Best Bets: "The Hunger Games" on film, "Mad Men" on TV
(CBS NEWS) This is it. The red-circled days on the calendars of "The Hunger Games" and "Mad Men" fans have finally arrived.
Readers of Suzanne Collins' popular trilogy, set in the post-apocalyptic nation of Panem, will be able to see their fictional friends - and enemies - come to life when Gary Ross' movie adaptation opens Friday.
Pictures: "The Hunger Games" premieres in L.A.
The film stars Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth, Josh Hutcherson, Stanley Tucci, Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz, Woody Harrelson and Donald Sutherland, among others.
One indication of how eagerly the movie is awaited was the line of fans that formed outside the Los Angeles theater days before last week's premiere. This may just surpass the "Twilight" and "Harry Potter" frenzies of recent years.
On the small screen, the Emmy-winning drama "Mad Men" returns to AMC Sunday after an 18-month gap. Now in its fifth season, the show follows 1960s ad exec Don Draper and his colleagues at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce in New York.
Viewing parties are being planned across the country to give fans a chance to dress in period costumes and sip some "Mad Man"-type cocktails while they catch up with the handsome, cigarette-smoking, booze-swilling characters.
Sunday also marks the end of "Luck," the horse-racing drama starring Dustin Hoffman that debuted on HBO in January. There will be no second season, HBO announced last week. The drama was canceled after the death of a third horse halted filming of the second season.
Sparkling costumes and dancing shoes return to TV on Monday night, when viewers can tune in for the season premiere of "Dancing with the Stars." The current cast includes singer Gavin DeGraw, Jaleel White of "Family Matters" fame, TV personality Maria Menounos, soap star Jack Wagner, "The View" co-host Sherri Shepherd and music icon Gladys Knight.
Also coming to the small screen are another string of awards season nominees. "The Muppets," "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy," "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," and "Carnage" all have DVD releases set for Tuesday.
For music fans, it's a relatively quiet week. Among the CDs to be released Tuesday is a self-titled album by Casey James of "American Idol" fame and "Port of Morrow," the third studio album by The Shins.
Readers can look for the publication Tuesday of "Stay Close," a new thriller by best-selling writer Harlan Coben and "Phantom," the latest Alex Hawke novel by Ted Bell.
Also coming out that day is "Mudwoman," a new novel about a female college president by the prolific (more than 50 novels to her credit) Joyce Carol Oates and "Tough Sh*t," a book of profane but practical life advice from comedian and director Kevin Smith.
