(CNN) — Dunder Mifflin, the fictional paper company at the center of NBC’s prime-time comedy “The Office,” is facing bankruptcy. Staffers in the Scranton branch are anxious about their fate.

“The Office” is among a great many prime-time shows that have integrated recession-era themes into their plotlines this fall in an effort to reflect the changing American economic climate. Art imitating life on television can offer a sense of solidarity for the viewing public and a new type of coping mechanism for dealing with recession-related stress.

“Shows that deal with the recession help people to validate the full range of emotions they are feeling right now,” explained Stephan J. Quentzel, psychiatrist, family physician and director of Beth Israel Hospital’s Louis Armstrong Center for Music and Medicine in New York.

The filing will not affect the operation of the company’s 20 parks in the United States, Mexico and Canada, said spokeswoman Sandra Daniels.

“This restructuring will have no impact on families who come out to our parks. They will not see an inch of difference,” Daniels said.

In an online letter to employees, President and CEO Mark Shapiro said Six Flags inherited a $2.4 billion debt load that “cannot be refinanced in these financial markets.”

Feb. 17 (Bloomberg) — Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc., the casino company founded by Donald Trump, filed for bankruptcy after annual gambling revenue in Atlantic City, New Jersey, plunged the most on record.

The petition for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, filed four years after its predecessor company failed, listed less than $50 million in assets and less than $500 million in debt, according to a petition filed today in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Camden, New Jersey.