Today was an emotional day in Atlanta, as the iconic Georgia Dome was put to rest via a massive implosion, and many were intrigued to watch the 25-year-old stadium come down. Included in that audience was The Weather Channel, which set itself up with a primo vantage point to film the implosion. That is, before a city bus pulled to a stop right in front of the camera. Check out the epic frustration below.
Now, I know The Weather Channel has been on the scenes for untold numbers of gigantic storms and natural disasters all over the planet, and its reporters and meteorologists have likely seen some of the craziest and most harrowing weather events in televised history. But I can't help but assume that none of those past circumstances got Weather Channel employees' blood rushing in quite the same way that this savagely ill-timed Marta bus did when it pulled up in the very seconds after the first stage of the implosion was underway.
As one commenter noted under the above tweet, this was the rare time when a Weather Channel telecast called for strict censorship, given all the curse words being bandied about at the expense of the bus driver, who probably also just wanted to see the implosion, and couldn't believe the excellent sightline in that spot. Amazingly (or rather unamazingly for the Weather Channel folks), the bus drives away just as everything has already finished, and there's little to be seen beyond billowing smoke, which was a reveal that earns another bleeped swear word. Classic.
I bet if that bus driver had realized the evil eyes The Weather Channel team was throwing his or her way, that bus might have tried to nonchalantly exit the scene in a Family Guy-esque fashion.
The bus interruption is almost definitely not the wildest thing somebody would see in Atlanta, but its slow arrival in the frame almost feels like it was scripted, or like it was a big prank from a rival network that didn't want Weather Channel to get all the good footage. I'm not sure if that's how cable networks roll, competitively, but it doesn't seem out of the ordinary. It's also worth noting that isn't the only big implosion watched by Georgia Dome enthusiasts this year. The NFL's Atlanta Falcons managed to make the Dome's final year more memorable by reaching Super Bowl LI, though the team blew a gigantic lead and lost to the New England Patriots in overtime.
So many times, live TV coverage has gotten disrupted by unwitting people or animals, but it's not so often that a big ass bus is the guilty party. There's no bus in the completely unrelated video below, but that cop's reaction to realizing he's on camera is stunning.
While the Georgia Dome is no more, the Atlanta Falcons are now playing in the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, where they'll next face division rivals the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. To see what else is coming to the small screen soon, head to our fall TV premiere schedule and our 2018 midseason premiere schedule.
