Weather Channel gets unpredictable w/ Lewis Black

[Guest .::BeatFactory::.]

NEW YORK — The Weather Channel forecast: a high-pressure system of comedy.

The cable channel will feature Lewis Black — known for his rants on Comedy Central's The Daily Show — in a handful of segments starting Wednesday night.

He's the first in what the Weather Channel hopes is a series of celebrity guests.

"We're going to try a few segments to spice things up a little bit," said Terry Connelly, the network's senior vice president and general manager.

Black gets the chance to try out some of the network's forecasting maps and chat on camera with weathercaster Dave Schwartz. He also gets to deliver a few comic riffs on global warming and airport delays, Connelly said.

Connelly quietly put out the word recently, asking celebrities to drop by if they're near the company's Atlanta headquarters. Black, a closet weather fan, was quick to reply.

The Weather Channel hopes occasional celebrity guests liven what's often a staid presentation. The network has begun experimenting with a weekend morning show that puts the weathercasters on couches instead of behind desks, and is considering a weekday show that Connelly called a cross between The View and Martha Stewart's daytime program.

The Weather Channel does well in the ratings when, say, there's a hurricane, but needs a boost for days of more sedate weather.

"Lewis Black on the Weather Channel is unpredictable," Connelly said, "and we're in the business of predictions."

Source:

David Bauder

Nov. 9, 2005, 11:53AM CT

AP via Houston Chronicle

[Ken]

with a weekend morning show that puts the weathercasters on couches instead of behind desks, and is considering a weekday show that Connelly called a cross between The View and Martha Stewart's daytime program.

Please tell me this is some sort of joke.

One of the only channels left on television that would just give you straight facts with a bland presentation was The Weather Channel.

No conflict, no jokes, no couches; NOT A FUCKING CHATTERBOX STATION. Just a channel devoted to weather information; something you could get pure information from, or something you could even fall asleep to (considering the option to knock yourself unconscious with a tire iron isn't available).

What's next? Reality weather where people compete to become weather personalities with phony drama and annoying 20 somethings who can't even tie their own shoes, let alone become real meteorologists?

If I ever meet Terry Connelly randomly, on the street, I'm going to pile drive him/her into a sidewalk for ruining an outpost of sanity on television.

[MxRob]

I agree ken, why do they want to mess up the last good thing on TV. The last thing I need to see is more comedy on TV since there are only 10+channels that have it everynight. Although I enjoy Lewis Black's comedy I cant associate it with the weather forecast...... My folks still sit around and watch the Weather Channel everyday religiously. I dont know why though, they live in southern Ca where the weather is perfect most of the time. :bigsmile: