Scott Kara's week of it

Russell Brand in The Simpsons (Sunday, 7.30pm, Four). Photo / Supplied

TV
If there wasn't already enough Russell Brand about with Arthur and Hop, here he is again in The Simpsons (Sunday, 7.30pm, Four). Brand stars as himself in the episode Angry Dad: The Movie, in which Bart becomes a film director.

Tomorrow, besides the royal wedding, be watching - and screaming at the television - in support of the Breakers against the Cairns Taipans (7.30pm, Sky Sport 2). It's the big decider and could be New Zealand sporting history in the making.

Meanwhile, on Sunday the top four MasterChef contestants go to Melbourne where they face a two-stage cooking challenge to find out who makes next week's semi-final.

MUSIC
And I thought gig season was quietening down. Not likely, if the week ahead is anything to go by. Tonight Mavis Staples, Aaron Neville, and the Blind Boys of Alabama play the Civic, meanwhile hip-hop activist Michael Franti and his band Spearhead are at the Powerstation; howling modern-day blues and soul man Eli "Paperboy" Reed is at Galatos on Friday; Bob Dylan at Vector on Saturday; Monday sees the classic hair metal triple bill of Quiet Riot, LA Guns and Warrant at the Powerstation; and on Tuesday Warren Maxwell, Nathan Haines and the APO join forces for Amped at the Auckland Town Hall, while mainstream metallers Disturbed play Vector.

MOVIES
It's time to put the hammer down and go kicking and screaming into superhero movie season with Thor, the Norse god who, in director Kenneth Branagh's version of the story, is big on brawn and brains.

On the documentary front, and one for fans of last year's biggest movie The King's Speech there is King George VI: The Man Behind the King's Speech, which tells the undramatised story of the man behind the stutter and how he overcame his affliction.

OR...
... the Comedy Festival starts this week with the Gala tomorrow night, which will be screened on TV3 at 8.30pm this Sunday. By the way, next week's 7 Days (that's May 6 at 9pm) will be a special hour-long show with Kiwis Paul Ego, Dai Henwood and Cal Wilson, taking on the rest of the world's Chopper, Jason John Whitehead and Mark Watson.

- TimeOut