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Funniest Local TV "Bloopers"
- Thread starter Stanislav
- Start date
F
FreddyE1977
Guest
> What's the most outrageous "blooper" you've seen on local
> TV. The kind of thing that had you slapping your head and
> saying, "MAN, I wish I had a tape rolling!!"
>
One of the classic ones occurred on WPXI (then WIIC) TV 11 in Pittsburgh.
This particular station would make the Blooper Hall of Fame on a more or less regular basis! In fact you could probably devote a whole thread or website to WIIC-TV bloopers!
They had a female news anchor named Beverly Beyer. They had just remodeled their news set in the late 70's, and had installed an Update Phone, where
anchors could have the latest hot breaking headlines phoned in to them.
Comedian Groucho Marx had been in the hospital for some time, and the news was full of reports about his ill health. A script had been written for Beyer covering the fact that he was sick and not doing well. Just before she was to read this story, the update phone rang, and she was informed that Marx had passed away.
The camera cut to her live, just as she was hanging up the phone. Startled and caught off guard, she looked right into the camera and uttered the memorable phrase....
"Groucho Marx took a turn for the worse today....
........in fact, HE DIED!"
Beverly Beyer left Pittsburgh shortly afterwards. She has never been forgotten here, because of that episode. It would have brought down Groucho's duck!!
> TV. The kind of thing that had you slapping your head and
> saying, "MAN, I wish I had a tape rolling!!"
>
One of the classic ones occurred on WPXI (then WIIC) TV 11 in Pittsburgh.
This particular station would make the Blooper Hall of Fame on a more or less regular basis! In fact you could probably devote a whole thread or website to WIIC-TV bloopers!
They had a female news anchor named Beverly Beyer. They had just remodeled their news set in the late 70's, and had installed an Update Phone, where
anchors could have the latest hot breaking headlines phoned in to them.
Comedian Groucho Marx had been in the hospital for some time, and the news was full of reports about his ill health. A script had been written for Beyer covering the fact that he was sick and not doing well. Just before she was to read this story, the update phone rang, and she was informed that Marx had passed away.
The camera cut to her live, just as she was hanging up the phone. Startled and caught off guard, she looked right into the camera and uttered the memorable phrase....
"Groucho Marx took a turn for the worse today....
........in fact, HE DIED!"
Beverly Beyer left Pittsburgh shortly afterwards. She has never been forgotten here, because of that episode. It would have brought down Groucho's duck!!
I've got another overseas one, this time from Serbia. It shows an anchor fainting live on the air in a spectacular fashion, taking a part of the news set down with her:
RealVideo clip from the blog The Glory of Carniola (Right click and "Save Target as...)"
RealVideo clip from the blog The Glory of Carniola (Right click and "Save Target as...)"
K
kyleP
Guest
from WHSV-TV 3 Harrisonburg, VA 1977
> What's the most outrageous "blooper" you've seen on local
> TV. The kind of thing that had you slapping your head and
> saying, "MAN, I wish I had a tape rolling!!"
>
Back in the 70s until about 1986, Susanne LaValle was their main weathercaster even though she didn't have any background in weather. She just read the wire copy and that was it. I don't think she was even a full-time employee at WHSV since she was known then ( and still is ) a realtor.
Anyway back in 1977 ( maybe 76 or 78 ), she was expecting a baby. Well one night when she did the weather on the old "TV 3 Action News", her water broke on camera. But she did finsih the weather !!!
I remember that !!
Over the years I told people this story but no one either remembers it or they say I must have dreamed this up since I was only 9 when this happened.
However a few years back WHSV had their 50th Anniversary and one of the "old-timers" who came back was..Susanne LaValle and she told her "baby-water broke" story.
> What's the most outrageous "blooper" you've seen on local
> TV. The kind of thing that had you slapping your head and
> saying, "MAN, I wish I had a tape rolling!!"
>
Back in the 70s until about 1986, Susanne LaValle was their main weathercaster even though she didn't have any background in weather. She just read the wire copy and that was it. I don't think she was even a full-time employee at WHSV since she was known then ( and still is ) a realtor.
Anyway back in 1977 ( maybe 76 or 78 ), she was expecting a baby. Well one night when she did the weather on the old "TV 3 Action News", her water broke on camera. But she did finsih the weather !!!
I remember that !!
Over the years I told people this story but no one either remembers it or they say I must have dreamed this up since I was only 9 when this happened.
