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Pitchmen season 1

post #1 of 30
4/28/09 at 4:01am
Thread Starter 
Anyone seen this newest reality show by the famous Billy Mays and Anthony Sullivan?
This airs on Wednesdays on Discovery

There's been two episodes so far.

#1 High Impact Item GPSBuddy and Impact Gel

#2 Dual Saw Shuffle Dual Saw and Shuffles

I love anything Billy Mays. And this show having Mays and Sullivan go at it during shoots and deciding which info product to go for is very entertaining.

So far in the two episodes Billy Mays has been a chickens**t, not having his hand run over by a car and not being welded in a steel box.

I'm looking forward to Episode 5 Smells Like Gold where Billy pitches "What Odor?"(Currently on the market) where Billy gets sprayed by a skunk
and Episode 4 From the Jaws of Victory where someone tries to pitch shark repellent.
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post #2 of 30
4/28/09 at 7:01pm

Re: Pitchmen season 1

I only saw the Dual Saw Shuffle episode, and discovered the show is filmed here based on exterior shots and the use of the Clearwater Fire Department. In fact, the junk yard they visited is just down the street from the Home Shopping Network building, where these guys got their starts.
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post #3 of 30
4/28/09 at 7:21pm

Re: Pitchmen season 1

Can you explain what happens on the show, a little bit? My Discovery-related obsession is Wheeler Dealers, but I figured there wouldn't be enough interest to start a thread.

Billy Mays amuses me, but most of the product he hawks is junk. My friend hates his guts and changes the channel in a rage when he hears, "BILLY MAYS HERE!" I just laugh when he hands some guy a parachute that he repaired. Not in this lifetime, Billy. I do like your Handy Switch, though.

I wonder if Vince Shlomi has a future in the biz after his run-in with the stripper.
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post #4 of 30
4/28/09 at 7:53pm

Re: Pitchmen season 1

Basically, it's a behind the scenes of people wanting these guys to market their product, and goes through them talking to the inventor, testing it out with people in the target market, determining marketability and eventually scripting/filming the commercial and going over the results of the initial media buy.

It's interesting from a marketing perspective, but the drama seems somewhat artificial.

As for the products that Billy Mays pitches, I wouldn't say most of it's junk. Some is good, some isn't just like any of those as seen on TV products that I've played around with in demos and such (I've only bought the quick wire stripper because it works nice when I'm running CAT-5 cable).

And as for Billy Mays himself, he's a pretty cool guy. We met him when we were tailgating before the Champs Sports Bowl last December. He came through the main tailgating lot and hung out with a few groups for awhile.

And since you mentioned Vince, guess what commercial just came on TV as I was typing this post.

(edited to correct typos)
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post #5 of 30
4/28/09 at 8:36pm

Re: Pitchmen season 1

Thanks for the rundown. Sounds more interesting than the commercials made it out to be.

Quote:
It's interesting from a marketing perspective, but the drama seems somewhat artificial.

That's how most of the Discovery shows are. I was going to say it probably started with American Choppers, but Monster House and even shows like Trading Spaces have the drama apart from the projects. American Choppers pulls it off better than some. It usually seems forced on Monster Garage, and I didn't stick with Doing DaVinci because I didn't care about the personalities.

Quote:
And since you mentioned Vince, guess what commercial just came on TV as I was typing this post.

I'm going to guess the SlapChop, because I don't see Shamwow any more. But, could be either.
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post #6 of 30
4/28/09 at 8:56pm

Re: Pitchmen season 1

Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg_S_H
My Discovery-related obsession is Wheeler Dealers, but I figured there wouldn't be enough interest to start a thread.
If you start it, I'll jump in.
I love wheeler dealers...but I'm not sure why.
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post #7 of 30
4/29/09 at 3:12pm

Re: Pitchmen season 1

If anyone else here (besides me) keeps forgetting to watch the show, Discovery is airing a mini-marathon of the first 3 episodes (including tonight's) Saturday night. I already DVRed them so I don't forget.
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post #8 of 30
5/3/09 at 3:22am

Re: Pitchmen season 1

I recorded the three and watched the first. Pretty good. Smart, too, since it is one of those shows that gives you hope that you can do it, too. Just come up with something and make your way to TeleBrands, and you're in.

Of course, the Impact Gel is something I couldn't come up with. It's got potential far beyond insoles. As the coda stated, the inventors are looking at military applications. That was my first thought. They may be able to parlay this one thing into something really big.

Funny thing is, I've never seen the ads.

Quote:
So far in the two episodes Billy Mays has been a chickens**t, not having his hand run over by a car

I thought they should have put an egg in it to test it before going live with the hand. Still, I can't blame Billy for being a little leery. He should have done it himself after Sully did, though.
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post #9 of 30
5/4/09 at 10:09pm

Re: Pitchmen season 1

The DualSaw episode was good. Whether the inventor is a big winner or maybe not so successful, they have to be glad for the extra opportunity this show brings them.

I've made this a series recording.
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post #10 of 30
5/8/09 at 5:48pm
Thread Starter 

Re: Pitchmen season 1

Yeah, another good episode.

That Shark replant was pretty annoying.
And I did have a hard time believeing the device would stay on under water.
(which it slipped off for Anthony)

Billy mays wants to pull the pranks but doesn't want it at his expense when Anthiny does it to him.

Watching that raw footage of Billy Mays not keeping his eyes on the road when he was driving and talking about the Jupiter Jack was pretty funny.

