OK, if this rumor is true, it’s the best news the storm chasing community has received since Doppler Radar went on line.
Initial reports are that the “reality” TV show Stormchasers has been cancelled.
This show, and others like it, have been a thorn in the side of me, and other chase-related professionals since it first aired over 5 years ago. The often reckless antics, screaming like “little school girls” at the site of a distant tornado and the fuzzy science of shooting high school science fair rockets into the air were cause for any respectable storm chaser to bury their heads in the sand. I for one, had to stop using the label “Storm Chaser for the past 5 years. My business has suffered greatly, as many potential clients and sponsors avoided me, thinking I was involved with the show and it’s risky PR liability and questionable image.
So now what? Damage control. It’s going to take years, maybe decades to repair the damage done by the show. Thousands of young people will need to be re-educated about the dangers of driving near tornadoes. The public will need to be resensitized to the actual hazards of foul weather — not to imitate what self-proclaimed “idiots” have recklessly preformed — under the guise of “science” or to save lives.
We must also remember the sponsors and supporters of such lunacy. Companies like Bosch and Lexus who supported the sophomoric behavior.
Finally, the rock is off my chest.
Warren
All comments are intended as opinions.
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Warren- Storm Chasers has been cancelled. I am a member of a scientific research group that was featured on Discovery Storm Chasers. Broad brushing such derogatory comments about the show is quite unprofessional and “sophomoric” behavior itself. We “idiots” are comprised of professional Atmospheric Scientists, Meteorologists, and Engineers just to name a few. Most of us have Bachelors, Master’s, or even Ph.D’s in our areas of expertise. Most of us on the show are truely experts in our fields and some of the best storm chasers in the world. Each team featured finds tornadoes and BIG tornadoes over and over again each year. Plus we are contributing to the scientific research world. Discovery contributions helped fund several scientific field research studies over it’s lifespan several of which have resulted in publications. I’m sorry your business has suffered greatly because of us. It’s quite apparent that making money is your top priority and this elitist attitude is just an over-compensation for your lack of storm chase skills and education.
Matt Grzych
With all due respect to your accomplishments Warren, you’re being a whiny hypocrite about the show Storm Chasers.
In my very limited experience chasing storms, I find that the most dangerous things about storms are lightning and water. You’re very well known for your lightning photography and do you think that it’s safe to wade through storm surge or purposely put yourself in the path of a Category 5 Hurricane like Andrew just to get a video or photo? What do you say to those who are inspired by what you do and want to do the same? It’s like a father who rides a motorcycle telling his son not to ride a motorcycle.
Weren’t you the initial motion picture consultant for the movie “Twister”? How is that movie any different than what you’re complaining about with Storm Chasers? They even had their version of the high school science project with that Dorothy thing filled with all the sensors. Did you give the movie writers the idea for this? If you didn’t, why didn’t you consult with them and tell them that this wasn’t a good idea to put this into the movie since you think it’s such a joke.
What you helped create with the movie “Twister” created the same monster that you’re so against now. The only difference was that you made money from the film and others are now making money from doing the same thing that you do. I’m very sorry to hear that you’re having a tough time dealing with the competition that you helped create.
I dig your work, Warren, but this does come off as a bit of sour grapes. Storm Chasers hasn’t done anything to “harm” either chasers or the tiny industry that has sprung up around chasing. It’s just redistributed where the scant attention and funds have gone. It’s harder to get paid speaking gigs and sponsorships when there is a popular television show that more or less shapes the entirety of the public’s understanding on your niche topic and you aren’t a part of that show. i.e., when I talk to 4th graders about storms, I’m sure nobody knows who the heck Warren Faidley is but they all know what storm chasing is because they saw it on the telly and by the way have I ever met any of those crazy guys who drive into tornadoes in the big tornado tanks? (This pretty much encapsulates how my conversations about chasing with non-chasing adults go down, too.)
For myself, I’d say that the show has had a positive effect on income. Even with textbooks, my licenses tend to split pretty heavily towards publishers wanting shots of the TIV for their chapters on storm research. This is funny to me since I have a good thousand+ stock images of both years of Vortex 2 which you would think would be much more relevant, but much like viewers would rather watch Reed Timmer use a potato cannon to launch widgets into the inflow jet of a tornado while screaming like a little girl instead of watching Wurman and Bluestein and Burgess and crew methodically do actual science, apparently many text books would rather show something sexy/cool about storm chasing in their science chapters as opposed to something with more relevance. (Which, is primarily why I find it hard to believe that anyone really gave a crap about whether you were associated with the show or not. The kinds of media that are interested in severe weather photography or photographers don’t get their panties in a twist about the kinds of things that chasers do. It’s enough for them that you know what you’re doing, aren’t boring, and have a pedigree of past work or appearances.) But I digress — the point is that the concept of storm chasing has only really come onto the radar of these publications because there was a show getting people excited about it.
Matt is right that despite some of the silly antics Original Media got the chasers to participate in and some of the silly editing they did, there were some pretty amazing chasers on the show and additionally a good chunk of that’s show’s money did go to weather research. Yes, Reed Timmer’s “science experiments” on the show were so absurd as to be satire, but that was essentially part of the script — people didn’t care for real science, so lets have this guy do some pretend science. People liked that other guy’s tornado tank, so lets see if we can build this guy a tornado tank too. Even so, it’s hard to deny that Reed is one of the most talented chasers alive today — and talented also in videography and more crucially in business, which is probably what gets under your skin. On the one hand you point fingers at companies like Lexus for sponsoring Reed, on the other you have your hat out at the top of your home page asking for a car company to donate you a new chase vehicle. (I’m guessing you won’t hear from Toyota!) But even though Reed’s science was non-existent, as we all know Tim Samaras really DOES science, and the money from the show helped to fund it. A good chunk of CSWR’s two new Doppler trucks were paid for by Discovery, and they were crucial to Vortex 2. The money (and NSF money) helped to fund an IMAX movie that pimps Vortex 2. But lets be honest — how can we complain about any of this not relating to science? Are we scientists? I know I’m not. I go out to take photos, not do experiments. How often do you take a break from shooting awesome photos and videos and appearing on television to do real weather research?
I guess what it boils down to is this — you have attempted to brand yourself as the “real” storm chaser — the “Authentic Pro Storm Chaser”, as you put it. You’ve gone so far as to trademark the phrase “Storm Chaser” and given instructions on your page for when it’s appropriate for others to use. You brand yourself a survival expert, etc. Your homepage is mostly photos of you Heroically Standing In Front Of Things. This is all good business for what you are trying to do and have been doing — and I won’t knock you for it. You’re doing it right when it comes to self promotion. But along similar lines, it leaves you less than free to criticize others for doing the same. Reed Timmer has used a show to brand himself as the “real” storm chaser, The Authentic Pro Storm Chaser if you will, and has done it so well that for the most part the majority of people in the United States who know what storm chasing is instantly associate it with him or Sean Casey. The show that did this for him was called “Storm Chasers”, which unless you have lawsuits pending I’m pretty sure puts the final nail in the coffin of your trademark. For the love of God, Reed is in a Budweiser commercial playing himself rescuing a damn beer truck from a tornado. He hasn’t just beaten you at your own game, he’s spiked the chessboard.