PBS was pummeled on social media after it acknowledged having spliced in video of previous years' Washington, D.C., fireworks in its live "A Capitol Fourth" broadcast Monday night. 
 
 Hundreds of viewers complained on the annual show's Twitter and Facebook pages that the fireworks display couldn't be live because the images were in clear weather: 
 
 An image from PBS' 'A Capitol Fourth' Independence Day show Monday night. 
 
 Washington, however, was heavily overcast and foggy Monday night — which was readily apparent as the pyrotechnics faded into dense clouds: 
 
 Fireworks explode Monday night over the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. AP 
 
 About 10 p.m. ET, the show's Facebook and Twitter pages acknowledged that the supposedly "live" show was, in fact, " a combination of the best fireworks from this year and previous years." 
 
 We showed a combination of the best fireworks from this year and previous years. It was the patriotic thing to do. #July4thPBS — A Capitol Fourth (@July4thPBS) July 5, 2016 
 
 Reaction online was swift and savage: 
 
 @July4thPBS Only in DC could a PBS show become a scandal #July4thPBS #capitolfourth — thedcfloridian (@thedcfloridian) July 5, 2016 
 
 @July4thPBS How is using stock video patriotic? If I wanted that, I'd watch YouTube. #fake #July4thPBS — Thomas Rainer (@ThomasRainerDC) July 5, 2016 
 
 #Blessed to see the fireworks from my apt window & watch #July4thPBS. Tho, the fireworks out my window don't look like @pbs. #fake? ?????? — Tina (@tinpant) July 5, 2016 
 
 Not cool @pbs.... Fake footage of fireworks on the Fourth???? It's cloudy and rainy in DC. Those shots are clearly not from tonight. — Chris Wallgren (@seawall77) July 5, 2016 
 
 PBS representatives didn't immediately return NBC News' calls for comment Monday night. ||||| The annual Independence Day concert and fireworks show was held on the National Mall July 4, despite dense cloud cover that obscured the fireworks for some. (A Capitol Fourth/PBS) 
 
 If you were watching Washington’s Fourth of July fireworks outside on Monday night and also happened to catch PBS’s broadcast of “A Capitol Fourth,” you might have noticed something looked…a little off. 
 
 The actual weather in Washington was cloudy and misty, making it quite difficult to view the fireworks. But on “A Capitol Fourth,” the annual concert special that airs live from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol, many of the fireworks (primarily in the second half of the display) looked glorious in a clear sky. Immediately, people started commenting on Twitter: 
 
 [Tom Bergeron previews PBS’s ‘A Capitol Fourth’: No, he’s not worried about rain] 
 
 When the cloud coverage is bad and PBS plays fake footage of the fireworks in DC — Alexis Sadoti (@AlexisASadoti) July 5, 2016 
 
 https://twitter.com/tinpant/status/750139052448362496 
 
 Not cool @pbs…. Fake footage of fireworks on the Fourth???? It's cloudy and rainy in DC. Those shots are clearly not from tonight. — Chris Wallgren (@seawall77) July 5, 2016 
 
 Just flipped over to PBS here in the newsroom. Wow that is stock footage. They did have a few live shots, you could see the foggy conditions — JimMacKayOnAir (@JimMacKayOnAir) July 5, 2016 
 
 Another giveaway? On TV, you couldn’t see the construction scaffolding on the Capitol building, which has been there for many months. 
 
 Thanks for your fake coverage of the July 4th, Washington DC fireworks PBS! No clouds, No scaffolding on the Capitol #July4thPBS,#beAshamed — JoeyV (@therealjoeyjoe) July 5, 2016 
 
 As soon as the show ended, producers from Capital Concerts owned up to the fact that not all of its footage was from the live fireworks show. (In the first segment of the display, while singer Cassadee Pope was singing, some scenes did show a cloudy sky.) “We showed a combination of the best fireworks from this year and previous years. It was the patriotic thing to do,” the “Capitol Fourth” account tweeted. 
 
 We showed a combination of the best fireworks from this year and previous years. It was the patriotic thing to do. #July4thPBS — A Capitol Fourth (@July4thPBS) July 5, 2016 
 
 A “Capitol Fourth” spokeswoman confirmed to us that because the weather was so overcast, the producers pulled together a combination of clips “to make the best television show.” She added this is the first time the producers have had to take such measures. 
 
 Still, some viewers were not happy that PBS wasn’t upfront about the pre-recorded nature of the fireworks: 
 
 @July4thPBS should have at least let viewers know "some portions pre-recorded" — Melissa Jensen (@jensenmama) July 5, 2016 
 
 It was a fraudulent thing to do.@July4thPBS @nbcwashington — Ben Anderson (@AndStrats) July 5, 2016 
 
 @July4thPBS How is using stock video patriotic? If I wanted that, I'd watch YouTube. #fake #July4thPBS — Thomas Rainer (@ThomasRainerDC) July 5, 2016 
 
 Feeling personally victimized by @PBS and #capitalfourth for using stock firework footage. It's cloudy and gross today not perfectly clear — Katherine Sisemore (@KSisemore) July 5, 2016 
 
 …and so on. 
 
 1 of 14 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad × A soggy Fourth for fireworks on the Mall in Washington View Photos Rain or shine, the fireworks display is an annual tradition over the nation’s capital on Independence Day. Caption Rain or shine, the fireworks display is an annual tradition over the nation’s capital on Independence Day. July 4, 2016 Spectators on the Mall watch the fireworks show. Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue. 
 
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 Why ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ is one of those rare movies that’s better than the book ||||| As clouds swirled over dress rehearsal for PBS’s “A Capitol Fourth” on Sunday morning on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol, host Tom Bergeron couldn’t help but throw in a few jokes about the weather as he practiced his lines via teleprompter. 
 
 “Thunder, lightning and torrential downpours!” Bergeron said on stage as he reeled off what audiences could expect during PBS’s annual Fourth of July fireworks and concert special. Later, he added, “We’ve only had six tornado warnings.” Although there were laughs all around, would Bergeron panic if he woke up Monday morning for the actual show and saw a gray sky? 
 
 [D.C.-area forecast: Rain likely for the Fourth, but not necessarily a total washout all day and evening] 
 
 Tom Bergeron, host of “A Capitol Fourth.” (Capital Concerts) 
 
 “Oh, no,” he told us backstage. He’s not worried about potential rain. “The first rule of improv, as I was taught it, is you say yes to everything. You don’t tense up. … I’m open for anything. That doesn’t bother me.” 
 
 Of course, it helps that Bergeron has seen basically everything in his decades as an Emmy-winning TV host, from “Hollywood Squares” to “America’s Funniest Home Videos.” He’s especially unfazed when it comes to live television, given that he has co-hosted ABC’s hit reality competition show “Dancing With the Stars” since 2005, and that’s always a frenzied couple of hours. 
 
 So even though “A Capitol Fourth” (airing on PBS at 8 p.m., live-streamed on PBS.org and Facebook Live) is on a tight schedule, packed with performances from Smokey Robinson, Kenny Loggins, Sutton Foster, Yolanda Williams, Cassadee Pope and Christopher Jackson, you can expect some of Bergeron’s signature ad-libs between proceedings. He’s especially jazzed to meet Jackson, who plays George Washington in the smash musical “Hamilton”; Bergeron saw the show last month and loved it, although he quipped during rehearsal that he had to take out a second mortgage to afford tickets. 
 
 And is Bergeron especially eager to have the best seat in the house for the fireworks, with his prime perch on the West Lawn? 
 
 “To be honest with you, the fireworks — even though that gets such attention — is the least interesting part of it to me. I love that first moment walking out on the stage, seeing all the people, seeing the Capitol building … and there’s all the incredible talent,” Bergeron said. “Fireworks, they’re nice, but I’ve seen a lot of fireworks. Sorry, that’s not what gets me here. Everything else gets me here.” ||||| This story was reported by Travis Andersen and Martin Finucane of the Globe staff and Globe correspondents Zachary T. Sampson, Claire McNeill, Faiz Siddiqui, Jennifer Smith, Oliver Ortega, and Rachel Riley. It was written by Andersen. 
 
 Thousands of revelers packed the Charles River Esplanade Thursday night for the 41st annual Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular, dancing to live music and cheering for a nighttime display in the skies that came off just before heavy rains and lightning forced an evacuation of the festivities. 
 
 Spectators came from around the country, many wearing patriotic shirts, hats, facepaint, and other eye-catching accessories. They were treated to a spectacular 20-minute fireworks display that began shortly after 10 p.m. and lit up the night sky. 
 
