Everythings Gone Greenzo: NBC’s Environmental Thursday Night + “30 Rock”
“You can’t fire the wind.”
NBC, home of quality network programming and the world’s absolute worst promotions department, reached into their bag of not-so-magical tricks once again and this time pulled out “Green Week,” an idiotic excuse to jump on the buzzword bandwagon and pretend the network which airs high-school-magic-show Phenomenon is actually concerned with the ecological fate of the earth and not, y’know, the numbers for 18-34 year old albino, latin females. God bless, 30 Rock for taking the whole network down a peg or two while simulatenously delivering one of the funniest half-hours of television this fall. More after the jump…
The basic setup for the episode is not unlike the actual setup for the network. Jack devises “Greenzo” a mascot designed to promote GE’s line of environmentally friendly products (so that the company can continue to pillage the earth for its remaining resources). Greenzo, wonderfully played by David Schwimmer as an ego-pumped no-longer-out-of-work actor feels he’s doing the lord’s work, and not just shilling for the man. He sums it all up when he says, “I wish my mother were here to see me now — so I could rub it in her fat face!”
It’s an idea that is almost too asinine to be believed if it weren’t for the constant reminders along the lower-third of the screen and the ever present GREEN bug in the corner (see image). By the episode’s end Vice President Al Gore stops by for a cameo (natch) before running away after his spidey-sense tells him a whale is in trouble.
All in all, the episode beautifully took the gas out of NBC’s theme week, which now along with Bee-Movie has hijacked their own airwaves for most of the fall. Has there ever been a network this intent on destroying its own product? My god, even in the “When things attack!” era at FOX they at least refrained from cluttering up the screen during all of the attacking animals/appliances/communists so as to not purposely annoy its own audience.
The environmental nonsense was only a chunk of this great episode. Other moments of brilliance came from the hyping of Kenneth’s party which by the day’s end was said to include T.I., Foxy Boxing, Fall Out Boy, a Harlem Globetrotter and Don Geiss, a list about as funny as the cutaway to Liz and Kenneth at his previous party with her dressed as Harry Potter and he as Austin Powers. Though the parties biggest payoff was the image of everyone inside Jack’s office the next morning, Jack with hair reaching previously unforeseen levels of disheveledness, while being scolded by Kenneth. So great, and so green.
November 9th, 2007 at 3:47 pm
the halloween party was made by “werewolf bar mitzvah” playing in the background. and i loved tracy’s line about colonial williamsburg being a disappointment, because it really is.
November 9th, 2007 at 4:36 pm
That was my favorite line. I LOL’d.
November 10th, 2007 at 6:09 am
This show is just the highlight of my week.
Thanks Rick again for running this blog. I almost always run to your site after watching an episode of certain shows to see how you’d felt about it.
=)