The overcast and cloudy skies in Washington D.C. were no obstacle for PBS's "live" fireworks broadcast. The taxpayer-subsidized network admitted on Monday that it used archival footage during its Fourth of July show.

“We showed a combination of the best fireworks from this year and previous years. It was the patriotic thing to do,” the public broadcaster tweeted.

It continued the mea culpa on Facebook, saying: “Because this year’s fireworks were difficult to see due to the weather, we made the decision to intercut fireworks footage from previous A Capitol Fourth concerts for the best possible television viewing experience. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused.”

Some in the audience accused the network of being unpatriotic.

“How is using stock video patriotic?” Twitter user @ThomasRainerDC tweeted to @July4thPBS. “If I wanted that, I’d watch YouTube.”

Another Facebook user said PBS was "cheating" the public.

“[W]ho did you think you were going to fool with the obvious inclusion of old footage? Granted the weather was bad and the show must go on but don’t you think that’s cheating the public out of your promised spectacular show if we’re forced to watch an older less spectacular show?”