Bloopers Before DVDs

[D'Snowth]

One of the most common special features on DVDs are bloopers, outtakes, gag reels, what have you, but I've been wondering just how were bloopers seen before DVDs? If you were to look on YouTube, you can find blooper reels from a number of older shows (some of these reels were in existence before DVD releases) among other things, but where did they come from? Did networks actually show bloopers on TV at one point? That would at least explain why there's a blooper reel that keeps being reuploaded to YT of Kenan & Kel that actually has a Nick network bug on it, while Kenan & Kel has yet to be released on DVD (at least in Region 1 anyway).

 

[charlietheowl]

I remember reading online that some shows in the sixties and seventies would make blooper reels and share them at wrap parties for the cast and crew. I don't remember what shows they mentioned though; I think it was one of those late seventies ABC sitcoms like Mork and Mindy or Laverne and Shirley.

 

[D'Snowth]

But, I mean, how were they seen by the public to the point that they would be posted on video sharing sites?

 

[Sgt Floyd]

Some shows just have episodes dedicated to it. They might run the bloopers during commercial breaks, some VHS tapes might have had them as a special feature

 

[charlietheowl]

Maybe some shows distributed copies to the cast and crew and they got posted online by family members who saw the clips and thought they were funny enough to share.

 

[CensoredAlso]

Didn't there used to be a show called TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes? Or something similar?

Plus I remember Gene Roddenberry used to bring the original Star Trek bloopers to conventions with him and eventually unauthorized copies were popping up all over the place. William Shatner said he was at a ski resort (I think) in the '70s and they were being projected on a bed sheet at the lodge, lol.

I remember reading online that some shows in the sixties and seventies would make blooper reels and share them at wrap parties for the cast and crew.

Right, Star Trek did that as well. They were only supposed to be for the cast and crew which was why Leonard Nimoy got so annoyed when they went public. He thought it put too much pressure on a performer to have his mistakes plastered everywhere.

Plus you can find blooper reels all the way back to the 1930's and 1940's films actually. You'd be surprised at the, um, language, lol.

 

[fuzzygobo]

Yes, Dick Clark and Ed McMahon hosted Bloopers and Practical Jokes, and I believe Robert Gillaume hosted a copycat version called Foul-Ups, Bleeps and Blunders.
You got to see some incredible footage from different shows- sitcoms, dramas, crime shows, etc., and occassionally they'd bring out a cast member of a certain show to share their memories. Some hysterical moments to be found.

One thing I'm a little disappointed in- at the end of any Pixar movie while the credits roll (Monsters Inc. for example) they show the characters in their own little blooper reel- flubbed lines, distractions, etc.- but they defeat the purpose of what bloopers really are- random, unscripted spontaneous moments captured by the camera. When you go to the trouble to storyboard, animate, and synchronize the voices, to create the ILLUSION of a blooper, it looks kinda... fake? Unfortunately, sometimes when you try too hard to be funny, the results fall flat. I can appreciate the effect they're trying to create, but it's like trying to capture lightning in the bottle.

Some of the funniest bloopers/outtakes ever can be seen from Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas, during one scene which required over 100 takes. When the drum rolls out the door and is supposed to land in the street, Jerry and especially Frank come off with some zingers when the props don't cooperate.

All the Disney/Pixar/Dreamworks/Spielberg/Lucas magic in Hollywood can't duplicate moments like that.

 

[CensoredAlso]

Yes, Dick Clark and Ed McMahon hosted Bloopers and Practical Jokes, and I believe Robert Gillaume hosted a copycat version called Foul-Ups, Bleeps and Blunders.
You got to see some incredible footage from different shows- sitcoms, dramas, crime shows, etc., and occassionally they'd bring out a cast member of a certain show to share their memories. Some hysterical moments to be found.

Thanks! I thought so; I still have a promo for the show on VHS from the early 1990s.

One thing I'm a little disappointed in- at the end of any Pixar movie while the credits roll (Monsters Inc. for example) they show the characters in their own little blooper reel- flubbed lines, distractions, etc.- but they defeat the purpose of what bloopers really are

Thank you again! Lol, you're right those are utterly pointless. They make me cringe every time.

It's that pandering nonesense where they think they need to hide the fact that there's actors behind the characters. It's downright insulting to children.

 

[D'Snowth]

Some of the funniest bloopers/outtakes ever can be seen from Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas, during one scene which required over 100 takes. When the drum rolls out the door and is supposed to land in the street, Jerry and especially Frank come off with some zingers when the props don't cooperate.

EMMET: Can't we do it again, Ma?
MA: Shut up, Emmet!