The popularity of SpongeBob SquarePants amongst kids (and many adults) is almost beyond explanation.

Don't get me wrong. It's a fun show that skillfully blends little kid appeal with occasional bursts of adult-worthy humor. It also boasts an impressive voice cast, including Tom Kenny and Clancy Brown. But there are kids who can't live without this little tie-clad yellow blob.

To celebrate the little champ's tenth birthday, Nickelodeon has announced SpongeBob's 10th Anniversary Celebration (Nov. 6 at 8 p.m.) with a list of A-list celebrities, including Rosario Dawson, Craig Ferguson, Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Ricky Gervais, LeBron James, Pink, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog and Robin Williams.

That impressive collection will appear in an hour-long special featuring SpongeBob flashbacks.

The special is hosted by Patchy the Pirate, "President of the SpongeBob Fan Club (Encino Chapter)." He sets off for Burbank -- home of Nickelodeon. (It's on Olive, near Victory -- in case you were wondering.)

I'm not sure how this is going to change the show (though a show with freaky sponge/squirrel mutant children might be interesting), but SpongeBob SquarePants is getting married! Yes, the yellow square will finally tie the knot with the lady squirrel in the bowl, Sandy.

Entertainment Weekly has an exclusive sneak peek of the SpongeBob wedding. Guests will include Tina Fey, Ricky Gervais, LeBron James, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, Will Ferrell, Craig Ferguson, and Rosario Dawson!

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.

This is the first week in quite some time that I'm definitely, definitely, definitely going to buy one of the DVD sets that is being released. And that would be 30 Rock. Can't wait for the fourth season to start in October.

As for The Mentalist, I love it but I can't imagine watching the episodes again, you know?

• 30 Rock - Season 3
• Being Erica - Season 1
• Brotherhood - Final Season
• Castle - Season 1

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.

I don't care how much controversy there is, why would anyone want to buy the Jon & Kate Plus 8 DVDs? Would you really want to sit around a year or two or five from now and watch the episodes again? Why?

There's a new Route 66 DVD set out, Season 3, Volume 1, but if you got the Season 3 collector's set from Best Buy or Critic's Choice, they've issued a recall.

• Charlie's Angels - Season 4
• The Donna Reed Show - Season 2
• Hotel - Season 1
• Jon & Kate Plus 8 - Season 4, Vol. 2
• The Lucy Show - Season 1

Ads for fast food kids' meals usually try to appeal to children. Not the child in all of us, actual children.

Burger King's new Kids' Meal ad doesn't just try to appeal to the parents in the room who don't care about their child's cholesterol intake. Its choice of music tries to appeal to the parents who are deaf.

The ad features a new rendition of Sir-Mix-A-Lot's classic big butt anthem "Baby Got Back" that talks about how he now "likes square butts and cannot lie." The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood isn't as amused and has started a letter writing campaign against the restaurant chain and the Nickelodeon network to express their disgust for cubed booty.

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It's not just American children, immature American adults and Japanese women who love the little yellow guy. It looks like Chinese are big fans of SpongeBob Squarepants as well. Creator Stephen Hillenburg must be kvelling.

The beautiful thing about the show is its ability to cross cultures. SpongeBob is such an overall silly character that he does well in translation. Not bad for a sponge who's been around for 10 years already.

Given that the Chinese will own the United States within a generation (or so I believe), it's good that Hillenburg is already making conciliatory gestures towards his new Chinese overlords with this series. As the rest of us work the salt mines to pay off our massive bailout debt, he (or his heirs) will be churning out new episodes in the comfort of a small, cramped state-run studio.

On an tangential note, I'm still waiting for Nickelodeon to bring back Invader Zim. Still waiting...(sigh).

It looks like Nickelodeon is getting a little further into the games business by releasing both SpongeBob SquarePants, iCarly and Dora The Explorer learning games for the iPhone. They will be available later this year.

