Probably the number one point of conversation in our daily lives is the weather. What’s next on the most discussed list? I’d make a strong case for TV/movies: They’re something we’re all fans of, some to far more of an extent than others (can’t you tell we here at Screen Rant are an example of that? 
). But did you ever think that movies and the weather would collide (outside of a Roland Emmerich movie)? Well today, in a rather odd piece of news, that’s exactly what’s happened.
The guys over at /Film are reporting that The Weather Channel (yes, THE Weather Channel) will start showing movies starting the day before Halloween, October 30th, and every Friday thereafter. So what sort of movies will the channel be showing? Well, weather-related movies, of course! What else? Starting off the series – which runs from the end of October to the end of November – is the George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg disaster movie, The Perfect Storm, coinciding with the anniversary of the actual 1991 storm that the movie is based on.
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TWC meteorologist Jen Carfagno will host “The Weather Channel Presents…” series, providing an introduction to the film as well as relevant commentary on the particular movie’s weather-related themes. On top of the aforementioned The Perfect Storm, the series will also include March of the Penguins, Misery and Deep Blue Sea. During the film, viewers will still get their regular weather reports, appearing in the lower portion of the screen (wow that’s going to be irritating when you’re trying to watch a movie).
If you’re interested, you can check out the full press release over at /Film.
I guess in a way this move kind of makes some sort of sense, and will probably draw in some viewers that might not have tuned into the channel otherwise (who really goes specifically to the actual Weather Channel for their weather reports – don’t people use the radio or the Internet to find that out?).
Having said that, I wouldn’t be one of them. Admittedly I’m in the UK and don’t get access to the channel myself, but if I DID have access, I still wouldn’t tune in to watch a film on a Weather Channel. There are just too many other ways to fulfill my movie-watching needs, that DON’T have annoying weather reports popping up on-screen during the screening. It ranks right up there with talking, ringing phones and baby’s crying on the “Most Annoying Things While Watching Movies” meter.
Would you watch weather-related movies on The Weather Channel? Do you think it will wind up being popular with viewers?
Source: /Film
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19 Comments
How does Misery make the list? Because there is a snow storm at the beginning? How about they show Hurricane with Will Smith or The Weather Man with Nic Cage?
As long as Weatherman is not showing I will watch. Surely the WC has better taste in actors.
No, i wouldn’t watch weather related movies on the Weather Channel and for people who dont have anything better to do on a friday night then watching the Weather Channel it might be an exciting thing for them. “A movie AND up to the minute weather updates, i must have died and gone to heaven” says grandma sitting in her vintage 50’s arm chair drinking Earl Gray. “Now where did that handsome Leno guy go and who is this skinny ginger man”
I am not surprised.
Even The Travel Channel shows movies now.
@Gary …
The History Channel shows movies frequently, so if more people watch TWC because it airs movies, the programming change would help ad revenues. I won’t be watching, primarily because of too many commercials and edits, which normally happens when movies air on broadcast channels
@Kevin S. …
LOL! Very funny.
Doesn’t this defeat the point of the channel? You go there to get the weather, then change the channel. I view the channel as a utility, not an actual channel per-say. Either they should stay as a utility without movies or eliminate the channel, replacing it with a “real” one all together.
@livings124 …
From what I understand, The Weather Channel is attempting to shed its “utility” image, and become a channel which attempts to make weather more interesting by adding a bit of entertainment along with weather forecasts.
Also, on my cable system (Comcast), there’s a TWC channel called Weatherscan Local, which is definitely a “utility” channel, with local and regional forecasts, as well as specialized forecasts. When I need to check the weather, I’ll tune to Weatherscan Local, check the local forecast, then change the channel. I don’t know if Weatherscan is on every cable or satellite system, though; you might want to check and see if it’s on your cable or satellite system.
@Paul Young…
Denzel Washington starred in The Hurricane, which was the story of boxer Ruben “Hurricane” Carter, who was charged with a crime he didn’t commit and served time in prison (it’s been a while since I’ve seen the movie, so I’m going by memory here…). Also … am I the only one who kinda, sorta liked Nic Cage in The Weather Man?
Well, they already had experience with docudrama with their Forecast Earth debacle. Totally fictional entertainment isn’t too much of a stretch for them.
At least maybe this won’t be as boring as watching tomatoes grow.
@Stephie – Your memory is better than mine. You are correct about Denzel. What other non-weather related movies with weather related titles could they show?
