Over three seasons, the people behind Community set up one joke in the background of an episode based on a reference from a movie that came out in 1988.

In other news, I'm now going to be a little sadder when the show disappears from the Thursday night lineup.

[Reddit]

First, some good news: 30 Rock is returning to NBC's Thursday night comedy lineup for a sixth season! And it'll feature a parade of guest stars this year, like Kelsey Grammar, Kristen Schaal and James Marsden, because, as everyone knows, the best part of 30 Rock isn't whip-smart writing or the brilliance of Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin. It's guest stars, silly!

However, as anyone who's read the famous short story "The Monkey's Paw", knows, the universe likes to balance the fulfillment of wishes with horrific events of equal or greater pain, and the return of 30 Rock is no exception.

You probably should go ahead and just watch the entire episode of The Daily Show last night, but in case you missed Jon Stewart's interview with Mark Kelly, here it is.

Roger Craig is pretty good at the game show Jeopardy!, nailing two "true Daily Doubles" in a row yesterday, but at the end of the day, he knows there's a IBM computer out there ready to humiliate and destroy him. And that's what he has to live with. Sad, really.

Fox affiliate KMSB Channel 11 will abandon the in-house production of its nightly newscast on Feb. 1—but that doesn’t mean news will vacate the 9 p.m. timeslot. Instead, KMSB’s 9 p.m. newscast will originate from KOLD Channel 13’s studios.

KMSB on-air and production staff members were told about the changes during a meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 15, where they were also told their employment status is uncertain, at best.

As part of the arrangement, Belo, KMSB’s parent company, will maintain a sales staff, but the hiring of talent and production personnel will be made by KOLD and its parent company, Raycom.

Additionally, KOLD will create a morning-news show to air from 7 to 9 a.m. on KMSB, according to sources.
It was suggested during the meeting with KMSB staffers that KOLD would need to make hires in order to produce the two additional newscasts—but there were no guarantees that the likes of news anchor Lou Raguse, weather personality Gina Trunzo or sportscaster David Kelly would be part of the transition. All told, the change affects about 20 people in front of the camera and behind the scenes who work on KMSB’s news product.

“Under the agreement, KMSB and KTTU will continue to control, manage and program the stations and sell all on-air advertising,” according to a press release. “KOLD-TV will, by contract, provide certain services to support the operations of KMSB and KTTU (TV 18), including producing local news in high definition, in-depth weather, traffic and sports, and website administration.”

This is the latest in a tumultuous series of events since Bob Simone replaced Tod Smith as Belo’s Tucson general manager two years ago. Simone came into the market with lofty expectations, and early in his tenure, he announced plans to launch a four-hour, locally produced morning-news block. That goal never materialized.

He also approved the funding for news-studio improvements at KMSB’s Sixth Avenue offices. The studio has been built, but was never actually used. As a result, the KMSB news product looks low-budget when compared to the market’s other three local-news operations. KMSB has also endured a number of personnel departures on the news end within the last few months.

This is KMSB’s second shared-news arrangement. When KMSB announced it was launching the nightly newscast, it entered into a shared-content deal with KVOA Channel 4, but that was severed shortly after Bill Shaw took over as GM of the NBC affiliate.

While it's no particular surprise considering the show is the worst rated comedy on network TV (I BLAME ALL OF YOU), but NBC is pulling Community off the Thursday night schedule at midseason in order to make space for the return of 30 Rock. Apparently, the show isn't cancelled and the remainder of the third season will be shown at some point, possibly on Telemundo in the middle of the night, but this probably means that a fourth season is all but doomed.

If it's alright with all of you, I'd like the spend the rest of the day blogging from under my desk, trying to wipe my tears off the keyboard.

In case you missed last night's Political Roundtable on Arizona Illustrated: Here's your chance to watch it online! Jonathan Paton, Paul Eckerstrom, Christopher Conover and I recap the week in politics, including the mayor's race, the impact of the recall of Senate President Russell Pearce, Richard Carmona's announcement that he's running for U.S. Senate, the latest on the redistricting court fight and more!

(BTW: Sorry I didn't post it sooner, but I was out late the Loft's Film Fest, where director Richard Kelly talked about the 10th anniversary of Donnie Darko. There's still lots of great movies to see between now and Thursday; check out the line-up here.)

Maybe it's last week's column on criticism, or maybe it's because I'm able to write, gloriously alone, at Cartel Coffee in downtown Phoenix, without the ever present threat of my daughter waking up from her nap, but for this week at least, I'm an optimist. I'm cheery and well-fed, and I've got caffeine careening through my veins, so here's a list of what I'm really liking about television right now.

Tonight on Arizona Illustrated's Political Roundtable: GOP strategist Jonathan Paton and former Democrat Party county chairman Paul Ecksterstrom join Christopher Conover and me to unpack the results of Tucson's mayoral race, the Pearce recall, Richard Carmona's Senate run, the legal fight over the redistricting commission and more. Tune in at 6:30 p.m. on Channel 6, catch the replay at the wee hours of 12:30 a.m. Saturday morning or come back here to see it online when we get a chance to embed it.

ABC News brings us a preview of the upcoming news special about Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, which airs at 9 p.m. Monday, Nov. 14, on ABC-TV, Channel 9:

When Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords woke up in a rehab hospital in Houston weeks after she was shot by her attacker, Giffords stared off into the distance, seemingly unaware of where or who she was. No one knew if she would ever speak or walk again.

That moment, so full with hope and despair, was recorded by her husband, Mark Kelly, who documented much of her effort to battle back from her catastrophic head wound. She had to relearn even reflex motions as small as nodding her head. At her lowest point, Giffords was not even able to smile.

Now, for the first time since the attack at a Tucson supermarket, Giffords speaks publicly — doing her best to sum up the nine months of pain and rehabilitation she's endured.

"How do you feel?" Diane Sawyer asks Giffords during her time with her and Kelly. It is the first time the two have shared their story since the attack.

"Pretty good," says Giffords.

"Is it painful?" Sawyer asks.

"It's difficult," says Giffords. "Difficult."