For Rob Lowe, life in Winnipeg not so tweet

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He's not interested in the goings on of city council, he's not impressed with a local sports bar, and what the heck are perogies anyway? When Rob Lowe seemingly referred to Winnipeg – or at the very least a Winnipeg sports bar – as a "hellhole" in a tweet Tuesday night, it raised the ire of the prairie city.

Mr. Lowe, who stars in NBC's Parks and Recreation, is in town to shoot a film about Casey Anthony (charged, then found not guilty of killing her two-year-old daughter).

He is a big sports fan, and was anxious for an Oklahoma City Thunder win in Game One of the NBA finals Tuesday night. But the former West Wing star was apparently disappointed with the broadcast he took in at a Winnipeg sports bar. "The local affiliate is interrupting the 4th quarter of the #NBAFinals to show city council election results!!!" he tweeted, adding the hashtag #TrappedInAHellHole.

It was the tweet heard around the prairie. Winnipeggers took to social media to defend their city, and to poke fun at Mr. Lowe – and themselves – with #hellhole trending in Winnipeg Wednesday.

"Real classy. Feel free to leave the hell hole. I'm sure another great thespian could take your roll [sic]," read one tweet, hashtagged #movieoftheweek.

To add insult to insult, the broadcast Lowe was watching originated from Grand Forks, North Dakota – where the election was taking place. In a blog post, WDAZ news director Chris Regimbal responded to the tempest in a hellhole by explaining that the game was interrupted at two points, for a total of two minutes. "Our intent was to run our results as quickly as possible and with as little game interruption as possible. Obviously, where Mr. Lowe is concerned, it wasn't quick enough." Mr. Regimbal didn't seem overly concerned about the controversy, ending his post: "And thanks for watching!"

Meanwhile, back on Twitter, when someone suggested Mr. Lowe watch the game on TSN instead, the actor responded: "Thanks. Will find a better sports bar. Was the worst!!!"

Perhaps as a sign of contrition, Mr. Lowe also suggested he would catch some minor-league baseball while in town, and head to the ballpark to see the Winnipeg Goldeyes. When another tweet suggested he try the "perogys" [sic] there, Mr. Lowe tweeted "What exactly are they?"