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 But the festivities ended early, and abruptly. 
 
 At about 10:30 p.m., a public address announcer informed the crowd that State Police had ordered an evacuation of the area. Heavy rain began falling soon after, interspersed with lightning flashes, forcing spectators to flee, some walking and some running. 
 
 David Procopio, a State Police spokesman, wrote in an e-mail that organizers “shot fireworks off early at 10:01 and cut them on short notice because of the severe weather.” 
 
 “We then ordered the evacuation and cleared the Oval and Lagoon areas out,” he said. “Evacuation was relatively orderly.” 
 
 The downpour forced the Pops to skip its live performance of Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture,” a cherished segment of the annual July 4 celebration, disappointing some revelers. 
 
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 “They took away the best part of the whole concert,” said Pam Capeless, 62, of Randolph. 
 
 City officials said the Boston Common Garage was available for people who needed to wait out the worst of the storm. 
 
 Saresh Alambath, 36, of Wilmington left the fireworks and huddled with family members on a porch on Revere Street to escape the soaking rains. 
 
 “Suddenly, it started pouring,” Alambath said. 
 
 Scott Ebner, 40, of the South End got caught in the rain at the edge of the Esplanade. 
 
 “Little cold, but the world won’t end,” he said. 
 
 Procopio, the State Police spokesman, said organizers moved up the fireworks “once we knew that a strong storm cell was moving toward eastern Mass.” 
 
 He added, “Once it was clear that a strong storm cell was going to impact Boston, we ordered the concert be shortened (no “1812 Overture,” among other cuts) and began evacuating the Esplanade.” 
 
 He said late Thursday night that authorities were not aware of any storm-related injuries. 
 
 The threat of severe weather had prompted officials to move the traditional July Fourth festivities up one day, marking the first time since 1992 that the extravaganza was rescheduled. Spectators began filling the Hatch Shell area at about 4:30 p.m., and the rain held off until just after the evacuation order was given. 
 
 Jubilant concertgoers danced throughout the evening to live performances from the Pops, the Beach Boys, and others. The fireworks display followed and got rave reviews. 
 
 “Very beautiful,” said Louis Yu, a Boston University medical student. 
 
 Revelers also enjoyed the music. 
 
 Steve Przecioski, 63, of Phoenix, danced with his wife and daughter as the Beach Boys played “Fun Fun Fun,” one of their many hits. 
 
 “They still have it,” said Przecioski. “They really do.” 
 
 When the festivities began in the late afternoon, organizers made sure that the crowd was festooned in patriotic garb. 
 
 Phil Touchette of B4 Productions, the company putting on the event, passed out miniature American flags and said staff members were distributing some 25,000 flags and foam Statue of Liberty crowns. 
 
 “We’re just trying to make it a patriotic event here,” he said. “That’s what it’s all about.” 
 
 Claire Richards, 86, of Randolph, sat in a wheelchair earlier in the evening on the outskirts of the concert area and wore patriotic beads around her neck. She said she was attending the celebration for the first time in many years. 
 
 “We might as well enjoy it, because you never know what tomorrow brings,” Richards said. “There’s nothing like being here in person. It’s a happy occasion, a beautiful day.” 
 
 Concertgoers spread tarps and blankets, set down beach chairs, and kicked off their shoes as they carved out territory for the event. 
 
 “We came out specifically for this,” said Bruce Masatsugu, 61, of San Francisco, who waited for hours Thursday with his family to get a spot near the stage. “And we figured we might as well go do it — do it right.” 
 
 Boston Emergency Medical Services said 80 people had visited its medical station on the Esplanade, requesting Tylenol, bandages, and ice packs. Ten people were taken to area hospitals, said spokeswoman McKenzie Ridings. 
 
 The buildup to the show began just after 7 p.m., with a series of blasts from a trio of small cannons positioned on the banks of the Charles River, drawing applause from the spectators. Governor Deval Patrick shot off one of the blasts and pumped his arms in the air. 
 
 Meanwhile, security at the Esplanade was tight, with several hundred state troopers, park rangers, and National Guard personnel patrolling the area. Troopers were both uniformed and in plainclothes, State Police spokesman David Procopio said. 
 
 Security measures included bag checks, limits on the sizes of coolers and tents, and a ban on glass containers and alcoholic beverages, he said. 
 
 In addition, Procopio said, State and Environmental Police were conducting marine patrols on the Charles, and a State Police Air Wing helicopter provided support from the air. 
 
 Bomb squads and hazardous materials teams were on standby. 
 
 By late Thursday night, State Police had not reported any arrests. 
 
 State Police did not have an estimate on the crowd late Thursday night, which was in the tens of thousands. 
 
 Traffic on the Southeast Expressway was standard for the evening rush hour, said Procopio, with the most significant backups on Interstate 93 southbound due to vehicles being rerouted around Storrow Drive, which was closed. 
 
 But on the Esplanade, the focus before the rain remained on the entertainment offerings and the camaraderie among strangers who gathered to mark the nation’s independence in an event that some people said is unrivaled by similar celebrations in other cities. 
 
 “I drive past D.C., I drive past Philadelphia, I drive past New York,” said T.C. Jones, 60, a Richmond, Va., resident who travels to Boston every year to celebrate the holiday. “This is the Fourth of July.” 
 
 Jones wore a red, white, and blue tie-dyed Red Sox shirt and recalled being stationed as an Army paratrooper at Fort Bragg in North Carolina when he first saw the legendary Arthur Fiedler conducting the Pops on television. He decided then that he would eventually make it to Boston. 
 
 And even after the rain soaked the crowd, some who attended still had a favorable assessment of the evening, including Adamarie Brini, 49, of Wakefield, who deemed the event “one to tell the grandkids about.” 
 
 “It ended on a bang, that’s for sure, people huddling in doorways,” Brini said. 
 
 “We got wet. No harm, no foul. We got to see the fireworks.” ||||| A spectator waves a flag of Great Britain as pyrotechnics light up the sky over the Olympic Stadium during the Opening Ceremony at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Friday, July 27, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/Markus... (Associated Press) 
 
 Even before NBC signed on for its coverage of the Summer Olympics in London on Friday, it drew a storm online for its decision not to stream the opening ceremony digitally. Despite the grumbling, it's a decision that may pay off for the network. 
 
 NBC Universal has promised to stream live online every athletic competition in the Summer Games for the first time. But the opening and closing ceremonies were always planned to be shown on tape delay, a network spokesman said. Coverage began shortly before 8 p.m. on the East Coast, about the same time that spectators in London _ which is five hours ahead of New York time _ were filing out of Olympic Stadium. 
 
 NBC Sports spokesman Christopher McCloskey said the ceremonies "are complex entertainment spectacles that do not translate well online because they require context, which our award-winning production team will provide for the large prime-time audiences that gather together to watch them." 
 
 Many people took to Twitter to complain Friday that they felt cheated by the decision, and provided online links to other outlets, like the BBC, that were streaming the ceremony online. 
 
 The website for Business Insider said "boo" about NBC's decision and offered two links. The popular sports website Deadspin posted a link to the BBC stream and urged its followers to watch it as a way of sending NBC an obscene gesture. 
 
 CNN's Piers Morgan, who was tweeting details about the ceremony in the late afternoon, tweeted shortly before 7:30 p.m. ET: "Laughable that America is yet to start watching the Olympic ceremony on TV. Seriously." 
 
 But NBC executives will gladly trade the complaints for a repeat of what happened four years ago in Beijing. 
 
 The network similarly offered the opening ceremony then on tape delay and there were many complaints, although less widespread because of a less wired world. But all the talk about the ceremony in the hours before it was televised created a buzz, and the 34.9 million people who watched it was the largest opening ceremony audience in 12 years. NBC makes most of its money through its prime-time advertising, and the strong opening night ratings set a tone that continued throughout the Games. 
 
 NO RUSH: Did some of the Olympic trivia uncovered by NBC researchers hit the cutting room floor on Friday? NBC prime time hosts Bob Costas and Matt Lauer noted more than once that athletes were entering the stadium for the opening parade at a faster clip than normal. 
 
 UPCOMING: We'll know quickly whether swimmer Michael Phelps will make these games his personal gold mine, like he did in Beijing. Phelps' faceoff with fellow American Ryan Lochte in the 400 meter individual medley highlights Saturday's full opening day of competition. ||||| Disgruntled with the Department of Veterans Affairs, a veteran set himself on fire in protest Tuesday morning outside the state Capitol in downtown Atlanta, according to the Georgia State Patrol. 
 
