When I was in college I had a roommate who had an odd taste in television. Sure, he liked some sports, Adam Sandler movies and free soft-core porn like the rest of us but what he really enjoyed, what he absolutely relished in, was infomercials.
He recited Ron Popeil demonstrations like he wrote the script. He even took the human interaction down to the psych level (it was his major, after all), telling me that he thought Ron was belittling Nancy for her perpetual doubt about the capabilities of any invention that Ron’s brain could muster. I always thought that Ron was simply too passionate about his products and was simply bringing that passion out in responding to Nancy. That, plus his machines have the noise-making capability of a bulldozer, so he had to yell over them. This usually resulted in a shouting match between myself and my roommate and then we probably got blind drunk.
Anyway, I bring all this up because ol’ Ronny has himself a tax issue in California with Ronco Inventions, LLC and it’s Robert Snell’s tax delinquent scoop du jour:
According to public records, Ronco Inventions LLC owes the state $170,392 in delinquent taxes — or three easy payments of $56,797. Ronco is famed for products such as the parody-worthy Veg-O-Matic, the Pocket Fisherman, and rotisserie ovens. Popeil has turned the infomercial into an art form thanks to catch phrases — “Set it, and forget it!”, “But wait, there’s more!” — and studio audience members who clap like their lives depend on it.
Since Ron is the brains of Ronco, it’s likely that he treats tax issues much like he treated Nancy: with spirited indifference. Which now leads me to wonder if she’s the one in charge of the accounting department. Judge for yourself: