Barry and Mario

Back in the 70s, KTSP-TV in Minneapolis-St Paul had Barry Zevan, the Weatherman, one of the country’s first formally trained weathermen. 

Now a member of Minnesota’s Broadcast Hall of Fame, Barry was immensely popular. He once pulled an almost unbelievable 51% audience share in the Twin Cities – not because he was so good (his forecasts were about as accurate as anybody else’s) but because he was so BAD! 

He did his entire broadcast facing the map – away from the camera – only occasionally looking back over his shoulder with a smirk.  His weathercasts were more fun than improvisational  comedy, and I thought that no trip to 3M headquarters was complete without watching Barry do his thing.  Minnesotans proudly claimed to have the worst weatherman in the country.

For several years now, KHOU-TV in Houston has had a weathercaster that could give Zevan serious competition for that title.  Unfortunately, he just isn’t funny.

I’m sure that Mario Gomez is a nice guy.  I know he likes dogs, and dogs like him – he does the weekly adoption show from the Houston SPCA – but if you ever actually listen to his weathercasts, you’ll see that he seldom makes any sense whatsoever.