TVSquad

Unless you've been hiding under an ozone-filled nuclear waste facility hidden in an Arctic glacier that has recently begun to melt, you know that today is Earth Day. Now, while other Earth Days have been important, this year's is down-right significant thanks to media reports letting us know that global warming is finally here. This is pretty serious, especially to those of us with young children. We certainly want to do anything in our power to stop global warming so all of the planet's resources aren't used up and we need to travel to another planet in a spaceship flown by Joey Tribbiani.

With that in mind, the environmentally-friendly folks at TV Squad (we write all of our articles on recycled toilet paper) have decided to point out those television characters who don't give the environment the credit it deserves. Some are actually trying to harm it on purpose (I'm leering in your direction, Rush Limbaugh), while others don't know that they are doing anything at all. Here are but a few of the most wanted.

Oh, Peter. They're breaking up that old gang of ours! There's a spin-off of Family Guy in the works at Fox. Peter's drinking buddy, Cleveland Brown, might be getting his own show. Oh no, does this mean he may be leaving Quahog? What, no more get-togethers at The Drunken Clam? (Note to self: He's an animated character; he could still be part of Family Guy.)

Cleveland is perhaps the most down to earth of Peter's pals on Family Guy, which could make him the perfect centerpiece of a new cartoon series. Zany new characters could be built around him. If history repeats itself, he could be the George Jefferson to Peter Griffin's Archie Bunker, i.e., The Jeffersons spinning off from All in the Family.

This post would have been more fitting for Father's Day, so you'll have to excuse me for not being more vigilant. At any rate, George Jefferson has been chosen as the top-earning black father of all time (in 2005 dollars) according to a survey done by Salary.com. The survey was not race specific, but it's interesting to note that Sherman Helmsley's cranky dry cleaning business owner was the only black father to make it into the top ten (he ranked fifth). The list also included Bill Cosby's Heathcliff Huxtable (The Cosby Show); James Avery's Philip Banks (Fresh Prince of Bel-Air); and Reginald VelJohnson's Carl Winslow (Family Matters). Redd Foxx's Fred Sanford also made the list, albeit toward the bottom. I'm listing him anyway because his theme song gets stuck in my head a lot.