Interviewees discuss some of the unplanned occurrences that have made it on the air.
About
“Apparently her [Janet Jackson’s] wardrobe person came up with it. Justin [Timberlake] literally rehearsed it once in her dressing room before they went out onstage. I think the big mistake was that he was supposed to pull it off on [Gonna have you naked by the end of this] 'song' and he pulled it off on 'end.'” - Beth McCathy-Miller, Director
Highlights

Beth McCarthy-Miller on Ashlee Simpson's lip synch error on Saturday Night Live

Dick Van Dyke on some mishaps on the early days on television involving sled dogs

Brad Garrett on outtakes from Everybody Loves Raymond

Bob Barker on the most memorable Price is Right contestant (who lost her tube top)

Fred Rogers on working as floor manager at NBC on The Kate Smith Hour

Nanette Fabray on live, on-air mishaps during Caesar's Hour involving Sid Caesar
Who Talked about This Topic
Steve Allen
Steve Allen on live television mishaps on The Steve Allen Show
Richard L. Bare
Richard L. Bare on working with "Arnold the pig" on Green Acres
Bob Barker
Bob Barker on the most memorable Price is Right contestant (who lost her tube top)
Bonnie Bartlett
Bonnie Bartlett on mishaps while acting on Love of Life which was broadcast live
Milton Berle
Milton Berle on memorable live television mishaps on Texaco Star Theater
Milton Berle on a memorable live television mishap with Red Buttons on Texaco Star Theater
Milton Berle on the mishap with the "Barber of Seville" sketch on Texaco Star Theater and how it affected the subsequent sketch
Tom Bettag
Tom Bettag on the 1987 incident of Dan Rather walking off the air during CBS Evening News with Dan Rather
Haskell Boggs
Haskell Boggs on mishaps and close calls during his time as a director of photography
Al Borden
Al Borden on problems with props and guest stars on The Colgate Comedy Hour
Al Borden on mishaps involving props on The Colgate Comedy Hour
Carol Burnett
Carol Burnett on her favorite moment on The Garry Moore Show - on her last day on the show when the cast purposely ruined a scene to see how she'd react
Sid Caesar
Sid Caesar on accidentally being dressed in the wrong costume in a sketch "live" on Your Show of Shows
Sid Caesar on a painful gaffe on "live TV" during a Your Show of Shows parody of High Noon
Sid Caesar on forgetting Basil Rathbone's name while introducing him as the guest star on Your Show of Shows
Marge Champion
Marge Champion on mishaps on live television and appearing on Person to Person
Marge Champion on losing her dress in front of the Queen of England
Roy Clark
Roy Clark on a mishap on live television
Henry Colman
Henry Colman on working in live television, where an actor thought the dress rehearsal was the aired show
John Conte
John Conte on mishaps during the broadcast of Matinee Theater, and on the cancellation of the show
Walter Cronkite
Walter Cronkite on some of the bloopers that happened when filming live television for the program You Are There involving a historical re-creation of the Hindenburg disaster
Walter Cronkite on an awkward moment during the first Telestar sattelite transmission while interviewing Dwight Eisenhower and Marshall Montgomery
Billy Crystal
Billy Crystal on the "Willie and Phil" sketches with Christopher Guest on Saturday Night Live
Bill Dana with Emerson College
Bill Dana on a live television mishap
Hugh Downs
Hugh Downs on a live radio slip-up and the lesson he learned from it
Hugh Downs on a live television slip-up and breaking up on primetime TV; on breaking up on radio and television
Nanette Fabray
Nanette Fabray on working with the writers of Caesar's Hour, and on an on-air mishap where she was injured
Nanette Fabray on live, on-air mishaps during Caesar's Hour involving Sid Caesar
Murray Fromson
Murray Fromson on covering Barry Goldwater's 1964 whistlestop tour, and an on-air error that occurred during Roger Mudd's reporting on the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite
