Comments on: Weatherman loses his cool.

Weatherman loses his cool.

Count Ziggurat — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 08:26:56 -0800

CNN weatherman Chad Myers loses it on air with anchor Carol Costello.

By: dflemingdotorg

dflemingdotorg — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 08:33:23 -0800

She was acting like a total ditz; watching it happen live, I was caught between "I can't believe this is happening" and "thank God someone did something".

By: voltairemodern

voltairemodern — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 08:35:37 -0800

Reminds me of Dana Carvey's impression of Ross Perot.

By: missmerrymack

missmerrymack — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 08:37:33 -0800

That was pretty funny. She is so annoying. I'm not sure why CNN thinks we want to see her so early in the morning.

By: schoolgirl report

schoolgirl report — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 08:43:09 -0800

Is it not obvious to anyone but me that they were clearly kidding around?

By: scody

scody — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 08:46:43 -0800

won't play for me. grr..... everyone said switching to a mac would make such things easier! liars!

By: alumshubby

alumshubby — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 08:47:15 -0800

No, it's not obvious -- he looked like he didn't like being interruped.

By: Plinko

Plinko — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 09:01:58 -0800

If they were just kidding around, behavior like that would get you fired.

By: smackfu

smackfu — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 09:02:10 -0800

BTW, this was at 4:30 AM.

By: Yellowbeard

Yellowbeard — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 09:03:55 -0800

He looked pretty pissed to me... Maybe they are trying to raise ratings and it was bad acting though? Carol Costello is pretty damn annoying. The worst is when the three female anchors sit on the couch and have a hen party, though. I want the news, goddammit, not the fucking View.

By: scheptech

scheptech — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 09:04:38 -0800

She was being annoying, talking over the guy, for some unclear reason assuming he needed her direction. And he didn't like being interrupted, who does normally? This has been really noticeable with a number of the CNN anchors, they seem to be following instructions since they all do it to some extent: constantly challenge and interrupt whoever is talking to ask for clarification or to 'improve' what's being said somehow. I dunno, it's supposed to be some sort of connect-with-the-audience thing?

By: Ynoxas

Ynoxas — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 09:07:39 -0800

Didn't look like kidding around to me. Looked like a weather guy who had been up all night and was trying to describe something for the 20th time and trying to talk over some airhead who is on air for reasons other than her astute understanding of the world and current events. Of course, I could be wrong...

By: JeffK

JeffK — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 09:08:18 -0800

Metafilter: If you would let me talk . . . !

By: TBoneMcCool

TBoneMcCool — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 09:09:20 -0800

It's pretty damn hilarious when the cable news automatons lose their cool in front of the camera -- though for future reference, throwing papers is rarely an effective way of showing the world that you're pissed off.

By: photoslob

photoslob — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 09:09:47 -0800

I've worked along side Chad during Hurricane Jean and he was a very cool and professional guy. At one point during winds that were over 100 mph he said he'd had enough and wasn't going to stand outside anymore while pretty boy 360 hammed it up. He didn't strike me as fitting in well with the other vapid but good-looking losers in his midst.

By: cavalier

cavalier — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 09:09:49 -0800

Yeah, raising the voice, furrowing the brow, and tossing the paper notes on the ground do not imply "kidding around" to me. She also seems to be extremely annoying. Glad I don't have to watch that regularly.

By: Peter H

Peter H — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 09:20:41 -0800

Not to snark, but kinda weak

By: mathowie

mathowie — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 09:44:15 -0800

Another vote for them joking around.

By: papakwanz

papakwanz — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 09:48:20 -0800

I think he was genuinely annoyed, but she managed to diffuse it a little bit with her laughing, as he looked like he was starting to smile at the end. I don't think they were fooling around, because why do that as a joke on national tv? Like someone above said, it'd get you fired. You can at least make a case for "I'm sorry, I'd been up all night and was really stressed." By the way, anyone else think he sounded like a whiny little bitch?

By: 23skidoo

23skidoo — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 09:49:39 -0800

Weatherman seems like he's holding back, like you would really do if you were pissed at someone. Plus, no one in the room laughed, not even them.

By: aaronscool

aaronscool — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 09:57:23 -0800

Personally I think I would be annoyed to if that whiny plastic airhead was trying to interrupt me to explain what I just said again in a way that she can understand because she can't get the concept of Pressure and Storm Fronts...

By: petebest

petebest — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 10:02:45 -0800

What happened to the directive to use more "street language"? Hurricazzizle, yo - STep Off beyotch!

