The 7 Greatest Home Shopping Screw Ups of All Time

The FCC can bitch and moan about Fox all they want, but the Home Shopping Network has some of the most vulgar characters and violent programming around.

ValueVision host Eddy Nelson here decides to give the finger to the camera shortly after tipping over the product that he is trying to sell:

If we are to believe the information on this YouTube video, the rude gesture was not meant for the millions (well, dozens) of customers watching, but rather for the director, who apparently had scolded him for knocking the ring over.

The same guy who Eddy was flipping off also has the power to switch which camera is live, and so it was some quick thinking on his part to put Eddy on live TV while he was in mid-gesture. There is a lesson to be learned here, kids.

How They Tried To Save It:

Apparently by licking his lips a bunch and refusing to look at the camera. The best part about this video is that Eddie is completely aware of how screwed he is from the moment that you hear the crew laugh in the background. His painful expression the entire time is only accented by his blatant attempt to act like nothing is wrong when he asks the lady, "One left in size seven?" As if he is REALLY worried that someone at home isn't going to get their crappy fake gold ring instead of the fact that he's going to be fired as soon as he steps off camera.

Chris, the unfortunate intern who got stuck with the demo job for this product, tries to scale a ladder propped up against a wall. Tragically, he makes a misstep on one of the top rungs and loses his balance, tumbling down into internet history.

Out of all of the accidents on this list, Chris' appears to be the least related to absolute TV personality retardation. It just looks like he tries to resituate himself on a lower step when he takes his plunge. It might also have to do with the fact that the caller completely jinxed Chris when she claimed the ladder was "Awesome!" At least her "Uh oh," when he breaks his spine sounds pretty comforting.

How They Tried To Save It:

There was a real group effort on this one to try and keep QVC from looking too negligent. First of all, the caller, who doesn't know when the hell to shut up, claims, "And THAT has NEVER happed!" once Chris is on the ground. Second, you can hear the crew rushing over and yelling at each other in order to put their lawsuit prevention plan into effect.

Third, we have the confused and possibly mentally challenged female host, who first changes the injured man's name to "Kevin" and then proclaims that he fell off the ladder because the floor is slippery.

Finally she goes ahead and makes the decision that Chris/Kevin is fine because, "He's moving, he is OK." Now we're no medical experts here, but generally we would advise people to have a more extensive examination before they started running marathons again.

A spry young salesman from Shop at Home trusts his own products a little too much. When demonstrating the strength and stability of this katana, he accidentally whacks the table too hard and gets a knife tip in the ribs.

Did we mention that absolutely NO ONE tries to help him in any way? Co-host? Cameraman? Director? What about you Mr. Key Grip? Nope, the man who just stabbed himself has to walk his own ass offstage. They probably made him drive himself to the hospital, too.

If you pay close attention you'll hear the words "practice katana" come out of his mouth about a second before he impales himself. Since the sword apparently explodes upon contact with wood, we're going to suggest that the only thing you're supposed to "practice" is cool, menacing sword poses.

How They Tried To Save It:

By acting like it was all part of the show. No, really. As we previously mentioned, NO ONE helps this guy when he stabs himself, and why is that? Because they're too busy doing their own jobs to give a crap. That's right, the cameraman somehow manages to continue panning across the beautiful knife collection far after it has become clear that a man needs to go to the emergency room. The director also somehow had the presence of mind to keep telling people to switch between cameras during the whole ordeal (as well as flash the credit cards they accept up on screen). Even the guy who steps on camera afterward plays it off as part of the show. His glib, "Right now, we may need emergency surgery in the studio," sound like they are begging to be followed by "that's how goddamn sharp these amazing blades are, ladies and gentlemen!"

Colleen Lopez, apparently distracted by her incredibly valuable poncho demonstration, decides to switch the positive and negative ends of some jumper cables, apparently for the pure hell of it.

This has nothing to do with some tired demonstrator's lack of attention. Colleen CLEARLY looks down at where the red and black ends of the cables are, then, specifically decides to switch them. Sparks fly, then she walks away. What was she thinking? We're guessing something along the lines of, "Oh, yes, they'll all pay. All will be cleansed in the holy fire of my wrath."

How They Tried To Save It:

The host tries his best to carry on his conversation with the idiot on the phone. He even asks the lady, "Well have you ever seen something like this before?" to which she replies, "Yes." That's followed by one of the most awkward silences in home shopping history. It's as if the caller has seen the true point of Colleen's demonstration.

"Yes," she seems to say, in her robotic tone. "I have seem something like this. And now I too know how to get fiery vengeance on my workplace."