Brad Garrett
Brad Garrett on outtakes from Everybody Loves Raymond
Greg Garrison
Greg Garrison on dealing with the network and Standards & Practices on The Dean Martin Show
Frank Gifford
Frank Gifford on bloopers from the broadcast booth
Lesli Linka Glatter
Lesli Linka Glatter on mishaps and pranks that happened while she was directing ER
Jerry Goldsmith
Jerry Goldsmith on where he would sit and conduct the orchestra during live Playhouse 90 broadcasts for director John Frankenheimer and on mishaps on live television
Walter E. Grauman
Producer-director Walter Grauman on the flubs made by Lights, Camera, Action (1950) emcee Walter Woolf King on "live" TV
Director Walter Grauman on working with boxer Primo Carnera on Matinee Theater: "Frankenstein" (airdate: 2/5/57), in which an overzealous and unrehearsed Carnera (playing Frankenstein's monster) threw a stuntman through the scenery
Director Walter Grauman on how a superstition led Sylvia Sidney to forget the final line on "live" TV for a Matinee Theater show [tentatively identified by Grauman as "Death of a Salesman" but possibly "The Gift and the Giver" (airdate: 12/16/57)]
Larry Hagman
Larry Hagman on a joke played on him by Patrick Duffy during Dallas
Larry Hagman on a mistake made by a fellow actor on a live broadcast of The Edge of Night
Jonathan Harris
Jonathan Harris on mistakes made on live television
Don Hastings
Don Hastings on on-air mishaps during Captain Video and His Video Rangers
Marilu Henner
Marilu Henner on Taxi bloopers
Don Herbert
Don Herbert on live, on-air mishaps on Watch Mr. Wizard
Arthur Hiller
Arthur Hiller on mishaps that occurred while directing "live" television, including NBC Matinee Theater and early CBC shows in Canada
Arthur Hiller on losing a camera while filming a "live" television show in Canada
Ron Howard
Ron Howard on a mistake he made on live TV as a child actor on Playhouse 90
Lamont Johnson
Lamont Johnson on acting opposite Ethel Barrymore on Climax!
Lamont Johnson on the challenges of directing live broadcasts of NBC Matinee Theater, and on appearing in early televised Shakespeare adaptations
Lamont Johnson on directing John Carradine in the NBC Matinee Theater production of "Dracula"
H. Wesley Kenney
H. Wesley Kenney on a technical foul-up during live broadcasts of Night Beat
H. Wesley Kenney on a technical foul-up during a live broadcast of Captain Video and His Video Rangers
Don Roy King
Don Roy King on an on-air blooper on Midday Live
Lynwood King
Lynwood King on on a live television blooper involving Sid Caesar
Ernest Kinoy
Ernest Kinoy on a mishap on the set of The Alcoa Hour
Don Knotts
Don Knotts on a moment in "live" TV in the 1950s when fellow actor Les Damon went up on his lines on soap opera Search for Tomorrow
Perry Lafferty
Perry Lafferty on James Cagney appearing on Robert Montgomery Presents and on Cagney forgetting his lines
Jack LaLanne
Jack LaLanne on live TV mishaps and working on live TV with The Jack LaLanne Show
Angela Lansbury
Angela Lansbury on getting a case of the giggles in rehearsal on a show with Richard Kiley, likely Lux VideoTheatre's "Operation Weekend"
Jack Lemmon
Jack Lemmon on the worst thing that happened to him on live television
Barry Levinson
Barry Levinson on his (somewhat disastrous) first day on a live television set, which took place during a training program he took part in while a student at American University
Sam Lovullo
Sam Lovullo on the bloopers of Hew Haw, often left in, and on the set design of the show
Sidney Lumet
Sidney Lument on the technical challenges of doing Danger live, and on mishaps during the broadcasts
Martin Manulis
Martin Manulis on a mishap during a live broadcast of Climax!, when an extra who was supposed to be playing dead got up and walked away in the middle of a scene