And the scary thing is that we got to see Billy Mays bend over in his underwear. Yikes!
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post #11 of 30
5/8/09 at 8:12pm

Re: Pitchmen season 1

I went to Bed Bath and Beyond to see if they had What Odor, but they didn't have it. Linens and Things used to carry all of Billy's products, but that store's gone.

Anyway, I've never seen the ads or products that have been featured thus far. I wonder if that's because the ones featured have been in test markets and not rolled out nationally? There have been several things I'd buy.
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post #12 of 30
5/9/09 at 3:15am
Thread Starter 

Re: Pitchmen season 1

What Odor?
YouTube - What Odor - Best Of As Seen On Tv
Jupiter Jack
YouTube - Jupiter Jack
Impact Gel
YouTube - Impact Gel Commercial
Dual Saw Part 1 and 2
YouTube - billy mays with scott poop dual saw part 1 of two
YouTube - billy mays with scott poop dual saw part 2 of 2
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post #13 of 30
5/12/09 at 7:16pm

Re: Pitchmen season 1

Target has end caps with some of these as seen on tv products.
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post #14 of 30
6/28/09 at 9:34am

Re: Pitchmen season 1

I just heard that Billy Mays has died.
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post #15 of 30
6/28/09 at 9:45am

Re: Pitchmen season 1

It's true.

Pretty crazy. He was just on The Tonight Show 5 days ago.
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post #16 of 30
6/28/09 at 10:02am

Re: Pitchmen season 1

My first thought is for his little daughter. It's a shame for her to lose her father at so young an age. I wonder how Sully is taking this.

I loved the show and am glad it let me know Billy a little more than I did. I just thought he was loud and mildly annoying before but I came to like him.

Edit: I just saw on another thread that a theory being offered is that it somehow relates to his being on a plane that blew its tires upon landing. Maybe he hit his head or something. Seems odd since he and Sully had their own plane mostly because Billy couldn't get through an airport due to his celebrity.

Quote:
Fresh from filming an Oxyclean commercial in Philadelphia, ‘Pitch Man’ Billy Mays was also thankful to be on the ground and back home in the Bay Area.

“All of a sudden as we hit you know it was just the hardest hit, all the things from the ceiling started dropping. It hit me on the head, but I got a hard head,” said Mays.

Yikes.
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post #17 of 30
6/28/09 at 10:18am

Re: Pitchmen season 1

I hadn't heard he was on that plane. It could turn out to be another death like Natasha Richardson. Very sad.
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post #18 of 30
6/30/09 at 10:22am

The autopsy did not reveal any head injuries, but Billy did have hypertensive heart disease.  COD was a heart attack, and it appears the bonk on the head was not a contributing factor.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-mays-autopsy30-2009jun30,0,3463271.story

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post #19 of 30
6/30/09 at 12:03pm
So sad...he seemed like a really cool guy.  My heart goes out to his family :(
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post #20 of 30
7/2/09 at 12:19am
Tonight's episode was named the season finale (and now, presumably, the series finale) at the beginning, but a special tribute to Billy episode has been produced for Thursday, July 9.  His death was acknowledge in the finale in a really nice coda segment.

Billy and Sully had a pitchoff and Sully played dirty pool.  I was sitting there thinking, "You're going to regret this, Sully."  Well, not only did Billy prevail even with the deck stacked against him, but he took the news that Sully cheated with a smile.  It probably made him feel even more bulletproof knowing he couldn't be defeated even when being cheated.

Also, Billy took on Vince and gained back some of his sales for those products.  The show as a whole really made me appreciate Billy, but tonight's ended up a nice tribute to him even before the memorial segment.
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post #21 of 30
7/3/09 at 7:50pm


Ahh, man.  There's Sully, Billy Jr. and Billy Sr.

(and I think the bald guy is Billy's brother-in-law who owns the Italian restaurant)


Edited by Greg_S_H - 7/4/2009 at 05:37 pm GMT
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post #22 of 30
7/4/09 at 8:34am
I did notice a marathon of the show earlier this week.  I am assuming they aired all the shows of the season back-to-back.  It has been a tough couple of weeks for celebrities.
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post #23 of 30
7/9/09 at 2:15pm
Don't forget that tonight is the special tribute episode at 9PM Eastern.
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post #24 of 30
7/9/09 at 10:19pm
I was tearing up throughout this, but I totally lost it when Sully broke down at the end. 
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post #25 of 30
7/15/09 at 5:37am
Looks like there will probably be a second season.
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post #26 of 30
7/15/09 at 10:12pm
More information, danke.
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post #27 of 30
8/18/09 at 6:14pm


Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg_S_H View Post

 but I totally lost it when Sully broke down at the end. 

So did I.


Not sure if anyone can help me out with this.
In one of the episodes Billy said something along the lines of 'life is not measured buy the number of possessions but by the number of memories' however i dont think that is quite correct.
Does anyone remember what episode it was in, or what the actual statement was?

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post #28 of 30
8/19/10 at 9:25pm

You people really let me down.  Pitchmen started back up again tonight and I had no idea.  And, it doesn't look like the first episode is scheduled to be reaired.  Well, at least we know it's back.

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post #29 of 30
8/19/10 at 9:59pm
It'll air again. They'll run a mini marathon after a few eps air.
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post #30 of 30
8/23/10 at 4:58pm

It's reairing Saturday.  Heh.  This new DVR software doesn't allow you to look ahead too far.

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