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Save the planet: Quit shaving Howie Mandel's head

By: Justin Lopinot | 11/05/2007

NBC kicked off its “Green is Universal” initiative on Sunday night by turning off the lights during “Football Night in America.” While you can't fault the television powerhouse for trying to make an environmental impact, the situation has the makings of being a PR stunt. Sending out a news release to brag about your initiative to help raise environmental awareness seems a little over the top. But maybe it's just me.

Here's a promo for the upcoming “Green Thursday” on NBC:

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSzQ28WbTfM]

And here are a few tips that NBC could consider to have an even greater impact on the planet:

• Change “Football Night in America” to “Football Afternoon in America.” Think how much energy could be saved by not having the stadium lights on in Buffalo, N.Y., on Sunday. Plus, television viewers could watch an afternoon blowout of the Patriots over the Bills in a room lit by sunlight. And locally, it would provide alternative programming to our town's hapless Rams.

• Quit carrying Notre Dame football games. They stink anyway. Maybe you could strike a deal with CBS to air the remaining episodes of "Viva Laughlin" or bring "Joey" back for another run instead. It might even encourage people to shut off their TVs and explore the outdoors.

• Save some airfare and bring Hiro back from feudal Japan. Send him by boat. Film his "Heroes" scenes on a beach in Los Angeles. Rumor has it that "Entertainment Weekly" needs more pictures of Masi Oka to run since they've used the two dozen they have on file. They could get a nice paparazzi shot during filming.

• How about creating the show “Law & Order: Alaskan Circuit Court?” Film it over the summer when there are nearly 24 hours of daylight. Or film on location in the South Pole during the winter.

• Air repeats of "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" and "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno." Oops. Writer's strike. This is already on the way.

• Film another episode of “The Office” on Dwight's beet farm.

• Quit shaving Howie Mandel's head every other day. Seriously. Stop it. People miss his curly locks.

What do you think of this “Green is Universal” initiative? Any other suggestions for NBC?

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