Al Franken and David Letterman collaborate on climate change video series.
Longtime late-night host David Letterman hit a pause on his retirement — he joined Sen. Al Franken for several videos on climate change that debuted Monday.
The bearded funnyman and the Minnesota Democrat (who was a “Saturday Night Live” writer before getting into politics) co-star in “Boiling the Frog,” six five-minute videos in which they jaw about the politics and science of the global phenomenon — and crack a few jokes, obviously.
“What I hear in your explanation is the edges, the beginning of the encroachment on a democracy,” Letterman says after Franken describes to him the powerful role played by the conservative Koch brothers.
Their banter, with Letterman playing the role of questioner and Franken the guide through the fraught topic, is laden with har-har quips.
“I’m not the dumbest guy in America,” Letterman says at one point.
“You sell yourself short,” Franken jokes in response.
“I’d pay to see that,” Letterman muses before the pair agrees that such an act would, in fact, result only in more pollution.
And there’s a requisite gag — in one episode, Franken has a doctor “analyze” a clipping from Letterman’s famously furry retirement beard to determine its ability to absorb carbon emissions and help the environment.
The doc proclaims it to be “equivalent to an acre of Bolivian rain forest.”