel as youngsters attempted to imitate some of the dangerous stunts performed on it.

AOL Time Warner, Comcast and Cox, who are each bidding for AT&T Broadband, continued to submit "refinements" of their proposals through late Tuesday evening in advance of a crucial AT&T board meeting in New York today (Wednesday), in which the possible sale of the cable unit is scheduled to be the primary topic of discussion. Reporting on the last-minute maneuvering, the London Financial Times commented today: "AT&T's refusal to show a preference for any of the bids has led some of the potential buyers to speculate that it will eventually reject all the offers and instead keep control of the broadband operation."

Shares in British media giant Pearson tumbled 5 percent Tuesday following a revenue warning. In a statement, the company's American-born CEO, Marjorie Scardino, blamed "financial instability in some countries" as the single biggest factor in the company's decline. Pearson, which publishes the London Financial Times, and syndicates Family Feud starring Louie Anderson and the all-new To Tell The Truth with John O'Hurley, forecast only "modest revenue growth" for the coming year. This year the company shut down production of Baywatch, which, for many years, was the most profitable syndicated TV property in the world. One unnamed analyst told today's (Wednesday) London Independent, "I think Pearson has disappointed too many times. ... It's all quite a change from the days when Marjorie Scardino walked on water and could do no wrong."

Eagle TV, which claims to provide news from Mongolia to CNN and is also the local outlet for CNN International, has placed an ad in the industry newsletter Shop Talk looking for an "evangelical Christian" to help manage the station and train young TV journalists "to be fair and truthful." It observed that in addition to carrying the CNN news, "We broadcast the message of Jesus in one of the most Buddhist nations on earth." The ad notes that, in order to land the job, "some financial fund development" is required.