"BABY Mama," Tina Fey and Amy Poehler's comedy about surrogate motherhood, delivered the No. 1 spot at the North American weekend box office with US$18.3 million in ticket sales.

The Universal Pictures laugher starring the "Saturday Night Live" duo crawled past Warner Bros.' "Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay," the goofy stoner flick that opened at No. 2 with US$14.6 million.

With a third comedy, Universal's "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," holding its own at No. 4 with US$11 million, audiences looked to be flocking to theaters to get giddy.

"Comedy is definitely king right now," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of tracking firm Media By Numbers LLC. "Audiences are definitely showing an interest in going to the movies and having a good time and having a laugh."

Lionsgate's kung fu movie "The Forbidden Kingdom" starring Jackie Chan and Jet Li fell two notches to No. 3 with US$11.2 million.

The success of the first "Harold & Kumar" sequel also showed audiences are not too sensitive to laugh at post-Sept. 11 topics like terrorism. The movie premise begins with the pair getting in trouble trying to sneak a bong on a flight to Amsterdam, then escaping the U.S.-run prison for alleged terrorists in Cuba.

"I don't think anybody takes this too seriously," said Dan Fellman, Warner Bros.' president of theatrical distribution.

The sequel cost just US$12 million to make and is already close to beating the entire theatrical take of US$18.2 million for the first "Harold & Kumar" movie.

(SD-Agencies)