Was Green Week a Big Deal or a Big Joke?

I said in last week’s Pick of the Week post that I couldn’t quite write off NBC’s “Green Is Universal” Week as a big joke since it brought David Schwimmer back to TV.

But upon further review, I think my initial instinct was correct…

It all kicked off during “Sunday Night Football” as all the logos and graphics turned green. But then, NBC decided to take it a step further and demonstrate energy conservation by having Bob Costas, Cris Collinsworth, Keith Olbermann and Tiki Barber do the halftime and postgame shows in the dark. It was one of the stupidest things I’ve ever seen—especially since the sponsorship logos were still allowed to shine brightly.

It was also a bad move since the stunt involved two of the most sarcastic men on TV—Costas and Olbermann. When Olbermann yelled, “Collinsworth just stole my wallet!” any chance of the stunt being viewed as a serious example went right out the window. And the gang didn’t stop there.

And unfortunately, neither did NBC…

I should say at this point, in the interest of full disclosure, that much of what I know about this week comes from watching “Best Week Ever”—which should give you a strong indication as to how silly it all was…

During Monday’s “Journeyman,” Dan had to take out the recycling. But as “Best Week” pointed out, he didn’t even separate anything. As one of the pundits said, “Come on, show I don’t watch. You’re better than that.” “Days of Our Lives” had the college-going characters wear white t-shirts with huge black letters that read “Save the World.” Could they have been a little more obvious, please? The week concluded with the “Deal or No Deal” girls sporting green dresses and getting a visit from Kermit the Frog.

I will say that the “30 Rock” episode with David Schwimmer was solid and much funnier than the Jerry Seinfeld episode. Schwimmer was perfectly cast as the geeky actor who gets a big head playing the GE environmental mascot. And Al Gore was funny as himself—especially when he rushed off like a superhero to save a whale. But that was really the only highlight of the week…

I am all for encouraging people to help the environment but I think it should be done through PSAs and stories on “Today” and not by forcing it into storylines of shows or sporting events where it doesn’t belong.

Because when Tim Gunn tells me to do something, I do it. When a stupid teenager in an ugly shirt on a soap does, not so much…