Garth’s ‘Sevens’: Already in Seven Figures

As the holiday sales rush continues, country star Garth Brooks will look to the SoundScan sales figures Wednesday to see how high his new “Sevens” album has climbed on the list of the year’s bestsellers. The hard-charging collection was already at No. 26 after selling more than 1.5 million copies in just its first two weeks in stores, and Capitol Nashville’s seemingly conservative marketing plan calls for the album to sell about 400,000 copies a week through Christmas, placing it among the year’s Top 10. (The year’s top-selling album, the Spice Girls’ “Spice,” is probably out of the reach of all competitors, having sold more than 4.8 million copies in 1997.) Last week, “Sevens” more than doubled the sales of its closest competitor, Celine Dion’s “Let’s Talk About Love.” Curiously, though, Capitol Nashville executives are bemoaning the album’s dominance, saying they need a rival album to break from the pack to bring more people into the stores. “Obviously, we’re very satisfied with Garth’s numbers and we’re happy that we’re helping everybody else,” says Pat Quigley, Capitol Nashville president. “Now we’re hoping that somebody can break out of the box and give us some help.” Looking to help itself, Capitol has bought 30-second spots on the five NBC prime-time series airing on Christmas Day. Based on industry estimates, that probably cost Capitol in the range of $3 million. “I think a lot of people will be saying, ‘Thanks for the tie,’ or, ‘Thanks for this CD, but what I really wanted was the Garth CD,’ ” Quigley says. “And I hope to remind everybody who wants to exchange a gift that Garth should be on their minds.”

Hark the Herald Sitcoms Sing

Don’t look only to malls for rampant commercialism this holiday season. Continuing the trend of turning every holiday into a TV event (remember all those special Halloween episodes?), numerous prime-time series serve up Christmas-themed episodes this week, including “Frasier,” “ER,” “Home Improvement,” “Caroline in the City,” “Murphy Brown,” “Just Shoot Me” and “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch.” (Of course, not all tidings are merry and bright, such as the mayor--played by Barry Bostwick--inadvertently telling kids there’s no Santa Claus on ABC’s “Spin City.”) The early Christmas crush has to do in part with the fact that many programs will sit out next week with reruns, since programmers are reluctant to squander original episodes during a period when holiday festivities will probably depress viewing levels. Meanwhile, this Wednesday marks an anniversary of sorts for “South Park,” the foul-mouthed animated series rapidly developing a cult following on cable’s Comedy Central network. Developed on the basis of a risque video Christmas card--featuring Jesus brawling with Santa Claus--that was sent to Hollywood executives, the show will air its own offbeat take on the holidays.

--Compiled by Times staff writers and contributors