Like any successful company, NBC Universal has always celebrated green — as in money.

But this week, green is taking on a whole new shade as the company goes with environmentally themed content across all of its programming outlets.

"NBC Nightly News" will dedicate each weeknight to an environmental topic, and MSNBC will zero in on the politics of green. Eco-friendly pop-ups will be featured on the season premiere of Bravo's "Real Housewives of Orange County" (Tuesday at 11 p.m.), while CNBC explores investing opportunities in the green movement.

On NBC's "The Singing Bee" (Tuesday, 9 p.m.), contestants will be singing songs about the earth and the environment. The 26 lovely models on "Deal or No Deal" (Friday, 9 p.m.), will make their entrance pedalling bikes and wearing dresses recycled from army surplus parachutes, and Kermit the Frog (of "It's Not Easy Bein' Green" fame) will make an appearance.

On "Life" (Wednesday, 11 p.m.), Detective Charlie Crews has a dream about solar panels, which starts him thinking about buying a solar farm. And on "Las Vegas" (Friday, 11 p.m.), Delinda realises the Montecito casino should be doing more to support the eco cause.

But leave it to "30 Rock" (Thursday, 9.30 p.m.) to push its corporate green initiative and poke fun at its excesses, all at the same time.

On this sitcom about a make-believe variant of NBC, top network executive Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) hits on the idea of creating a green mascot named Greenzo. Unfortunately, this costumed creature (guest star David Schwimmer) is preachy and obnoxious. Can Liz (Tina Fey) figure out a way to recycle Greenzo?

Other shows to look out for:

• "The Amazing Race" is about to be run for the dozenth time. It begins on the grounds of the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles when host Phil Keoghan drops his hand and signals "Go!" First stop: Ireland. As before, 11 teams (paired-up partners, pals or family members) will be off for a global trek, with challenges awaiting them at each of eight "pit stops" that could mean elimination. The odyssey will cover approximately 30,000 miles and take the contestants to five countries never visited in prior seasons, including Lithuania and Croatia. The first team to cross the finish line wins $1 million. The race starts at 9 p.m. tomorrow on CBS.

• Best-selling crime writers play host to true-crime cases that fascinate them on "Murder by the Book". These crimes are revisited through interviews, archival footage and dramatic re-enactments. And providing special expertise are novelists including Joseph Wambaugh, David Baldacci, Linda Fairstein and Jonathan Kellerman. The 13-episode season starts with Sandra Brown, who recalls the 1980 murder of Texas housewife Betty Gore, struck 41 times with an ax in her own home. Accused of the murder: Betty's friend Candace Montgomery, who made the unlikely claim of self-defence. "Murder by the Book" returns for its second season at 11 p.m. on Monday on Court TV.

• The two met early in their public-service careers when they shared a tiny office in the British House of Commons. Gordon Brown and Tony Blair struck up a friendship, and, step by step, became the heart of England's Labour Party as they played key roles restoring it to prominence. The historically based film, "The Deal", portrays this extraordinary alliance, and the deal with which it culminated: With the death of Labour Party leader John Smith in 1994, Brown agreed to forgo his lifelong ambitions and step aside so that Blair could make his successful run for prime minister. Stephen Frears ("The Queen", "Dangerous Liaisons") directed this 2003 British TV film, which makes its US television premiere at 9 p.m. on Thursday on HBO. David Morrissey (as Brown) and Michael Sheen (Blair) co-star.

• "Bunnytown" is a comedy-variety show for preschoolers set in a world filled with bunnies — that is, fuzzy rod-puppet bunnies with distinctive blue noses and a (long) ear for music. Each episode visits these bunnies, as well as the human population in nearby Peopletown (where the bunnies sometimes burrow to observe their flesh-and-blood neighbors).

In both communities, priority is placed on playing games, telling stories, and making music — with three or four songs per episode that range from disco, country and jazz to light opera and classical lullaby. Colourful, lively and fun, "Bunnytown" premieres at noon today on Disney Channel.

Frazier Moore is a national television columnist for The Associated Press. He can be reached at fmoore[AT]ap.org