The ShowBuzz Weekly Forecast

If you're looking for some new music to play while you're whipping up a Thanksgiving feast, want a movie to go see after the big meal, or a book to get into over your long weekend, there's plenty in store for you here.

Late rapper Tupac reaches back from the after-life once again with a new album, as fellow rappers release their latest sets.

Madonna, Christina Aguilera, Ludacris and Tony Bennett are among the wide range of artists who'll be performing on different TV specials.

There are lots of comedies for different ages on DVD this week, and critics are raving about the story of Jack Black's mock rock band Tenacious D, which hits the big screen Wednesday.

Plus there are new books from Thomas Pynchon and Tony Hillerman, the American Music Awards on TV Tuesday, and Macy's fires up the big balloons for their annual parade.

MUSIC

There are several big rap releases this week, including "Pac's Life," a new posthumous album from Tupac Shakur. The set features appearance from Ludacris, Ashanti, T.I., Snoop Dogg and many other stars.

Other rap albums include "Welcome To My Block" from Young Joc, "The Blue Carpet Treatment" from Snoop Dogg, Jay-Z's "Kingdom Come," and "Southern Flows — Vol. I" from Chingo Bling.

Pop fans can enjoy Natasha Bedingfield's "Live In New York City" DVD, Jesse McCartney's "Right Where You Want Me" and Il Divo's "Siempre."

Legendary Beatles producer George Martin and his son Giles have created a set of 26 new mixes of the band's classic songs, using the master tapes of their entire catalog.

Music from "The Beatles: Love" is featured in the new Cirque du Soleil show of the same name.

U2 is out with "18 Singles," a compilation CD/DVD of tracks culled from albums dating back to 1980's "Boy" through 2004's "How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb." It also includes two new studio tracks produced by Rick Rubin.

TV

3Enjoy back-to-back Charlie Brown specials on ABC Monday night, beginning with the 1973 classic "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" and a new special based on the last script written by the late Charles Schulz, "He's a Bully, Charlie Brown."

Christina Aguilera, Stevie Wonder, Elton John and many other stars celebrate the 80th birthday of a music legend on "Tony Bennett: An American Classic" Tuesday on NBC.

The American Music Awards, airing live Tuesday night on ABC, feature performances by Tenacious D, Beyonce, and Gwen Stefani among many others.

Madonna's "Confessions: Tour Live" special airs Wednesday on NBC, but you won't see the diva perched on a cross during one number. Religious groups protested the scene so NBC will be airing it using alternate camera angles.

MOVIES

Jack Black and Kyle Gass tell the tale of their mock rock band in the comedy "Tenacious D — The Pick of Destiny."

2Matthew Broderick and Danny DeVito star in the holiday comedy "Deck The Halls," Denzel Washington is an ATF agent who travels back in time in "Déjà Vu," and Hugh Jackman romances Rachel Weisz as they search for eternal life in "The Fountain."

DVD

If the turkey and pumpkin pie are weighing so heavy on your tummy that you can't get off the couch, don't worry. You can burn off plenty of calories wielding your remote control as you watch some of this week's new DVDs.

Gather the family around for a viewing of the animated comedy "Ice Age: The Meltdown" or the 1973 animated version of "Charlotte's Web."

Can't get enough of Sacha Baron Cohen as his alter-ego "Borat"? The series that introduced the character to the U.S. is now available on DVD in "Da Ali G Show, Da Compleet Seereez."

There's also Woody Allen's quirky comic mystery "Scoop," starring Scarlett Johansson, the romantic comedy "You, Me and Dupree," and Al Gore's global warming documentary "An Inconvenient Truth."

BOOKS

By the time you've finished reading the title of the book you may have aged a year, but "Dr. Perricone's 7 Secrets to Beauty, Health, and Longevity: Stay Young and Healthy from the Inside Out Through the Miracle of Cellular Rejuvenation" claims to have the key to the fountain of youth. It's from best-selling author Dr. Nicholas Perricone who is adjunct professor of medicine at Michigan State University's College of Human Medicine.

Tony Hillerman is back with "The Shape Shifter" another whodunit set in the Southwest featuring "retired" Navajo tribal policeman Lt. Joe Leaphorn and Sgt. Jim Chee.

Thomas Pynchon is out with the period novel "Against The Day," which begins in 1893 and follows a cast of characters around the world over the next three decades.

THEATER

Broadway fans can catch performances by the casts of Tony winners "A Drowsy Chaperone" and "Jersey Boys" by watching the annual "Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade" Thursday morning at 9 a.m. on CBS.

PBS will air "The Kennedy Center Honors: The 2006 Mark Twain Prize For American Humor" Monday, celebrating the career of legendary playwright, humorist and screenwriter Neil Simon. Taped in October, the 90-minute special features appearances by Nathan Lane, Robert Redford, Richard Dreyfuss, Jason Alexander, Paul Reiser and Matthew Broderick among many others.

Theater buffs planning a trip to New York to catch a Broadway show will enjoy The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts exhibit "Stars and Treasures: 75 Years of Collecting Theater" beginning Nov. 21 and running through May 5, 2007. The collection features an early draft of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?," stripper Gypsy Rose Lee's diploma from the Minsky University of Strip-Tease and items on loan from theater actors including Christopher Plummer, Cherry Jones, Angela Lansbury and Roger Rees.