Quick Hits

- A shout-out to birthday boy, Joe Perry, of Aerosmith. Perry turns 59 today and, by our count, was the only band member not sustaining some sort of injury or medical mishap on the band's recently cancelled tour.

- AMC will become an HD network on October 1. It's too bad this didn't happen six weeks ago, about the time Season Three of Mad Men started.

- Kansan Clint Bowyer will not qualify for NASCAR's Chase for the Sprint Cup. Bowyer's disappointing finish last week in Atlanta has him on the outside looking in as the 12 Chase spots are determined this week in Richmond. Only four drivers--Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin--are guaranteed spots as the remaining eight are still undecided.

- Nice move by FOX--having Ellen DeGeneres as the fourth judge on American Idol negates the concerns of losing Paula Abdul, and her idiosyncracies, to this popular show.