Pop Culture Checklist

Paranormal Activity seems to be the new horror flick king.

It easily topped Saw VI for the No. 1 spot at the box office by earning $22 million.

Saw VI, in its debut, settled for second with $14.8 million.

Where the Wilds Things Are  dropped significantly in its second week with $14.4 million. Still, it has banked $53.9 million since opening. The biggest dud was Astro Boy with $7 million in its opening weekend.

TOP 10 BOX OFFICE

1. Paranormal Activity, $22 million

2. Saw VI, $14.8 million

3. Where the Wild Things Are, $14.4 million

4. Law Abiding Citizen, $12.7 million

5. Couples Retreat, $11.1 million

6. Astro Boy, $7 million

7. The Stepfather, $6.5 million

8. Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant, $6.3 million

9. Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, $5.6 million

10. Zombieland, $4.3 million

Latest Pop Culture News

-Good news, Nathan Fillion fans: ABC has picked up “Castle” for a full season.

-Comedy Central will begin airing re-runs of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” next summer. Currently, FX is airing new episodes of the Comedy’s fifth season on Thursdays. FX already ordered sixth and seventh seasons of the show to air through 2011. If you haven’t seen the show, start now. It’s hilarious!

-Spoiler Alert for Desperate Housewives: A plane crash on Wisteria Lane will kill off several characters on the show. But which ones will die?

-Bravo has renewed “Top Chef Masters” for another season. Expect new episodes in 2010.

-ABC is developing a new comedy called “I’m With Stupid” starring Judy Greer. It’s based on Elaine Szewcyk’s novel “Stupid.”

-The CW picked u a full season of “Vampire Diaries” and “Melrose Place.”

-Vote now for the People’s Choice Awards.

-Will Ferrell will star in “Everything Must Go,” an independent film that costs under $10 million. Ferrell will play a guy who loses his job and gets kicked out of the house by his wife. She puts all his belongings in the front yard and spends the next four days trying to sell his possessions.

-Lady Gaga’s “The Monster Ball” tour will make a stop Jan. 12 at the Fox Theatre in Detroit. Get your tickets now!

-The Beatles can’t even help the economy. “The Beatles: Rock Band,” released Sept. 9, has sold about 595,000 copies last month. Analysts expected the game to sell at least 1 million copies. The top seller was “Halo 3: ODST” for Xbox 360 with more than 1.5 million copies.

-Kelly Ripa and hubby Mark Consuelos will go back to “All My Children” for thw show’s 40th anniversary episode. The speical episodes will air Jan. 4 and Jan. 5.

-The Flaming Lips is planning an album redo of Pink Floyd’s 1973 classic “Dark Side of the Moon.” The Lips version is a collaboration with the band Stardeath and White Dwarfs and features guest spots from Henry Rollins and Peaches.

-Seinfeld fans should check out this video. It’s a montage of every Kramer entrance on Seinfeld.

TV PREMIERES

Tonight – American Chopper (TLC); The Jeff Dunham Show (Comedy); It Only Hurts When I Laugh (TruTV); Ultimate Parkour Challenge (MTV)

Friday – Supernanny (ABC); White Collar (USA)

Saturday – The Academy (FRC); 24/7 (HBO)

Sunday – Nature (PBS)

Monday – Cake Boss (TLC)

Tuesday – The Little Couple (TLC); Monica (BET)

Wednesday – Friday Night Lights (DirecTV)    

TV FINALES

Tonight – Rob Drydek’s Fantasy Factory (MTV); Real Housewives of Atlanta (Bravo)

Sunday – My Antonio (VH1); P. Diddy’s Starmaker (MTV)

Monday – Real Chance of Love (VH1); Forensics: You Decide (ID)

Tuesday – Rising Icons (BET)

Wednesday – Art in the Twenty-First Century (PBS)

MOVIES arriving Friday, Oct. 23

-Saw VI

-Amelia

-Astro Boy

-Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant

-Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D (re-release)

*Oct. 28 release: Michael Jackson’s This Is It (conventional and Digital IMAX theathers)

DVDs arriving Tuesday, Oct. 27

-Pandemic

-Orphan

-Whatever Works

-Stan Helsing

-Z

-Afterwards

-The Maiden Heist

-The Asphyx

-Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

-Battlestar Galactica: The Plan

-Monty Python: Almost the Truth (The Lawyer’s Cut)

-Night of Death

-Night of the Creeps (Director’s Cut)