However a few years back WHSV had their 50th Anniversary and one of the "old-timers" who came back was..Susanne LaValle and she told her "baby-water broke" story.
> What's the most outrageous "blooper" you've seen on local
> TV. The kind of thing that had you slapping your head and
> saying, "MAN, I wish I had a tape rolling!!"
>
My favorite was one I was involved in not just watched. It occured back in 1989 at WMGM-TV 40, in the old studios in the marsh near Avalon, NJ. I was running camera for the 11 PM Newscenter 40 Nightcast. The weatherman, Kevin Hall, had just finished his forecast and Neil Rattagan, the anchor, introed the lottery results with his usuall comment about "tear(ing)up those worthless lottery tickets." Kevin looked down at the monitor in the desk and saw that he had just hit the Pick 3. 10 times over. Yes, he had 10 tickets with the same number, and he had just won $880! Kevin slapped the newsdesk and let out a yell that startled all of us in the studio. However, of course, mics were still open in the studio, so all of South Jersey (at least those who were watching) wondered what that loud noise was just before the commercial break. The director called out over the intercom (WMGM had no talkback or IFB in those days) "What's going on in there?" I told her "Don't workky, Kevin just hit the lottery..." Neil had to ad lib an explaination of what had happened, but Kevin had already left the set, probably to cash in his tickets.
The other one involved KYW-3 anchor Beverly Williams. Again, it happened while I was working at WMGM. I was passing through the newsroom at the then-new studios in Linwood (this would be in 1990) as it approached the top of the hour. Back then, KYW was still NBC, and NBC had a top of the hour newsbreak availability for stations that wanted to use it. We ddin't do that, but KYW did. Beverly was the anchor for this hour's break, and she was sitting in the "flash cam" seat in the newsroom waiting for her cue. I guess she was bored, because she started singing to herself... softly, but audibly. Loud enough, in fact, that she missed her cue-not once, not twice, but three times. You could hear the floor director smapping his fingers to get her attention, to no avail. Finally, after about 20 seconds or so, you heard a stage-whispered "you're ON!" from off camera. Beverly's eyes flashed up to see the red light on the camera, then she immediately dropped her eyes to look at the script in her hands. She raised her head and rushed through the newsbreak in about 35 seconds, with her cheeks a deep crimson. We all stood in the newsroom, amazed. Yes... with who knows how many 3/4" VTRs within arm's reach, we didn't roll a single tape...<P ID="signature">______________
"Radio is like musical chairs. When the music stops, I sit down and say something."</P>
> TV. The kind of thing that had you slapping your head and
> saying, "MAN, I wish I had a tape rolling!!"
>
My favorite was one I was involved in not just watched. It occured back in 1989 at WMGM-TV 40, in the old studios in the marsh near Avalon, NJ. I was running camera for the 11 PM Newscenter 40 Nightcast. The weatherman, Kevin Hall, had just finished his forecast and Neil Rattagan, the anchor, introed the lottery results with his usuall comment about "tear(ing)up those worthless lottery tickets." Kevin looked down at the monitor in the desk and saw that he had just hit the Pick 3. 10 times over. Yes, he had 10 tickets with the same number, and he had just won $880! Kevin slapped the newsdesk and let out a yell that startled all of us in the studio. However, of course, mics were still open in the studio, so all of South Jersey (at least those who were watching) wondered what that loud noise was just before the commercial break. The director called out over the intercom (WMGM had no talkback or IFB in those days) "What's going on in there?" I told her "Don't workky, Kevin just hit the lottery..." Neil had to ad lib an explaination of what had happened, but Kevin had already left the set, probably to cash in his tickets.
The other one involved KYW-3 anchor Beverly Williams. Again, it happened while I was working at WMGM. I was passing through the newsroom at the then-new studios in Linwood (this would be in 1990) as it approached the top of the hour. Back then, KYW was still NBC, and NBC had a top of the hour newsbreak availability for stations that wanted to use it. We ddin't do that, but KYW did. Beverly was the anchor for this hour's break, and she was sitting in the "flash cam" seat in the newsroom waiting for her cue. I guess she was bored, because she started singing to herself... softly, but audibly. Loud enough, in fact, that she missed her cue-not once, not twice, but three times. You could hear the floor director smapping his fingers to get her attention, to no avail. Finally, after about 20 seconds or so, you heard a stage-whispered "you're ON!" from off camera. Beverly's eyes flashed up to see the red light on the camera, then she immediately dropped her eyes to look at the script in her hands. She raised her head and rushed through the newsbreak in about 35 seconds, with her cheeks a deep crimson. We all stood in the newsroom, amazed. Yes... with who knows how many 3/4" VTRs within arm's reach, we didn't roll a single tape...<P ID="signature">______________
"Radio is like musical chairs. When the music stops, I sit down and say something."</P>
> The other one involved KYW-3 anchor Beverly Williams.