My question is this: do children of that age really use the iPhone or iPod Touch that much? Most of the people I know who own one or the other are adults or at least teenagers. While I can see some market for SpongeBob SquarePants (which has some adult crossover appeal), I just don't see the grown-ups buying iCarly or Dora.

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.

Wow ... M.A.N.T.I.S.! Remember this show? It lasted for 23 episodes on FOX back in 1994-95. I had completely forgotten that it starred Carl Lumley from Alias as the superhero. I didn't think it would ever come out on DVD (or maybe I should say I didn't really think of it at all in the past few years), and now here it is with a complete series set. By the way, the letters stand for Mechanically Automated NeuroTransmitter Interactive System.

As for The Love Boat, I knew that was going to be out on DVD, but I'm not going to buy it.

• The All-New Superfriends Hour - Season 1, Vol. 2
• Blossom - Seasons 1 and 2
• Cheers - Season 11
• The Invaders - Season 2
• The Love Boat - Season 2, Vol. 1
• M.A.N.T.I.S. - Complete Series
• Meerkat Manor - Season 4
• The Pink Panther Show - Classic Cartoon Collection
• Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? - Vol. 1
• SpongeBob SquarePants - Spongicus
• You're A Good Sport Charlie Brown - Remastered

I didn't realize that the late 90s offered up so many cartoons that are still around today. A week or so ago, I mentioned that The Powerpuff Girls were celebrating a 10th birthday with a Cartoon Network special and complete DVD box set. Now comes news that a certain walking and talking sponge is celebrating a 10-year anniversary, as well.

Nickelodeon's pants-wearing sponge will be celebrating his decade of entertainment in a number of ways. If you go to the new SpongeBob.com you'll have a chance to play SpongeBob games, watch SpongeBob videos, and read the blog of Mr. SquarePants' creators. If you watch any of the networks of the MTV universe (which Nickelodeon is a part of) you'll be able to view a documentary on the character and its popularity. Finally, if you can wait a few months, you will be able to catch some new SpongeBob SquarePants episodes featuring Dennis Quaid (March) and Johnny Depp (April).

• At 8, The CW has a new Everybody Hates Chris, followed by a new episode of The Game.
• PBS has a new Washington Week at 8, then new episodes of NOW and Bill Moyers Journal.
• MyNetwork TV has a new Smackdown! at 8.
• Nickelodeon has two new episodes of SpongeBob SquarePants at 8 (two more new episodes air at 9).
• Also at 8: TCM has a new Elvis Mitchell: Under The Influence.
• Disney has the movie Camp Rock at 8.
• At 8:30, HGTV has a new Myles of Style.
• At 9, USA has a holiday episode of Monk, then a holiday episode of Psych.
• Lifetime has the movie Custody at 9.
• At 10, ABC has a new 20/20.
• E! has a new episode of The Soup at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk show listings.

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.

Lots of complete series sets this week, including two you probably thought you'd never see, Quark and Ultraman. I have no nostalgic memories of Ultraman, but Quark was a show I enjoyed. It's also neat to see shows like The Shari Lewis Show or DVD.

I wonder why the Back To You set isn't a complete series set instead of just Season 1? Maybe it was already in production before the show was canceled.

• Back To You - Season 1
• CSI - Season 8
• Charlie and Lola - Vol. 1-8
• The Deputy - Best Of
• Life with Derek - Season 1
• Lil' Bush - Season 2
• Lovejoy - Christmas Specials
• Nash Bridges - Season 1
• The Partridge Family - Season 3
• Quark - Complete Series
• Rules of Engagement - Season 2
• The Sarah Silverman Program - Season 2, Vol. 1
• Scott Baio is 45... - Seasons 1 and 2
• The Shari Lewis Show - A Shari Lewis Christmas
• SpongeBob SquarePants - Who Bob What Pants
• Survivorman - Season 2
• That 70s Show - Complete Series
• Ultraman - Complete Series
• The Unit - Season 3
• The Universe - Complete Series

Whew! After several days of sore feet (and sore booties from sitting on the hard floor waiting for the next panel), dwindling funds, and tons of TV-related panels, San Diego Comic-Con comes to an end. That doesn't mean that all of the television folks have packed up an left in order to catch the Silver Bullet train to Los Angeles (does a train even run between San Diego and Los Angeles?) or an aeroplane to Vancouver. There are still some panels waiting for your utmost attention.

