Film / The Earth Day Special

"We have searched the skys for signals... Our spacecraft have explored dozens of exquisite worlds in the family of our sun... But as far as we've looked, there's only one place in the entire universe where the miracle of life exists... Our own planet Earth. Life is so rare and precious. We must safeguard... protect... and cherish it."

— Opening Monologue

And so begins The Earth Day Special, produced by Time Warner and broadcast on ABC in 1990 to mark the 20th anniversary of Earth Day.

It's Earth Day 1990, and a man named Everyman (Robin Williams) is boasting about the progress that mankind has made throughout the centuries. Suddenly, Mother Earth (Bette Midler) appears in the skies, chiding humanity for taking the web of life for granted. Feeling ill, she falls to Earth. Now humanity must learn to get their act together, or Mother Earth's a goner.

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People appearing in this special:

Starring (in alphabetical order)

• Dan Aykroyd
• Murphy Brown
• Mary Kay Bergman
• Mayim Bialik
• Jonathan Brandis
• James Brolin
• Downtown Julie Brown
• Bugs Bunny
• Chevy Chase
• Kevin Costner
• Rodney Dangerfield
• Geena Davis
• Dana Delany
• Danny DeVito
• Michael Douglas
• E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
• Jane Fonda
• Morgan Freeman
• Fresh Prince
• Nika Futterman
• Dan Gauthier
• Dr. Doogie Howser
• Isaac Hayes
• Heavy D
• Dustin Hoffman
• Ice-T
• Magic Johnson
• Quincy Jones
• Michael Keaton
• Kid 'N Play
• Dr. Emmett Brown
• Jack Lemmon
• Melanie Mayron
• Bette Midler
• Dennis Miller
• Rick Moranis
• The Muppets
• Edward James Olmos
• Rhea Perlman
• Porky Pig
• Queen Latifah
• Harold Ramis
• Dr. Carl Sagan
• Martin Short
• Meryl Streep
• Barbra Streisand
• Donna Summer
• Tone Lōc
• Alex Trebek
• Tweety Bird
• Robin Williams
• Robert Wuhl
• And the casts of
  • Cheers
  • The Cosby Show
  • The Golden Girls
  • Married... with Children

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This special provides examples of:

• Argument of Contradictions: Martin Short, as Nathan Firm, engages in one with Harold Ramis, as Elon Spengler, Egon's twin brother and found of Wastebusters.
• Award-Bait Song: Barbra Streisand's "One Day". The opening has a bit of her 1985 song "Somewhere".
• Bad Future: Doc Brown is said to have witnessed the year 2057, and it's not pretty.
• Blipvert: Especially at the beginning, when Mother Earth is rushed into the hospital.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: Bugs Bunny, naturally, and Martin Short as Nathan Firm. The latter does have some merit, however, as he was being filmed by Downtown Julie Brown's news crew. Bette Midler and Robin Williams break character at the end, and Midler even says that it's going to take "a whole lot more than just one television show..." for humankind to truly save the Earth.
• Expy: Harold Ramis as Dr. Elon Spengler, the twin brother of Dr. Egon Spengler and president of Wastebusters.
• Greek Chorus: Paula and Victor, watching the special at home while making comments about the plot.
• Green Aesop: What's an Earth Day special without one?
• Hilarious Outtakes: Some of the parting advice from the All-Star Cast before the credits end up as nothing more than flubs.
• Large Ham: Robin Williams as Everyman.
• Last-Second Word Swap: Everyman brags about Man having a very large... brain.
• Laugh Track: The Weekend Update and New Dating Game segments, and a little bit in the Cheers segment.
• Leitmotif: Some characters from other sources have one taken straight from their source material.
• Logo Joke: The Blue Office Pictures logo at the beginning turns into "Green Office Pictures". The Vault Productions logo also turns green.
• Made-for-TV Movie
• Massive Multiplayer Crossover: A good number of actors reprised the roles of characters they were known for playing at the time (Neil Patrick Harris as Doogie Howser, M.D., for example).
• Mood Whiplash: All over the place, thanks to the combination of comedy sketches and Mother Earth's brush with death.
• Muppet Cameo: Kermit the Frog and Robin are seen watching the special with a dozen other Muppet frogs and reptiles in a swamp. The special itself also happened to be one of Jim Henson's last projects, airing mere weeks before Jim passed away.
• Nightmare Sequence: Vic dreams about his buddies making fun of him and taking the environment for granted, then witnessing Mother Earth flatlining.
• Opening Monologue: Quoted above.
• Precision F-Strike: The word "Hell" is used sparingly throughout the special.
• Physical God: Mother Earth.
• PSA: They don't kick in until late in the special.
• Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: The end of Vic's nightmare, where Mother Earth flatlines.
  Doogie Howser: "Vic, this is ALL... YOUR... FAULT!"
• Random Events Plot: There is a central plot where Mother Earth falls gravely ill and various characters try to save her, but it's combined with skits featuring the casts of sitcoms and environmental parodies of game shows.
• Recurring Riff: The melody from "One Day" underscores the action occasionally.
• Roger Rabbit Effect: How the Looney Tunes characters are able to appear in the special.
• Say My Name: Everyman, when Mother Earth faints.
• Tempting Fate: In Everyman's speech, he goes on about how Mother Earth is "the type of mom who could never say no." Cue Mother Earth putting him in his place.
• Visual Pun: As Bugs leaves, he mutters, "This was a great place to live, 'til man set foot on it." Cue a closeup of Everyman's foot stepping into frame.
• Wrong Turn at Albuquerque: Bugs doesn't say the actual phrase, but he was trying to get to the Cucamonga Carrot Festival.

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