I'm not one to complain about opportunities to watch George Clooney. But The Weather Channel's plans to begin airing weather-themed movies is just stupid. The AP reports"The Perfect Storm" will air on TWC on Oct. 30, the 18th anniversary of the real-life storm depicted in the film starring Clooney and Mark Wahlberg. Other movies slated for airing on TWC: "Misery," "March of the Penguins," and "Deep Blue Sea."

TWC hopes to attract a broader audience than its current base of weather nerds -- and get more advertisers, of course. From the piece:


For The Weather Channel, the risk lies in alienating its regular weather-obsessed viewers, who tune in for news of high pressure systems rather than high drama. The potential reward is that new fans will tune in, and they'll stay on the station for a longer period, pleasing advertisers.

This just in, TWC honchos: People watch The Weather Channel because they like weather forecasts. Really. I'm one of those people, a weather devotee who tracks hurricanes on a paper storm chart every summer and who has TWC on my TV with the sound muted all the time. I want an on-air meteorologist standing in front of a map of the United States on my TV 24/7. It comforts me. I like to know about the high pressure system in the Midwest and the cold front in New Mexico. I know tomorrow will happen if there is a weather forecast. I don't want anything messing with my endless loop of predictions about tomorrow's temperatures. Not even Clooney.

This is a Category 5 screw-up. What next, fire Jim Cantore?