10 Funniest Green Moments on Recent TV

Previously we brought you the 10 funniest green viral videos from the Internets. That got us thinking about traditional versus new media, and we realized that all those professional writers, editors, actors and crew out in Hollywood have actually made some funnies too.

Although it can be hard to squeeze good funny out of the global warming crisis and other serious environmental problems, here are our favorite comedic green moments from recent TV shows. Hopefully, these will get even the most serious eco-warrior to chuckle at something.

10. Chris and Jerry's Tips for Green Living on CBS Late Night with David Letterman

Comedians Chris Elliott and Gerald Mulligan take on composting. Don't try this at home, kids. Seriously.

9. NBC Green Week: "Survivor Man" on The Office

We are so grateful to Steve Carell and Tina Fey for not letting NBC's mandated week of environmental programming feel like we were watching unaired Caveman episodes — although the zero amount of laughs in Caveman created zero methane from viewers. Wait, there were viewers, right?

"Survivor Man" not only stars Carell, he wrote it. The Office is about a paper company — not exactly grounds for eco-friendly material, so Carell went outdoors for the laughs. When HR wonk Toby brags about going on corporate boss Ryan's "wilderness adventure retreat," Michael (Carell) embarks on a solo camping trip wearing nothing but the clothes on his back for his version of Man vs. Wild.

This is the only clip we could find on Hulu, although it's not really the funniest part of the episode. Oh well, you get the idea.

8. Scrubs, "My Inconvenient Truth" (Episode 703)

The show's moved to a new network on ABC, but they managed to deliver a funny green episode on NBC when the janitor (played by the hysterically funny and comedic genius Neil Flynn) decided to become an "environmental officer" after watching An Inconvenient Truth.

There's a great clip on Hulu of Flynn in action, though we couldn't embed that one for some reason. Check out this Nature Conservancy PSA instead:

7. Steven Colbert and Jon Stewart at the 2007 "Green" Emmys

Steven Colbert walks onstage with an "earth-friendly" leaf blower that he says is powered by Al Gore's tears. "He's a crybaby, Jon. We are so lucky he's not our president!" Aren't the Oscars, the Emmys and the Golden Globes worth just a little Arctic melting?

6. Ludacris and Tommy Lee "Get a Whiff of Green" Ad for Planet Green

When "Toxic Tommy Lee" squares off against "Luda Polluter," is there really a winner? If Tommy Lee really went "Seven days, no shower...276 gallons!" we wonder how Pam Anderson got close enough to have a kid with him...twice?!

5. Drug Dealer and a Prius on Weeds

A nasty drug dealer named U-turn drives shotgun in Nancy Botwin's (Mary Louise Parker) Prius, before they get caught up in a drive-by shooting. In a later episode, U-turn buys a Prius fleet for his business associates "'cause they're real quiet. You can go sneakin' up on a mother..." Doubt this is quite the marketing vehicle Toyota had in mind. But then again, didn't Al Gore's son use a Prius for...oh, never mind.

Note: this video contains strong language

4. "Manbearpig" on South Park (Comedy Central)

Writers/creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker sure manage to piss off a lot of people with their animated show's often tasteless jokes about Asians, AIDs and Alzheimer's. Here, "Manbearpig" takes the piss out of the environment, well, more specifically Al Gore. In it, a paranoid, friendless Gore takes South Park Elementary School on a hunt for the half man, half bear, half pig that is "humankind's biggest threat."

Piece of trivia: Gore refers to Manbearpig as "MBP," the term also used when researching the recession of glaciers — Mass Balance Potential. Clever, boys.

3. Da Ali G Show

Let's show "respek" to the brilliant Ali G aka Sacha Baron Cohen for asking enviro pros pressing questions like "What would you prefer, no ozone or stinking pits?" Well, we already know Tommy Lee's answer.

2. "Greenzo" on 30 Rock

Network head Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) hires eco-friendly mascot "Greenzo" for Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) to promote on-air environmentalism — "Saving the Earth while maintaining profitability!" Eventually, Greenzo (David Schwimmer) descends into obsessive green madness and is fired, only to be replaced by...Al Gore? Jack lures Gore to the gig by lying that the net's parent company is manufacturing a car that runs on garbage. Gore flees the scene to save a whale.

"This Earth is ruined!" Liz says by the episode's end. "We got to get a new one." Sure, but only if our new world airs 30 Rock.

1. Larry David on "Earth to America," TBS Special

In this hysterical clip, self-proclaimed radical narcissist-turned radical environmentalist Larry David says that growing up in Brooklyn meant taking pride in owning plastic artificial flowers and fruits. "We love great, fake things." David swears his mother hated animals and celebrated extinction. She obviously made a lasting impact on little Larry.