I confess. The Weather Channel used to be one of my favorite channels on TV. Used to be, in recent years, it’s gone insane.
Last year, the Weather Channel and DirecTV had a fight, so for a while, I didn’t have The Weather Channel and honestly, I didn’t really miss it.
Let me explain. Back in the day, the Weather Channel was my go to spot on the dial to find solace. It was a calm place in a TV world full of bad news and bad reality shows. All they did was talk about the weather. Yes, it was boring, but that’s what I needed, something boring to calm my frenzied brain.
Then they started having shows, edited, shows. They weren’t merely talking about the weather anymore. They were making the weather interesting, which usually means dangerous. It happened slowly. They integrated a few shows here and there, but it wasn’t overwhelming.
So, DirecTV and the Weather Channel some how settled their monetary differences, because we all know that’s what it was about, and the Weather Channel returned to the lineup.
When I tuned in, it was stimulation overload.
There were feeds and scrolls and twirly flashing parts all over the screen. Do you see what I mean? What is that?!?
On one level, I get it. They have to compete for people’s attention who might be getting their information via the internet. But, do we really count Talk Like A Pirate Day as a holiday? Sure, it’s fun, but is anyone looking forward to it so much that they are actually counting down to it?
Honestly, I didn’t even know what to look at while watching this channel. It was just too much.
Then I see a commercial for Fat Guys in the Woods. FAT GUYS IN THE WOODS! NO! Please. What’s going on at the Weather Channel? Are they turning into the awful TLC channel now? Please, don’t. It’s just not right. And why fat guys? Why not geeks or metrosexuals? Dammit. I’m giving them ideas aren’t I? Gah!
You know what I’d rather see? A show that explains weather phenomenon. Something based in science that will teach people to be safe and just teach them something. OK, I will be fine with historical weather disasters, at least it’s sort of educational. And surviving extreme weather conditions is fine because it’s related to weather it’s not just about living in some random forest for a bit.
Then again, more and more channels are drifting away from their initial themes and that sucks. I mean what the hell is going on at Animal Planet? Have you seen some of the shows on there that have nothing to do with animals? Ice Cold Gold, Redwood Kings, North Woods Law to name a few. Pool Master is a show about pools in people’s backyards. That show belongs on HGTV not Animal Planet! So does Treehouse Masters. Seriously, it has the word HOUSE in it’s title, how difficult is that?!?
Anyway, the Weather Channel might not be as bad as others when it comes to programming that doesn’t fit their theme, but I’m afraid it might be going that route.