After the shock of the announcement of Kim Jong Il's death earlier this week, many fans of NBC's hit comedy "30 Rock" quickly began to wonder what will happen when the show returns next month after a season five cliffhanger left a major character kidnapped by the dictator in North Korea.

At the end of the lauded series' last season Avery Jessup, who is married to Alec Baldwin's character Jack Donaghy, was trapped in the isolated country and forced to be the publicist/mouthpiece/possible mistress of the totalitarian leader.

A number of the show's fans turned to Twitter to post their concerns for Jessup, the newscaster portrayed by Elizabeth Banks on the Emmy-winning show, as soon as news broke of Kim's death.

"I won't lie - my 1st reaction to Kim Jong-Il's death was "Ooh, #30Rock is in for some last-minute re-edits," Michael Idov wrote on Twitter on December 19.

The buzz over how the show will deal with the unexpected news of Kim's death and what will become of her character led Banks to take to her Twitter account herself to thank fans for their support and concern.

"Appreciate all the concern over Avery Jessup's fate now that Kim Jong Il has died. We're at a pivotal moment in history," Banks tweeted on Monday.

In a promo released for the show's sixth season, Banks' character is seen posing for anti-American themed holiday cards with Kim, who is portrayed by comedienne Margaret Cho on the show. It seems we will have to wait until the series to returns on January 12 to find out how the show's writers deal with the unexpected challenge.