Dan Hughes Drops his Drawers

Even though I live in the South, I've never understood the whole NASCAR thing. But, for all you race fans, there is a great and extremely detailed article on NASCAR.com that goes behind the scenes of the Q's long-running For Race Fans Only show.

And there's a lot to know. Did you know that it takes 4 trucks, 30 QVC crew members, and a cuticle-saving baby-oil-covered cotton swab to make the show happen?

QVC host Dan Hughes, not only loves racing, but he's also a bit of a race car driver himself. Between that and the stand up comedy, I'm guessing there isn't much that scares him. Except maybe when he made a Freudian slip at at the worst possible time:

"I said, 'I just thought of something. It's Valentine's Day. We've been plugging your sponsors all night long. Don't you want to plug your wife?' And the second it came out of my mouth, I thought, 'Oh, my gosh. This is the end of my career. I'm dead.' Dale looked up into thin air for 37 seconds and never said a word.

"Now he's 1,000 miles away from me but his eyes locked on mine, and I could feel the beads of sweat rolling down my back. Finally, he looks into the camera and says, 'Teresa, I love you and I'll see you tonight.' "

Hughes got off the air and immediately called Daytona to apologize.

"And I hear in the background this laughter that I had never heard before," Hughes said. "And I had known Dale for a few years. But it was a joyful, 4-year-old laugh. And it was Dale, laid out on the table. And he picks up the phone and says, 'Dan, I've got one question for you. Did you mean to say it?' And that was really the start of us being friends. That's the worst it ever got."

You think Dan would've learned his lessen from that. But unfortunately for him, this is the money quote of the whole article:

"I don't usually start interviews by dropping my pants," Hughes says with a laugh.

Lynn Murphy Engaged!

HSN host Lynn Murphy recently announced that she was engaged. Congrats, Lynn!!!

Between her engagement and her beloved Philadelphia Eagles still in the running for the Super Bowl, things are looking up for Lynn.

I happened to catch her discussing her engagement with interior designer, Nate Berkus, which reminded me that you must check out his new boyfriend, shoe designer Brian Atwood here. Wonder if he'll be coming out with a new line of shoes on HSN soon?

In other home shopping wedding news, rumor has it that Dan Hughes will be officiating Sandra Bennett's wedding. Some people seem to think that it should be Dan Wheeler since he got his degree in Biblical studies. Either way, she's keeping it all the highly-dysfunctional QVC Family.

In Memory of Murphy the QVC Dog

Dan Hugh's dog, Murphy, recently passed away from cancer.

My heart goes out to Dan and his family. Losing a beloved pet is never easy. In honor of Murphy, please take a moment to click the link below. You don't have to donate any money, simply by clicking on the "Click to Give" button on The Animal Rescue Site, money is donated by sponsors.

Here's a cute video of Dan Hughes that includes a funny little cameo form Murphy at about the 45-second mark:

Who Needs CNN When You've Got QVC!

QVC is getting political--selling Obama and McCain shirts, caps, and buttons--and some customers don't feel that it's appropriate.

My initial reaction was "Who cares?" I mean, if they are selling merchandise from both major parties then you can't say that they are taking sides, right? Unless you support one of the third-party candidates, it seems fair enough on the surface.

Then I got to thinking it was a bit of a slippery slope. Selling political memorabilia from elections past is far different than selling merchandise in the heat of an election, especially considering we have such a sharply divided electorate (just take a gander at some of the explosive arguments on the message boards!)

Another sticking point? The sales pitch itself. Anything beyond discussing the style and quality of the item will quickly venture into dangerous territory. Even the camera shots have to be carefully monitored--can't have twice as much air time for candidate A's shirt than candidate B's shirt. Equal time, you know.

I watched some of the presentation video on the Q's website and both the host, Dan Hughes, and vendor seemed stiff and uncomfortable. They had to begin the segment with an explanation that they aren't being political and that they ordered the same number for both … yadda yadda yadda. Dan worried about having both shirts in the shot at all times and which hand he held them in, generally just walking on brittle egg shells the entire time. They were even afraid to say anything about the current administration. It all basically boiled down to a get-out-the-vote spiel

Then they took calls!!!

I think these callers were threatened to within an inch of their lives not to say anything that could possibly be construed as divisive. How uncomfortable to watch.

I checked HSN and ShopNBC and didn't see any Obama or McCain merchandise. I hope it stays that way until after the election. I have my own rather strong political views this election, but I do realize that there is a time and a place for these things and, trust me, QVC ain't the place!