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You’ll Think Your Screen Froze Seeing Al Roker Stare at the Camera for 15 Seconds

The TODAY weatherman joined in on TikTok's latest viral boyfriend trend.

By Chris Phelan

As we all know, social media trends come and go without warning, and there's nothing we love more than seeing some of NBC's best participating in them! On May 23, TODAY's Al Roker joined in on the fun and put the entire internet on notice with a performance for the ages.

Al Roker participates in a popular social media trend

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The video, uploaded to TODAY's Instagram account, begins pretty innocuously. One of Roker's colleagues asks the camera, "Hi guys, can you watch Al for a quick second? I have to do something." Seems like a completely normal request with no shenanigans forthcoming, right?

No, your screen didn't become magically frozen. It was just Al Roker being Al Roker

Seemingly paralyzed by the notion of an entire world watching him at that very moment, Roker froze. For a full 15 seconds. 

He did his best imitation of his legendary Madame Tussauds wax statue for that quarter of a minute, and it was glorious.

"Have you ever had a staring contest with Al Roker? Because now you have. 😂," read the cheeky caption.

This particular social media trend has been going strong since April, originating from a TikTok video asking the internet "to watch her boyfriend for a quick second." What followed were boyfriends everywhere panicking being left with the entire world watching, and predictably, hilarity ensued. As more people join in, it's become undeniably entertaining witnessing how people react when they're told the internet is in charge of looking after them "for a quick second!"

Al Roker has an excellent excuse for missing a recent episode of TODAY

America's favorite weatherman has been busy lately. When he's not spending time with his adorable granddaughter or nursing his still-recovering pup back to good health, he's doing all he can to ensure the current generation of young men and women is better than the last. Roker was conspicuous in his absence from TODAY earlier this month, but he had the best excuse: He gave the commencement address to the Fisk University class of 2024!

Al Roker sits at the desk on Today

It was the second time in Roker's illustrious career he was selected for such an honor — it's a testament to his influence and passion for molding the minds of today's youth.

Forget America's weatherman — these days, it seems Roker should be nicknamed America's dad!