Storm Team 29 bumps Scrubs finale
by Lindsay Barnes
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Local fans of NBC medical comedy Scrubs had to miss the final episode of the show’s seven-season run last night. Instead, fans of J.D., Elliot and Turk tuned in to find the NBC 29 “Storm Team” engaged in wall-to-wall coverage of the foul weather and the tornado warning that came with it for nearly two hours. To be fair, though, you can watch the Scrubs finale, as well as preempted episodes of The Office and My Name Is Earl in full on NBC 29’s website today, and our local weather team’s coverage was nowhere near as melodramatic as this promo from Oklahoma CBS affiliate KWTV.
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Oh Please! Scrubs? What about “Survivor”? Channel 19 totally screwed us out of that one!
I’ll be damned! Somebody IS still watching Survivor. The way 29 treated the storm, Survivor could have been filmed here.
19 actually ran Survivor and CSI after Ferguson last night at 1:30. I hear they’re going to air it this weekend sometime too, but I don’t know when exactly.
Are you seriously insinuating that you’d rather see insipid whiny doctors and whiny castaways instead of things that may possibly be dangerous to you?
i am furious, how they handled it. absolutely absurd. run a ticker tape at the bottome of the screen, break in if one touches down, but live coverage ALL nite. REDICULOUS!!!! Typical channel 29, this was the BIG story, how pitiful.
CBS19 says on its website that “Without a Trace” will air at noon on Sunday, CSI will be on at 1 and Survivor at 2pm.
A ticker is plenty. It’s not about weighing possible danger against doctors and castaways. It’s about not blowing something out of proportion. If a tornado touches down, they can break in and let people know what’s up. NBC29 so often seems like a high school media “learning lab,” doesn’t it? And it’s been that way since Cupp and Van Winkle graduated.
Knowing NBC29, they’ll report those hours as “community service” to the FCC. Seriously.
Oh, and today they’re probably trying to figure out how to bill God or the National Weather Service for the air time.
Well, I was REALLY going to excoriate NBC29…but a miniature tornado actually did touch down in Stafford from the cell that went through Orange. Still their nonstop blathering was the only severe wind that I experienced around Lake Monticello when they scared my wife into the basement with the dog and cats with their proclamation of a tornado warning near Nahor.
I have been through a REAL tornado in Texas and I think the National Weather Service does a dis-service when they issue tornado warnings when the conditions do not indicate that one is on the ground. Cry wolf enough times and people will not give a shit when they should. The time to care btw is when the big hail comes and the “train” is heard. Been there…
And tonight 29 had the pavilion evacuation “controversy” on at 6. Give me a friggin’ break!
“And it’s been that way since Cupp and Van Winkle graduated”
Well OK on Dave Cupp but Winkle? Please, he made a career of the weather, on and on and on and on……………………….
Van Winkle did make a career of the weather. In fact, before TV he was a meteorologist for the Navy so if nothing else his credentials were always impeccable. And he was a pro, not a rookie - he never seemed lost. Also, he was extremely involved in the community - which is something only really possible in Charlottesville if you live in the town long enough. He was invested in the area, not just hanging on hoping and praying to be noticed by some talent scout for a larger market.
Hey Music lover…
Two points…one, you say you want to wait for the tornado to touch down before the station breaks in? No offense, but that’s too late…I want to know BEFORE the thing touches down and sucks my house up.
Second, Pritchett was Van Winkle’s understudy for years and has been around more than a decade…certainly you’re not implying that he’s not “invested in the area”?
Oh, and another thing…the last place I want to be if a tornado’s coming is under that giant white tent on the Mall. That’s great safety Kirby.
Kudos to both Ch. 29 and Ch. 19 for good work.
Sure is nice to have national feeds from NYC. When they have bad weather they a) know how to use a ticker, and b) do live coverage during commercial slots without interrupting the show.
Perhaps the big problem with tickers here in the village is that a majority local citizens can’t read.
Ch. 29 is ragged. All hype from the redcoats.
I agree with “Windy City”…. Channel 29’s storm coverage, to me, smacked of manufacturing the news, rather than reporting it. There was still a performance happening, in real time, at the Pavilion, while 29 was inaccurately reporting the bald-faced lie that the venue was being “evacuated” (such dramatic verbiage while reporting a lie - SPARE ME, PLEASE!). Once the multifaceted procedure for canceling a performance due to bad weather was made (which includes constant consultation of the changing weather conditions via doppler radar, and interfacing with the Police and the Artist’s representatives) an announcement was made to the audience and they peacefully left the venue. DONE! They were disappointed, but they were also understanding, and are to be commended for going home in an organized, peaceful manner. That Channel 29 reporter (who looks like he hasn’t even reached puberty, by-the-by…. ) reported a “panic” where there wasn’t one…. Yet another case of the T.V. media’s “HEY EVERYBODY…. LOOK AT ME!” mindset in this day and age…. The picture (literally and figuratively) of media inaccuracy and irresponsibility…. and yet another reason why I get my news from the newspaper…. every day & cover to cover. JOURNALISM 101: REPORT THE NEWS - DON’T MANUFACTURE IT! Also, the media (and everyone else…. ) needs to leave Kirby Hutto be…. he’s a smart guy and he’s a good person who works his tail off…. Once he had the proper amount of ACCURATE information necessary to cancel an occurring performance, he did so. He acted responsibly and professionally - regarding the patrons, employees and artists at his venue…. PERIOD!
“You say you want to wait for the tornado to touch down before the station breaks in? No offense, but that’s too late…I want to know BEFORE the thing touches down and sucks my house up.”
Isn’t that what a ticker is for? If you see a ticker that says “Tornado warning in XXX Counties” is that enough to get your attention, or do you need somebody to actually interrupt your program to TELL you there’s a tornado warning? What kind of details do you require if a tornado hasn’t actually touched down?
My comments about NBC29’s staff not being invested in the area didn’t refer to a single person, but to the staff in general. There is TONS of turnover at that station.
Next time, just please use the ticker at the bottom of the screen, Ch. 29. Thanks.
” In fact, before TV he was a meteorologist for the Navy so if nothing else his credentials were always impeccable”
In the Navy or for the Navy and how does “always impeccable credentials” follow?
“Also, he was extremely involved in the community - ”
Much of that “Community involvment, although perhaps laudable, were assignments and on station time and salary.
The complaints re making a big deal about the weather certainly fit Winkle as he made a raindrop into a production. Totally far out.
In the Navy. Stationed, I believe, on the USS Enterprise.
And a ton of what he did in the community wasn’t station-related. He was always very accommodating. And even if it was station-related, where is all that station-related community involvement now? Oh yeah - that’s right. Storm Team 29: Keeping You Safe From Cold Wet Windy Weather(tm).
I’m always amused watching all the cub reporters running around in their red “storm” jackets, pointing out that the pavement is wet.
Remember Chicken Little ” The Sky is Falling”
Well the sky is falling again 06/04/2008 and we’ve got play by play weather on NBC 29. If I wanted that, I’d either stand outside or watch the weather channel. Tornado in C’ville? In the past 8 years I’ve lived here, I think we’ve maybe had 2 f0’s that took out a tree or two. Oh no!!!!!