-National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (Ultimate Collector’s Edition)

-The Sam Fuller Film  Collection

-Stargate (Ultimate Edition)

-The Fugitive: Season Three, Volume One

-The Guardian: First Season

-The Mannix: Third Season

ALBUMS arriving Tuesday, Oct. 27

-Michael Jackson, “This Is It”

-Creed, “Full Circle”

-Rod Stewart, “The Great American Soulbook”

-Train, “Save Me San Francisco”

-Brian McKnight, “Evolution of a Man”

-B. B. King, “The Four Kings of Blues Guitar”

-Sting, “If On A Winter’s Night…”

-Sean Lennon, “Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Undead”

-Trans-Siberian Orchestra, “Night Castle”

-Stephen Stills, “Live At Shepherd’s Bush (CD/DVD)

-R.E.M., “Live At The Olympia (2 CDs)

-Soundtrack, “Twelfth Night”

-Soundtrack, “Cold Souls”

The creators of “The Simpsons” are asking fans to create their own Simpsons character in a new contest.

The one selected will appear on the Jan. 31, 2010 episode. And keep in mind that Coldplay’s Chris Martin will appear in that episode.

Enter online. If you win, you’ll be flown to Los Angeles to meet with a Simpsons artist and bring your character to life.

The contest is part of the show’s 20th anniversary. The winner will be announced in mid-November.

Good luck!!

This month has been awesome with a bunch of horror-themed shows, specials and movies.

There is still plenty to watch this month and TV Tango has compiled a really cool calendar of Halloween-themed programming from now until the end of the month.

And take note that “It’s the Great Pumpkin” will air twice this month. It will air Oct. 27 and Oct. 28 on ABC.

Also, ABC’s “Castle” will air a Halloween episode on Oct. 26 and CBS’s “Medium” is planning a Night of the Living Dead-themed episode.

“Where the Wild Things Are” easily won the box office race with a $32.5 million debut.

The movie, directed by Spike Jonze, had a $80 million budget so it will be interesting to see how it does next weekend.

The other debut, “Law Abiding Citizen,” placed second with $21.3 million. The thriller stars Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler.

And with only 760 theaters, “Paranormal Activity” earned $20.2 million thanks to a brilliant marketing strategy. The horror flick was produced on a budget of $11,000 and is expected to reach 1,800 theaters next weekend.

TOP 10 BOX OFFICE

1. Where the Wild Things Are, $32.5 million

2. Law Abiding Citizen, $21.3 million

3. Paranormal Activity, $20.2 million 

4. Couples Retreat, $17.9 million

5. The Stepfather, $12.3 million

6. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, $8.1 million

7. Zombieland, $7.8 million

8. Toy Story/Toy Story 2 in 3D, $3.0 million

9. Surrogates, $1.9 million

10. The Invention of Lying, $1.9 million

Check out this list of what TV series are “endangered” of getting canceled.

There are some surprises! Which shows are you hoping get saved?

Latest Pop Culture News

-Watch out Kanye: Taylor Swift will host Saturday Night Live on Nov. 7

-A good marketing strategy has helped “Paranormal Activity” go nationwide. It received 1 million demands.

-NBC canceled the cop drama “Southland” before its second season return, which was set for Oct. 23. The lower-cost “Dateline” will remain in its 9 p.m. Friday timeslot.

-For the upcoming Nov. 3 release of its new album, “Raditude,” Weezer unveiled the “Weezer iTunes Pass.” It’s a special package that offers fans access to new music and exclusives. Cost is $19.99 and subscribers will receive special downloads to their iTunes libraries now until Nov. 24.

-The new “Bachelor” is…drum roll please…Jake Pavelka, 31, the pilot who was rejected by The Bachelorette’s Jillian Harris last season. The new season kicks off in January on ABC.

-Garth Brooks is coming out of retirement to perform a show at the Wynn Resort in Las Vegas. He had been officially retired since 2000.

-Fox will air an extra “So You Think You Can Dance” episode at 8 p.m. Oct. 26. The one-hour special will showcase the top 20 finalists in a non-elimination format. The following night, ‘Dance’ begins its two-hour performance shows. The Oct. 26 special will replace “House” but “Lie To Me” will air as schedule at 9 p.m.

-ABC made full season pickup orders for FlashForward, The Middle, Modern Family and Cougar Town.

-Fox picked up the last nine episodes of “The Cleveland Show” of its second season.