 The GBI identified the man as 58-year-old John Michael Watts. He has no current address, the agency said. 
 
 The man involved in today’s #GAStateCapitol incident has been identified as John Michael Watts, age 58. He has no current address. pic.twitter.com/gRQU1HQB0u — GA Bureau of Invest (@GBI_GA) June 26, 2018 
 
 About 10:45 a.m., the Air Force veteran parked a Nissan Sentra on Washington Street, stepped out of the car and walked toward the Capitol, GSP Capt. Mark Perry told AJC.com. 
 
 Video: DEVELOPING - Disgruntled veteran sets himself on fire outside Georgia Capitol, GSP says -https://t.co/UmUIZsaQCm #Atlanta pic.twitter.com/FZqAui4Oth — John Spink (@johnjspink) June 26, 2018 
 
 “He was strapped with some homemade incendiary devices (and) firecrackers, and doused himself with some kind of flammable liquid” before lighting the fireworks, he said. 
 
 Several loud explosions were heard, and a trooper quickly put out the fire with an extinguisher, according to authorities. 
 
 Watts was rushed to Grady Memorial Hospital with burns over 85 to 90 percent of his body, Perry said. 
 
 No other injuries were reported. 
 
 Commissioner Mark McDonough telling us about what started emergency at the State Capitol. Washington Street closed. @wsbtv #breaking pic.twitter.com/3OJ35t36sz — Linda Stouffer (@LindaWSB) June 26, 2018 
 
 The Capitol and judiciary buildings were evacuated. Workers were forced to move children from a day care associated with Central Presbyterian Church to a neighboring Catholic church as a precaution, according to officials. 
 
 A bomb tech empties a car of all its contents, hours after a disgruntled Air Force veteran set himself on fire Tuesday morning outside the Georgia Capitol. JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM 
 
 The area has been secured, Atlanta police said on Twitter. 
 
 UPDATE: The all clear has been given after the APD SWAT Team worked with multiple other agencies to secure the area around the State Capitol. We worked remotely with our robots to check out the scene where a man set himself on fire. pic.twitter.com/Pn4NWbwBTF — Atlanta Police Dept (@Atlanta_Police) June 26, 2018 
 
 All roads in the area were reopened by 6:15 p.m., according to the WSB 24-hour Traffic Center. 
 
 TRAFFIC UPDATE: Atlanta: GA State Capitol Explosion: Washington St and other roads around the Capitol; are now All Open; no delays; https://t.co/kTgeaYu0Zi; #ATLtraffic — Triple Team Traffic (@WSBTraffic) June 26, 2018 
 
 Multiple agencies were on the scene earlier. The GBI emptied the car and bomb techs examined the contents. 
 
 Bomb tech moving contents out of suspect’s car after veteran sets himself on fire outside Georgia Capitol - https://t.co/UmUIZsaQCm #Atlanta pic.twitter.com/XRn5P379sU — John Spink (@johnjspink) June 26, 2018 
 
 — Staff writer Chris Joyner contributed to this article.
– Noticed something a bit off about PBS' A Capitol Fourth broadcast Monday? So did hundreds of people who took to Facebook and Twitter, per NBC News. Though host Tom Bergeron initially laughed off concerns that the live concert and fireworks display over Washington would be rained out, per the Washington Post, the sky above the Capitol Building was foggy and overcast as the fireworks began. That made seeing the show a bit difficult—so PBS intervened. Mingled with misty footage of fireworks over the Capitol building, with scaffolding clearly visible, was stock footage of fireworks from previous celebrations. Viewers were quick to call out the "fraudulent" scheme—there was no disclaimer during the "live" broadcast—noting the stock footage showed a clear sky over the Capitol Building, and no scaffolding, per the Post. Afterward, the show admitted to showing "a combination of the best fireworks from this year and previous years" because of the poor conditions. "It was the patriotic thing to do," reads a tweet from the Capitol Fourth account. "We apologize for any confusion this may have caused." The apology didn't appease some, though. "How is using stock video patriotic?" one user wrote. "If I wanted that, I'd watch YouTube." (A Texas teen tried to make a "fireworks bomb" and paid a steep price.)