What a difference a day makes. The day before yesterday, Thomas Gibson was suspended for kicking a writer on the set of "Criminal Minds"; today, he was fired. The kicking incident was not the first time in his 12-year run that the actor had a physical altercation with a staff member. A few years back he got into it with a production assistant. That time he was sent to anger management treatment. No word on how his character of Hotch, the head honcho of the team, will be written out. It would be poetic justice if the writer who he kicked gets to pen it.

For 32 years the Television Critics Association has brought the stars to over 200 television reporters. The event, held in LA, comes twice a year, in January and July. The 2016 TCA tour wrapped on Thursday. Most of the actors are willing to participle in this dog-and-pony show for several reasons — not the least of which is no red carpet or reporters screaming your name so you will stop and chat. And no one asks who designed the clothes you are wearing. Plus, it's good publicity.

For decades, the TCAs were the only way to break bread and share bon mots with TV stars. That is no longer true, as Comic-Con, the little comic book convention that could is now a megawatt event that often has stars (movie and TV) taking center stage. At first it seemed a likely fitting for fantasy shows such as "Game of Thrones" and TV shows and movies based on comics. That has changed. Sitcoms ("Big Bang Theory," "Jane the Virgin," etc.) attend. There is the Paleyfest, named for the late CBS mogul Bill Paley, is now a major event that happens in March.

And is open to the public willing to pay. There are also the up-fronts. This is the time when networks show advertisers previews of their shows for the upcoming season.

Because there are so many meet-and-greets, the stars, producers cannot tell the same old stories. When a group of talent represents a show, the actors must all pretend to love each other. I work alone (aside from my amazing editors), and even as my only co-worker, so to speak, I manage to drive myself crazy.

After most of these events the press gets together and decides which talent was the worst, the best and the dumbest and tries to figure out who would love to push one of their cast mates off the stage. I will not name the worst. It would be like giving away the secret Mason handshake. As for the best, certain names always pop up: Diane Sawyer, Tom Selleck, Ray Romano, Hank Azaria, Ed O'Neil, "The Big Bang Theory" gang. Producer Dick Wolf, who went from New York to Chicago to take a strong hold at NBC is always interesting. OK, I will cough up one negative. The folks of "The Good Wife" wore frozen smiles most of the time and demurred to star and producer Julianna Margulies.

There were several great takeaways from this year's TCAs: Showtime is keeping "Ray Donovan" around for a fifth season — hurrah! I usually hate shows where the central character is a jerk, but there is something about Ray and his family (which is more dysfunctional than mine was) that keeps me coming back.

The "Star Trek" reboot has decided that Zulu will be gay. George Takei, who played Zulu in the original series, is not thrilled about the twist. Takei, who is gay in real life, thinks it is wrong for the show.

"Homeland," which returns in January, will focus on the presidential race. The winner will be a woman who served in the New York Senate, but she will have a smidgen of Donald Trump to her persona. Please, no. I thought after November Trump would be a footnote — although the buzz at the TCAs was that Trump may start his own subscription network, so maybe he never will be a footnote. I'm OK just as long as he is not president.

To find out more about Lynda Hirsch and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com.