Home Shopping Speed Dating

Now that homeschool is off of Spring break and back in session, Queen Bea has less time and energy to post all those funny and acerbic home shopping rants that you all have come to love ... or at least tolerate. So in an effort to prevent Queen Bea from taking another extended spectacle, here is a quick rundown of just some of the home shopping madness that has already started to pile up in the inbox.



Three things about this video: 1) I think Jeanne Bice and Isaac Mizrahi were separated at birth, 2) Jeanne sure knows how to make an entrance, and 3) what is up with the constant flow of IsaacMizrahiLive! TSV's? I realize that the Q dumped a lot of money into him--even building Isaac his own special studio--but too much of a good thing is never good. Let me break it down into simple home shopping terms: Even though Queen Bea would love to sit on the couch all day an eat an entire Isaac Mizrahi designed Junior's cheesecake while watching a Golden Girls marathon, doing so would make her feel very sick and not fit into her pants the next day.


QVC is looking for a real life doctor to pitch health and beauty products for them--actors need not apply. Could this be in response to the recent QVC-Andrew Lessman lawsuit? Interesting.


Pat James-Dementri's ex-husband, Vince Dementri, just got a new broadcasting job.Seems like this particular station is starting a rehab program for wayward newscasters. If you haven't already, check out what happened at his last job here.


Queen Bea has been a fan of QVC fashion designer Chloe Dao ever since her Project Runway days. However, in a recent interview Chloe Dao said that her high-end collection only goes to a size 10. Considering that the average American woman is a size 12/14, that really stinks. Apparently, only skinny rich ladies are welcome.


Liz Lange, that designer with the awesome maternity clothes line at Target, just launched a line of clothes on HSN for all us un-pregnant folks to enjoy. I love her Target stuff, so I'm holding out hope for this one.


QVC issed $500 million in bonds in order to pay down some bank debt. I will not pretend to be an expert on these types of financial dealings, but from what I read at several different sources, they are being described as "junk bonds." I guess Easy Pay only goes so far.


QVC's parent company, Liberty Media, was looking to buy HSN later this year (for real--read it here), but HSN's stock has been doing so well lately--up 50% since just January--that they might prove to big to buy.


Massillon Cable TV and Clear Picture were recently selected to receive $25,000, the grand prize in the 2009 QVC Affiliate Cross Channel Promotion Program for promoting QVC throughout the year. And do you know what they did with the prize? They donated it all to charities in their community. Good for them!!! In this day of corporate greed, it's wonderful to see a company do something so generous.


Sonia Bitton--whose name I love to try to say in her distinctive accent--launched a new website SoniaBLive.com where you can purchase daily and weekly specials of her high-end jewelry. Sonia Bitton has long been a staple jewelry designer at ShopNBC, but her luxury baubles did not match up with the new lower price point that ShopNBC was aiming for. Since the split from ShopNBC, Sonia has been on QVC-UK and even an Australian home shopping channel where she worked with none other than Queen Bea's favorite host--Charla Rines! Oh, Charla, how I miss you so! (I love Sonia and Charla, but why are they selling the Tacori Harlequin ring in Australia? Look for yourself! What's going on here?)

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How Did You Find Queen Bea?

People stumble across this silly little blog in all different kinds of ways, but there seems to be a bit of a trend. See if you notice anything.

Here is a list of the Top Ten Keywords used to find Queen Bea for 2008 ...

10) Kelly Repassy - The redheaded former plus-size model and recently-ousted HSN host.




9) The Jewelry Chanel - This struggling home shopping channel that was going out of business most of the year, only to reinvent itself into The Liquidation Channel.




8) Davinia Palmer - This little British cutie burned bright as a QVC host, but her time was short.




7) Pat James-Demetri (and her ex, Vince) - Poor Pat has had a rough year thanks to her no-good ex-husband, Vince.




6) Paul Deasy - Another former HSN and QVC host who, along with his wife, Judy Crowell, is trying to make a return to the home shopping arena in a new way.




5) Me! - Some of you got here by actually looking for Queen Bea on purpose ... golf claps ...




4) Bob Bowersox - After 22 years with the Q, Bob was shown the door right before Christmas and made a huge leap into the top five. (The crazy looking picture is from the set of a movie he was in. I just thought it was funny!)




3) Patti Reilly - Patti, Patti, Patti ... she's leaving! she's not! she's leaving! she's not! I swear, the speculation will never end. In the very least, she has certainly dropped to part-time. I still say she's leaving.

2) Models Prefer and its founder, Stacey Schieffelin - Stacy was in the middle of a nasty lawsuit with QVC that led to a complete reinvention of the Models Prefer brand into ybf and a switch to HSN (all while keeping that famous eyebrow pencil and patented hair roller makeup-less face shtick in tact)

And number 1 for 2008 is ... drum roll please ...

1) Dave King!!!

Here today, gone tomorrow. This well-loved host just disappeared without a word from QVC--not even a Bob Bowersox-style hostage video. I guess they just figured no one would notice??? In any case, he had many fans who missed him and didn't appreciate the treatment he got.

Here's a great video of Dave, great host and an all-around stand up kind of guy:



You can also check him out in his new job as a consumer electronics expert here.

DeMentri Claims "consensual, mutual romantic affiliation"

According to Philly.com, here's the latest on QVC host Pat James DeMentri's ex-husbands crazy antics:

Lori Delgado says she quit her anchor's job at NBC10 last month because she feared for her safety and that of her husband after her former coanchor Vince DeMentri had acted threateningly toward them, according to documents filed yesterday in Common Pleas Court.

The filing included documents from DeMentri in which he described a 2 1/2-year relationship with Delgado as "consensual, mutual romantic affiliation." She did not address that assertion.

