A HUNDRED cartoons like this one (for a “Barefoot Contessa” flub) make Schafer’s book an even more diverting read.
OUR MONTHLY “boob-tube booboos,” compilation of inadvertently funny mistakes, flubs and boners committed on television turns out to have a “granddaddy” in Kermit Schafer’s book, “Blunderful World of Bloopers,” first published way back in the days of radio, and updated and expanded when television came along.
The “treasury of broadcasting’s most hilarious boners” makes for a good, giggly and guffawing read, many decades after it first saw print (1952).
Its retroactive recollections start with “the first classic blooper on radio,” attributed to Harry von Zell: “In introducing the 31st US president to a radio audience, Von Zell called him—Hoobert Heever!”
Visual fun and games
For additional visual fun and games, 100 cartoons are interspersed throughout the book, providing droll and eye-catching corollaries to the verbal booboos made, as in the winking example below and at right:
“Announcer: This portion of Wednesday Night at the Movies was brought to you by Bayer Aspirin. —And now back to Ava Gardner in tonight’s featured film, ‘The Bare Ass Contessa’—I mean ‘The Barefoot Countessa!’”
A HUNDRED cartoons like this one (for a “Barefoot Contessa” flub) make Schafer’s book an even more diverting read.
Hapless report
Other nostalgic but still fun flubs include a now nameless newscaster’s hapless report: “Beautiful Raquel Welch won two awards last week from movie theater owners. Miss Welch is now the owner of two really big ones!”
Commercial: “So, remember, Goodyear four-ply rubber to help prevent families—I mean, Goodyear rubber tires to help your family prevent accidents!”
Announcer: “Stay tuned to NBC for our coverage of the Apollo Loony Landing—uh, make that Lunar!”
Newscaster: “Prominent surgeon Christiaan Barnard is in town to address a local medical convention about his famous and pioneering rear transplant—I mean rare transplant!”
Walter Cronkite: “Rolls-Royce announced today that it is recalling all Rolls-Royce cars made after 1966, because of faulty nuts behind the steering wheels.”
—As you can see, part of the fun in reading Schafer’s book is the opportunity to hear famous icons of broadcasting making mistakes—just like everybody else!
It’s a bracingly “democratizing” experience that should make today’s TV stars realize that they too are all too human—and occasionally flawed!
Historic event
Another plus point is exemplified by that “Apollo Loony Landing” booboo—even the most historic events can result in participants or reporters ending up with egg on their self-important faces!
Schafer’s pioneering compilation of “wonderful blunders” is divided into sections for more focused fun and frolics: Radio-TV bloopers, kiddie shows, soap operas, news, special events, sports, celebrities, politics, etc.
Long career
It turns out that Schafer had quite a long radio-TV career as program host, with popular spin-off comedy shows like “Pardon My Blooper,” “Prize Bloopers,” “Blooper Parade,” “Blooper Blackouts,” “Blooper Blow-ups” and “Super Bloopers.” —Hmm, you think he could be telling us something?
For our part, we’ve been asked from time to time when we’re coming up with our own “boob-tube booboos” book. —We’re happy to inform our monthly series’ fans that the first book will be published this year, in time for Christmas!