-Fox Reality Channel has been shut down. The 4-year-old channel will end its run March 31.

-Seth MacFarlane will air a variety special called “Family Guy Presents: Seth and Alex’s Almost Live Comedy Show” at 8:30 p.m. Nov. 8 on Fox. Rather than commercials, the show will run for a full 30 minutes but with marketing messages throughout the program for Microsoft’s new Windows 7.

-Legacy Recordings will release a 100-song box set called “Elvis 75: Good Rockin’ Tonight” in honor of the King’s 75th birthday in January. The four-disc set arrives Dec. 8. Check out the entire track list.

-Carrie Underwood will perform a 2-hour variety special Dec. 7 on Fox called “Carrie Underwood: An All-Star Holiday Special.” It will feature David Cook, Brad Paisley, Dolly Parton and others. Underwood will perform songs from her next album and her earlier hits and holiday classics.

-Nickelodeon is celebrating the 10th anniversary of SpongeBob SquarePants with “Truth or Square,” a one-hour primetime speical at 8 p.m. Nov. 6. Celebrity guest stars include Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, LeBron James, Pink and others who will appear as themselves in live-action sequences. The episode will follow SpongeBob and friends as they reminisce through a series of original and never-before-seen flashbacks.

-An MMA Fight Card will air at 9 p.m. live on CBS on Nov. 7. Four matchups are confirmed.

-A&E will air two original “paranormal” specials. ”Extreme Paranormal: New Mexico State Penitentiary” premieres at 10 p.m. Oct. 19. “Extreme Paranormal: Pennhurst Insane Asylum & Manchac Swamp” premieres at 10 p.m. Oct. 26.  

TV PREMIERES

Tonight – 30 Rock (NBC)

Friday – Supernanny (ABC); Lobstermen (Discovery)

Saturday – Head Games (Science)

Wednesday – Lock ‘n Load (Showtime)

TV FINALES

Tonight – Speeders Fight Back (TruTV)

Friday – Psych (USA)

Tuesday – Shark Tank (ABC); Flipping Out (Bravo)

MOVIES arriving Friday, Oct. 16

-Law Abiding Citizen

-Where the Wild Things Are

-The Stepfather

DVDs arriving Tuesday, Oct. 20

-Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

-Land of the Lost

-Blood: The Last Vampire

-Wrong Turn 3: Left for Dead

-Cheri

-The Crew

-Saturday Night Live: Best of Amy Poehler

-It’s Garry Shandling’s Show: The Complete Series

-Vegas: First Season

-Numbers: Fifth Season

-The L Word: Final Season

-Planes, Trains and Automobiles (Those Aren’t Pillows Edition)

-Hawaii Five-O: Seventh Season

ALBUMS arriving Tuesday, Oct. 20

-Soundtrack, “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” (arrives Friday)

-Tim McGraw, “Southern Voice”

-Michael Jackson, “The Remix Suite”

-Flight of the Conchords, “I Told You I Was Freaky”

-Soundtrack, “Astro Boy”

-Various Artists, “Yo Gabba Gabba: Music Is Awesome”

-Tina Turner, “Tina Live” (DVD Audio)

-Lyle Lovett, “Natural Forces”

-Leonard Cohen, “Live from the Isle of Wight” (CD/DVD)

-Sam Bush, “Circles Around Me”

-Kutless, ”It Is Well”

-Bombshel, “Fight Like a Girl”

Today is Blog Action Day ‘09 with the theme of “Climate Change.”

This may not sound like Pop Culture news, but I did find some movies featuring climate change disaster situations as well as some documentaries.

I think the most well-known documentary is “An Inconvenient Truth” from 2006 that followed Al Gore’s campaign to educate us about global warming.

A good Sci-Fi movie on the topic is “The Day After Tomorrow” starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Dennis Quaid. The 2004 flick is about a climate catastrophe that plunges the world into an ice age.

A recent movie is part Sci-Fi and part documentary, and is called “The Age of Stupid.” Set in 2055 on a flooded and damaged earth, a lone man guards a historical archive and is bitter that earlier generations did not prevent climate change.

For other movies with this topic, check out this list.

In honor of the climate change theme, go watch one of these movies today!!

The ‘Topless Robot’ blog ranks the top cult movie characters who deserve their own action figures.

I totally agree with numbers 5, 7 and 9.

Number one is an interesting choice! What do you think?