Billy Mays

[celebrity written and generously donated by one, Julie Palmer -- thanks Julie!]

Oh-so-obnoxious on those commercials, wasn't he? But I have to say, morbid curiosity and my sweetheart's interest in inventing and inventors led us to start watching his new show, Pitchmen, on the Discovery Channel.

In spite of my negative pre-conceived notions, I found myself strangely drawn to this man. First of all, he had an incredible joie de vivre...loved the job he'd created for himself, loved his family, loved to use informercials to help the little guy get a leg up in life.

Initially, I saw him as a glorified carny barker or a huckster...willing to hawk any product whose inventor could pay his fee. But I was surprised to see that the man had character and integrity. He demanded that the product would benefit the masses by solving a problem in a "wow" kind of way, and he also insisted that it could do so for a reasonable price. I was shocked to watch him—on more than one episode—try to convince inventors that they needed to reduce their prices enough to give their product mass appeal. And he genuinely seemed pretty picky about what he put his name behind.

Much to my surprise, I never watched his show without being highly entertained. He had a great sense of humor and there was always something fun going on between him and Anthony Sullivan.

So, from this reluctant positive impression has evolved a sense of loss the last couple of days. He wasn't some freaky celebrity who will have people swooning and lined up for the opportunity to participate in some memorial to something positive he did decades ago. This man was just trying to do something good for his clients and the general consumer population...make a positive contribution all while making a good living for himself and his family. Isn't that the epitome of the opportunity the free enterprise system is supposed to provide?

Yep...I'm sad...

[note from Marrelli: in supplying a couple hyperlinks to this article, I came across the genre of "infomercial dubs." I enjoy these in particular because one of my favorite activities when I am with the kids watching TV is to turn down the sound and watch infomercials. Of course, how was I to know that there is a whole art form around this.]