Michael notes that he shares his birthday with Eva Longoria, and that it will be a perfect icebreaker if he ever meets Teri Hatcher. After Michael asks what Dwight is playing on the recorder, Dwight replies that it is "For The Longest Time", by "William Joel" (Billy Joel released "The Longest Time" in 1984). When Kevin mentions he might have skin cancer, Kelly starts discussing a case involving cancer on the popular medical drama Grey's Anatomy. She later says that the saddest funeral she ever saw was the one for Princess Diana. For Michael's birthday, his mother sent him a picture of James Dean. Resignedly, Michael notes that "I bet Luke Perry's friends don't treat him like this". While at the grocery store, Jim and Pam buy a copy of the American comedy movie American Pie 2. Pam later impersonates Darth Vader, a character from the science fiction movie franchise Star Wars, on the store's intercom. To show his support for Kevin, Michael makes a fake Livestrong wristband out of construction paper. Dwight later gives Michael a Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins jersey with the words "From Dwight" on the back. Reception "Michael's Birthday" originally aired on NBC in the United States on March 30, 2006. "Michael's Birthday" received 4.0/10 in the ages 18–49 demographic in the Nielsen ratings. This means that 4.0 percent of all households with an 18- to 49-year-old living in it watched the episode, and ten percent had their television tuned to the channel at any point. "Michael's Birthday" was watched by 7.8 million viewers. "Michael's Birthday" received very positive reviews. Michael Sciannamea of TV Squad wrote that the episode was "simply the best one yet", and that it "was so brilliant and so right on that I can't give it any higher praise". Sciannamea went on to write that "the scenes at the ice rink were hysterical" and The Office "is the best sitcom on TV". M. Giant of Television Without Pity graded the episode with an "A". Lindsey Thomas of Rolling Stone magazine named the scene wherein Michael confuses the term "negative" to mean that Kevin has skin cancer as the seventeenth greatest moment in the series. Brendan Babish of DVD Verdict was moderately pleased with the entry and awarded it a "B+". He called the entry a "good episode", but noted that it was helped by "great supporting work from Dwight", who he called "as not