TV Potpourri: "30 Rock," "Mercy," "Southland" and other TV tidbits

Amid news that GE -- parent company to NBC/Universal -- plans to sell its stake in the network, NBC is really cashing in on its connections.

-- EW's Michael Ausiello reports that two of the stars of the over-the-top ridiculous season of "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" will play themselves in an episode of "Mercy." Alas, the episode will not include Danielle Staub -- the villain of the Garden State crew -- but feature sweet Jacqueline Laurita and table-flipping-phenom Teresa Giudice. Now, perhaps this is a ploy to get people to watch "Mercy," which is pulling in a decent number of viewers in its 8 p.m. Wednesday time slot. Of course, as Ausiello points out, it doesn't hurt that Bravo is owned by NBC-Universal.

-- Speaking of GE's plans to sell its stake in NBC to Comcast... we have to ask... what does this mean for "30 Rock" and its intricate plot connections to GE? Will Jack Donaghy keep his job as Vice President of East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming? What happens to his new microwave invention?

-- If you were a fan of NBC's "Southland" -- it's police drama/"ER" replacement -- and crushed by its sudden cancellation, good news. TNT will pick up "Southland" and air the season 2 episodes that were completed before NBC pulled the plug. It's not certain whether TNT will produce new episodes, though. Still, something is better than nothing, right?

-- I haven't watched too many episodes of "Castle," but the Halloween episode that aired last week had a great inside joke for fans of Joss Whedon's "Firefly." Nathan Fillion, who plays the titular character on "Castle," dresses up as his "Firefly" character Mal Reynolds for Halloween, only to have his daughter on the show ask "didn't you wear that, like, five years ago? Don't you think you should move on?" Plus Fillion uses the phrase "candy beard." Trust me, it was funny... and here's the clip to prove it!



--Malavika Jagannathan, mjaganna@greenbaypressgazette.com