TV Quote of the Day (‘The Beverly Hillbillies,’ With Granny’s Bone to Pick with the Weather Bureau)

[Despite the U.S. Weather Bureau’s new satellite service predicting fair and clear skies, Granny insists that her beetles indicate rain.]

Justin Addison [played by John McGiver]: “Today, we no longer have to rely on such things as prognosticating beetles.”

Daisy Moses (aka Granny) [played by Irene Ryan]: “Don't you call my beetles whatever it is you just called them!”— The Beverly Hillbillies, Season 2, Episode 25, “Granny Versus the Weather Bureau,” original air date Mar 25, 1964, teleplay by Paul Henning and Mark Tuttle, directed by Richard Whorf

Well, many people in my part of the Northeast think that ol’ Granny might be onto something with her disdain for the Weather Bureau. Sure, the agency (now known as the U.S. Weather Service) kept warning through the past week to expect a major storm. But their initial “prognostication” for my corner of Bergen County, NJ indicated 10-14 inches. Throughout last night, that prediction ended up nearly doubling.

Of course, the bureau had its escape clauses: it could depend on where and when it shifted to sleet. But the fact is, the snow totals kept ratcheting up the closer they got to the event.

Still, I suppose it could be worse. Maybe it has been, but those still left in the service (which is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) might be afraid to talk following the nearly 600 colleagues who left it through terminations, buyouts, and resignations pushed by Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency last year.

By last summer, enough alarms were being raised about these reductions’ potential for slowing down warnings of extreme weather events that the service received permission to hire up to 450 meteorologists to restore some of those slots.

Only, as part of the rehiring process, applicants were asked to identify one or two of Trump’s executive orders “that are significant to you, and explain how you would help implement them if hired,” as well as how they would use their skills to improve government efficiency and effectiveness,” according to an August 2025 report by the Associated Press.

How much does anything of this relate to knowledge of meteorology? How many applicants were tempted to answer that it would help the President better anticipate major storms around his properties in Mar-a-Lago and Bedminster, NJ?

More than 60 years have passed since Granny faced off against the government’s weather forecasters, but we may be edging closer to her “prognosticating beetles” than we think.