Put your feelings for the Transformers franchise to one side for a moment and spare a thought for Michael Bay, who yesterday unexpectedly marched off stage when his autocue failed during a TV product launch at CES 2014 in Last Vegas.
"Embarrassed", as the director himself said he felt following the spectacle, doesn't quite cover it, having since been viewed the world over. And sure, we may never know how the man himself must be feeling, but we can be pretty confident that the people featured in the clips below will know that pain all too well.
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Bay’s swift exit
In case you missed the great man leaving the stage in a hasty manner which suggested Transformers 3 might be screened, here it is.
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US news anchor accidentally declares co-worker dead
“He was murdered and then set on fire.” It’s not every day you hear a news anchor casually declaring their co-worker brutally murdered - but then it’s probably not every day Californian TV veteran Ken Bastida has problems with his teleprompter.
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BBC News man reveals too much
Another comma-related catastrophe, this time from the BBC’s Jonathan Charles, who's apparently been kept hidden for two decades and forced to bear children. Nice to see he’s in good spirits, though.
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Gaffe of the day
Yes, even Match of the Day is susceptible to TV gremlins, with Gary Lineker dealing with a problem in the most passive aggressively fashion imaginable. We can’t say we blame him.
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58 seconds feels like 58 minutes on Australian TV
As cringe-worthy as the entire two seasons of The Office combined, this 58 second clip of Australian news reader Helen Kapalos is enough to make anyone wince. Moreover, it also highlights why shuffling papers at the end of a bulletins can come in handy.
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Paul Rudd saves the day at the Golden Globes
When you’re the Golden Globes, that bastion of competent autocue work envied the world over, you thank your stars for Paul Rudd. Awarding Homeland best TV show, the actor smoothly negated an autocue hitch with panache. Sadly the same can’t be said of co-presenter Selma Hayek.
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Bill O'Reilly gets riled up
The list of meltdowns from Fox News pundit Bill O'Reilly is as long as it is rowdy. Though, for our money, the man’s crotchetiest moment of all came on the back of this teleprompter-induced meltdown.
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