Oddity Archive: Episode 133 - As Seen On TV! (Mail-Order & Infomercial-Style Commercials) 

infomercials for products which are not only useless and silly but also hopelessly dated; this is truly my shit, thanks Ben

K-Tel had that DJ guy doing the voice overs, but the Ronco stuff has Ron Popiel himself doing the honors! Talk about staying within a budget!

That home harmonica course guaranteed that in a few weeks, you'll not only suck, you'll also blow.

6:50 I'm honestly surprised at that Joke, but knowing what's going on in Colorado lately, it was gonna happen sooner or later.

I am seriously wondering what the deal is with the "recycle old clothing" caption in the commercial at 10:23. It doesn't match the style of any of the other text in the ad, and that font genuinely looks like it came straight out of an Apple II. Did they forget to originally add it and only realize it in post-production or something?

Ginsu is the perfect example of "a broken clock is right twice a day". Except it's a knife, not a clock. And it's not broken.

That there Vegematic by Steve Goodman, that's a damn catchy tune. Thanks, Ben, that's been stuck in my head for half a decade.

What a prime opportunity for some geek research into KMGT-TV, thanks Ben!

damn why didn't they include the Liberace commercial in the Liberace movie, what a missed opportunity

Ugh...Ronco. I remember the knives his "cousin" Arnie promoted. (Because, despite his name being on the company, if those blades didn't work right, Ron would NOT be held responsible, damn it.) You (and anyone reading this) should be able to find the exact one I'm referring to on here somewhere.

I only just started watching your channel yesterday and thought that you sounded a lot like Daniel Johnston, so I found your chord organ joke funny

I remember the record vacuum. Lol

I love being early!

Who even bought this crap? heh

Actually those were skis he was carrying, not an AK-47. js

14:24- LOL, I actually own a old Veg-O-Matic from the 1960s. They do actually make good fries by the way.

A Daniel Johnston reference.... in MY Oddity Archive????? I didn't even have to order anything

The ginsu knife is the same as the magic TV knife? I'm going to send a check to that address and COD it so I can send it back just keeping the magic TV knife as a gift to see if its just the ginsu! "Sorry no COD" Damn. "Rush delivery available!" Sweet! I wonder where those things were made? Not china but rather mexico? Romania? The democratic people's republic of the republic of the Congo? 1978? That 50 year warranty is almost up but the only guarantee is that address will be closed down by the FTC or SEC or IRS in about 3 years. Why not make it a hundred year guarantee or better: A LIFETIME guarantee without the possibility of getting your money back!

I tried one of the 800 numbers out of curiosity. The Veg-O-Matic number (15:18) now leads to a Caribbean cruise (I'm assuming) scam

the Archive is the last place I expected to hear a furry fan joke, lol.

Disco Body Shaper. Because we need to sell Sit 'N' Spins to adults.

The harmonica is called a mouth organ? Phrasing?

I have that set of Ginsu knives in my kitchen right now. They are still just as sharp. Just like a tuna can lid would be...

Stupid catheter sucked my bladder (along with some other stuff) right into the bag! What are these new dangly bits? Am I still a girl? Help please! Is there an 800 number for this? Please!!! I'm afraid to hit the reverse switch.

This is a long time coming, I've been waiting for "as seen on TV" ever since I saw the local commercials episode

Man I love the music of your intro, about the only intro I never skip.

who whats Ben too be the next MST3K Host.

Why did announcers describing products in the 60's sound like they were issuing orders to evacuate the city?

False advertising! When I heard new and improved, I thought something had improved - better box, better host. Nope. No improvements. Nobody has to tell that harmonica commercial guy when to blow. He blows throughout the commercial.

I found one of those disco body shaper in the street

According to Google Maps, the place where Ginsu was headquartered is now a preschool...

I had a Record Vacuum. It didn’t work.

This is a great episode! A mini collection of Archive Riffs linked together by Ben learning how to make money by taking the piss..I mean learning to sell a catheter. Really enjoyed watching this. :)

I still have my Magnetic Window Cleaner, and it works very well - but it's a UK version with the two halves connected by a cord, thus avoiding the sort of disaster you foresaw, Ben. Was the US one manufactured by a psychopath or a sadist, do you think?

In the 70s and early 80s, the commercial channel on UK television (ITV) used to be awash with KTel and Ronco adverts at Christmas time.

As of 2017 Ginsu Knives are still manufactured and sold. The Quikut and Ginsu brands have both been manufactured in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas, since the merging of the Douglas (vacuum cleaners) and Quikut (knives) companies in 1964. Douglas Quikut also manufactures ReadiVac and American Angler brands. In 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015 Consumer Reports reviewed the Ginsu Chikara knife set in their comparison of fifty knife sets and rated it as their "Best Buy".

I live right around the corner from the former Ginsu corporate office!

The announcer from the Grapefruit ad sounds exactly like the guy from the Santo Gold infomercial.

"Wh-whoa-whoawhoa.. wait, what is this, a Ben's Junk Episode?" Well, if the next Ben's Junk episode isn't for the Disco Body Shaper I'll be disappointed.

watching this made me think of other infomercials I saw back in the 80s and it made me wonder why having a multi-tool that could scale fish seemed to be such a big deal in so many of them

So happy you put in those Hawaii ads from the KMGT Magic Movie Marathon.

Great episode, as usual, and glad I could provide the Cigarrest commercial!

Does the harmonica come with the John Popper neck holder?

So is the "cigaresst" is just a book and tape? No patch or drugs included? Thats not going to work. I would never by that unless they threw in free crystal earings1!!

Why do I have this hunch that if RU-vid existed back then, you'd review all of these.

I didn't realize how often they used Hawaii for addresses, nowadays it seems like it's New York.

