Ron Popeil, Pioneer Of 'Wait...There's More!' Late-Night Infomercials, Is Dead At 86
Ron Popeil was both a high-spirited inventor and yarn-spinning salesman, amplified by the airwaves into millions of homes. He died Wednesday, according to his family.
Come, young ones: Gather around the glow of the smartphone's screen for a tale of a distant time when we watched TV on big boxy machines, and switched channels when we were bored.
There were commercials — several of them — between the segments of TV shows. What's more, in the distant era before streaming, you had to watch them all — or, if you had time, run to the kitchen or the bathroom. You couldn't pause, or fast forward, or take the screen with you.
And in the darkest, wee-est hours, when all the real programming ran out, the night creatures
