30 Rock
NBC is holding its annual "Greek Week" Nov. 15-22.
Al Gore will make his second appearance in a green-centric story line on 30 Rock, where Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) must ask the T.G.S. staff to reduce its carbon footprint. Kenneth the page is put in charge of making sure the staff sticks to their goal.
Watch full episodes of 30 Rock in our Online Video Guide
"These green episodes are a fun and entertaining way to raise environmental awareness," network executive Beth Colleton said. "We are also very committed to green production practices at NBC Universal."
She said they've published green production guides for TV and film hoping they will encourage a more eco-friendly industry.
NBC released this list of other "green" highlights:
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Michael Jackson, Madonna
Michael Jackson's one-time spiritual advisor, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, has authored a book that depicts a strained relationship between Jackson and Madonna and paints Jackson as a man who wanted to "disappear," according to the AP.
The Michael Jackson Tapes: A Tragic Icon Reveals His Soul in Intimate Conversation, released Friday, is said to be based on...
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Chris Hansen by Virginia Sherwood/NBC Universal Photo
NBC has settled a $105 million lawsuit brought by the sister of a man profiled in a Dateline NBC: To Catch a Predator report.The woman claimed her brother's incriminating appearance drove him to kill himself. On the program, host Chris Hansen confronted Louis William Conradt, Jr., a Dallas prosecutor, accusing him of engaging in a sexually oriented online chat with an adult who posed as a 13-year-old boy.Per the AP, the lawsuit claimed NBC "steamrolled" police to arrest Conradt. Earlier this year, a judge scolded NBC, saying the network "crossed the line from responsible journalism to irresponsible and reckless intrusion into law enforcement."Terms of the settlement were not announced. — J.R. WhalenRelated:• Judge Says To Catch a Predator Lawsuit Can Proceed • Has NBC Preyed on Its Last Predator?• 20/20 Investigation Preys on Dateline's Predator • NBC Sued for $105 Mil over Predator Suicide
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A $100 million lawsuit that charges Dateline NBC with causing the suicide of a former Texas prosecutor ensnared in one of its To Catch a Predator investigations is moving forward. A federal judge ruled Tuesday that claims made in the suit filed by Patricia Conradt, the sister of Louis Conradt, can proceed to trial.Conradt, 56, shot himself in November 2006 after he was confronted at his Terrell, Texas, home by police officers accompanying a Dateline crew. Police were attempting to arrest Conradt after he solicited sex from a decoy posing as a 13-year-old boy during a Predator sting operation. While some charges in the lawsuit were dismissed, U.S. District Judge Denny Chin said "a reasonable jury could find NBC crossed the line from responsible journalism to irresponsible and reckless intrusion into law enforcement." The judge also ruled that NBC appeared to be "pushing police to engage in tactics that were unnecessary and unwise, solely to generate more dramatic footage for a televi...
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Question: I am curious about the fate of the once-popular newsmagazine. I remember a time when every network had multiple newsmagazines on the air. CBS had 48 Hours and two versions of 60 Minutes at one time, and NBC used to play Dateline four times a week. Now we only have 20/20, 60 Minutes and the occasional "To Catch a Predator." What happened? Was it simply a shift in people's tastes? Did networks run these shows into the ground? Do you think a prolonged strike will see the reintroduction of shows like Prime Time? Also, if networks get really desperate during the strike, do you think they may resort to evening airings of their morning news shows? Just imagine the Today show, GMA or The Early Show re-airing at 9 or 10 pm.
Answer: You hit on most of the likely reasons for why the glut of prime-time newsmags in prime time has faded. Overexposure and changing tastes had a lot to do with it, to be sure, but also the upsurge of reality series as a new form of counterprogramming. When you
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Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip box art courtesy Warner Home Video
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip arrives on DVD Oct. 16 in a six-disc, 22-episode set.... Tonight's the night that ABC's 20/20 sticks its nose in Dateline: To Catch a Predator's business. The sucker punches start at 10 pm/ET.... Marlo Thomas will guest on Ugly Betty this fall as a jewelry company owner with a "thing" for younger men — namely, Daniel.... ABC Family's Lincoln Heights set a series high with its Tuesday Season 2 premiere, drawing 1.6 million total viewers. That's a 14 percent increase over the show's January launch.... EchoStar's Dish Network has agreed to host the Big Ten Network, and just in time for this weekend's college football games, says TV Week.
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Chris Hansen by Virginia Sherwood/NBC Universal Photo
Since 2004, Dateline NBC's To Catch a Predator has put an uncomfortable spotlight on men who go online to solicit underage boys and girls for sex. But in recent months, the hidden-camera sting operation has been facing some heat of its own.NBC Universal is being sued by the sister of an assistant county prosecutor from a Dallas suburb who shot himself last November when police and a Dateline crew loomed outside his door with an arrest warrant. The prosecutor, Louis Conradt Jr., was about to be charged with soliciting sex with a minor after he engaged in explicit online and phone conversations with an adult posing as a 13-year-old boy in a Predator investigation. Among numerous accusations in the $105-million lawsuit, Patricia Conradt contends that Dateline "steamrolled" police in Murphy, Texas, into arresting her brother at his home, leading to his suicide.NBC News has called the suit "preposterous," saying there was no reason to believe that Conradt was aware of Dateline's presence...
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Chris Hansen by Virginia Sherwood/NBC
Hot off an Esquire article as well as a lawsuit positing that NBC's Chris Hansen-hosted Dateline: To Catch a Predator series went above and beyond the call of journalism in the name of exposing Louis Conradt, a former Murphy, Texas, DA who took his own life as a camera-toting policeman breached his home, ABC's own newsmagazine is getting in on the action. In a rare instance of a program acknowledging the existence of a rival, 20/20 is working on a story about To Catch a Predator's four-day sting operation, to determine whether Conradt was the victim of questionable or compromised law-enforcement tactics.
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The sister of Louis William Conradt, a former U.S. state prosecutor who shot himself upon being approached by policemen doing Dateline: To Catch a Predator's bidding, has sued NBC Universal for $105 million, claiming that producers leaned on cops to target Conradt, and that said lawmen possessed "neither a search warrant nor an arrest warrant" meeting legal standards.As camera-toting officers arrived at Conradt's home last November, "He told them, 'I'm not going to hurt anyone,' and shot himself," reads the lawsuit. "Then a police officer said to a Dateline producer, 'That'll make good TV.' Death was an hour later."NBCU has yet to receive the lawsuit but says in a statement to Reuters, "We believe the claims... to be completely without merit."
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Prince Harry, Prince William and Matt Lauer by Jeff Overs/NBC Universal Photo
This Monday's ratings bits:• CBS' Creature Comforts delivered 4.3 million total viewers, a week-to-week drop of 370 thou.• NBC's Age of Love debuted to 6.95 mil, landing it in third behind Men-Mother repeats and Hell's Kitchen (7.33 mil).• ABC's Ex-Wives Club (3.81 mil) was down 320K.• Matt Lauer's chat with princes William and Harry gave Dateline its biggest audience — 12.2 million —since January 2005. UPDATE: NBC will rebroadcast this Dateline Sunday, July 1, at 7 pm/ET.• The Closer's Season 3 opener was watched by 8.8 million, besting the TNT hit's previous premiere and setting a new record for ad-supported cable's best delivery of all time for a series telecast.
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