It's not easy hearing about being green...

One of the staples of sitcoms of the 80's and 90's was the "very special episode" of a show - which usually dealt with some serious issue, like drinking or drugs or death or AIDS- striking one of the characters, given as a less on in not drinking or using drugs or having unsafe sex. Of course, those episodes also tended to be preachy and unfunny, contrived to force a message down people's throats.

The newest thing that producers seem to want to force down throats is environmental protection. I don't watch a whole lot of TV, and what I do is a mess of reality shows (Mythbusters, Smash Lab, Ace of Cakes, Flip This/that House, The First 48) and a handful of action dramas (CSI, NCIS, L&O, The Wire) that combine the two things I look for in a TV show - hot chicks and stuff blowing up. One of the shows that makes the cut is Numbers - it's not exactly brilliant writing, but it combines the occasional interesting discussion of game theory or computer search algorithms with, well, stuff blowing up. But in the last couple episodes I've watched off the DVR, they've been trying to integrate - badly - a story line about "greening" the house that one of the main characters live in.

Yes, I know we should care about the environment. But I think most people tend to do most of the basics of environmental responsibility - recycling, trying to save gas, ect - and I doubt those who don't will be changed by a few minutes of TV. However, those of us who watch TV as an escape, who just want to get lost in the world of drama, of the FBI, of stuff blowing up, are subject to an annoying discussion of environmentalism, badly hidden like a 30 pack in an underage college student's suitcase.

I feel like it's going to get worse - every company seems to want to be green. I've seen Fox running green promos during Bones, although luckily the plot wasn't marred by discussion of alternative energy - yet. If NBC and CBS and the like want to run programs about the environment, or ads and promos about it, or put stuff on their websites, fine. But I'd appreciate it if they wouldn't try to cram it into every show like an overweight woman into a slinky dress. I watch TV to be entertained and escape, not to be preached to about how we are all doomed if I don't trade in the Ranger in for a Segway and convert my townhouse to run on biofuel.