TVSquad

Today marks 30 years since the premiere of ESPN. Happy birthday, ESPN! Hard to believe there was actually a time when there wasn't a cable channel devoted completely to sports. In fact, the idea of a cable network that just covered sports was considered as ridiculous as one that only reported the news. Don't even get me started on the radical notion of an all-food channel or one that specialized in weather!

Yes, once upon a time, all those concepts were deemed losers. Back in 1979, if you wanted to know the score of a game in progress, you had to hope it was playing on the radio or TV to tune in. Or, more often than not, wait till the local news broadcast at six o'clock for the score. How did we ever get by?

All that white hair and he's two years younger than I am.

Anderson Cooper's birthday was June 3 (mine's June 9 - I like money and DVDs!), and he was surprised on the set the other night by two special guests: Keith Olbermann and Bill O'Reilly. Just kidding! Actually, it's a woman who hasn't made the A-list of celebs yet and a woman who is sure you can't afford anything.

Cooper always seems embarrassed by these things.

[via TV Newser]

Today is Stephen Colbert's 45th birthday. And as you can guess, no one is going to wish him a bigger "Happy Birthday!" than Colbert himself. But the video below is also a request to go to DonorsChoose.org to help provide school supplies to schools and kids who need them.

And remember: 318008 = BOOBIE

American Greetings has announced a licensing deal with daytime talk show host and comedian Ellen DeGeneres. Called "the ellen collection," the 32 cards will feature illustrations of the benevolent, pant-suited wonder along with one of her trademark witticisms. Ellen had this to say about the venture, "I look at having a line of cards as another extension of being a host; helping you wish your loved ones well, piggy-backing on your birthday greetings. I like to be up in the middle of everything and doing it this way is much easier than crashing parties."

Cards will start turning up in grocery stores and drug stores as early as this summer. So, watch your back crotchety old Shoebox Greetings lady, Ellen's coming. And, if we're lucky, other television personalities will follow suit. "Get well soon so I don't have to look at your whiny face" cards from Dr. House. "I'd wish you a Happy Birthday if I didn't think I was stuck in Purgatory" cards from the cast of Lost. The possibilities are limitless.

(S01E04) Did you know that "Happy Birthday" is a copyright-protected song? Sing it on TV or the radio and you'll get a bill from the family of the two women who wrote it. Dan learns that lesson when he sings it on the air and a CSC business affairs woman informs him of how much money it's going to cost. Oh, and the business affairs woman is played by Yeardley Smith, the voice of Lisa Simpson!

While Dan deals with that, Casey deals with a giant fly that is buzzing around the studio. Trouble is, no one else has seen the fly and they think Casey is going loony, which has to be frustrating when you not only know the fly exists but you have to deal with the woman you like dating some Gordon.