Celebrate Earth Day by watching this insane all-star TV special from 1990

On April 22, 1990, the 20th anniversary of the original Earth Day, ABC marked the occasion the best way it knew how: with a two-hour, star-studded primetime special featuring Robin Williams, the Muppets, Bette Midler, several Looney Tunes characters, and an absolutely flabbergasting lineup of guest stars from the worlds of film, television, music, and comedy. Titled simply The Earth Day Special and credited to 10 different directors, including Jim Henson and James Burrows, the show is a free-associative, almost dreamlike collection of vignettes, all centered around a central narrative: the near death of Mother Earth (portrayed by a mournful, maternal Midler). Seemingly, just about anybody who was anybody in 1990 was in this show. There are crossovers with (among others) The Cosby Show, The Golden Girls, Murphy Brown, Cheers, and Doogie Howser, M.D., all featuring actors from those series in character. Vintage NPH, anyone?