Pop Culture Checklist

TV NEWS

-Harvey Keitel is joining the cast of ABC’s “Life on Mars.” He will play Det. Gene Hunt, a tough leader of the homicide squad.

-”The Two Coreys” on A&E has reportedly been canceled.

-Russell Brand will be the host of this year’s MTV Video Music Awards, which airs Sept. 7.

-Dustin Diamond, better known as “Screech” from Saved by the Bell, is writing a tell-all book about the show called “Behind the Bell.”

TV PREMIERES

Monday — I Want to Work for Diddy (VH1)

Wednesday — Man Vs. Wild (Discovery)

TV FINALES

Tonight — Hopkins (ABC)

Friday — Dr. Who (Sci Fi)

Saturday — Robin Hood (BBC America)

Sunday — Design Star (HGTV)

Monday — Nashville Star (NBC)

Tuesday — I Survived a Japanese Game Show (ABC); Flipping Out (Bravo); Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood (Oxygen)

MOVIES opening Friday, Aug. 1:

-Swing Vote

-The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

Limited releases: America the Beautiful; Frozen River; In Search of a Midnight Kiss; Midnight Meat Train; Sixty Six

DVDs being released Tuesday, Aug. 5:

-Miss Conception

-Rogue

-Nim’s Island

-The Counterfeiters

-Fortress

-Get Smart: Season One

-Family Ties: Season Four

-Ben 10: Season Four

-Star Trek: Original Series — Season Two

-Starship Troopers 3: Marauder

-Little Einsteins: Flight of the Instrument Fairies

-Handy Manny: Manny’s Pet Roundup

-Dana Carvey: Squatting Monkeys Tell No Lies

LOCAL EVENTS

-Tonight’s concert in the park is Shout!, a tribute to the Beatles. It’s at 7 p.m. tonight (Thursday) at St. Mary’s Park. It’s a free event.

-Jazz in the Square Concert Series will be from 7 to 10 p.m. Friday at Loranger Square in downtown Monroe. It’s a free event.

-The Monroe County Fair continues through Saturday night. Get your elephant ear before it’s too late!

-An event called “Let’s Picnic in the Park” will be from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at St. Mary’s Park. Food, games and displays of emergency vehicles will be available. The free event is sponsored by Monroe Fire and Police Department.

-The Milan CarFest begins at 10 a.m. Saturday at Wilson Park in downtown Milan. There will be food, entertainment and a DJ. Vehicle registration is $12.

REGIONAL EVENTS

-Ribs on the River 2008 will be held Friday through Sunday at Promenade Park, Water St., Toledo. Benefit for Red Cross. Times are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday.

-21st annual Toledo Club Party in the Parking Lot is from 7 p.m. to midnight Friday at the Toledo Club, Madison Ave. and 14th St., Toledo. Cost is $27.50 in advance; $30 at the gate.

-The Lansing JazzFest, a 2-day music festival, will be Friday and Saturday. For details, call (517) 371-4600.

-Dearborn’s Homecoming Festival will be held from Friday through Sunday. Tons of events planned, including a carnival and fireworks.

-A Summer Fine Art at the Village will be Saturday and Sunday in Rochester Hills. Call (248) 689-8734 for details.

Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie are rumored to be the villains in the next Batman film.

Depp is linked to play the role of The Riddler, while Jolie may possibly play the Catwoman. Another rumor suggests Phillip Seymour Hoffman could play the Penguin.

Christian Bale already has signed up to star for a third time as Batman.

So far, The Dark Knight has taken $440 million worldwide.

A new trailer for “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” is now online.

Watch it here.

The movie is scheduled to be released on Nov. 21.

Good news, all you Marvin the Martian fans — the character soon will be seen on the big screen!

Warner Brothers is launching the Looney Tunes character into a movie role.

The pitch is being developed as a Christmas story, with Marvin coming to Earth to destroy Christmas but being prevented from doing so when he’s trapped in a gift box.

Marvin made his first appearance in a Looney Tunes cartoon in 1948. He was often intent on blowing up the Earth, only to be foiled by Bugs Bunny.

A new trailer for Oliver Stone’s “W” is now online. 

Check it out right here.  

The film chronicles the life and presidency of George W. Bush. Josh Brolin plays the role of Bush.

The Dark Knight is unstoppable.

The Batman sequel raked in another $75.6 million this weekend, and has hauled in $314 million in just 10 days.

The previous record was held by Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, which did it in 16 days.

The next record to be shattered is reaching $400 million the fastest. Currently, Shrek II currently holds that record with 43 days; Warner Bros. predicts ‘Knight’ will do it in 18.

The second-highest grossing film of all time is Star Wars’ $461 million, which seems likely for ‘Knight’ to reach. Titanic remains the all-time leader with $601 million.

On the flip side, the debut of “X-Files” tanked this weekend. It only earned $10.2 million for fourth place even though analysts predicted it to make about $17 million.

The Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly comedy, “Step Brothers,” was successful with $30 million in its debut.  

BOX OFFICE TOP 10:

1. The Dark Knight, $75.6 million

2. Step Brothers, $30 million

3. Mamma Mia!, $17.9 million

4. X-Files: I Want to Believe, $10.2 million

5. Journey to the Center of the Earth, $9.4 million

6. Hancock, $8.2 million

7. Wall-E, $6.3 million

8. Hellboy II: The Golden Army, $4.9 million

9. Space Chimps, $4.4 million

10. Wanted, $2.7 million 

Welcome to the Weekly Buzz! Lots of events happening locally and regionally this weekend so be sure to check out the activities listed below. Enjoy your weekend!