By: scheptech

scheptech — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 10:04:12 -0800

It wasn't in fun although they both may have realized how silly they looked at the end. It's pretty much systemic, this whole 'interruption' style of whatever you call it, interviewing? They had a FEMA guy on about an hour ago, said it would be 'some time' before many people could return to their homes. The anchor interrupted, as required every two or three sentences, this time saying that his 'some time' wasn't good enough. So the guy spends several sentences going over the tediously obvious reasons why they can't offer everyone more accurate estimates right now, finally netting out to exactly what he said in the first place, 'some time'.

By: glenwood

glenwood — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 10:06:59 -0800

Totally not kidding around, but concious enough of the fact that they were on live tv to kinda laugh it off at the end.

By: Robot Johnny

Robot Johnny — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 10:15:15 -0800

Previous uncontrollable weathermen

By: forforf

forforf — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 10:18:08 -0800

Something that I find annoying/confusing is this whole somewhat combative approach and extemporaneous quizzing of the reporter in the field. You know, the attiutde of "why don't you know more" and the off the cuff questions that take the field reporter off guard. I always wonder why they didn't provide the reporter with the questions off camera a bit in advance. It'd make things more professional and more informative to the audience. Playing "stump the chump" on camera makes everyone look bad, in my opinion.

By: languagehat

languagehat — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 10:30:05 -0800

Not kidding around. And what glenwood said.

By: dobbs

dobbs — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 10:50:11 -0800

Is it just me or is this like 5 seconds long? Does it end as soon as he throws down the papers? Scody, try control-clicking on this direct link and choosing "download linked file".

By: Busithoth

Busithoth — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 10:52:25 -0800

She laughed, anyway. He just kind of let the paper fall. Imagine being in studio with her for years, listening to her prattle on about whatever, and now what's probably his biggest story gets talked over by her. She was just trying to 'dumb it down' so a wider audience could understand what he was saying, because she obviously didn't get it. But, nothing beats the weatherdork, in my opinion. Nothing.

By: lee

lee — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 11:02:14 -0800

It's at ifilm too if you couldn't see this one. http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2678471?htv=12

By: Karmakaze

Karmakaze — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 11:08:10 -0800

I can't play Quicktime from here. Is there a link to a transcript?

By: diastematic

diastematic — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 11:13:41 -0800

I noticed last night's CNN host, Mr. Sanchez, liked to do a lot of "interpreting" for us. It was kinda creepy: he used phrases like "to get a grasp" of the situation and "we're going to share with you" a lot. As though we don't know that when people are standing on their roofs in a 15-foot flood means they're in terrible danger. Grr.

By: aerify

aerify — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 11:18:34 -0800

That's what this farce of "24-hour news" does to you. The "24-hour news blueprint" joke in Jon Stewart's America: the Book is probably the funniest joke in the book.

By: Sully

Sully — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 11:25:01 -0800

Maybe his wife takes that same tone with him at home and it's like one of those chemical sensitivity things - if it's a little every day, you show no signs - but it's cumulative. And after a while, on a particularly stressful night, you lose it. He sure did. And you could see him try to recover. You can see that he could see he just lost it.

By: knave

knave — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 11:28:22 -0800

I love the look on her face during the last "Chad". She is trying to seduce him or something.

By: dsquid

dsquid — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 11:29:56 -0800

Yep, he lost it...they weren't just "playing around". I'd probably have done the same thing after a steady diet of idiotic interruptions by that news-hag.

By: papercake

papercake — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 11:32:13 -0800

Wonder if this will soon be "FORMER CNN weatherman Chad Myers"

By: jikel_morten

jikel_morten — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 11:37:38 -0800

Glenwood nailed it. I think in that split second after the snap, he realized what he had done and threw the papers and quasi-feigned levity to save face. She seems annoyinging, which is totally unfair, judging from this quick clip, but still.

By: jikel_morten

jikel_morten — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 11:38:22 -0800

Wonder if this will soon be "FORMER CNN weatherman Chad Myers" posted by papercake at 2:32 PM EST on August 30 [!] I hope not. He's a human being...hopefully they'll cut him some slack.

By: biscotti

biscotti — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 11:39:59 -0800

I think SHE was goofing around and he just took it seriously at first.

By: stbalbach

stbalbach — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 11:49:16 -0800

For some reason CNN early AM people have always been highly annoying, going back decades. I blame management.

By: NationalKato

NationalKato — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 12:36:41 -0800

I've seen her and Soledad O'Brien interrupt guests and reporters countless times - and a few guests begin to get steamed. I'm glad he yelled at her. This kind of interruption-style is even more annoying when they're talking to someone on a time-delay and begin interrupting five seconds before the reporter can even hear the first 'Chad?'

