With many studios in lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, we’ve been treated to more than our fair share of home broadcast mishaps – but this one might be the best yet.
In recent weeks we’ve had a flag bearer video-bombing a BBC news interview and politicians interrupted by their children, but in the US it was a four-legged friend who stole the show during a live weather forecast.
Florida-based Fox News 13 meteorologist Paul Dellegatto was interrupted by his golden retriever Brody during a recent news segment and the clip has now been shared thousands of times online.
“The maps aren’t going to move because he whacked the computer with his hip,” Dellegatto explained as Brody wreaks havoc on the makeshift set.
“That wasn’t very smart,” he told Brody, who appeared not just in real life, but also in a framed picture behind the meteorologist.
The Tampa Bay area might have been forecast showers, but the outlook for Brody looked somewhat more promising, with Dellegatto promising: “We’re going to eat after this.”
But Brody didn’t stop at ruining the delivery. He also got involved with the technical challenge of filming for live TV through a pandemic, jumping in front of the camera whilst the segment is being filmed through a window.
Dellegatto explained: ″Craig [the cameraman] is hidden on the outside on the porch, and he’s got a blanket up so the reflection doesn’t get in the room here.
“Now he [Brody] can’t see Craig, so he’s going crazy trying to find him behind the blanket.”
According to the Fox 13 Youtube channel, the mishap actually took place earlier in April – with Dellegato now back in the studio – but the recent appearance of the clip online has seen it go viral.
Washington–based reporter Andrew Feinberg posted the clip to Twitter, writing: “This is the best weather forecast in the history of television news,” and it seems that thousands of people agree with him.
One Twitter user wrote: “Why have we been doing news any other way? What idiocy made us build sterile studios?
“I want to see everyone in their pyjamas with their pets and a glass of wine telling me how stupid everything is.”
Another added: “If we don’t come out of this with pet-featured forecasts, what are we even doing?”