Twelve hopefuls on Funny Or Die Presents America’s Next Weatherman from left, Jennifer “Jazzy T” Williams, Frank Margini, Jeff Forgeron, Miller Robson, Jenn Barlow, Mackenzie Bart, Ron Hilliard, Michelle Rotella, Aubrey Evans, Christina Faraone, David Collins, and Drew Logan. Photo: TBS
SAN DIEGO–TBS unveiled its new late night competition series, Funny Or Die Presents America’s Next Weatherman, set to premiere Aug. 8.
The series, produced by Mark Burnett and United Artists Media Group, features 12 competitors vying for a job as America’s next great weathercaster. Matt Oberg (The Comedians) hosts the competition, which will be judged by longtime weather personalities Johnny Mountain (KABC, KCBS) and Jillian Barberie (Good Day LA).
Funny Or Die Presents America’s Next Weatherman marries the comedic and subversive voice of Funny Or Die with the production value and compelling storytelling of a show from Burnett.
Each classic reality show element – from the physical challenges to the dramatic vote-offs – will be tweaked through the Funny Or Die prism to create an original viewing experience. However, the stakes are 100% real as the contestants will be vying for $100,000 and an appearance on TBS‘s sister network CNN forecasting the national weather for the morning show New Day.
TBS has ordered eight one-hour episodes of Funny Or Die Presents America’s Next Weatherman, which is based on a concept and format by the creative teams at Funny Or Die and United Artist Media Group, including Seth Morris (Kroll Show), who will serve as a producer on the show.
Twelve hopefuls on Funny Or Die Presents America’s Next Weatherman:
- Jennifer “Jazzy T” Williams (32), of Buffalo, N.Y., a radio personality with 10 years of on-air experience and a degree in telecommunications and digital media arts.
- Frank Margini (32) of Old Tappan, N.J., a fitness trainer and former member of Air Force with a degree in criminal justice and only 5% body fat.
- Jeff Forgeron (25) of San Diego, Calif., an Associated Press writer for Weather Underground who has a degree in meteorology.
- Miller Robson (42) of Columbus, Ga., a former wrestler and local meteorologist/anchor who is working toward a degree in meteorology.
- Jenn Barlow (28) of San Diego, Calif., who has seven years experience as a television reporter and host.
- Mackenzie Bart (23), of Columbus, Ohio, Miss Ohio 2014 who is currently working on her degree in atmospheric science.
- Ron Hilliard (28), of Detroit, Mich., a news intern and SKYWARN-trained weather spotter with a degree in the interdisciplinary humanities of communications, theater and Spanish.
- Michelle Rotella (27) of Germantown, Md., a meteorologist who graduated from high school at 16 before earning a bachelor’s degree in meteorology.
- Aubrey Evans (25), of Las Vegas, Nev., a model and skilled ice skater with an abundance of life experience to bring to the competition.
- Christina Faraone (26) of Walden, N.Y., a Marine meteorologist technician whose master’s thesis was on the role of weather in aviation.
- David Collins (34) from Deland, Fla., a Navy veteran who graduated at the top of his meteorology class and spent four years as an operational weather briefer.
- Drew Logan (26) of Westlake Village, Calif., a pastor and former college football player who recently completed his master’s degree.
Funny Or Die’s Mike Farah and Joe Farrell serve as executive producers, along with Mark Burnett and Dean Houser.
