FOX Nation Lures Dennis Miller Out of Semi-Retirement
Comic legend's new series lookd back at classic late-night infomercials
Dennis Miller never made a formal announcement, but the “Saturday Night Live” graduate stepped back from the spotlight in recent years.
Miller signed off from his signature podcast three years ago, Ticketmaster comes up empty on future Miller stand-up appearances and he hasn’t graced Fox News in some time.
He expressed disgust with the current political scene in the final weeks of the “Option” and had little interest in being part of the punditry class in the Age of Biden.
Now, Miller is stepping in front of a camera again, but it’s for a project unlike anything he’s done before.
This is about to hit you hard in the nostalgia feels.
Check out more of The Infomercials That Sold Us hosted by Dennis Miller here on Fox Nation: https://t.co/69XLQz1dHM pic.twitter.com/r1dVt96iMW
— Fox Nation (@foxnation) January 10, 2024
“The Infomercials That Sold Us,” which dropped today on FOX Nation, looks back at the extended commercials that scored big with consumers over the years. Late-night TV watchers marveled at these hokey pitch sessions, with some products entering the pop culture lexicon.
Can you say “Thighmaster?”
The show appears a snug fit for Miller, who sees how infomercials captured something unique about the American experiment.
“It’s easy to dismiss the Willy Loman’s who hawked products on late night TV as nothing more than easy punchlines. But ‘The Infomercials That Sold Us’ shows us the humanity of these pitch people; who came from nothing and, armed with self-belief and perhaps a fine mop, made themselves wealthy and famous. It’s the ultimate American success story,” Miller said in a press statement.
The three-part series finds Miller conducting one of the last interviews with Suzanne Somers, who died in October, along with other infomercial giants like Melissa Rivers, Billy Banks and Tony Robbins.
Episode one gets to the heart of the matter – a 1984 FCC ruling allowing stations to play more commercials per hour than previously allowed.
The infomercial age was born.
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Infomercials don’t grab the zeitgeist like they once did. The digital age allows for new ways to push products. Think social media and Instagram influencers, for starters.
They still had a marvelous run.
The Week previously reported infomercials hauled in $170 billion in 2009., a figure that doesn’t account for their pop culture traction.
Miller, 70, is one of the most accomplished stand-up comedians of the modern era. His legendary run on “SNL” as Weekend Update anchor remains, in the minds of many, the ultimate version of that decades-old segment. He hosted multiple talk shows following his NBC departure, helmed a nationally syndicated radio show and recorded many comedy specials for HBO through the years.
He often shares his travel adventures on Instagram, allowing his loyal fans to pine for his professional comeback.
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