Forced to conform to NBC’s all-week "Green is Universal" campaign, Tina Fey and the team behind 30 Rock rose to the occasion by crafting what is arguably this season’s funniest episode and easily one of the five funniest the show has produced in its one-and-then-some seasons.

Kenneth, known for his especially lame parties, soon finds himself the host of what is suddenly the social event of the year, thanks to Tracy spreading rumors to help out the little guy. Rapper TI and emo-rockers Fall Out Boy are going to show up; there’s going to be foxy boxing; and even NBC president Don Geiss will make an appearance. But when it comes time for the big event, the episode instead cuts to the next morning: Jack sits at his desk, with his hair in disarray and a look of shocked horror on his face, as well as on those of the employees surrounding him. In quick flashbacks, we learn of the previous night’s debauchery, which included a Harlem Globetrotter cameo, by the way. This editing gimmick might be the funniest gag I’ve caught on television in some time and I won’t soon forget it.

Meanwhile, Greenzo (played by David Schwimmer) – a ridiculous promotional character created by Jack to “make the most money from the environmental fad” – is letting his sudden celebrity go to his head. A nobody actor before this big part, Scwhimmer’s character embraces his environmental crusade and re-imagines himself as a messiah attacking big corporations like NBC Universal, and he ends up getting fired.

By the time he shows up at the end, drunk and filthy, a certain recent Nobel Prize winner is in the process of making his funniest TV appearance since his Saturday Night Live hosting gig. Alec wants Al Gore to replace Greenzo and says corporate America can be good for the environment, but Gore has no interest and, in a brilliant bit of farce, turns when he hears something off-screen, and asks, “Do you hear that? A whale is in danger,” before running off a la Superman. Utter genius, and kudos to our ex-Vice Prez for having the courage to poke a little fun at himself.

Over on The Office, we got a first glimmer of the heart that defined the first couple of seasons in the final moments of the sorta environmental episode. Things start off with Michael feeling shafted when a minor office flunky is invited on a company retreat in the woods. To rectify the situation, he asks Dwight to drive him out into the woods where he’s to be left to fend for himself for a couple of days with nothing but a knife and duct tape – a cathartic experience, he calls it. After a few hours of talking into a video camera about the wonders of the great outdoors, though, he tries to eat some poisonous mushrooms and Dwight, hiding in the bushes, leaps to the rescue.

Back at the Scranton office: Jim, left in charge, finds himself facing a coup when he tries to condense several different birthday parties into one super-party. The employees value their moments in the sun and don’t want to share the glory or the choice in cakes. When Michael returns, like a father-figure (which is interesting, since Jim is accidentally called “Michael” earlier in the episode), he explains to Jim that his management decision was a rookie mistake. "Give it ten years," Jim is told. Of course, Jim says he doesn’t think he’ll be there in ten years and Michael, revealing a bit of sad self-awareness, replies, “That’s what I said.”

And that’s when it hits Jim: he’s going to become Michael. Tim, over on the British version of The Office, took two seasons to reach this realization. Jim has taken four seasons, so maybe we’re about to see him grow up a bit, now that hooking up with Pam has pretty much castrated his use to the show.

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