Garrison Keillor: The Man on the Radio in the Red Shoes (8pm, UNC-TV) - A year in the life of Garrison Keillor focuses on his "Prairie Home Companion" radio program, as Keillor and his crew travel from town to town putting on their show.
Pitchmen (11am, Discovery) - In honor of show star Billy Mays, who died suddenly this past Sunday, Discovery is airing a "Pitchmen" marathon today starting at 11am. A new episode, the first season finale, will air at 10pm (Billy and Anthony "Sully" Sullivan help "Survivor: Africa" winner Ethan Zohn develop an alternative cereal bowl). Discovery will air special tribute promos throughout the 12-hour marathon, including some never-before-seen footage of Mays.
The Philanthropist (10pm, NBC) - Teddy travels to Myanmar on business and encounters a young girl who needs a kidney transplant. Her father is a match, but is being held in forced labor camp.
Brooke Cain isn't always proud of the number of hours she logs in front of the TV, but her loss of brain cells can be your gain. From reality shows to sitcoms to the more serious stuff, Brooke keeps her DVR smoking so that she can help keep you in the know. Brooke also tweets for Happiness is a Warm TV (you can follow 
Comments
Pitchmen
Wed, 07/01/2009 - 10:37 — coughlin_jakeSo I watched Pitchmen on Amazon Video on Demand. I find the show very interesting, but I have to admit that the first show lacks depth. We don't really get to see what drives these guys or how they learn from their mistakes, etc. For example, why didn't they explore that although Billy is talking all smooth about passing up the "High Impact Gel" opportunity, his BEHAVIOR reveals that he's completely freaked out that this business venture isn't going to "gel" for them? Or how about exploring why/how this partnership even works?
Sully's personality is quite obviously the balance to Billy's. Billy Mays, in my not so humble opinion, is a childish a--hole. I was already prepared to hate him because of his constant shouting, but my feelings really shifted after I was pleasantly surprised by his "regular guy" tone when he's not pitching. Now I hate him because he has the incredible narcissism that success often magnifies. (His house, btw, is ENORMOUS -- no wonder he peddles fast-acting cleaning products!) Think "Man Diva".
Anyway, bottom line is that I recommend the show. Meeting the inventors is very interesting. There's lots of tension, dashed hopes, dreams fulfilled. And you get to see how the magic of tv smooths out a pitch that's frought with anxiety.
Ed Valenti
Wed, 07/01/2009 - 11:38 — coughlin_jakeSo, if you watch the first episode of Pitchmen, you'll see Billy Mays tell the "High Impact Gel" inventor that the commercial MUST be 2 minutes, must be $19.99 and must bundle a group of items together. Naturally, the inventor wants a longer commercial, more money and no bundling.
Well, it turns out that infomercials are a cultural phenom. If you want to know where Billy's coming from, here are a couple of interesting articles on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Valenti
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Popeil
And, for you closet WRAL folks who may have watched the bit about the Shamwow! on Monday, here's some scoop about that sleazeball:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vince_Offer
But wait, there's more!
Wed, 07/01/2009 - 13:04 — brookecain (author)I don't think I've ever ordered anything off an infomercial, but if I did, they would *so* have to bundle.
Act now and receive not one! Not two! But...
Wed, 07/01/2009 - 13:47 — coughlin_jakeGuilty.
I have a box of Aqua Globes in my office which I purchased to keep some plants alive. Sadly, the Aqua Globes arrived AFTER my plants had already died.
Oh, when I was a kid, I purchased some stoopid kit that let you turn empty wine bottles in glasses. My mother took it away from me before I could cut my hand off.
And, I'll never forget the chopper thing I ordered. It was pretty much a mason jar with a special lid that had a criss-cross of razor blades attached to a plunger so you could chop things really fast. It came with another bottle top plunger thing that would beat eggs really fast. My grandmother, who cooked in cast iron skillets, just rolled her eyes and scrambled my eggs with a fork.
That's so funny
Wed, 07/01/2009 - 15:23 — brookecain (author)I'm laughing so hard about the glass cutter. I remember that thing! My dad became obsessed one time with a spaceship-looking contraption that poached eggs. He finally ordered it. Not sure how that worked out for him. I recently bought some stupid steamer/mop thing at the State Fair during what can only be described as a live, non-televised infomercial.