By Michaela Gordoni
Al Roker is on a mission to empower kids.
His new animated show, WEATHER HUNTERS, is inspired by Roker’s role as a weatherman on the TODAY show and by his kids.
“I think to a certain extent we all grow up with that interest. Weather impacts all of us,” he said. “Right now is the perfect time for WEATHER HUNTERS because there’s a lot of stuff going on in the world and happening in weather.”
“We need to try to demystify it and explain to kids why things happen,” he said. “Because even after the mystery is gone, the awe remains the same.”
WEATHER HUNTERS follows 8-year-old Lily Hunter, her dad Al and her mom, brother and sister, who all have a passion for learning about weather.
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Roker was insistent that the show have a theme song, so it does.
His daughter Courtney “had this voluminous head of hair that could take an hour and a half to braid. I would do it during that block and we would sing along to the theme songs for TALESPIN, DUCKTALES, CHIP ‘N DALE: RESCUE RANGERS…we knew all the words,” Rocker recalls. “So it was important to me to have a theme song that is a great piece of music and unifies that WEATHER HUNTERS is a family show.”
The names of the kids in the show don’t match Roker’s own three kids, but the characters were inspired by his family. He had the idea for the show since his kids were around the same age as those in the show.
“It’s been a minute, but good things come to those who wait,” said Roker. “The show is loosely based on my own family.”
“Al Hunter is an incredibly attractive bald African American — I don’t know who he could be based off of!” he quipped. “And my wife Deborah Roberts is a co-anchor on 20/20 and the three kids on the show mimic my own three kids who were always interested in weather.”
Roker also has one 2-year-old granddaughter and is excited that she will watch the show, which he is very proud of.
“It’s the perfect nexus of everything that’s important in my life — my family, climate, weather, and animation,” he said.
Roker screened the show to families in Arkansas recently.
“One kid even wanted to know what causes a firenado! I was like, ‘Wow, this is coming from a 6-year-old and I didn’t know about firenadoes until about ten years ago,’” Roker said. “It’s why I think now is the perfect time for WEATHER HUNTERS because kids see this stuff online, they see different weather phenomena, and they can then be cool to their friends and say, ‘Hey, do you know why this happens?’”
Sara DeWitt, Senior Vice President and General Manager at PBS KIDS, said, “Weather impacts all of us every day, from our activities to our health and well-being, and we’re so happy to be collaborating with Al Roker on this timely new series that helps teach foundational science concepts in a fun way. WEATHER HUNTERS will help equip kids with the building blocks to start to understand weather overall, and encourage them to use these STEM skills to make observations, collect data, and investigate the weather where they live, too.”
Roker voices Al Hunter, Holly Robinson Peete voices mom, Sheryl Lee Ralph voices their neighbor, Ms. Joyce, and LeVar Burton voices grandpa Wallace Reed Hunter, WHRO reported.
The show comes out on PBS on Sept. 8.
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