TV NEWS

-The final season of “Battlestar Galactica” will debut in January on Sci Fi.

-”Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” will debut online about six months prior to its TV premiere.

-ABC’s “High School Musical: Get in the Picture” bombed earlier this week. The reality show premiere, with Nick Lachey as host, averaged a third-place 4 million viewers. It was even beaten by a repeat of “America’s Got Talent.”

-In tribute to Estelle Getty, Lifetime will air a “Golden Girls” marathon from noon to 5 p.m. Friday. The actress, who played Sophia on the show, died Wednesday at age 84.

TV PREMIERES

Sunday — Jingles (CBS); Mad Men (AMC)

Wednesday — Lewis Black’s Root of All Evil (Comedy Central)

TV FINALES

Tonight — Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? (Fox)

Friday — Dance Machine (ABC); Duel (ABC)

Saturday — The Academy (Fox)

Tuesday — Celebrity Family Feud (NBC)

Wednesday — The Baby Borrowers (NBC)

LOCAL EVENTS

-The Flying Aces Pro Frisbee Team will hold a free event at 7 p.m. tonight at St. Mary’s Park.

-The Monroe County Fair kicks off Sunday with its annual parade through downtown Monroe.

-The annual fireworks display that was postponed June 27 has been rescheduled for Friday. Gates open at 7 p.m. with a car show; 8 p.m. entertainment with the Josh Boyd Band, and 10 p.m. fireworks at Bedford Community Stadium, 8285 Jackman Rd., Temperance.

-Movie in the Park at 8 p.m. Saturday is “Ratatouille” at Willow Metropark, 32911 Huron River Dr., New Boston.

REGIONAL EVENTS

-The Michigan Brewers Guild Summer Beer Festival is Friday and Saturday at Riverside Park in Ypsilanti. It’s from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday and 1 to 6 p.m. Saturday.

-Party at Raceway Park includes a cookout, food and beer specials and giveaways every Saturday from 5:30 to 10:30 p.m. through Labor Day. Cost is $2 for adults. It’s located at 5700 Telegraph Rd., Toledo.

-Chelsea Summerfest is Friday and Saturday. Tons of events are planned in downtown Chelsea.

-The Silver Leaf Renaissance Faire is Saturday and Sunday in Battle Creek. For details, visit www.silverleafrenfaire.org.

-The Toledo Zoo is hosting a Fisher-Price Play Weekend. They will be bringing their giant play space to the zoo, designed for children ages 6 months to 5 years. Fisher Price costumed characters also will be on hand, such as Diego, Planet Heroes, Mars Digger and Earth Ace.

-Washtenaw County 4H Youth Fair runs Sunday through Aug. 1 at 5055 Ann Arbor-Saline Rd., in Ann Arbor.

-WFHR 89.3 radio station will hold its first “Record Show” from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at Henry Ford Community College, 5101 Evergreen Rd., Dearborn.

MOVIES arriving in theaters on Friday, July 25:

-The X-Files: I Want to Believe

-Step Brothers

Limited releases: American Teen, Baghead, Brideshead Revisited; CSNY: Deja Vu, Man on Wire

DVDS being released on Tuesday, July 29:

-Doomsday

-Never Back Down

-Inglorious Bastards

-Lost Boys the Tribe

-The Hills: Third Season

-Centennial: Complete Series

-The Band’s Visit

-Beverly Hills 90210: Fifth Season

-Law & Order: SVU — Seventh Season

ALBUMS beig released on Tuesday, July 29:

-Sugarland, “Love on the Inside”

-Coolio, “Steal Hear”

-Young Jeezy, “The Recession”

-Kidz Bop Kids, “Kidz Bop 14″

-Third Day, “Revelation”

-DJ Laz, “Catagory 6″

-Alice Cooper, “Along Came a Spider”

-Rick Springfield, “Venus In Overdrive”

-Eddie Floyd, “Eddie Loves You So”

-Cephas & Wiggins, “Richmond Blues”

The new trailer for “Yes Man” with Jim Carrey and Zooey Deschanel is now online.

Check it out HERE.

I cannot wait until ‘24′ is back on TV!

For those of you who also cannot wait, at least there is a new trailer out for “24: Exile.” 

Watch it HERE. Enjoy!  

As you probably already know by now, the Dark Knight recorded the biggest weekend ever for any film.

It hauled in $155.34 million in its debut weekend, topping Spider-Man 3 by about $4 million. Experts expect the Dark Knight to go over $200 million by the end of the week.

“Mamma Mia!” set a record of its own this weekend. It was the strongest debut ever for a movie musical, finishing second with $27.6 million.

TOP 10 BOX OFFICE:

1. The Dark Knight, $155.34 million

2. Mamma Mia!, $27.6 million

3. Hancock, $14 million

4. Journey to the Center of the Earth, $11.9 million

5. Hellboy II: The Golden Army, $10 million

6. Wall-E, $9.8 million

7. Space Chimps, $7.4 million

8. Wanted, $5.1 million

9. Get Smart, $4.1 million

10. Kung Fu Panda, $1.8 million