Sunup Sundown swimwear still has an online presence. weird.

Just imagine the wealth of infomercial content that'll be ripe for this same treatment in a few years. There's a few digital sub-channels now that only show infomercials 24/7!

That 'big note' songbook is the musical equivalent of trying to speak English to a non-English speaker very slowly because you think that speaking slower will magically make them understand.

Thank you for the Daniel Johnston joke!

Buddy Cole: “I still refuse to believe that Liberace was gay. I just don’t want him to.”

This is the first time I've ever seen a chrome piano. I guess everything IS chrome in the future!

7:38 Come on dude, that Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass album is the best one in your collection, just listen to that!

One of my favorite ads like this was for the Rolling Ruler. Had two myself. I was never able to do much of what it was said to be able to do. But it wasn't bad as a basic ruler.

7:13 - The addition of the sound effect had me on the floor!

LOL pre-historic slap chop!!! the veg-o-matic!!!

I love how commercials for slicer/choppers always mention chopping onions “without a single tear!”

Oh boy... Harvey Keitel with his merch again...

The people in Chicago, Illinois really love these old classic commercials. I miss them dearly. 😊😊😊😊😊😊😊

Darn, I wanted to hear more about the battery powered catheter.

I can’t be the only one who thinks the narrator for the Chef Magic commercial is just a wee bit creepy

Ben should have went to school for marketing, then maybe he would have no trouble making a sales pitch.

I've always said there's a reason that these things are "Seen on TV" - if you saw them in a store, you'd never buy them!

I found out in 1996 that the address you sent your check/money order to was an address owned by, or the actual studio address of the channel broadcasting the ad. My girlfriend and I were up in Alpena, MI when I was watching the local CBS affiliate on TV and it was full of these ads, and in each one it said to send it to an address right there in Alpena (in fact, just down the street from our hotel). Interested in one item, I got in the car to drive to said address...to find out it was the actual TV studio. lol

So funny and I like it and I didn't know bout old US TV ads

I swear they used the same damn voice actor for every as seen on tv ad for like 20 years (14:37)

It's amazing how many "as seen on TV" products actually work as advertised! Some of them are incredibly stupid, but one's like the Popeil Oven or the Mr. Microphone really gave a lot of cooking and entertainment for the money. And yes one guilty pleasure I indulge with my kids is the Magic Tracks, they are actually fun and fairly well built.

I saw Electric Catheter open for Marilyn Manson in 1998.

My god I own that record vacuum! I wouldn't fancy using it though :o

Hearing Ben utter the words "furry cosplay" makes me realize how little I desire to live anymore.

18:01 The tracking is fighting the VCR to the death in this ad. 21:53 Recorded off a black and white TV.

My pharmacy downtown had an AS SEEN ON TV section, they've gone uptown on you.

It's said that Liberace didn't like a rose on the piano, he prefers putting tulips on the organ.

11:32 I knew you were going to make that joke

It really sounds like the voiceover for the Chef's Magic is Bob Dorough of Schoolhouse Rock fame

Sponsored by Fuzzymemories.tv! Without which this episode would not of been made possible.

rAAdish roses, LOL. Good commercial picks. More please! Also... Can you upload this 'chef's magic' commercial in raw form so that parodies can be made?

Your little comments during the infomercials crack me up! Keep it up!

I swear to you I just looked up that K-Tel Knitter on flea-bay. I cannot figure out knitting or crochet for the life of me. My mother, grand mother, and great-grandmother is/was amazing crocheters. Fly through rows without even looking down. My great-grandmother did those teeny tiny doilies. I am sadly lacking this ability. I hope maybe this gadget will help me make weird things for people they can pretend to like at various holidays/celebrations.

This might be unrelated, but I'm still deminonbinary. Seriously!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Awesome video! I live in Canada and I've noticed that we've started using a new emergency broadcast system called alert ready, have u seen it?

3:41 - Surely anyone playing blues in Chicago that badly would be shot immediately. Hell, they'd probably be shot if they played it well.

can I do squeegee hands and jazz hands at the same time? or do I need to consult a physician first. and do I need to do some stretching first.

3:10 "...one when you blow, and one when you suck. If you follow the instructions in this booklet, you'll be sure to suck."

"There's a lot of us 'used to be's' around." Yes, and that's why you're now in an infomercial!

I remember seeing so many of these around Christmas and saying "makes a great gift" and I would wonder who would buy these things for Christmas? probably for people who had no idea what to buy.

I asked if the harmonica book could teach "Take me Home, Country Roads", then the piano book actually had it.

I've been waiting for this one forever. Thanks.

I had a harmonica when I was a kid, and as an adult, I find it as the most annoying instrument ever created.

A young Patrick Dempsey at 06:30?

Stupid question: was any of this crap effective?

Anyone want the chef magic or is it just me?

19:06 holy fuck look at that microwave

6:50 Yup, now you're a potentional loving fur target. Gotta get yiffy.

Thank you for showing the love to the late great Steve Goodman.

4:28 I WAS SOOOO YOUNG BUT I REMEMBER THAT LIKE IT WAS YESTERDAY!!!! STILL HAVE THE SONG BOOK!!!

This was nice! Thanks. I enjoy these types of episodes!

Falco is intrigued!

Bad enough Chicago was known for it's political chicanery & mediocre sports teams, but to be reminded that we were the center of the "As Seen On TV" rackets. Thanks for reminiscing, Benny-boy. 🤦‍♂️

11:08 I would’ve thought that this swimsuit wouldn’t work in the 70’s-80’s because most women still rocked the bush? I was only like 2 years old back then, can someone with experience in this area, the area of 70’s-80’s bush, weigh in on this subject please? Thanks in advance 🙏 🙏.