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Kermit Schafer (March 24, 1914 – March 8, 1979) was an American writer and producer for radio and television in the 1950s and 1960s. He is best known for his collections of "
blooper A blooper is a short clip from a film or video production, usually a deleted scene, containing a mistake made by a member of the cast or crew. It also refers to an error made during a live radio or TV broadcast or news report, usually in terms o ...
s"—the word Schafer popularized for mistakes and gaffes of radio and TV announcers and personalities.


Early bloopers

Bloopers came into prominence in 1931, when radio announcer
Harry Von Zell Harry Rudolph von Zell (July 11, 1906 – November 21, 1981) was an American announcer of radio programs, and an actor in films and television shows. He is best remembered for his work on ''The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show''. Life and ...
mispronounced or said the name of the then-President of the United States,
Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gr ...
, as " Hoobert Heever" on the air, but Schafer's is believed to be the first attempt at collecting and presenting them. Other similar famous finds of Schafer's include
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
correspondent Joel Daly intoning, "The rumor that the President would veto the bill is reported to have come from a high ''
White Horse A white horse is born predominantly white and stays white throughout its life. A white horse has mostly pink skin under its hair coat, and may have brown, blue, or hazel eyes. "True white" horses, especially those that carry one of the dominant ...
souse''", and veteran radio host
Paul Harvey Paul Harvey Aurandt (September 4, 1918 – February 28, 2009) was an American radio broadcaster for ABC News Radio. He broadcast ''News and Comment'' on mornings and mid-days on weekdays and at noon on Saturdays and also his famous ''The Rest o ...
breaking into uncontrollable laughter at a story about a pet poodle. These were collected and released in LP audio collections such as ''Pardon My Blooper!'' and ''Your Slip is Showing'', which were briefly popular in the 1960s. A movie version, ''Pardon My Blooper'', was released in 1974. These led the way for such later TV shows as ''
TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes ''TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes'' is an American television series. Debuting as a weekly series, new episodes have been broadcast as infrequent specials during most of its run. It premiered on NBC in 1984, moved to ABC in 1998, and was revived i ...
'' hosted by
Dick Clark Richard Wagstaff Clark (November 30, 1929April 18, 2012) was an American radio and television personality, television producer and film actor, as well as a cultural icon who remains best known for hosting ''American Bandstand'' from 1956 to 198 ...
. Schafer himself gained minor celebrity under the nickname "The Blooper Man". Schafer also published a number of books, such as ''Kermit Schafer's Blunderful World of Bloopers'' (1973) and ''Bloopers, Bloopers, Bloopers'' (1984).


Criticism and controversy

Schafer has come under criticism from TV and radio historians who have noted his deceptive presentations in his albums. If Schafer could not obtain an actual audio recording of the event (as many of these bloopers occurred live and were not always transcribed onto recordings), he would simply hire actors and recreate the event—without offering any disclaimer. This led to some misrepresentations. For example, the blooper by Harry Von Zell described above was not recorded, so Schafer recreated it. Schafer is historically remembered for an unwittingly
libelous Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defin ...
dramatization of an incident that never happened. On his vinyl record ''Pardon My Blooper!, Volume 1'', Schafer replicated the famous radio show host " Uncle Don" Carney, who broadcast on WOR in New York City to millions of children from 1928 to 1947. In Schafer's brief drama, Uncle Don mistakenly believes his microphone is off, then utters a contemptuous indecency.


Legacy

After Schafer's death on March 8, 1979 in Miami, Florida, shortly before his 65th birthday, his title of "Keeper of the Bloopers" passed to
Dick Clark Richard Wagstaff Clark (November 30, 1929April 18, 2012) was an American radio and television personality, television producer and film actor, as well as a cultural icon who remains best known for hosting ''American Bandstand'' from 1956 to 198 ...
, who hosted and produced a long-running series of blooper specials (and a weekly program) beginning in the early 1980s. When Clark picked up the mantle, recordings of bloopers were far more easily obtainable, and in fact were often provided willingly by the producers of films and TV shows as a way of promoting their product. Clark followed in Schafer's footsteps by releasing an album of bloopers from radio broadcasts. Clark's TV blooper shows always carried a dedication to "Kermit Schafer, Mr. Blooper", and the success of Clark's program led to the development of many imitators which continue to be broadcast as of 2008.Clark, Dick, et al; ''Dick Clark Presents Radio's Uncensored Bloopers''; vinyl recording on Atlantic: 80188-1. 1984.


Recordings

Seven ''Pardon My Blooper'' albums were released in the late 1950s-early 1960s on
Jubilee Records Jubilee Records was an American independent record label, specializing in rhythm and blues and novelty records. It was founded in New York City in 1946 by Herb Abramson. His partner was Jerry Blaine. Blaine bought Abramson's half of the company ...
. The first, named ''Radio Bloopers'', sold over one million copies, and was awarded a
gold disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...
. Schafer also issued blooper compilation albums for
Kapp Records Kapp Records was an independent record label started in 1954 by David Kapp, brother of Jack Kapp (who set up American Decca Records in 1934). David Kapp founded his own label after stints with Decca and RCA Victor. Kapp licensed its records to L ...
in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Many of these recordings would be reissued in the 1970s by
K-Tel K-tel International Ltd is a Canadian company which formerly specialized in selling consumer products through infomercials and live demonstration. Its products include compilation music albums, including ''The Super Hits'' series, ''The Dynami ...
Records. 1970s compilations were also issued on MCA Records; ''Best of the Bloopers'' in 1973, and a six-volume ''All Time Great Bloopers'' set to mark the 25th anniversary of the first blooper record in 1977. Volumes 5 & 6 contained some previously unreleased material. He produced non-blooper comedy albums, among them Jubilee releases for
Will Jordan Will Jordan (born Wilbur Rauch, July 27, 1927 – September 6, 2018) was an American character actor and stand-up comedian best known for his resemblance to, and impressions of, television host and newspaper columnist Ed Sullivan. Early life B ...
and Peter Wood in the 1960s and ''Citizen's Bloopers'', a spoof of the then-current CB craze in 1977. He edited a number of books transcribing bloopers, with some books covering certain themes such as bloopers from
classified advertising Classified advertising is a form of advertising, particularly common in newspapers, online and other periodicals, which may be sold or distributed free of charge. Classified advertisements are much cheaper than larger display advertisements used ...
and television broadcasts.


References


External links

* * * Kermit Schafer mentions at Snopes.com Urban Legend Reference Pages: *
Sonny Tufts?
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Schafer, Kermit 1914 births 1979 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople American television producers American television writers Jubilee Records artists American male television writers Place of birth missing 20th-century American screenwriters 20th-century American male writers