On The 25th Anniversary Of NBC’s ‘The More You Know’, Let’s Look Back At The Most Spoofed PSA Ever

“The More You Know,” the Emmy Award-winning series of public service announcements which were created by Tom Brokaw in 1989 to replace “One To Grow On,” are turning twenty-five this year. Over the past two and a half decades, the campaign has featured some of NBC’s biggest stars, not to mention several United States Presidents.

So, on this occasion, I thought it would be fun to look back on the most spoofed, parodied and appropriated PSA campaign ever, made famous by its ubiquitous rainbow and yellow stars — WHICH THEY DON’T EVEN USE ANYMORE, judging by the 25th anniversary clip above.

Hello, shirtless Nick Offerman on going green in 2012 (Ron Swanson unapproved):

And of course, here’s Mrs. Offerman on inner beauty:

The Office got into the game with these character spoofs, circa 2006-2007:

George Clooney says don’t hit your kids:

And here’s Scrubs with an anti-child smothering PSA:

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Don’t f*cking smoke, says Christopher Meloni:

Julia Louis Dreyfus’s “stay in school” PSA lends more proof to her inexplicable Benjamin Buttons hotness:

David Hyde Pierce on why kids should be more like the dog from Fraiser:

Conan O’Brien and Andy Richter did a take on Conan back in the day:

Not sure if this was from around the same time period, but even Max Weinberg got one in:

Finally, David Schwimmer got to do one about feeding kids breakfast, because Jesus Christ even his PSA is totally lame:

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