A blooper is a short sequence of a film or video production, usually a deleted scene, containing a mistake made by a member of the cast or crew. These bloopers, or outtakes as they are also called, are often the subject of television shows or are occasionally revealed during the credit sequence at the end of comedy movies. (Jackie Chan and Burt Reynolds are both famous for including such reels with the closing credits of their movies.) Humorous mistakes made by athletes are often referred to as bloopers as well, particularly in baseball.

Origin of the term "blooper"

"Blooper" is ultimately derived from "blue," a traditional euphemism for obscene or indecent material.

Collecting "bloopers"

The origins

The collecting of bloopers (and the coining of the term; the word "boner" had been the common term for such errors previously) was popularized in America by television producer Kermit Schaefer in the 1950s. Schaefer produced a long-running series of Pardon My Blooper! record albums in the 50s and 60s which featured a mixture of actual recordings of errors from television and radio broadcasts, coupled with re-creations. Schaefer also transcribed many reported bloopers into a series of books that he published up until his death in 1979.