Cinematical

Rat pack. Brat pack. Frat pack. Splat pack. Whenever a group of actors and/or filmmakers begin to star alongside each other in a series of movies or unite with a common goal in mind, the entertainment media is usually quick to point out that a new pack has arrived. Over the weekend, as Knocked Up raked in roughly $29 million at the box office (not bad for a comedy facing Pirates of the Caribbean in only its second week), I began to ponder whether Judd Apatow had branched off and started his own pack. This would be a completely new pack, and different from the Frat Pack (which consists of folks like Vince Vaughn, Will Ferrell, Owen Wilson, Ben Stiller, Luke Wilson and Steve Carell). The way I see it, the Frat Pack no longer exists; sure these guys randomly show up in the same movies, but it appears they've all handed in their Frat Pack I.D. cards and gone their separate ways.

Which brings us to Judd Apatow, whose pack is far from a Frat -- unless we're talking Revenge of the Nerds here. This pack consists of Apatow, Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd, Michael Cera, Jonah Hill, Jason Segal, Martin Starr and James Franco. But that's just the first tier; on the second level, you have Will Ferrell, Adam McKay and Harold Ramis. Then, you have potential members who consist of folks like Jack Black and Owen Wilson. I'm probably leaving out a few folks (some writers, etc), but these are the central players; some of which were recent members of the Frat Pack. So, if there is a new pack in town, what do we name it? I'm horrible with names, but I imagine it has to rhyme with 'rat' in order to count and it should, in some way, reflect who these guys are and what their brand of comedy is all about. Fat Pack? But they're not all fat. Geek Pack? Doesn't rhyme with 'rat.' Joke from a Hat Pack? Okay, that's just lame.

So, I ask you: Is there a new Judd Apatow pack, or should they be considered part of the Frat Pack? And, if there is a new pack, help us name it.