Patrick Osborn's Sunday morning weather forecast on WABI became an unexpected spectacle when the Maine meteorologist found himself unable to control a fit of laughter that stretched nearly a full minute.
The incident unfolded live during what should have been a routine broadcast. Osborn, gasping between words, repeatedly attempted to deliver temperature readings and weather information while fighting back increasingly hysterical laughter. He apologized multiple times to viewers before stepping off camera, allowing his co-anchor to take over the segment.
What started as a lighthearted office prank during a commercial break spiraled into the on-air disruption. Osborn had attempted to play a brief Charlie Brown video clip—specifically the iconic "wa, wa, wa" sound effect of the character's teacher speaking—as a joke for fellow anchor Josh Gabbard. But Osborn miscalculated: the clip he queued up was actually a full hour-long compilation that replayed the sound every few minutes.
When Osborn began his weather segment moments later, the audio triggered again without warning.
"It's the Charlie Brown phone call noise," Osborn explained to co-anchor Brian Sullivan in a follow-up conversation at the station. "It's one where his mom or teacher calls him, and it's the 'wa, wa, wa.' Something as silly and light-hearted as a Charlie Brown sound made me completely lose my composure."
Osborn reflected on the paradox of suppressed laughter in high-pressure environments. "I was just trying to keep it together but I couldn't. Like, when you're not supposed to laugh, you're in an environment when you can't laugh, and you're trying to hold it back, that just makes it ten times worse," he said.
Osborn noted that his co-anchor Gabbard ultimately had to leave the studio as well, unable to maintain composure himself.
Sullivan responded: "That's the hardest I've heard really anyone laugh."
After the station posted the clip to social media, the video accumulated nearly 9 million views on TikTok by Thursday evening, introducing Osborn and Maine's local news operation to a national viral audience. Comments sections filled with viewers relating their own experiences of uncontrollable laughter in inappropriate settings.
Osborn did not appear to face professional consequences for the on-air disruption, and WABI management seemed to embrace the moment as a lighthearted episode rather than a breach of professionalism.
