With the proliferation of content in the streaming era, live TV may be exiting its golden age. However, there are still a handful of events that remain highly viewed and inseparable from live broadcast. The Super Bowl, presidential debates, and in recent memory, with Will Smith slapping Chris Rock, the Academy Awards. Over the past few years, these live events have seen a decrease in viewership (give or take a ratings boost slap).
It is certain that in the streaming era, the average viewer has a lot more options on what they can watch at any given moment. People are no longer confined to what is available for viewing on major broadcast networks. But live television has one quality to it that cannot be recreated in pre-produced content — the nature of spontaneity. Pre-produced content may have perfect execution of line delivery and blocking, but live television adds the element of human imperfection, and has produced some incredibly shocking moments for all the world to see. Here are some of the most shocking moments live television has had to offer.
8 Academy Awards Streaker
This incident took place during the 1974 Oscars award ceremony. Robert Opel, a photographer, art gallery owner, and ESL teacher, streaked naked across the stage as and flashed a peace sign as he ran behind David Niven who was presenting at the time. After Opel left the stage, Niven pithily stated, “Well, ladies and gentlemen, that was almost bound to happen… But isn’t it fascinating to think that probably the only laugh that man will ever get in his life is by stripping off and showing his shortcomings?” The quick-witted response in addition to rumors from Robert Metzler have led some to believe that the stunt was in fact a planned stunt. The truth seems to be unobtainable, as Robert Opel was killed five years later during an attempted armed robbery at his apartment.
7 Janet Jackson’s Super Bowl Wardrobe Malfunction
During the XXXVIII Super Bowl halftime show in 2004, Janet Jackson performed alongside Justin Timberlake when, at the end of their set, Timberlake reached across the chest of Jackson and pulled her clothing to expose her breast in what was called Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction. According to MTV, the rip was planned, but the exposure of her breast was not. Instead, there was supposed to be a red laced bra underneath the ripped piece of clothing. The public reaction to this event was enormous. Some claimed that the event was a planned stunt while others noted that the media attention may have been an overreaction. Either way, it was a fascinating gauge of where mainstream culture stood on sexuality.
6 VMA Madonna Kiss
The 2003 MTV Video Music Awards were coincidentally hosted by Chris Rock. During their performance, Madonna played as a groom while Brittany Spears and Christiania Aguilera played brides that were being kissed by Madonna. The gender role switch and the LGBTQ+ themes presented were a uprise to many, and the event garnered a good amount of media attention.
5 Kanye West’s Hurricane Katrina Fundraising Event
Netflix
Following the 2005 Hurricane Katrina disaster, Kanye West and Mike Myers appeared live on MSNBC to discuss fundraising through Red Cross. Despite some of the more recent criticism directed at Mr. West, the segment that he appears on shows a candid, passionate, and nervous West who makes a case against the media’s representation of Black Americans and disproportionate effects that Hurricane Katrina had on the black population of New Orleans. Kanye finishes his monologue with the infamoous line, “George Bush doesn’t care about Black people.” The surprise of Myers and, in the next shot, Chris Tucker, is palpable.
4 Steve Harvey’s Miss Universe Snafu
In 2015, after Steve Harvey announced the winner of the miss universe pageant and Ariadna Gutiérrez of Colombia had been crowned, Harvey returned to the stage to say that he had made a mistake and the winner was actually Pia Wurtzbach of the Philippines. Harvey stated that he was confused as both names were listed on the card.
3 Elvis Presley’s Provocative Dancing
NBC
On June 5th, 1953, during Elvis Presley’s second appearance on The Milton Berle Show at NBC’s Hollywood Studio, Presley debuted his iconic hip gyration dance. The exhibition of this new dance move was met with media backlash and public outcry. The dance was deemed provocative, suggestive, and vulgar. Months after this event, a letter from a Wisconsin Catholic Diocese was sent to FBI director J. Edgar Hoover bringing the inappropriate behavior to his attention. It’s incredible how much popular culture has changed. Austin Butler will portray the infamous moment when he plays the king of rock and roll in an upcoming biopic.
2 Max Headroom Hijack
Max Headroom was a British fictional character that took the form of a quick-witted, stuttering A.I. in both a fictional show and one of the weirdest talk shows of all time. On November 22nd, 1987, two broadcast stations in Chicago Illinois were hijacked by a person wearing a Max Headroom mask. The radio pirate took over a sports segment on WGN-TV at 9:00, and then two hours later during an episode of Doctor Who on PBS. The hijacking concluded with the individual’s bare buttocks being revealed and slapped with a fly swatter. The individuals responsible for this act were never caught, but the pirate anarchy lives on.
1 Lee Harvey Oswald Assassination
Lee Harvey Oswald, the prime suspect for the assassination of the beloved John F. Kennedy, was killed on live television before he had his day in court. On November 24th, 1963, as Oswald was being moved to the city jail, Jack Ruby emerged from the crowd and shot Oswald at close range. The crowd erupted in applause, but the preemptive execution left people with many unanswered questions about the American president’s traumatic death, and shocked viewers of the news around the world.