Delgado's statement came in her response to a court filing by DeMentri, who is contesting his firing in late July in what is expected to be a libel and slander action against NBC10.

In addition, DeMentri's attorney, Paul Rosen of Spector Gadon & Rosen, contends that NBC10 and Delgado interfered with DeMentri's contract.

Asked about Delgado's safety concerns,DeMentri said last night: "This is nothing but a smokescreen. What is alleged is laughable and an outright lie."

In July, DeMentri filed a gender-discrimination complaint with the state Human Relations Commission. In it, he alleges that he was fired because the station had learned that he and Delgado had an affair.

DeMentri said in the HRC complaint that NBC10 unfairly fired him while not sanctioning Delgado. DeMentri also alleges that the station leaked false information about him to the media.

DeMentri, 44, worked at NBC10 for five years and coanchored its myphl newscast on Channel 17 with Delgado from December 2005 through September 2006. Delgado, 28, who started at the station in January 2005, most recently anchored the morning news on NBC10. She was last seen on the air Sept. 26.

DeMentri's HRC complaint says that someone at the station leaked an item to an unnamed gossip Web site. The Aug. 22 item linked DeMentri to acts of vandalism against Delgado, including the keying of her car in June.

The HRC complaint says that DeMentri and Delgado's affair ended in May, and that the two remained friends.

According to Delgado's court response, filed yesterday by Eric Weitz of Weitz Garfinkle & Datz, Delgado experienced hang-ups on her home and cell phones in the spring. On June 6, personal items vanished from her office. Three days later, her driver's license and house keys were missing, and Lower Merion police investigated.

A few weeks later, Delgado found a shopping bag containing the items under her desk. Also in June, she discovered that her car had been scratched. NBC10 investigated and began suspecting DeMentri, Weitz's filing says.

Delgado says she was told that DeMentri was seen on videotape "indicating his likely participation in the incidents." Rosen said DeMentri was not shown keying Delgado's car.

On July 3, an NBC security official told police that "criminal mischief" had been done to Delgado's car, according to a police report that listed DeMentri as a suspect. The complaint was investigated July 8 and closed when Delgado refused to cooperate with police.

Rosen said that if police had seen such actions on a tape, Delgado's cooperation would not be required to file charges.

Delgado said in yesterday's filing that although DeMentri had been instructed not to contact her, he confronted her and her husband, Rich McNally, a lawyer, at their home. DeMentri said last night that no one had told him to stay away from her.

Delgado and McNally, who married in June 2006, have since moved to New York.

Attorneys for NBC did not return calls for comment. Regarding the litigation, a station spokeswoman said: "The station disputes Mr. DeMentri's allegations and intends to vigorously defend any claims. The notion that WCAU would trump up baseless charges against its own anchor is ridiculous."

For a crazy stalker guy, Vince isn't very creative. Hang-up calls? Puh-leeze! Little kids do that at slumber parties! Taking her keys and then putting them back under her desk in a bag? How lame!

Although by all accounts he appears to be a spoiled, self-centered, horny bastard, he's just not the sharpest tool in the shed, is he???

Honestly, I feel sorry for Pat and her daughter. For their sakes, I hope this all blows over quickly.

Vince DeMentri Update

According to Philly.com, "NBC10 on Friday removed Vince DeMentri's bio from its Web site. The 4 p.m. anchor, who also anchored its MYPHL17 newscasts, was last seen on the air early last month, just after a mysterious off-air incident involving anchor Lori Delgado. DeMentri retained lawyer Paul Rosen. The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, the union representing many TV newsies, filed a grievance against NBC10 last week."

Looks like Vince lost his job, but still has a lot of fight left in him. You'd think after what happened, he'd just want to lay low for a while.

DeMentri Nominated for Emmy

Vince DeMentri, soon-to-be ex-husband of QVC host Pat James-DeMentri, was just nominated for a local Emmy. This is right after he allegedly vandalizing a female co-worker's car (among other things). Read my post about the drama here.

I feel bad for Pat. Her (ex? estranged?) husband acts like a total louse--allegedly--and gets an award nomination. No wonder she's seemed so out of it lately.

DeMentri ... in the News Room ... with the Hair Dryer!

Apparently Pat James-DeMentri's soon-to-be-ex-husband, Vince DeMentri has been all the talk in the Philly area this month.

Vince is an anchor for NBC 10, but according to Philly.com, he has been off air since July 3rd. He allegedly vandalized (i.e. keyed and broke into) morning anchor, Lori Delgado's car. Also, he allegedly took her purse, hair dryer, and curling iron form the news room (the property was eventually found--not sure where exactly). Vince and Lori used to have a "particularly close friendship." I'm not sure if they were good friends before or after his separation from Pat last year.

It doesn't look like he will be facing any charges even though they supposedly caught him on surveillance tape doing those alleged deeds. As of right now, he's still listed on the NBC 10 website as an anchor, but odds are that he won't be for much longer.

Vince DeMentri seems to have a bit of a history of anger management issues. According to Newsday.com, he was arrested shortly after 9/11 for impersonating a federal officer. He said he was an agent for the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms in order to gain access to sealed-off areas. (You can read a detailed account of his interview with two Port Authority police officers who survived the collapse of the towers here. These officers were the focus of the Oliver Stone movie, "World Trade Center.")

Then in 2006, Vince was suspended after an altercation with weather anchor, Glenn “Hurricane” Schwartz. DeMentri was standing in water up to his waist while reporting on a flood and was admonished for his unsafe behavior on-air by Schwartz. When DeMentri got back to the studio he screamed and physically threatened Schwartz for embarrassing him on the air.

So, from what I can tell, the guy is just a macho, egotistical jackass prone to throwing temper tantrums ... allegedly.