By: scheptech

scheptech — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 12:42:56 -0800

Annoying is part of being entertaining for when there's nothing going on, no real reason for a 24 hour news channel to exist, and then when something serious happens they seem to have trouble shaking that off and switching to real news mode. The last hour or so has had a very different tone with Wolf Blitzer and Jeanne Meserve proving a much more reasoned, informative, level-headed stream of information and interpretation. They're both apparently capable of letting each other talk for more than 5 seconds. Jeanne particularly is doing great and staying on the ball considering the dire and worsening circumstances she's in there in New Orleans.

By: Vidiot

Vidiot — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 12:54:14 -0800

Both Chad Myers and Jeanne Meserve are real class acts, and Meserve is one of the best reporters CNN has. Her report on the hurricane last night was one of the most heartbreaking and riveting things I've heard.

By: TwelveTwo

TwelveTwo — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 13:06:19 -0800

This is why there is the internet.

By: braun_richard

braun_richard — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 14:15:10 -0800

I've been watching CNN all weekend and they always interrupting this guy. He was bound to blow. Besides, what makes you think he'd be joking in a tragic time like this? Trust me, he wasn't joking.

By: weretable and the undead chairs

weretable and the undead chairs — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 14:32:39 -0800

I think it was frustration because he wants to jump her bones.

By: Doohickie

Doohickie — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 14:57:28 -0800

Yeah, weretable, we all just want plastic-surgeried barbie dolls. I've seen faces more realistic than hers on movie aliens. I side with him. Not because he was in the right, but because we've all had moments when we've "lost it" and regretted it immediately... or came awfully damned close. He's in the middle of a sentence and she's going... "Chad... Chad.... Chad!.... I can't say I blame him. Oh, the humanity. And I mean that in a good way for Chad.

By: Count Ziggurat

Count Ziggurat — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 15:25:56 -0800

some airhead who is on air for reasons other than her astute understanding of the world and current events Not to defend her too much, (she really was aggravating and condescending) but they're both well-educated, talented, seemingly competent professionals.

By: Orb

Orb — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 16:00:46 -0800

I don't care how educated she is, if someone interrupted me with that whining voice, I'd probably blow up too. And it's always nice to let someone finish explaining something before you start crying that you don't understand. I couldn't understand what he was saying because all I could hear was her nasally voice calling out his name. Poor Chad.

By: oats

oats — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 16:25:58 -0800

"I can't see through metal, Kent..."

By: loquax

loquax — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 16:28:39 -0800

Now don't lump Soledad in with Carol. She's...great.

By: weretable and the undead chairs

weretable and the undead chairs — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 16:34:03 -0800

Think whatever you want. I could see it in his eyes. He wanted to mount her like a great dane riding a bitch.

By: dreamsign

dreamsign — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 16:40:45 -0800

Look at her facial expression when she cuts in... "Chad... Chad... Chad..." They've obviously been grating at each other off-screen and have just moved on camera. I wouldn't say she was whining, I'd say she was being hugely condescending.

By: loquax

loquax — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 16:44:30 -0800

I finally downloaded the clip. I watch these people a lot (sadly), and IMO that was nooooooo joke. And funny as hell. Good for Chad, the anchors on American Morning always pick on him with their silly banter, and you can see how annoyed he gets on occasion. I bet they don't fire him, I never notice weatherpeople, beyond being annoyed by them, but him I don't seem to mind.

By: mr_crash_davis

mr_crash_davis — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 19:55:11 -0800

"Chad... Chad... Chad..." *walks off the set, slaps vapid talking head, walks back to set to continue weathercast*

By: machaus

machaus — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 20:19:44 -0800

that's low blood sugar in action

By: ParisParamus

ParisParamus — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 20:36:41 -0800

That is great! I love Mefi!

By: wsg

wsg — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 22:30:54 -0800

What gets me is the way she laughs with glee at the very end when she realizes she has caused him to lose it on live, national TV...Bitch.

By: dabitch

dabitch — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 22:44:25 -0800

Could we start a "please stop effing interrupting" petition? it's why I no longer watch 24 hour news. Her Chad.. Chad.. Chad! was extremly annoying, I almost lost it.

By: cell divide

cell divide — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 22:50:20 -0800

I used to work with her... she was pretty hot. And a nice person. That's all I can say.

By: bugmuncher

bugmuncher — Wed, 31 Aug 2005 00:00:12 -0800

I used to work with her, too, cell divide. But I have to admit, as hot as she was (and if her luck was the same when she worked with you, you know very well what I mean), I lost a bit of respect for her when she made stuff up about IRC just to fill 10 seconds in a package about a mars meteorite. (This was 1996...) Still. Nobody does a live shot like Carol Costello. She owned.

