QVC Made Brando an Offer He Can't Refuse

According to British Tabloid, The Sun, Marlon Brando tried to get a job as a host on QVC (I'm not sure if they are referring to the UK or American channel). I just want to say that again--Marlon Brando, the freakin' Godfather, wanted to work for the Q!

I guess he needed that money. He was down to his last £6,000 (about $8,400) when he agreed to appear disguised in a wig and women’s clothes. Apparently, he never went through with it though.

Brando in drag selling Diamonique? Huh???

ETA:

More info coming out about this ...

According to the Guardian, another newspaper from across the pond, "in his declining years, Marlon Brando – the screen icon and master of the Method – was considering taking part-time work at QVC. According to a new book from an old aide of Brando's, one Alice Marchak, Brando's personal debts had led him to a dark place. "Marlon was serious about QVC," she writes in her book, available in all good retailers. "He had a meeting with a woman from the channel."

Shopping Around

• Jessica Alba spoofs home shopping in support of a Declare Yourself, "a national nonpartisan, nonprofit campaign to empower and encourage every eligible 18-year-old in America to register and vote in the presidential primaries and 2008 presidential election." Check out the video of Jessica selling muzzle masks here. Even if you don't, please make sure that you are registered to vote!

• Anthony Heywood from QVC UK talks about his visit across the pond, lunch with Davania, and Jeanne Bice forcing him to make an appearance on camera. They like to call it Qgossip.

• Greg Maffei, CEO of Liberty Media (which owns all of QVC and part of HSN--I think--this might have changed since HSN broke off from its parent company), talks about how the economy and the bailout will affect their business. Read the Rocky Mountain News interview here.

• I can not look at this due to being in a twelve step program for scrapper addicts, but feel free to check out a preview of new scrapping stuff from Laura at Glitz Designs here and here. She'll be on HSN on 10/8/08.

• JTV is trying to pull themselves out of the cheese and evolve into a real home shopping network--the economy and lawsuits are just slowing them down a bit. However, starting October 15th, Jewelry Television will be launching in high definition (HD) in a brand new studio with brand spankin' new graphics. (Just one minor problem--they don't have any distribution deals yet for the HD, but they are working on that.) Read the article here.

• Here is another article on JTV, which I do not understand. It seems to be written in code. Are they talking about fake online reviews and articles? I can't tell, but it sounds shady.

Models Prefer Divoreces QVC and Gets Remarried to ...

So whatever happened to Models Prefer? Stacey and her hair curlers haven’t graced the QVC set in a long time! Didn’t that eyebrow pencil have a cult following? Why would the brand just vanish?

Models Prefer and QVC went through a bit of a nasty divorce last year. Models Prefer sued QVC basically for watering down their brand name. Here’s the exact wording for all you lawyerly types:

Filed on 3/21/07: Plaintiffs Stacey and David Schieffelin and Models Prefer Ltd. sued defendant QVC Inc. alleging that QVC coerced the plaintiffs into executing a distribution agreement under which defendant had the exclusive worldwide right to distribute and promote Models Prefer health and beauty products. Plaintiffs further allege that QVC has appropriated the Models Prefer trademark, converted it for their own use and purpose, have decreased the value of the Models Prefer trademark through their actions, and tortiously interfered with plaintiffs' prospective business relations.

However, it looks like they finally settled the lawsuit out of court on 7/17/07. I’m assuming that’s what “NOTICE of Voluntary Dismissal of Case by all plaintiffs (Gersten, Eliot)” means. But, even though they settled their differences, QVC and Models Prefer won’t be sleeping in the same bed any time soon!

I checked out the Models Prefer website and they have a full online store, but there’s a big message splashed across the home page: “The online store is now open for United Kingdom and Canada orders!” So they still can’t sell in the United States.

And even though Models Prefer and QVC are officially divorced, Stacey still visits QVC UK regularly! Are they staying together for the children? I don’t understand.

So what’s a red-blooded American gal with thin, shapeless eyebrows supposed to do?!

Turns out Stacey will be back on the air on August 3 … on HSN! She wants to be Your Best Friend, or more specifically, she wants you to buy her new makeup line, ybf. Will it be the same products only a different name? Will the famous eyebrow pencil make an appearance? And, most importantly, will Stacey come out in her curlers????