It's Thanksgiving, so let's give thanks (for TV)!

Photo courtesy of televisionaryblog.com.

It might not seem like there's much to be thankful for on TV right now, what with the benching of Community, the smaller episode order for Cougartown, and the continued existence of two (!) incoherent Ryan Murphy shows that somehow attract enormous ratings. But, in the spirit of the holiday, I found some things in the land of television for which I am truly grateful.

The return of Arrested Development


It's really happening, people. Netflix has officially picked up a mini-season (nine or ten episodes) of everyone's favorite, brilliant-but-cancelled show to air in early 2013, hopefully followed by a movie! Our Bluths have been saved at last!

30 Rock is coming back!


The silver lining in the sad Community cloud is the return of 30 Rock to the airwaves in January. I've missed my Liz Lemon, and while I certainly would have preferred that Liz, Jack, Tracy, Jenna and co. return by way of the cancellation of Whitney, I'll take what I can get to have them on the airwaves again.

A string of fantastic Fringe and Community episodes


If Community and Fringe are in their final seasons (god forbid), at least they both went down in a blaze of creative glory. Episodes like Fringe's "One Night in October," "And Those We Left Behind" and "Wallflower" were gorgeous, twisty and beautifully resonant pieces of storytelling, while Community knocked it out of the park with "Competitive Ecology," "Documentary Filmmaking: Redux" and what may be the show's best half-hour ever, "Remedial Chaos Theory." Plus, this happened.

The Vampire Diaries is on the CW


As you are probably all aware, TVD is soapy, inventive, fast-paced and just plain fun. Along with Fringe and Community, it's my favorite show on TV. (If you watch, you understand why, and if you don't watch, don't judge.) Luckily, while the series gets ratings that would be abysmal by any other network's standards (yes, even NBC's), it airs on the CW, a network that has greenlit nine seasons of One Tree Hill. It's nice to know that at least one of my shows will be airing doppelganger hijinks and jaw-dropping twists for years to come.

Game of Thrones winning Emmys, and generally being awesome


HBO's lavish, nuanced, dark and totally fantastic adaptation of George R.R. Martin's novels was a great example of a fantasy epic done right. HBO managed to really nail a complex fantasy epic and show the world that fantasy isn't just for nerds anymore, just as Battlestar Galactica and Fringe did for science fiction. Peter Dinklage's well-deserved Emmy for his portrayal of Tyrion Lannister was just icing on the cake. Now, can we work on getting one of those winged statuettes for Emilia Clarke?

Up All Night: a show that deserves Will Arnett


We all love GOB Bluth and Devon Banks, but nobody liked Running Wilde. So it's nice to see Will Artnett doing excellent work on Up All Night alongside fellow comedy stars Christina Applegate and Maya Rudolph. Who knew that the man known for over-the-top craziness could be such a steady, loving and totally hilarious dad?