As Thanksgiving nears, I cannot help pondering what I should give thanks for. Cheeseburgers come to mind. Also pizza. Ham is good. Mostly food-related things, then. Alas, my column is not about food, so I will focus on a few things I am thankful for in the field of comedy.

I am thankful for new episodes of "Scrubs." It kicks off its sixth season (has it really been that long?) Nov. 30. This is so much better than waiting until January. "Scrubs" returns to Thursday nights, the night it has always garnered the highest ratings. Without the "Friends" lead-in, it may not be quite as successful, but new lead-in "The Office" is nothing to scoff at.

Speaking of which, I am thankful for NBC's new Thursday night lineup, starting that same night. NBC will be ditching "Deal or No Deal" (although the show can be hilarious when someone loses big) and replacing it with "Scrubs" and "30 Rock," in that order. Along with "My Name is Earl" and "The Office," this means two hours of high-quality comedy on a network that used to be known for its must-see Thursday night sitcoms. Must-see TV is coming back. Now people just have to watch it.

I am thankful for "Police Squad!" on DVD. The show stars Leslie Nielsen as the hysterically incompetent cop Frank Drebin. It is also the basis for one of my favorite movies of all time, "The Naked Gun." Like the movie, the show is filled with nonstop sight gags, wordplay and other nonsense. All I had left of the show were fond memories of an occasional rerun and three episodes contained on a worn out VHS tape that I purchased during a video store's VHS-blowout sale. Now I can finally enjoy all six episodes of "Police Squad!" the way they were meant to be enjoyed — in color! — and with optional commentary.

I am thankful comedian Zach Galifianakis will eventually make a stop in Madison. I cannot report where or when, but according to a newsletter I recently received in an e-mail, Madison is one of his "future tour dates," with "full details to come." His wit, deadpan delivery, experimental comedy, spontaneity and audience interaction make him, by far, the best contemporary comedian out there. Not one of the best — the best. On top of being funny, I have seen him perform and had the pleasure of meeting him after the show. He was the friendliest comedian I have ever met (which is only a few, but most of them seemed inconvenienced by the encounter). In summary, Galifianakis is the funniest and the friendliest comedian out there.

I am cautiously thankful for Tenacious D's upcoming movie. I say cautiously because, I must admit, I am a tad skeptical about "The Pick of Destiny." I listened to the entire soundtrack last week on MTV's "The Leak" and was a bit disappointed. The same goes for the music videos I have seen. They have inspired moments, but I feel like the overall creativity and energy of the first album has faded. Also, previews for the movie make it seem a tad dim-witted and mildly amusing at best. Nonetheless, I maintain faith in JB and KG's ability to rock my "fucking socks off." Good or bad, I expect it to be unlike anything I have seen before.

I am thankful for another Christopher Guest movie. The "This Is Spinal Tap" co-creator has been on a mockumentary roll since "Waiting for Guffman" (I even kind of liked the more conventional "Almost Heroes"), and with any luck the Academy Awards-spoof "For Your Consideration" will keep the streak going. On a side note, I despise the new Volkswagen commercials featuring Guest's Spinal Tap character Nigel Tufnel. The delightfully ignorant rocker is not a solo act to be used in automobile advertisements, Chris. "For Your Consideration" better make up for this blunder.

I am thankful I saw "Borat" before all the hype. A large number of people I know who saw it the second weekend felt let down. This is in no doubt because of the media hoopla created over the movie, which was somewhat warranted, but way over the top. It was not, as some critics put it in one way or another, the funniest comedy ever made. Not by a long shot. It is funny, but you should not see it expecting anything more than a decent laugh and perhaps some eye-opening footage. Hopefully going into its third weekend, expectations will return to a reasonable level.

Most of all, though, I am thankful I have this column where I can list fairly trivial things for which I am thankful. Oh yeah, I am also thankful for cake. Chocolate cake.

Mike Peters is a senior focusing on communication arts, film and business. Want to share your Grandma's amazing chocolate cake recipe with him? Send him an e-mail at [email protected].