The Earth Day Special was a television special revolving around Earth Day that aired on ABC on April 22, 1990. The two-hour special featured an ensemble cast addressing concerns about pollution, deforestation, and other environmental ills.
Several cutaways are made to famous fictional characters watching events unfold, and discussing what can be done to save the planet. One segment features The Bundys and Marcy Rhoades as she tries to convince them to change their habits to save the earth.
Plot[]
A couple named Vic and Paula (Danny DeVito, Rhea Perlman) are watching TV at home as the story unfolds. The story line focuses a dying Mother Earth (Bette Midler) undergoing treatment at a hospital. She is treated by a group of doctors including Dr. Doogie Howser (Neil Patrick Harris). They are soon visited by scientist Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown (Christopher Lloyd), who has traveled back from the future to warn them about what will happen to the environment if people do not take action now.
Outside, reporter Murphy Brown (Candice Bergen) reports on the health of Mother Earth.
In between the main story are various segments including:
- Real life astronomer Dr. Carl Sagan and fictional characters talking to an audience in a town square about the effects of pollution and deforestation on the environment and how they can make a difference.
- Various characters from sitcoms such as Cheers, The Golden Girls and The Cosby Show talking about what they can do to help the environment.
- A musical performance by rappers Heavy D, Queen Latifah, Will Smith, Kid n' Play, Tone Loc, and Ice-T.
- Clips showing what deforestation and pollution looks like and the damage that it can cause, along with footage of people who are doing something to make a difference, such as recycling waste and water conservation.
Married... with Children segment[]
Taking place during the later half of the forth season of MWC, Marcy is at the Bundy Residence watching the segment of Mother Earth being visited by three children. As Marcy wonders how can people treat the earth the way they do, she notices the Bundys, who are sitting with empty cans and bags around them. Peggy simultaneously smokes a lit cigarette and uses a can of hairspray while the others eat.
Kelly then stops and wonders out loud if the earth truly is coming to an end, but for Al its not happening soon enough. Eventually the rest of the family agree that they should do something to set an example for the neighborhood. They, along with Marcy, get up from their seat, but then quickly sit down and laugh at Marcy for believing they would even do something like that. Al reassures them that they are serious and get up, only to quickly sit down again and laugh at Marcy once more while throwing food at her.
Marcy calls Al and Peg "Fred" and "Wilma" (in reference to the prehistoric cartoon, The Flintstones) and suggests to them that they should try to move up on the evolutionary scale. She proceeds to asks them to think about what if they cleaned their house and did more for the environment. She notices that Al has a can of beer in his hand and asks what he does with it. He proceeds to smash it over his forehead and tells her that he usually tosses his can in her front yard causing the Bundys to laugh. Marcy thanks him, since she was able to collect and recycle the cans which gave her enough from the refund to buy an album called Sting Sings for a Tree . Peg is surprised to hear that garbage can be turned into a profit. Marcy points out that just about anything can be recycled if they sort out the items into the proper categories.
Upon hearing this revelation, the Bundys charge towards the kitchen and quickly go through their garbage to find stuff that they can recycle for money. Bud finds Kelly's report card (which upsets her, as she believed that she burned it earlier), Peg finds a coffee cup and Al sees wasted spaghetti noodles in there. He demands to know who had food in the house and didn't leave him any, causing Peg, Bud and Kelly to hang their heads in shame. Marcy suggests that sort the trash outside instead of making a mess there. As they head out, Kelly asks Marcy how soon could the world end if they do not proceed to do something about the environment. She admits to Kelly that she doesn't know, but it could be as little as within 100 years. Hearing this, Al says that in 100 years, they will all be dead anyway, so it would be a waste of time, as they proceed to push Marcy out the door and throw the trash bags at her.
As they sit on the couch again, they laugh and joke about how they thought it was a real emergency. Bud then asks Al if he wants to go fishing with him on the weekend, but he points out that the fish haven't been there in some time. For a moment, he briefly contemplates if what could be happening to the fish is because of the environment, but then shrugs it off as they continue eating and sitting in their own mess.
Video[]
Trivia[]
- Edan Gross who played Carl and a young Al Bundy during the 2nd and 3rd season of MWC, appeared in this special as one of the 3 children who visit Mother Earth at the hospital.
- The MWC segment was probably recorded during the episode "The Agony of De-Feet" as Al, Marcy, Bud and Kelly are wearing the same clothes they wore near the end of that episode. Peggy's outfit appears to be from the end of "Peggy Made a Little Lamb".
- Additional, the segment was directed by Gerry Cohen, who also directed "The Agony of De-Feet".