GadgetMania
By: produced by Big Rock Productions for Discovery Channel ; writer, producer, director, Marc Etkind
Contributors: Big Rock Productions; Discovery Channel (Firm); Films for the Humanities (Firm)
Publisher: Films for the Humanities & Sciences
Published: 2003
Place of publication: Princeton, NJ
Language: eng
Format: [videorecording] /
Number of pages: 51
Subjects: Infomercials; Television advertising; Implements, utensils
Other titles: Gadget mania; History and evolution of the informercial
Description: Shows how infomercials evolved from the huckstering sales pitch of the pre-TV era into a $14 billion-per-year industry and an icon of pop culture. Includes interviews with Ron Popeil (Ronco), Philip Kives (K-Tel), Ed Valenti and Barry Becher (Ginsu), and others; clips from classic commercials; detailed information on the structure and mechanics of informercials; and a behind-the-scenes look at the QVC shopping channel.
Notes: Camera, Jim Sicile ... [et al.] ; editor, Robert Kirwan ; composer, Ed Tomney.

Narrator, Rip Torn.

DVD.