30 Rock Going Green

I examined an episode of NBC's popular hit comedy television show 30 Rock. I decided to examine how a popular comedy show portrayed environmentalism, and to see the techniques the show used to reach out to the viewers. The episode I looked into is entitled "Greenzo", it was an episode from the show's second season. The episode is based around the chairman of GE encouraging Alec Baldwin's character Jack to figure out a way to make money from the "Green Movement". Jack decides to cast an actor to be Greenzo an environmental mascot for NBC. When Greenzo decides to talk trash about Jack and the rest of the manipulative big company execs while he is on air, Jack decides to try and get Al Gore to fill in the role as Greenzo.

The show does a good job showing the angle of a big name executive joining the "Green Movement" for all the wrong reasons. When Al Gore realizes he was brought in for something completely different he discusses the ways Jack can show his network's commitment to the environment in other ways besides using a mascot. Gore's ideas for having the network display it's commitment to the environment included: having a whole week of environmental themed programs and using entertainment with actual substance like having a character passionately displaying his/her concern for the environment to the people watching.



It was pretty interesting to critique the way 30 Rock demonstrated the theme of environmentalism in this episode because some of the context by Al Gore was about using television and entertainment effectively to target viewers on this subject. I refer to the Jacobsen reading, "knowledge of your audiences is vital in designing messages and selecting media to produce an effective program" (pg 31). I feel 30 Rock did a great job incorporating this issue in its show without being over the top or using radical views. In fact, because of the way the show is designed, the writers were able to indirectly target the viewers about environmental consciousness because of the utilization of the character's dialogue.

I do not know the exact intentions of the writers or NBC in general but I feel they are definitely on the environmental bandwagon because of the attention they bring to the issue and also not to mention numerous appearances by an environmental icon Al Gore. I feel like utilizing such a popular show like this in regards to environmental consciousness can be a great way to keep the ball rolling with the “Green Movement”. Jacobsen states, "research has shown that communications are most persuasive when they have a simple message and relate to the audience's everyday life" (pg 28). This episode is a great example of proper strategic communication because of the way it targeted its intended audience and gave a message that was appropriate and fitting because of the suitable use of comedy and dialogue.


-Brandon Adams