Wednesday, January 6, 2010

But wait, there's much more!

As promised, Here is an almost-full list of Ron Popeil's multimedia appearances:

* "Weird Al" Yankovic recorded the song "Mr. Popeil" on his second studio album, "Weird Al" Yankovic in 3-D. The song was a "style parody" (i.e., not a direct parody of a specific song, but emulating a performer's specific style) of the early music of the B-52's (and bore a striking resemblance to their first hit single, "Rock Lobster"). The verses are structured as pitches for unnamed but easily recognizable Ronco products, and draws upon all the catchphrases associated with the Ronco infomercials, including the phrases "It slices! It dices!", "Take advantage of this amazing TV offer!", and Ed Valenti's more commonly heard phrase"Now how much would you pay?". One of Weird Al's background vocalists was Lisa Popeil, sister of Ron Popeil[2]. This song is actually a tribute to Samuel Popeil, Ron Popeil's father, who was in the same business of inventing and selling products.[5]

* On his 1983 album, DaDa, Alice Cooper sings, "I love General Patton in World War II, my Pocket Fisherman and my Crazy Glue" in the song "I Love America".

* On his 1983 album, Affordable Art, Steve Goodman sings Vegematic. It is a narration of a man who falls asleep with the TV on and orders from every infomertial that airs, he then awakes, believing it was a dream. After 4–6 weeks, he does actually receive every single product he dreamt about, revealing that it was no dream. Most notable in the song are the Vegematic, Ginsu knife, Pocket Fisherman, and numerous items from/for Six Flags (theme park) Over Burbank.

* In the X-Files episode "Beyond the Sea," Scully is shown sleeping while Ron Popeil touts the wonders of his Spray-On Hair (Great Looking Hair Formula #9) for only $39.95. The ad continues for a few seconds, displaying the product's fabulous abilities before shifting to show Scully awakening to the ghost of her recently deceased father.

* Lemon Demon references Popeil in their song, "Hyakugojyuuichi 2003", off of the album Clown Circus with the line, "Props to Neil, he’s the real deal, His friends all call him Mr. Popeil."

* Twiztid makes reference to him on their album Mutant Vol. 2 on the song Stardust claiming "We're gonna be the new Ron Popeils" after it is made clear they will market a product of unknown details.

* The "Veg-O-Matic" was parodied by Dan Aykroyd in an episode of Saturday Night Live as the "Super Bass-O-Matic '76". This parody is mentioned in the Biography episode on Popeil.

* "Dodge Veg-O-Matic" is a song by Jonathan Richman from the album Rock N Roll With The Modern Lovers (1977).

* Professional wrestling tag team The Midnight Express dubbed their "finisher" the Veg-O-Matic.

* The "Veg-O-Matic" provided the inspiration for the "Sledge-O-Matic" routine used by comedian Gallagher since the 1980s.

* In the film Major League, while hazing rookie Rick Vaughn, Roger Dorn asks if he had cut his hair using a "Veg-O-Matic".

* In the book The Slacker Confessions, Tommy Campbell (actor) writes, "... all while watching any infomercial starring the genius himself, Ron Popeil."

* Also on Saturday Night Live (September 25, 1982), Eddie Murphy did a commercial spoof for the "Popeil Galactic Prophylactic".

* In the episode "A Big Piece of Garbage," from the television series Futurama, Popeil is said to be the inventor of technology that allows heads to be kept alive in jars indefinitely (Popeil's own head, voiced by himself, appears in the episode). In the later episode "The Luck of the Fryrish" Fry keeps his lucky seven-leaf-clover in a "Ronco Record Vault"

* In the episode "Won’t You Pimai Neighbor?," from the television series "King of the Hill," Dale Gribble states that if Bobby Hill incorrectly chooses from among the items possibly owned by the late Lama Sanglung, Bobby Hill will win a cap snaffler and that the cap snaffler, "Snaffles caps of any size jug, bottle or jar...and it really really works.".

* In the episode "The Perils of Polling" from the television series "King of the Hill," Dale Gribble asks if Hank got him a cap snaffler while Hank and Dale are being escorted to the polling place by the police.

* The Ronco Showtime infomercial plays in the background of a scene in the Paul Thomas Anderson film Magnolia.

* In the film Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie, the character Crow T. Robot uses the phrase "Snaffles caps off any size jug, bottle or jar...and it really really works."

* In the episode of The Simpsons entitled "Radio Bart", Bart Simpson receives a "Superstar Celebrity Microphone" for his birthday. The toy and the TV advertisements for it were modeled after Ronco's "Mr. Microphone".

* In the movie Old School during the morning-after hangover scene, Ron Popeil is on the TV; Vince Vaughn and company are watching.

* During a scene in Elizabethtown, you can see Popeil showing his knives on Orlando Bloom's television. (Bloom's character was having suicidal thoughts.)

* The Daily Show featured a clip with the famous line "Set it and forget it!" — from the Showtime Rotisserie commercial — after showing the "catch phrase" discussions of the Senate debating over the War in Iraq.

* The Beastie Boys reference him in their song 'Crawlspace', when Adrock says "I got more product than Ron Popeil".

* The character RJ Raccoon in the film adaptation of Over the Hedge uses a Popeil Pocket Fisherman several times throughout the film.

* In 1993, the Ig Nobel Award for Consumer Engineering was presented to Ron Popeil, "incessant inventor and perpetual pitchman of late night television, for redefining the industrial revolution with such devices as the Veg-O-Matic, the Pocket Fisherman, Mr. Microphone, and the Inside-the-Shell Egg Scrambler."

* In "X2: X-Men United", Popeil is playing on the television briefly when the school is attacked.

* In "The Kingdom", Popeil is playing on the television while Jamie Foxx is interviewing a family after the terrorist attack.

* In the film Little Miss Sunshine Ron Popeil is shown doing a Showtime Rotisserie Grill commercial on the TV in the background as the family is in the hospital waiting room.

* In the book "What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures", by Malcolm Gladwell, Ron Popeil is interviewed and many of his products, most notably the Veg-O-Matic and Showtime Rotisserie, are discussed.

* In the film Trick 'R' Treat, Popeil's rotisserie infomercial can be seen playing in a scene.

But wait, there's more... No, not really.. Just thought it would be good to end this entry this way. I hope you enjoyed.

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