Beck and King battle at box office

Glenn Beck and Larry King entered a battle for last place at the box office this weekend, with each producing and starring in new holiday oriented films. With gross receipts now in, both talk show hosts are able to claim a victory of sorts. Beck's film had the higher gross, which industry estimates place in the neighborhood of $68,000, while King's film took in about half that, at $37,000. However, insiders are quick to point out that 'The Christmas Sweater' opened at over 200 theaters with tickets costing $20 each, and seats sold per theater set a new low in cities like New York and Boston, which sold only 17 tickets each. 'The Hanukkah Trousers', on the other hand, played to  moderately full houses in both Miami and Brooklyn, the two areas it opened. The considerably more moderate $4 ticket also included a free cup of coffee or a small soda. The two projects have generated a good bit of controversy over the past few weeks, with both of the TV gasbags accusing the other of plagiarism. Neither man has taken legal recourse at this point, with both making legitimate claims that the plot lines are based on their own personal childhood experiences. Beck's 'Christmas Sweater', as summarized by Publisher's Weekly, is the story of 12 year old Eddie and his poor single mother: Despite his single mother's financial hardships, 12-year-old Eddie is certain this Christmas he will receive his much-desired Huffy bike. To his dismay, what he finds under the tree is "a stupid, handmade, ugly sweater" that his mother carefully modeled after those she can't afford at Sears (one of four places she keeps part-time jobs). Eddie tosses the sweater and insults his mother before the two go visit his grandparents at their farmhouse. On the drive home, though, Eddie's exhausted mother falls asleep at the wheel and crashes, dying instantly. After these terrible events, Eddie becomes increasingly hostile and lashes out at the world, but then renews his belief in God and wonders just what the heck had gotten into him. The plot to King's story is much the same, except that it involves a pair of  "stupid, Sears-made ugly Khaki trousers" that his protagonist Larry receives on the final night of Hanukkah. His mother is then shot by a burglar attempting to steal the family Menorah, and Larry becomes increasingly hostile. "That's where the similarity ends between these two stories," insists King. "My protagonist searches the entire apartment until he finds the receipt for those trousers, which he returns to Sears for a full cash refund."