TVSquad

When I was a kid, watching The Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon on Labor Day was a must. It was just fun to have this all day, all night, live event happening every September. One year I even stayed up all night watching it (the next morning I knew it wasn't worth it).

The show isn't looked at as "hip" anymore (if it ever was), but along with the older showbiz vets we always see there are some new acts mixed in too. Are you going to watch it?

Sixty-one million dollars. That's the amount of money raised during this year's Jerry Lewis Telethon to fight Muscular Dystrophy. The influx of money to the annual telethon, which is held during the Labor Day holiday, was bolstered by a huge donation from a group of firefighters and the lack of a major hurricane so far this season.

This broke the previous record of $60.5 million, which was set back in 2003. The telethon was able to surpass this amount with a $23.5 million dollar contribution from the International Association of Firefighters. Last year only $55 million was raised due to the devastation hurricane Katrina wrought on the Gulf Coast shortly before Labor Day. Bob Mackle, Muscular Dystrophy Association spokesman, expressed great relief that there weren't any storms this season.