@Paul Young…
There’s Twister, The Day After Tomorrow, both of which deal with wild weather, and those “Nature Unleashed” movies which Sci-Fi has been airing (I refuse to call it “SyFy”).
Those are the movies which come to my mind at the moment.
Wow. They are getting desperate. The only way that people will watch a movie on the weather channel is if they happen to be surfing and catch the movie while it’s on. Not like people are going to plan their Friday night around the weather channel. Heck, it’s not even on my favorites, but I usually check it once in a while for the forecast (or if there is a big storm coming). My local cable station has weather updates for my area every 10 minutes, plus a little something called the internet lets me check whenever. I wonder if this is a last ditch attempt to save their network.
This is absurd. I watch the weather channel for WEATHER! The channel has been rapidly degrading since NBC took it over. Al Roker show is horrible. Major meteorologists have been tossed to graveyard shifts which must be some attempt to get them to resign. They lost me in the mornings. Just read today that a SciFi channel program is doing better in the ratings than the Leno show at 10 on NBC. The inmates are running the asylum. Sorry Weather Channel. You are history in my book.
it’s beginning of the end, kind of like when MTV stopped showing Musio videos and became the reality channel for the terminally stupid.
Well since global warming has become global cooling…they have to fill up the time somehow! I can’t believe they finally got rid of Heidi Cullen, and now they bring in Al Roker…yuck …remind me NOT to turn on the TV in the morning to find out the weather for the day… chant with me…the computer is my friend!
I find it annoying when there is no weather coverage on “The Weather Channel.” I would prefer a movie to “When Weather Changed History” or “It Could Happen Tomorrow” …however when we are in the midst of a large storm or tornado warning, and I want to see the radar without the worry lightning will take out my computer … what good is a movie?
Like most of you, I watch TWC for the weather, and I’ll be tuning in much less frequently now. Yeah, I could use the Web. But TWC still beats the Web when 1) I want to see at a glance what’s happening around the country, 2) I want to quickly check the forecast and the TV already happens to be on, 3) I want to understand what’s creating a weather pattern, 4) I’m in an airport and not using a laptop, or 5) I want to see footage of weather that’s just occurred.
Why is it that channel after channel thinks they’ll become more profitable by becoming just like every other generic channel? First come the movies, then come the sitcom reruns, then the “reality” shows. Probably not because it’s what WE want–it’s because movies are cheaper than reporters.
First of all TWC has never been really good at describing the weather. They maybe 5% of the time (or less) go into detail about anything interesting or educational. What I mean is they never show any interesting map when they are live, then when they give the local on the 8s, they show the same redundant info over and over in different format. For instance they show your area/region with a map of weather icons of cloudy, rain, wind, etc…, then they show your area/region with temperatures of all the bigger cities, then they repeat the exact same info of your area/region textually and have a mans voice on their reading it to you 99% verbatim. Then when it goes back to live tv, the people talking show you a temperature map, isobar map, rainfall map, high temps, low temps, etc… THE SAME stuff over and over. They rarely show jetstreams, dew points, wind vectors. They NEVER show anything of high interest or education such as how the atmosphere is truly 3 dimenstional. For instance, cant they talk about the winds at various levels of the atmosphere??? How exactly high and low pressure systems work, or why they work. They never talk about anything really intelligent!!! I mean they have these stupid boring shows or run half interesting shows into the ground. It could happen tomorrow, Storm Stories, etc… Give me a break. How many times can you watch the same thing over and over and actually like it? They need to really focus on the weather and provide educational, interesting stuff too. For me, it started with Storm tories, then evolved into Al Roker, and now these DANG movies!!! Like another person said, HOW and WHY Misery? Ok they barely got going with weather related movies, and now as long as the movie is set in an extreme weather condition or environment!?!?!?!? WTC SUCKS!!! This isnt weather!!! Man, idiots have now taken over TWC!?!? I want a REAL weather network or company to come about. Maybe its time for a network that focuses on the basics to come in a save TV. This network could be about everything thats true to an industry. Like maybe a music channel who plays music videos and focuses on music, a weather channel who talks about the weather and other related NON-FICTIONAL stuff, a movie channel who plays only movies by actors/actresses who are not trying to be singers and every other possible profession, etc… Back to my main complaint, and thats TWC. GET REAL!!!! Respect your viewers. I can garantee, the next company who comes in a does, will take your business.
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