It looks like the Family Guy special which was suppose to promote Windows 7 has found a new sponsor since Microsoft backed out late last week. Warner Bros. Pictures stepped up and took the opportunity to pitch director Guy Ritchie’s upcoming Sherlock Holmes film starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law.  It would have been way funnier if Apple took the spot but this should be pretty cool too.

Family Guy Presents: Seth & Alex’s Almost Live Comedy Show is still set to air on November 8 with sneak peeks of the Sherlock Holmes film set to come out Christmas Day. The original concept for the show was to feature Windows 7 promotion spots instead of commercials. However, there’s been no word on how tightly integrated the Holmes content will be by comparison. Hopefully Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane will somehow tie-in the new material for the show itself as originally intended.

Here’s hoping Warner Bros. has watched Family Guy and understands what they’re in for. I’m all for covering stories but the last think anyone needs is yet another update about this special episode. I would hazard a guess and say at this stage this is a done deal. Oh no, I didn’t just jinx myself by saying that did I?

The real story from the box office this weekend is the non-story of This Is It. Sure, it won the weekend with $21.3 million, but there were some crazy estimates thrown around last week. I know I wasn’t the only person entertaining the notion that this movie would open above $70 million, especially after seeing all the hysterics from frenzied fans on opening day and sold out venues.

So, I have been scratching my head trying to figure out why the movie was a relative dud here in the U.S. Worldwide, it was a smashing success and made over $100 million. Although, I heard more than one estimate say that it could open in the $200-250 million range, and it made less than half that.

Do you think that because Michael Jackson lived here in the States, and we were exposed to more of the controversial aspects of his life? Perhaps fans in Japan, Germany and Australia had a more pristine memory of the King of Pop. At any rate, I was pretty blown away by the movie’s fairly low numbers. This was supposed to be one of the biggest events of the year.

Paranormal Activity enjoyed Halloween weekend, and took in another $16.5 million. It only dropped 22% from last weekend. It stands at a cumulative total of $84.8 million and is all but guaranteed to pass $100 million during its domestic run.

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If you have been eagerly anticipating Friday’s release of The Fourth Kind, here is a creepy little featurette from Universal and Yahoo Movies to prime you for the movie — which you can watch after the jump. It’s no spoiler to note that the plot of the movie has to do with missing people in Alaska, and possible alien abduction. This featurette provides a back-story, so to speak, about the four different kinds of alien encounters.

Still can’t sate your appetite for alien abduction? If so, take a look at these other genre titles while you are biding your time. And, look for our review of The Fourth Kind on Friday.

• Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) – Arguably the best known in the genre. This movie terrified me when I saw it as a child. Steven Speilberg’s follow up to Jaws racked up several oscar nominations and won for best cinematography.

John William’s chilling musical score remains iconic to this day. Teri Garr and Richard Dreyfuss enjoyed career boosts from their roles, and Lance Henriksen (Aliens, Millennium) even makes an appearance.

• Fire in the Sky (1993) – Laugh if you will, but this film that starred D.B. Sweeney was based on a true story, and it has a serious faction of fans. Over the years I’ve heard several people who are alien junkies insist this is one of the most horrifying depictions of abduction. Based on a logger’s disappearance in the woods in 1975, and his unexplained reappearance, this film has a cult-like following.

• Communion (1989) – Based on the terrifying book by Whitley Strieber. In my humble opinion, the book was much better, but Christopher Walken is always a plus. Not the best movie in the group, but no alien abduction list is complete without it.

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This week we meet Dominic Monaghan’s character of Simon, but we do not get anything more than a  tease on how he and Simco killed 20 million people in their experiment with the blackout. So that mystery is extended, but at least we know who is responsible and how they got it. Also, Mark (Joseph Fiennes) meets the man who will replace him in the bed of his wife (Sonya Walger), and she finds out that Mark was drinking in his flash forward. All this and more in another innocuous episode of Flash Forward.

