A TV device that works!
We've all seen'em... the two-minute drills by pitchmen like Billy Mays or a lengthy infomercial with "Ronco" Ron Popeil... and they work!
Unfortunately, what often works better than the product itself is the TV commercial.
My dear ol' mother, who limited herself to her bedroom for most of her last two decades, was particularly susceptible to such offers. She'd doze off with the TV set on, and come to at 2:45 am in the middle of a demonstration of some wonder device in front of a captive audience, and the next time I visited her, there'd be a Veg-O-Matic in a corner of the kitchen or a newspaper log roller next to the fireplace.
Televised pitches are ubiquitous today, not just at 3:00 am, but any ol' time on many of the cable channels... USA Network, TNT, A&E, probably Channels 5, 9 and 11, too. So by now everyone knows the faces and voices of Billy Mays and Vince Offer, the ShamWow guy with the goofy haircut that makes him look like a demented refugee from a '70s German techno-band.
One recent Mays pitch to which I did succumb, and which actually works as advertised, is the Big City Slider Station.
It's great!
Grab a pound of good quality ground beef and some potato rolls from Dean's Country Market, and we've got two meals right there! My wife has figured out a couple of innovations with chopped onions1 and a slice of bacon, and it's not only a treat, but easy to prepare!
(What didn't work last was the included "Measuring Spoon;" sucker snapped like a twig the third time we used it!)
Now I don't know what sort of track record others have had with these sort of products, but having inherited 20-odd years of gadgets my mom acquired, and the silly ear-piece amplifier I fell for, it's nice to get something that not only works, but is useful to boot!
Comments
1. Jeanne Speir said...
The Big City Slider Station DOES work great.
[sigh] Now if ONLY I had a ShamWow....
3. The Quiogue Kid said...
Hey, ShamWows are made in Germany… you know they don't make junk over there!
4. Jerry Steiner said...
It just don't get better. I have an original Chop-o-matic. Makes everything else look pretty small.
Now, Mr. Wizard what you boyz south of the river and through the woods need, when you get that hankering, is a good ol' fashioned White Castle right smack dab in the middle of Main Street. Nothing beats a good 20 sack. Kick it up a notch with some fries. We consider that gourmet fare here.
Feel the love... ice cold beer... Jerry
And by-the-by, a 20-sack'll run you $14.00 now-a-days, not a buck ninety!
5. Shepard M. Scheinberg said...
There is a White Castle near the Northeast corner of Commack Road and Route 25 in Commack.
The one you cite is probably the more accessible unless one is already in the other vicinities.
6. Jerry Steiner said...
See... Shep knows. You need to get out more, Mr. Wizard. You South-side boyz just don't travel to the Northern frontier enough. Those delectable burgers all nestled in caramelized onions... Mmmmm. $14.00. Small price to pay for a piece of heaven. I'll tell you one thing the cheese burgers are nasty. They do a number on your blood chemistry.
Feel the love... ice cold beer... Jerry
7. The Quiogue Kid said...
There may be a White Castle but O, for the days of Dick Clark's Steer Inn.
2. Paramarine said...
You're probably spending twenty dollars a month on paper towels anyway.
2/16/2009