NBC is going green this week; should it?

NBC is kicking off sweeps week with an environmental campaign. All this week, you’ll see eco-friendly messages throughout NBC programs.

For example, on Scrubs, after watching An Inconvenient Truth, the Janitor vows to savethe world by becoming the Environmental Officer at Sacred Heart. On My Name is Earl, the warden asks Earl to incorporate environmentally friendly “green” messages into a skit presentation. On Chuck, Chuck visits Stanford University for “Green Weekend.”

"By creatively weaving stories concerning environmental awareness into our series, we see this as an opportunity to engage the audience andprovide a positive social message," said Ben Silverman, co-chairman of NBC. "Our ultimate goal is to entertain people while creating a conversation about a universal issue."

While I’m all for going green, I don’t like my favorite programs creating dialogue touting what essentially is a commercial message. I hate it when product placement is so obvious that it detracts from the story. (See this week’s episode of Nip/Tuck for what can only be described as a 30-second commercial for Yoplait yogurt.)

I applaud NBC for using its power to get people talking about the environment, but I fear this is a dangerous precedent to set. What happens if the network decides that it must get out a message that Dell computers are superior? Will our favorite characters suddenly start declaring the excellence of Dell computers? I can just hear Scrubs’ JD to Turk, “Dude, you’re getting a Dell.”

Or what happens if the social message of the week is about the atrocities in Darfur? Will we see Earl raising money for the cause and ER sending doctors?

Perhaps I should have more faith in my favorite shows to weave in the green message subtlety. But, from the press release, it doesn’t seem that subtle is playing a part here. For example, on Las Vegas, the Montecito will host an environmental conference and Delinda takes up the cause to get the staff on board. On, Friday Night Lights, Tami’s sister hits the Taylor household to encourage the family to live a green lifestyle. On 30 Rock, the network pushes its green initiative by getting David Schwimmer to become the green mascot. (Al Gore and Meredith Vieira also guest star.)

Even Days of Our Lives and the late night talk shows are producing green messages. So, get set for a week full of TV preaching the greatness of green. I’m warning you now, do don’t kill the messenger.

For more information on the green initiative, visit this NBC Web site, Green is Universal, where you can find "The More You Know" eco-friendly messages from NBC stars, green blogs from the executive producers of shows such as Las Vegas, as well as videos which willfeature highlights from the shows, celebrity public serviceannouncements, and a behind-the-scenes look at Days of Our Lives star Peter Reckell's environmentally sound home.

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CBS daytime goes online

CBS daytime lovers, your lives just got easier. Beginning today, CBS is offering full episodes of The Young and the Restless, As the World Turns and Guiding Light online for viewers to watch.

The episodes will be available for streaming each day at 6 p.m. ET at CBS.com, immediately following the West Coast’s airing. Episodes will remain at CBS.com for one week.

Kudos to CBS for helping out frustrated fans. It’s a move that could pay off in a ratings boost. Often, fans miss an episode, or several, due to faulty VCR tapes, vacations, or preemptions for local news. Then, it becomes easy to stop watching the show. CBS apparently is trying to make it a little harder to stop watching. Good for them.

Those of you hoping to watch your shows during your lunch hour, I won’t tell your bosses! (That is unless you work for Victor Newman.) Enjoy.

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Days of Our Lives now available at iTunes

Remember the days when you cursed your VCR tape/TiVo for screwing up and you missed an episode of Days of Our Lives? Those days are over.

Sony Pictures Television announced Monday that episodes of Days of Our Lives are now available for purchase and download at iTunes.

Stefano DiMera is behind this. I just know it. (Hey, if he can rise from the dead more than once and build a complete replica of Salem on a deserted island, he can certainly upload the adventures of the Salem residents to iTunes.)

Beginning June 11, each day’s episode of the daytime drama will be available for purchase the day following the broadcast.


To watch John, Marlena, Bo, Hope and the rest of the Salem gang, it will cost you $1.99 an episode, or return watchers can purchase a multi-pass for 20 episodes for $9.99.

Someone had better check Stefano’s bank account. I fear that Sony won’t be getting a dime of this cash, if he’s behind this.

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