We open on a train ride coming from somewhere and going to Los Angeles. Here we have Monaghan’s character seducing a woman by explaining quantum physics, achieving something in three minutes the Big Bang Theory has been trying to do for however long that show has been on.

Following the last episode, Agent Janis Hawk survives her gun fight, but in having been wounded in her pelvis will never be allowed to bear children. So, this raises the question of how she will be pregnant come April 29, 2010.

The over coming thread throughout this episode is now that we know the future: will it actually happen? It seems like this episode seems to suggest no, not exactly. With Janis now not being able to give birth, and Simco’s super weird kid trailing the Benford’s super weird kid to their house, causing Simco and Olivia to finally realize their flash forwards was kind of ridiculous but creepy-cool. Creepy cool in a way that The Shining is creepy cool and those two kids are straight up creepy, with their chant over that doll of the Benford’s kid.

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When you have shows like The Simpsons well into twenty years on television, a sixth season renewal for any show doesn’t seem so grand. However, I’m excited about American Dad coming back because it’s easily my favorite animated show on TV right now. You read that right, American Dad is the best in my opinion.

Fortunately, I’m not alone. American Dad “rates among the season’s top 10 shows with men 18-49 and adults 18-34″ and was recently nominated for outstanding animated program.  Well deserved I might add. This season six renewal, along with the second season pickup of The Cleveland Show, means creator Seth MacFarlane maintains his lock on Fox‘s Sunday night “animation domination” lineup.  Not bad for a guy who had his original series, Family Guy, canceled only to return after record-breaking DVD sales.

As to the reason why I prefer American Dad, it’s quite simple. The Simpsons has completely lost it’s edge in my opinion. For anyone who watched the last Halloween special you’ll know what I mean (boring!). Family Guy is still funny but like The Simpsons all too often builds off absurd circumstances which drives the characters and can get old really fast. Same goes for The Cleveland Show.

American Dad, on the other hand, affords the characters themselves the opportunity to get into, and out of, trouble on their own accord. In particular, Stan Smith’s unabated self-assurance and political ideology is spectacular to watch when it seems the world is out to prove him wrong. American Dad stands out because it lets the characters lead the story instead of  the story leading them. Not a lot of animated shows do that these days which makes American Dad so enjoyable.

Check out American Dad Sunday’s on Fox along with The Simpsons, Family Guy and The Cleveland Show.

These days it’s hard to go a week without hearing about some remake/reboot coming out of Hollywood. Few of these films can claim they’ve been in the rumor mill for as long as Mad Max: Fury Road.  After two decades, however, actual development is occurring  on the next installment of the Mad Max franchise.

Variety is reporting that Charlize Theron (The Italian Job, Hancock) and Tom Hardy (Black Hawk Down, Star Trek: Nemesis, Bronson) have both been cast in Fury Road.  Now, as interesting as that casting is everyone is still anxiously waiting to find out if Mel Gibson will reprise his role as Mad Max. When Director George Miller was asked about this he was vague to say the least, “It could be Mel, it could be anyone.”

Whether Gibson is involved or not I’m left wondering if this particular film needs a sequel (as this seems to be) or an outright reboot.  I mean this property has been dormant for over twenty years so the majority of current movie goers have no idea what the world of Mad Max is all about.

For those who may remember, they probably have memories of Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome. Perhaps more specifically, images of Tina Turner and awkward cage match duels.  If that’s the case, it may not be the best memory for people to have. Don’t get me wrong, Thunderdome was fun, but not the best jumping off point if you’re looking to woo a new generation of Mad Max fans.  Especially when you factor in the serious tone films of this nature have these days, far from the campy 80′s fair Thunderdome brought us.

Nevertheless, I’m curious to see where Fury Road leads. Theron and Hardy are great additions to be sure. Coincidentally, it seems Theron is gravitating to post-apocalyptic roles these days as she’ll soon be seen in The Road.  Or, she just has a thing for films with “road” in the title. No release date has been set for Mad Max: Fury Road but we’ll keep you posted.