By: scheptech

scheptech — Wed, 31 Aug 2005 08:28:26 -0800

I used to work with her... she was pretty hot. And a nice person. That's all I can say. Which is a fine but maybe she's either out of her depth in her current role or is being coached badly. I'd actually opt for the latter given the fact they all do it. It's really quite odd sometimes, like they've all been told they understand the companies average viewer better then the insensitive clods they're hosting so they need to heavily manage and modify anything anyone says no matter who they are, what they're saying, or how well they're saying it. The basic format problem is the "anchor" never goes away any more. They are ever-present on live mike and expected to talk the entire time no matter what's going on. It's like they're on some kind of word quota. Soledad, I believe it was, just called the problems in NO 'massive... massive... massive.' immediately after someone else just finished explaining how, well massive, they are. Arg.

By: transona5

transona5 — Wed, 31 Aug 2005 11:04:19 -0800

Wow, I can't believe this thread. Weatherman attempts to publicly humiliate his colleague in an unbelievably unprofessional outburst, but it's okay because she's a "prattling," "whining" "hag" who probably reminds him of his nagging wife, as well as a total "bitch" because she didn't lose control herself, instead thinking quickly and attempting to defuse the situation. Never mind that it's probably part of her job to "dumb it down" and keep up some kind of quick, soundbite-laden dialogue with the correspondents to keep viewers interested.

By: cell divide

cell divide — Wed, 31 Aug 2005 11:09:49 -0800

Well perhaps what I wrote came off badly, she was also smart and professional and there's a reason she's at CNN. Anyway, I do kind of agree with transoma-- Costello may be annoying, but the unprofessional one is the weather guy, there are lots of ways to handle that kind of situation. Bugmuncher-- WJLA?

By: eljuanbobo

eljuanbobo — Wed, 31 Aug 2005 11:22:23 -0800

cell divide wrote: "she was also smart and professional and there's a reason she's at CNN." Well I'm glad some of us still believe in truth, justice, and the American way instead of the realities of the entertainment industry. Television journalism = good looking? get a job.

By: Decani

Decani — Wed, 31 Aug 2005 11:57:07 -0800

Well, that certainly didn't look like they were joking to me. I know pissed off when I see it and he was pissed off. And I don't blame him. What the hell was she doing, interrupting him in mid-sentence like that? "Chad... Chad... explain...Chad...". She's an ignorant, ill-mannered idiot. I hate it when people start talking over me when I'm in mid-sentence. It drives me totally crazy and I have to say I've noticed it happens far more often in the US than the UK. It happens at work when I'm talking to someone, in meetings, all over the place. And I regularly lose my cool about it, too. Let me FINISH, then you get your turn. Jesus. Maybe this is why I like the net so much. No rude little bastard can interrupt me and try to shout me down. Grr.

By: milovoo

milovoo — Wed, 31 Aug 2005 16:43:30 -0800

I know if I had to listen to Nancy Grace for more than a few minutes, I would flip out. She's way more annoying than that woman. I think Anderson Cooper was about to lose patience as well when she kept interrupting him. Plus, she was wearing a denim jacket! I think CNN is courting the redneck demographic just a bit too hard.

By: grouse

grouse — Wed, 31 Aug 2005 16:45:58 -0800

I've noticed it happens far more often in the US than the UK And I've noticed that it happens far more in the northeastern U.S. than the rest of it.

By: Decani

Decani — Wed, 31 Aug 2005 17:31:28 -0800

grouse: you could be right. Maybe it's the coke.

By: bugmuncher

bugmuncher — Thu, 01 Sep 2005 02:30:29 -0800

Cell Divide said: Bugmuncher-- WJLA? Yeah. Tho I just read my own post saying "you know what I mean" and realized that I don't know what I meant after reading it because I deleted the part of the post that said what I meant! Oops. But maybe you knew what I meant anyway. Either way, I was being a jerk by alluding to it. Hopefully Carol won't see, or will forgive me. Yes, it was WJLA, and it was a very messed up shop in 1996. I was only there as an intern, but she and I worked together on a couple of things, one of which was a story on a meteorite that could have proved the existence of life on Mars. She heard that I knew something about the Internet, so she asked if I could connect one of the newsroom computers to a chat room. I think I had to use a photographer's dialup shell account to do it. Then she asked where all the people talking about Mars were. There weren't any. So she started typing to them about Mars and turned it into a standup about how the meteorite "was all anyone was talking about." I thought of saying to her that nobody was talking about it, but I chose to be a good intern that day instead. BTW - on the day the above-linked article appeared in the Post, management took all the newspapers in the building and removed the Kurtz story, then replaced them. So there were big gaping holes in them and anyone who asked why was told to STFU. Hooray for Joe Louis Albritton. I wonder what he did when they wrote about his moneylaundering for Augusto Pinochet.

By: bugmuncher

bugmuncher — Thu, 01 Sep 2005 19:53:41 -0800

... that should read "...his alleged moneylaundering..." There I go, forgetting my journalistic CYA skillz. Oops.