Jackie Mason with Emerson College
Jackie Mason on his infamous middle finger incident on The Ed Sullivan Show
Richard Matheson
Richard Matheson on appearing in the miniseries Captains and the Kings as President Garfield
Chuck McCann with Emerson College
Chuck McCann on his harrowing experience guest-hosting The Sandy Becker Show
Beth McCarthy-Miller
Beth McCarthy-Miller on on-air mishaps on Saturday Night Live and the stress of directing it
Beth McCarthy-Miller on Ashlee Simpson's lip synch error on Saturday Night Live
Al Michaels
Al Michaels on bloopers or flubs on Monday Night Football
JP Miller
JP Miller on live television mishaps
Walter C. Miller
Walter C. Miller on a memorable blooper during a live broadcast of The Aldrich Family
Walter C. Miller on a blooper on The Bell Telephone Hour episode "The Music of Romance" with Helen Hayes and Farley Granger
Rita Moreno
Rita Moreno on various mishaps that happened during live broadcasts
Robert Mott
Robert Mott on various live television bloopers including on Studio One, Betty Furness' Westinghouse commercial, and The Web
Robert Mott on a Captain Kangaroo blooper
Frank Nastasi
Frank Nastasi on The Soupy Sales Show naked girl prank
Alan Neuman
Alan Neuman on memorable bloopers on Kraft Television Theatre
Leonard Nimoy
Leonard Nimoy recalling that Lloyd Bridges accidentally swore on live TV
Leonard Nimoy on James Coburn oversleeping for a call on M Squad but stardom was around the corner
Arthur Penn
Arthur Penn on bloopers on Playhouse 90
Don Pike
Don Pike on bloopers on live television he witnessed
Charlotte Rae
Charlotte Rae on a blooper she witnessed on The Ed Sullivan Show, and on a blooper she was involved with on Appointment With Adventure
Charlotte Rae on a blooper she was involved with on The DuPont Show of the Month
Hector Ramirez
Hector Ramirez on bloopers on The Carol Burnett Show
Gene Reynolds
Gene Reynolds on mishaps during live television
Gene Reynolds on mishaps during live television
Pat Robertson
Pat Robertson on dealing with the early equipment at his first television station
Fred Rogers
Fred Rogers on working as floor manager at NBC on The Kate Smith Hour
Andy Rooney
Andy Rooney on some of the mishaps he witnessed on live television, particularly on Calendar
Thomas W. Sarnoff
Thomas W. Sarnoff on a live TV blooper during the airing of an episode of Marshal of Gunsight Pass (1950)
Jan Scott
Jan Scott on mishaps she witnessed on live television, and on going to work for the NBC station in Philadelphia
Jan Scott on mishaps in live productions she worked on
Paul Shaffer
Paul Shaffer on musical guest John Sebastian stopping his vocals after microphone feedback on Saturday Night Live's live broadcast
Jack Shea
Jack Shea on mishaps during the era of live television
Sid Smith
Sid Smith on live mishaps on the Miss U.S.A. and Miss Universe pageants
Leonard Stern
Leonard Stern on Jackie Gleason, who memorized his lines, making a mistake on a commercial for Schick
Maxine Stuart
Maxine Stuart on live television mishaps
George Takei
George Takei on working on a Playhouse 90 where an actor forgot his lines and pantomimed until he remembered
Studs Terkel
Studs Terkel on actor Chet Roble accidentally referring to sponsor Manor House Coffee as rival Maxwell House Coffee on Studs' Place during a "live" commercial
Stanford Tischler
Stanford Tischler on editing the blooper reels for M*A*S*H
Ret Turner
Ret Turner on a wardrobe mishap during Matinee Theater
Dick Van Dyke
Dick Van Dyke on some mishaps on the early days on television involving sled dogs
Helen Wagner
Helen Wagner on mishaps that happened on live television
Clint Walker
Clint Walker on being overly tired on the set of Cheyenne and misspeaking a line about gun butts.
Tucker Wiard
Tucker Wiard on bloopers from The Carol Burnett Show
Alan Zweibel
Alan Zweibel on the disastrous, primetime Saturday Night Live "Live from Mardi Gras" special