While many Americans across the country spent Friday night dressed up as Sarah Palin for Halloween, it was Tina Fey who once again stole the show. Fey reprised her role as Palin for “Saturday Night Live” in a joint appearance with John McCain focused entirely on home shopping channel QVC.

“On the heels of the Obamamercial that dominated the airwaves this past week, comes this skit that opened ‘Saturday Night Live’ featuring John and Cindy McCain who, unable to afford Obama’s paid programming blitz, go on QVC to ply wares along with McCain running mate Sarah Palin in the guise of dead ringer Tina Fey. Do we need any further proof of the ubiquity of electronic retailing as a thread in the fabric of American life?” - Rick Petry

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As we wind down from ERA’s Annual Convention, it’s always fun to look back at some of the things that distinguish the direct-to-consumer industry from the greater retail and advertising industries at large. I recently conducted a Q&A with well-known DRTV host Beau Rials. When asked how he’d seen direct response evolve over the years, Rials had this to say:

It’s moved from the punch line of Madison Avenue to something they must do. Sure, people still make fun of infomercials and short-form spots, but a huge percentage of Fortune 500 companies now make them an integral part of their advertising plans. What’s great is, one week I’ll be shooting a show for some start-up’s dream product, and the next I’ll be selling $4,000 air conditioning systems for Mitsubishi Electric or $3,000 fish finders for Johnson Outdoor. In my 17 years, I’ve seen direct response advertising go from laughing stock to something you better be doing if you’re a VP of marketing.

Click here to read the entire Q&A article where Rials discusses a variety of aspects of the DRTV industry. As an on-air host, all of the products Rials represents must receive his stamp of approval. Being a DRTV or live shopping host can be a very daunting task. We’ve shown bloopers on the Electronic Retailer blog before, but the video below may take the cake.

(Note: Watch until the end if you have the time—the entire demo continues to snowball into tears and laughter!)

Pat Cauley is Electronic Retailer magazine’s eMedia editor.

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The home shopping networks we all know and love have sold numerous products over the years using detailed, well thought out demonstrations. However, with live television, mistakes are bound to happen. Robin Barr put together “The 7 Greatest Home Shopping Screw Ups of All Time” for Cracked.com. Enjoy!

Katie White is ERA’s retailer relations manager

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