It's Kids' Day at the convention, so there are panels on a Mr. SquarePants, Phineas and Ferb, The Backyardigans, and those wacky Muppets from Fraggle Rock. For the more adult crowd there are Q&As for It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Supernatural, Smallville, and another panel on cartoon voices. The final TV-related event is a rousing sing-a-long with the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Once More With Feeling." After that, you can climb into your hotel bed, train berth, car seat, or nearby street corner resplendent with the fact that you had taken in everything television at the Comic-Con.

So, if you are staying just one more day, here are the television-related events for Sunday, July 27th. For a full schedule of events you can check out the official schedule on the Comic-Con website. And, for old times sake, remember that times, panelists and events can change at a moment's notice. That, and the panels are on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Here are the weekly cable ratings, by number of viewers.

The big news I guess is that this week, in between all of the NBA Playoffs and the usual slots taken up by SpongeBob and wrestling, is that the debut episode of USA's In Plain Sight hit number 6 in the ratings. With the NBA Finals on ABC, next week's cable ratings should look a lot different.

1. NBA Playoffs - Lakers/Spurs (TNT)
2. NBA Playoffs - Lakers/Spurs (TNT)
3. NBA Playoffs - Celtics/Pistons (ESPN)
4. NBA Playoffs - Celtics/Pistons (ESPN)
5. NBA Playoffs - Celtics/Pistons (ESPN)
6. In Plain Sight (USA)
7. The Andromeda Strain - Part 2 (A&E)
8. The Andromeda Strain - Part 1 (A&E)
9. SpongeBob SquarePants (Nickelodeon)
10. Monday Night RAW (USA)

Due to the complicated and apparently outdated Emmy Awards nomination rules, prime-time animated shows like Family Guy, The Simpsons, American Dad, South Park and others have had to choose which Emmy category they want to compete in, animated or comedy series. Then, that decision impacts eligibility for writers and animators on those shows in other categories. Well, Family Guy is in a unique position this year, as their "Blue Harvest" Star Wars parody was classified as a special. And as the animated category looks at single episodes, Family Guy can submit "Blue Harvest" to the animated category, and the show itself, to comedy series.

I'd say it's a tremendous long shot that an animated show can be nominated over the live-action comedy series it will be facing. But there's always a first time for everything; when Disney's animated Beauty and the Beast picked up an Oscar nod for "Best Picture" it was groundbreaking in the same way. It's a tough debate. These shows compete with prime-time comedies every week and yet get put up against the likes of Spongebob Squarepants come awards time. How do you compare The Venture Brothers and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends?

Here are the weekly cable ratings, by number of viewers.

OK, we get it, everybody in the country watched basketball last week, except for the hardcore wrestling fans who assured that Monday Night RAW got into the mix again under enormous pressure (and both hours!). I also find it cool that SpongeBob manages to get into the top 10. The guy has more power than Oprah and Donald Trump combined.

1. NBA Playoffs - Jazz/Lakers (TNT)
2. NBA Playoffs - Cavaliers/Celtics (TNT)
3. NBA Playoffs - Cavaliers/Celtics (ESPN)
4. NBA Playoffs - Cavaliers/Celtics (TNT)
5. Monday Night RAW (USA)
6. NBA Playoffs - Jazz/Lakers (ESPN)
7. NBA Playoffs - Spurs/Hornets (TNT)
8. NBA Playoffs - Spurs/Hornets (ESPN)
9. Monday Night RAW (USA)
10. SpongeBob SquarePants (Nickelodeon)