Panic struck "30 Rock" fans when Kim Jong Il was announced dead on Dec. 18, but how is the writers' room coping?
The breaking story threw "30 Rock" for a loop since last season, Kim (portrayed by Margaret Cho) captured Jack Donaghy's (Alec Baldwin) wife, TV journalist Avery Jessup (Elizabeth Banks) in North Korea. With Avery held captive, Jack is left to raise their newborn daughter on his own.
In a promo for "30 Rock's" upcoming sixth season, posted below, Banks' character poses for holiday cards with Kim that read: "Death to U.S. Imperialist Wolves and Happy Hanukkah." Baldwin explains in the video, "A lot of things are going to happen this season apropos of my wife being gone."
But with Kim dead, Robert Carlock, a producer for the Emmy-winning series, told Us Weekly that Tina Fey and the writers plan to adjust the storyline ... he's just not sure how.
"We sort of went back to the script because we'd already shot eight or nine episodes and we realized that luckily we hand't referred to King Jong Il by name yet -- just to North Korea in general," Carlock added. "We can't go back ... but the fun puzzle is turning around and trying to figure out how to get her out of there and how to continue things.
"Maybe we'll have to have Margaret Cho showing up again having faked her death, because she wants to get a gig on a morning talk show," Carlock joked to the tabloid.
Immediately after Kim's death made headlines, fans took to Twitter to find out what would happen on "30 Rock," leading Banks to tweet: "Appreciate all the concern over Avery Jessup's fate now that Kim Jong Il has died. We're at a pivotal moment in history."
"30 Rock" Season 6 premieres Thurs., Jan. 12 at 8 p.m. EST on NBC