From last night's Community (which was sort of an off episode, I thought), here's Omar the formerly incarcerated community college professor played by Michael K. Williams discussing one aspect of the outside world that confuses him.

Since the early '80s, Thursday night's Must See TV lineup has been NBC's cornerstone. The best comedies in history have aired in that time block: The Cosby Show, Cheers, Seinfeld, Friends, Frasier, Scrubs, Will & Grace...the list is long.

NBC is a long way from the halcyon days of Seinfeld and Friends. It currently ranks dead last among the four major broadcast networks. Still, the peacock has maintained its dedication to intelligent, innovative comedy. Maybe people aren't watching — and I'm not entirely convinced that's the case without seeing the numbers for online viewers — but I'm convinced the 90 minutes between the cold open on Community through to the end credits on The Office is the best time slot this side of cable. When 30 Rock is in the mix, it's even better.

While we might still be somewhat skeptical here at the Tucson Weekly offices that the new season/movie of our much beloved Arrested Development will actually happen (Jimmy Boegle's comment via text yesterday: "I will believe ArrDev when it is taped and scheduled"), I will definitely find time to watch video of the New Yorker's panel discussion with the show's creator Mitch Hurwitz and the primary cast (Will Arnett, Jason Bateman, Michael Cera, David Cross, Portia de Rossi, Tony Hale, Alia Shawkat, Jeffrey Tambor, and Jessica Walter) from this weekend. Sure, you have to "like" the New Yorker to watch it, but it's a small price to pay.

How imagine at least one segment of Glenn Beck's forthcoming show for kids:

HOST: "Hey kids, what did Thomas Jefferson say powers the Liberty Treehouse?"
KIDS: "Refreshing it from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants!"

It's not Nick News, The Electric Company or even the Magic Treehouse. Starting next Monday, talk show host Glenn Beck hopes to educate a young audience with his new children's program, Liberty Treehouse. As he told Politico, his kids' show "will not only entertain children and young adults, but it will respect them and their knowledge and passion for history, art, science and current events."

In a recent interview with Newsmax, Beck said the one-hour program is intended to teach children aged eight through 14; and it's supposed to help parents share values "that go with the United States government in an entertaining sort of fashion." It's available on his subscription web channel, GBTV.

Beck's foray into children's programming is the latest vehicle from GBTV, which boldly proclaims "The Truth Lives Here". Last June, his company Mercury Radio Arts formed the streaming media channel, where Beck moved his eponymously named radio show after parting ways with Fox News.

"...Modern Family nearly swept the [Emmys'] comedy categories and the backlash is in full swing (especially since Louie was shut out of its few nominations). It would be too bad if a show with this much potential and accomplishment became a catchphrase for populist mediocrity because it won a bunch of awards." - Donna Bowman at the AV Club.

For a couple years now, Modern Family has been something America has agreed on. Part of that has to be by design, considering the show features eleven primary cast members spread across nearly every American demographic and age group (notably excluding African-Americans and the elderly). Liberals could point to the show's openly gay characters as subversive on some level. Conservatives could appreciate the family-centric message behind each episode and the old-school patriarchy of Jay. Horny men and teenage boys could appreciate Sofia Vergara.

I don't care if he's a womanizer, a liar, and a drunk...the man was a visionary.

1982-era Jerry Lewis wants you to know that X is a band name to remember.

X are set to play the Fox Theatre on December 10th as part of their annual Christmas tour. Tickets are not yet on sale.

Watch What Happens Live, the Bravo talk show which exists as a post-reality-show hype machine for the network's programming, is only a half hour long, but Patti Stanger, star of The Millionaire Matchmaker, managed to spew quite a bit of prejudice considering the time restraints. There's probably some sort of pool among the network's "talent" to see who can be the most repugnant human being (my vote: anyone from the LA real estate show they ran for awhile), but perhaps Bravo might want to let Stanger fade out of the spotlight as soon as possible.

[Gawker]

It's fall! You know what that means, don't you? TELEVISION. Glorious, life-affirming television. There's Always Sunny in Philadelphia! And NBC's Thursday Night Lineup! And football! And Boardwalk Empire! And...and...it's all too much...[faints]

[Dreams of Oregon crushing Arizona tomorrow]

[Regains consciousness]

Ah, but not all of it is pleasant...

While it really does appear that the show will find a new life as part of some online/cable partnership, even if that won't be until 2012, today ends the run of All My Children on ABC (and with a big cliffhanger!). The business model for soap operas on network TV doesn't seem built to last - after all, why not just pay on-air salaries for five people (in the case of All My Children's replacement, the food talk show, The Chew, which seems designed to ruin the careers of Mario Batali and Michael Symon) - but the current audience might not migrate to the online version:

According to ABC, 10 million women ages 18 to 49 watch TV from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m., but only 16% are tuned in to one of the soaps. Stay-at-home mothers are more likely to be watching the Disney Channel or Nickelodeon with their kids, connecting with others on Facebook or playing online social games.

A Los Angeles-based production company, Prospect Park, believes there is still juice left in the soaps. It hopes to adapt "One Life to Live" and "All My Children" for the Internet. The company bought the rights to the two ABC dramas last summer to launch as part of a planned online entertainment channel.

"People are just glued to these programs, and that's the ideal audience," Prospect Park co-founder Rich Frank said. "There is nothing else like it in American television, and we do not want to ignore technology."

But the soap audience is generally more comfortable with its TVs than its computers.

For 41 years, Martie Sanchez, Martha Torres' daughter, has been watching "All My Children." She introduced her mother to the program in 1970 — the year it debuted — after becoming enthralled with a Vietnam War-era story line.

"The show was something my whole family had in common," said Sanchez, 64, who recently retired from her job teaching special needs students. "My mom loved the drama. She would talk about the stories in a way that helped her transmit her values to me and my daughters."

When Martie's daughter, Desiree, moved to New York in 2004, she would call her grandparents each night so they could rehash plot twists. Her grandfather, Joe Torres, died the following year. Martha Torres died in 2008, and on the day she passed, her family forgot to watch the soap.

"This show was the last viable connection that we had with my mom and dad," Martie Sanchez said. "And I really didn't think I would ever lose this."