National TV Debut

OK, so I took some liberties with that title. But I'm still excited.

You may or may not be aware of my storm chasing expedition this past May. (Those who are no doubt are thinking, "My God, he's rambling about that AGAIN?") As nutty as that experience was, it will be etched into the cable TV history books tomorrow night, when the newest episode of Storm Chasers airs on the Discovery Channel at 10pm ET.

The main focus of the show for the last couple of seasons has been self-proclaimed extreme storm chaser Reed Timmer, along with his cronies, videographer extraordinaire Chris Chittick and on-again-off-again driver Joel Taylor. Of course, the cameras focused on these guys (the Discovery Channel production team made damn sure of that), but if you freeze frame and zoom WAAAY in, you might catch me and the van I was in following several hundred feet behind, as we tracked down -- and almost got swallowed by -- a multi-vortex tornado near Wakita, Oklahoma.

Most people long for 15 minutes of fame, I'll be flipping out of my mind if I get 15 frames.

Now I'm not one to complain, but this season, Storm Chasers seems so over-the-top and melodramatic that it takes away from the intensity of the subject matter. In past years, the show behaved like a Discovery Channel show: lots of sciency stuff -- detailed enough that you actually learn something but dumbed down enough that you're not overwhelmed -- with a little comic relief here and there.

But the drama this season between competing chasers is so manufactured and overhyped that it's ridiculous; a far cry from the actual educational material from past years. Last week's episode featured less about a tornado outbreak in eastern Arkansas and more about an emotional rift between Reed and Chris when Reed's girlfriend (no doubt invited down by the Discovery Channel for this very purpose) displaced Chris's seat on a chase.

Come on! Less kiss-and-tell, more supercell!

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But on a distinctly more somber note, I was deeply saddened to hear about the untimely death of one of the show's recent regulars. Matt Hughes (at left in the picture below), long-term member of The Storm Report, passed away suddenly in late May this past year in a matter unrelated to his chasing career. Tragic beyond belief.


Supposedly, tomorrow's episode is dedicated to his memory, as it features his last (and possibly most successful) chase. I'm sure it will be tastefully done.