WJLA Responds to ‘Jeopardy!’ Fans Upset Over Severe Weather Interruptions

By Andrew Gauthier 

As a herd of tornadoes rumbled through much of the southeast this weekend, some viewers in D.C. blasted WJLA for interrupting “Jeopardy!” with severe weather updates. Now the ABC-affiliate is responding to its Alex Trebek-loving critics.

In a new post on the station’s weather blog, WJLA’s John Metcalfe includes a handful of viewer comments (sample: “why ruin the show for thousands of devoted viewers so your weather guy and the computer graphics department can have a Saturday night ego trip?”) and sarcastically writes:

This hailstorm of peevishness raises all sorts of mind-bending trains of thought. Do Jeopardy! viewers live in concrete bunkers immune from damaging weather? Does Alex Trebek command such power over his viewers that they don’t care whether they live or die, as long as his beaming face is the last thing they see? Would cutting into the show with tornado news be O.K. if it wasn’t during the ever-so-important double-Jeopardy! round?

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WJLA meteorologist Steve Rudin adds: “I hope we don’t have severe weather the day Oprah has her last show.”

The station is currently running a poll on its website, asking viewers when they feel it’s appropriate for meteorologists to break into scheduled TV shows. So far, viewers are overwhelmingly in favor of interruptions if there is a threat of severe weather.

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