Happy Birthday, Neil Patrick Harris

News on Shuffle would like to wish Neil Patrick Harris a very happy birthday. NPH has been in a number of our favorite things, including Dr Horrible, Glee, and How I Met Your Mother. He has also appeared on Broadway a few times, including the revival of Cabaret and the original cast of Assassins. My favorite of these however has to be Dr Horrible. It was a low-budget internet film that grew into a cult phenomena (at least among Whedon fans). The whole cast was great, but Harris was without a doubt my favorite.

Harris has been sharing his birthday wishes with his followers on Twitter for the past week now. The list is entertaining enough to be as much a present for us as it could be for him.

Things I Want for my Birthday (6/15), Chapter 1: an iPhone 4, magical automatons, original Banksy art, and 1 million followers.

Things I Want for my Birthday, Chapter 2: Haunted Mansion memorabilia, an actual Muppet, the superpower to eliminate oil from water, a pony.

Things I Want for my Birthday, Chapter 3: a working, authentic fortune teller booth, and Danielle Staub’s sex tape – but only on Blu-Ray.

Things I Want for my Birthday, Chapter 4: a saltwater aquarium, rad clothes from All Saints, wood burning brick pizza oven, and Disneyland.

What I Want for my Birthday, Chapter 4: Panasonic 152″ 3D plasma TV, Red Dead Redemption for Xbox, the ability to donate blood, and NPH.com. (Correction: Errr… That was Chapter 4.1.)

Things I Want for my Birthday, Chapter 5(ish): Giant labyrinth hedge maze, many lengthy massages, an Immunity Idol from Survivor, and socks. (Changed my mind. Instead of socks, I want a three bedroom loft in SoHo.)

Things I Want for my Birthday, Chapter 7: a goose that lays gold eggs for Easter, map to One-Eyed Willie’s treasure, lifetime supply of Tums

Things I Want for my Birthday, Chapter 8: A rolla bolla, VIP seats to the US Open, this skill: http://tiny.cc/77gtw and a spider monkey.

This morning he posted that CBS got him the Idol he asked for…

The CBS gang got me perhaps the coolest gift ever – the actual Immunity Idol from Survivor: China! Check it: http://yfrog.com/msar9lj

At least he got one thing off the list. As for my contribution, I’m going to try to get him that 1 million followers… either that or the spider monkey.

Happy Birthday, Gina Torres

News on Shuffle would like to send a happy birthday shout-out to Gina Torres.

Torres has been on a number of shows over the years, but may best be known for her role as Zoe on Firefly (Joss Whedon’s cult hit that spawned a movie). In doing some research, I was reminded of some of the other great parts she has played. Included in this list is 24, Angel, Justice League (voice part), Alias, The Matrix films, and… One Life To Live. It just proves my theory, every good actor has gotten their start on a soap opera. Just look at Tuc Watkins, who was on One Life To Live when he got the part for Desperate Housewives. He actually still appears on OLTL on occasion and seems to be balancing both shows quite well.

As a tribute to Torres, here is a clip of Zoe and Co. in an episode of Firefly:

Happy Birthday, David Tennant

News on Shuffle would like to give a great big birthday shout-out to the talented Mr. David Tennant. He has been in a number of things (both television/movies and on stage) but is mostly known for his role as the 10th Doctor on the British Sci-Fi series, Doctor Who. (We swear that it is merely a coincidence that this happens to fall on the day after we start blogging avidly about the joys of Doctor Who).

Tenannt’s portrayal of the Doctor has been held by some to be the greatest of all. To many he is “The Doctor”. This is why Matt Smith was going to have his work cut out for him. He would be replacing the man who brought many new people into the fold and defined who the Doctor was for them.

While his time as the Doctor was certainly memorable, Tennant has done many other extraordinary things as an actor. He was recently in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Hamlet as the title role, and he was also in the the docu-drama Einstein and Eddington, as Arthur Eddington. Oh, and fun fact: he played Barty Crouch Jr. in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

The more things I see David in, the more I come to realize his acting is a lot like the Doctor: mad but brilliant. To celebrate, here is a David Tennant/10th Doctor Tribute. Song is “I Gotta Feeling”

Happy Birthday, Sean Maher

Just consider today “obsession day” here at News on Shuffle HQ. As promised earlier, here is my happy birthday shout-out to Sean Maher. Sean played my favorite character on Firefly, Dr. Simon Tam (although it is incredibly hard to choose one favorite character on that show). I guess you could say it is also “doctor day” here as well, since my last post was about The Doctor. Now if only we could get both doctors on one show…

Anywho… you should all follow Sean on The Twitter and send him lots of birthday love. Tell him News on Shuffle sent you ; )

Happy Internation Sarah Michell Gellar Day!

Fact for the day: Sarah Michelle Gellar’s birthday is apparently known as International Sarah Michell Gellar Day. Or at least that is what I gathered from Whedonesque today. To celebrate, here are some top Buffy moments someone posted. The only one I remembered immediately was the one from Hush. Does that make me a bad fan?

What would I have chosen as best Buffy moments?