> Again, it happened while I was working at WMGM. I was
> passing through the newsroom at the then-new studios in
> Linwood (this would be in 1990) as it approached the top of
> the hour. Back then, KYW was still NBC, and NBC had a top
> of the hour newsbreak availability for stations that wanted
> to use it. We ddin't do that, but KYW did. Beverly was the
> anchor for this hour's break, and she was sitting in the
> "flash cam" seat in the newsroom waiting for her cue. I
> guess she was bored, because she started singing to
> herself... softly, but audibly. Loud enough, in fact, that
> she missed her cue-not once, not twice, but three times.
> You could hear the floor director smapping his fingers to
> get her attention, to no avail. Finally, after about 20
> seconds or so, you heard a stage-whispered "you're ON!" from
> off camera. Beverly's eyes flashed up to see the red light
> on the camera, then she immediately dropped her eyes to look
> at the script in her hands. She raised her head and rushed
> through the newsbreak in about 35 seconds, with her cheeks a
> deep crimson. We all stood in the newsroom, amazed. Yes...
> with who knows how many 3/4" VTRs within arm's reach, we
> didn't roll a single tape...
Not a local blooper, but that makes me think of the legendary blooper on a network NBC News Break back in the 70's. One day, Jane Pauley was scheduled to do the break following "Today," but someone forgot that she was out of town on assignment. Right on cue, the automatic timers cut to the Flash cam to reveal.....an empty seat. You hear about 10 seconds of muffled in progress conversation off-camera (something to do with a guy needing to buy a new lawnmower) and then the unmistakable tones of Edwin Newman exclaiming, "We're On-Air!!!" Some nameless guy (never seen before or since, and clearly NOT normally on-camera talent) was thrust into the chair, muttered an apology and started to read the copy.....then realized he was sitting on the microphone! He dug it out and started again, but only got a few words out before the timer automatically cut to commercial. When they cut back for the "tag," the anonymous guy again apologized, adding "This was my first and, hopefully, my last News Break!"
> Again, it happened while I was working at WMGM. I was
> passing through the newsroom at the then-new studios in
> Linwood (this would be in 1990) as it approached the top of
> the hour. Back then, KYW was still NBC, and NBC had a top
> of the hour newsbreak availability for stations that wanted
> to use it. We ddin't do that, but KYW did. Beverly was the
> anchor for this hour's break, and she was sitting in the
> "flash cam" seat in the newsroom waiting for her cue. I
> guess she was bored, because she started singing to
> herself... softly, but audibly. Loud enough, in fact, that
> she missed her cue-not once, not twice, but three times.
> You could hear the floor director smapping his fingers to
> get her attention, to no avail. Finally, after about 20
> seconds or so, you heard a stage-whispered "you're ON!" from
> off camera. Beverly's eyes flashed up to see the red light
> on the camera, then she immediately dropped her eyes to look
> at the script in her hands. She raised her head and rushed
> through the newsbreak in about 35 seconds, with her cheeks a
> deep crimson. We all stood in the newsroom, amazed. Yes...
> with who knows how many 3/4" VTRs within arm's reach, we
> didn't roll a single tape...
Not a local blooper, but that makes me think of the legendary blooper on a network NBC News Break back in the 70's. One day, Jane Pauley was scheduled to do the break following "Today," but someone forgot that she was out of town on assignment. Right on cue, the automatic timers cut to the Flash cam to reveal.....an empty seat. You hear about 10 seconds of muffled in progress conversation off-camera (something to do with a guy needing to buy a new lawnmower) and then the unmistakable tones of Edwin Newman exclaiming, "We're On-Air!!!" Some nameless guy (never seen before or since, and clearly NOT normally on-camera talent) was thrust into the chair, muttered an apology and started to read the copy.....then realized he was sitting on the microphone! He dug it out and started again, but only got a few words out before the timer automatically cut to commercial. When they cut back for the "tag," the anonymous guy again apologized, adding "This was my first and, hopefully, my last News Break!"
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