ABC's "The Goode Family" TV Show Makes Fun of Being Green

Gerald Goode, a college administrator (voiced by [Mike] Judge), and his community activist wife Helen (voiced by Nancy Carell, wife of Steve) proudly live in a neighborhood they chose for its United Nations makeup. Unfortunately their neighbor Ray is “basically a NASCAR fan and black redneck,” says exec producer Dave Krinsky. “And the Samoans, who the Goodes think are going to be so culturally unique in their Samoan ways, just watch football on weekends and order pizza. The Goodes are disappointed when their neighbors aren’t the sort of image they hold these people in.”

The show's immediate predecessor is "King of the Hill," which hasn't been renewed and is airing its last few episodes. It will receive a more fitting, hourlong sendoff in the fall. [...] The Goodes are basically the polar opposites of the Hills, determined to tiptoe through life with the smallest carbon footprint possible.

The show is not about enviro-bashing, insists Altschuler. What the creators find funny is the lack of perspective. “It’s not bad that people drive hybrid cars but it’s funny when [uber Hollywood agent] Ari Emmanuel pulls up at the Bel-Air Hotel [trailed] by other power agents in hybrid cars. What I’ve noticed with being in Hollywood is that when you’re rich, it’s easy to be good. But this show is about a family that is middle class, trying to live right and trying to shop at One Earth.”