From the department of taking something and running with it: Joe Kernen was kidding about Aquaman. Really.

Yesterday, TVNewser linked to this blog, which alleged that the CNBC Squawk Box co-host said Pirates of the Caribbean beat the box office record held by Aquaman, the fictional movie from the HBO hit Entourage. He did say that -- but he was joking. I clarified that in an update to the original posting, but the cat was out of the bag.

In the earlier segment, Kernen said: "These numbers are staggering, reminds me of Entourage, Aquaman, when they finally got the numbers there." Since most viewers heard that segment, Kernen didn't mention Entourage the second time around. As a CNBC spokesman, said, "there are always quick cultural references" on Squawk Box.

But apparently the New York Post and the New York Daily News didn't get the joke. Page Six alluded to Anchorman's Ron Burgundy. This video, now making the rounds on YouTube, definitely doesn't help. It excludes the earlier reference to Entourage, so Kernen seems serious when he reports the figures.

I'll be on Squawk Box tomorrow at 6:50 a.m. to talk about it. Till then, click continued to read the transcript of the original segment...




CNBC, 6:06am, Tuesday:

KERNEN: I DIDN'T SEE IT. JUST GOES TO SHOW YOU, THEY'RE STILL ABLE TO -THESE NUMBERS ARE STAGGERING, REMINDS OF ENTOURAGE, AQUAMAN, WHEN THEY FINALLY GOT THE NUMBERS THERE. IT IS HARD TO BEAT THE RECORD, BUT IT DID. PIRATES PLUNDERED THE BOX OFFICE THIS WEEKEND, MADE HISTORY IN SO MANY WAYS. PIRATE OF THE CARIBBEAN, THIS IS CALLED "DEAD MAN'S CHEST." THE FIRST SEQUEL BUT THE SECOND PIRATES MOVIE TO THE 2003 HIT, TAKING IN $132 MILLION IN TICKET SALES, EASILY THE MOST OVER EVER FOR A THREE-DAY DEBUT. MIND-BLOWING NUMBERS. 114.8 WAS THE PREVIOUS RECORD, SO TO DO $132, TO BEAT IT BY $18 OR $17 MILLION WAS STAGGERING. THAT WAS -"SPIDERMAN" THE FIRST ONE. THEN FRIDAY'S OPENING, THE HIGHEST SINGLE-DAY GROSS EVER AND THE FIRST TO RAKE IN MORE THAN 100 MILLION IN TOW DAYS, MAKING DISNEY THE STUDIO TO BEAT, THEN ADD IN THE DVD SALES AROUND CHRISTMAS, THEN THE SECOND SEQUEL WHICH COMES OUT, IT IS A FRANCHISE.