Ron Popeil

(Newser) - In the darkest, wee-est hours of the nights of yore, when all the real TV programming ran out, there used to be something called infomercials: entire TV programs about people selling products that might be useful to you but that you probably didn't know you wanted. These immediate forebears...

(Newser) - Ronco Brands—purveyor of the Veg-O-Matic, EZ-Store Rotisserie, and Beef Jerky Machine—is going public in a way befitting an infomercial king. The Wall Street Journal reports the company founded by inventor Ron Popeil in the 1960s is trying to sell $30 million in stock for its initial public offering....

(Newser) - But wait, there’s more, as pitchman Ron Popeil liked to say. Ronco, maker of Veg-o-matic, Chop-o-matic, Popeil’s Pocket Fisherman, and an endless array of consumer items sold through infomercials, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. While founder Ron Popeil had sold the company in 2005, he remains...