Her coming back from the dead in Season 6 would definitely be on there.

Also, when she is singing “Give Me Something To Sing About” during the musical episode “Once More With Feeling”

And the final moments with Spike at the end of the series.

Oh, and let’s not forget her dying at the end of Season 5. And the speech she gives Dawn about living. “Dawn, listen to me. Listen. I love you. I will *always* love you. But this is the work that I have to do. Tell Giles… tell Giles I figured it out. And, and I’m okay. And give my love to my friends. You have to take care of them now. You have to take care of each other. You have to be strong. Dawn, the hardest thing in this world… is to live in it. Be brave. Live. For me.” (Seems kind of ironic she tells Dawn to be brave and live but then complains about living her own life. Then again, if someone ripped me out of Heaven I would complain too).

There are a ton of great moments from the show. These are just some that come to mind now (and only ones involving SMG, since it is her birthday and all).

What about you? What are some of your favorite moments?

Happy Birthday (x2)

Two birthday shout-outs today, one mainstream music artist and one slightly lesser known television star.

First off, thought you would be interested to know it is Lady Gaga’s birthday today. She is known for her dance beats and outrageous costumes, but do any of you know her real name? It’s Stafani Joanna Angelina Germanotta, in case you were wondering. Did you also know she started out performing in the Lower East Side of NYC? The area is known for it’s music scene with Bowery Ballroom being located there, as well as a number of other venues. And I bet you didn’t know her name is based from the Queen song “Radio Ga Ga” either. There are so many things yet to be discovered about this performer, but just know there is more to her than her costumes.

Next, News on Shuffle would like to wish a very happy birthday to Gareth David-Lloyd, who plays Ianto Jones on the Doctor Who spinoff, Torchwood. Many fans consider him a favorite on the show, especially regarding his relationship to the lead, Captain Jack Harkness. Even if you don’t watch Torchwood, you still might recognize him as Dr. Watson from the recent Sherlock Holmes film.

As a combined birthday tribute, I thought it would be cool to share a video with Ianto and a Lady Gaga song. So here is Jack & Ianto’s Bad Romance

And because what’s a birthday without some dancing, why don’t we Just Dance?

Happy Birthday, Nathan Fillion

News on Shuffle would like to wish Nathan Fillion a very happy birthday. Fillion was once star of the Joss Whedon cult classic, “Firefly” as well as Whedon’s other cult favorites “Dr. Horrible” as Captain Hammer and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (where he guest starred in the final season). He currently star’s on the ABC show “Castle”. Other appearances by Fillion include a recurring role on a season of Desperate Housewives as Dr. Mayfair and the portrayal of Joey Buchanan on the soap opera “One Life to Live”. Fillion turns 39 today.

Happy Birthday, Alyson Hannigan

News on Shuffle would like to wish the lovely Alyson Hannigan a very happy birthday. Hannigan was once the star of the cult classic “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” as Willow and also appeared in the spin-off, Angel. She currently stars with Neil Patrick Harris in the CBS comedy “How I Met Your Mother”. Hannigan is married to Aleixs Dennisof, who also starred in “Buffy” and “Angel” as Wesley. They have a daughter who was born March 24, 2009. Hannigan turns 36 while her daughter turns 1.

Happy Birthday to them both.

Happy Birthday, Gary Oldman

A big happy birthday shout-out goes out to Gary Oldman, who turns 52 today. Oldman is known for being in a number of films, including Batman Begins/The Dark Knight, The Fifth Element, and Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead, as well as his portrayal of Sirius Black in the Harry Potter series. Sirius returns to the wizarding world in the final chapter, Deathly Hallows. Oldman is also listed as reprising his role as Commissioner Gordon in a future Batman film.

As a postscript I would also like to wish a happy belated to Oldman’s fellow marauder in the Harry Potter films, David Thewlis. Thewlis plays Remus Lupin in the series. He will also be making an appearance in Deathly Hallows. He turned 47 yesterday.
Happy Birthday to you both.

Happy Birthday, John Barrowman

John Barrowman, star of Torchwood (the spin-off of Doctor Who), is celebrating a birthday today. The actor and singer turns 43 today.

Actually, Barrowman has a lot to celebrate at the moment. For one thing, he is currently in the States and on the set of Desperate Housewives, where he will guest on the show for several episodes. The first of these will be March 21st, according to TV.com. Barrowman will be playing the villain in connection with the new family on Wisteria Lane, but has said in several interviews that he will play a major part in all of the ladies’ lives on the show.

Another exciting thing in the life and times of John Barrowman is the new album he has just released. This self-titled work has been said to be his most personal yet, as he goes back to his Broadway roots and has chosen songs that have some significance in his life. (One example is the song his mother used to sing to him as a child, “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” from the musical Carousel).
There is also talk of Barrowman reprising his role of Captain Jack Harkness for the American version of Torchwood that is in the works, but he insists that he knows nothing about this at the present time. Is he just saying that because he’s not allowed to tell? Guess we will just have to wait and see. One thing is certain, it would be a crime to waste his experience with the show and his obvious enthusiasm at potentially getting to take the part back up again.