FOX Nation Taps Dennis Miller to Host New Docuseries Titled “The Infomercials That Sold Us”
10 Januar 2024 - 5:50PM
Business Wire
FOX Nation, FOX News Media’s streaming service, has debuted a
new three-episode series hosted by comedian Dennis Miller, entitled
“The Infomercials That Sold Us,” announced Lauren Petterson,
president of the platform. Premiering today, January 10, Miller
will provide a nostalgic and poignant look back at the years when
infomercials ruled late-night TV, featuring interviews with the
colorful characters who made these ads so entertaining.
In making the announcement, Petterson said, “We’re excited to
kick off 2024 with legendary comedian Dennis Miller guiding viewers
through the early days of the infomercial phenomenon which played a
pivotal role in the cultural zeitgeist of that era.”
Miller added, “I am very proud to be a part of this project.
It’s easy to dismiss the Willy Loman’s who hawked products on late
night TV as nothing more than easy punchlines. But ‘The
Infomercials That Sold Us’ shows us the humanity of these pitch
people; who came from nothing and, armed with self-belief and
perhaps a fine mop, made themselves wealthy and famous. It’s the
ultimate American success story."
Over the course of three episodes, Miller will walk viewers
through the days when infomercials were lucrative, and all
celebrities wanted in on the action. The docuseries will feature
sit down interviews with Hollywood fan favorites including the late
Suzanne Somers, who sat down for one of her final in-depth
interviews prior to her passing in October 2023. Additional
appearances are made by Tony Robbins, Brooke Burke, Melissa Rivers,
Leeza Gibbons, Billy Banks, Vince Offer and many more.
Miller is best known for his critically acclaimed live talk
show, “Dennis Miller Live,” which held a nine-year run on HBO from
1994-2002 and earned him five Emmy Awards and three Writers Guild
of America (WGA) Awards. He served as the color commentator for
Monday Night football and was the “Weekend Update” anchor on
Saturday Night Live for a total of six years. He also served as the
host and executive producer of CNBC’s “Dennis Miller,” a topical
interview talk show featuring reasoned discourse, opinion and
humor. In December 2018, Miller released his ninth stand-up
special, “Fake News, Real Jokes.” A New York Times best-selling
author of four books, Miller has appeared in such films as
“Disclosure,” “The Net,” “Murder at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue” and
“What Happens in Vegas.”
Below are the episodic descriptions:
Episode 1: The Innovators
It all started in 1984, when the FCC lifted a rule limiting the
amount of commercials stations could run in an hour. Little did
they know, they were opening the door to charismatic salespeople
taking over late-night TV, hawking everything from exercise
equipment, self-help tapes, mops to quick-get-rich schemes. Some of
the biggest names from that era; like Tony Little, Anthony Sullivan
and Tony Robbins share their stories from the early days of the
infomercial.
Episode 2: Shining Stars
By the early 1990’s, the infomercial business was in a crisis.
Lured by easy money, a lot of scammers were flooding the airwaves.
Greg Renker, an infomercial pioneer, describes how he saved the
business by testifying before Congress and promising the business
would clean up its act. A second sea change hit the infomercial
business when established stars broke the long-standing taboo
against doing TV ads and started cashing in on the craze. Early
pioneers like Leeza Gibbons and Suzanne Somers describe how their
gambles opened the door for huge names from George Foreman to
Justin Bieber and Cindy Crawford joining the late-night sales
wars.
Episode 3: Internet Killed the Infomercial Star
By the early 2000’s, late-night airtime was getting
prohibitively expensive, and the infomercial airwaves were
dominated by established stars with huge budgets. But there were a
few unique salespeople who managed to make themselves rich and
famous during that time. Brooke Burke, Billy Blanks and Vince
Offer, better known as the ShamWow Guy, share their incredible rags
to riches stories. By the early 2010’s, the golden age of
infomercials was coming to an end; killed off by social media.
Plus, a look at where some of the biggest stars of the golden age
of infomercials are now.
FOX Nation is a direct-to-consumer on-demand streaming service
designed to complement the FOX News Channel experience with a
members-only destination for its most passionate and loyal super
fans. Featuring nearly 10,000 hours of content, the subscription
service includes lifestyle, and entertainment content, as well as
historical documentaries and investigative series from a multitude
of FOX News personalities at a cost of $5.99 a month/$64.99 a year.
Morning Consult recently named FOX Nation as one of the top 10
fastest-growing brands of 2023 among Gen Z adults, with the
platform placing in the top 15 overall. Launched in 2018, FOX
Nation is available at foxnation.com and via app for iOS devices,
Android devices, Fire TV, Apple TV, Google TV, Android TV, Roku,
Xbox One, FuboTV, Vizio TVs, and Samsung TVs, as well as DIRECTV,
DIRECTV STEAM, YouTube TV, Comcast Xfinity, Cox Contour and The
Roku Channel.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240110213861/en/
FOX Nation Media Contacts: Alexandra Coscia: 212.301.3272
or Alexandra.Coscia@FOX.com Sofie Watson: 212.301.3818 or
Sofie.Watson@FOX.com
Fox (NASDAQ:FOXA)
Historical Stock Chart
Von Apr 2024 bis Mai 2024
Fox (NASDAQ:FOXA)
Historical Stock Chart
Von Mai 2023 bis Mai 2024