Mike Rowe + QVC + 2 AM + 1992 = Totally Awesome

July 3, 2007 7:41 PM

Mike Rowe worked as a late-night QVC presenter in the early nineties. Yes, the Mike Rowe of various Discovery shows, including Dirty Jobs. He ad-libs poetically about the crap for sale, bursting into song, and placating crazed callers.
posted by blasdelf (34 comments total)

Rhypes99 (7 hours ago)

kinda boring - cool to know what his backround was - he does dirty jobs because he felt girly from working on this show.

Awesome.
posted by wemayfreeze at 7:57 PM on July 3, 2007

That man is a genius.
posted by jeffkramer at 7:57 PM on July 3, 2007

Not totally awesome.

Although I do love the way he bring up "Ah, precious moments."
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 7:57 PM on July 3, 2007

Adam Savage is great 'n all, but I want to be Mike Rowe when I grow up.

Oh, great. Now I sound like the creepy caller lady.
posted by dirigibleman at 8:01 PM on July 3, 2007

He used to be an opera singer, too.
posted by puke & cry at 8:03 PM on July 3, 2007

Now I really wanna be Mike Rowe.
posted by dirigibleman at 8:06 PM on July 3, 2007

Oh that's just fantastic...
posted by SweetJesus at 8:10 PM on July 3, 2007

I had no idea. Hilarious. I never thought I'd hear myself say this: god bless YouTube.
posted by Salmonberry at 8:15 PM on July 3, 2007

Yes, this is hilarious. :)
posted by BeerFilter at 8:18 PM on July 3, 2007

Ditto, Salmonberry. Finally there is a reason for YouTube. Pure, unadulterated awesome.
posted by The Bellman at 8:22 PM on July 3, 2007

I wonder what kind of person not only tapes QVC, but preserves the tapes for almost two decades.
posted by stavrogin at 8:35 PM on July 3, 2007 [7 favorites]

This makes me desperate to find video of those two good ol' boys who sold sports cards in the late 80's/early 90's at two, three in the morning.
posted by schoolgirl report at 8:58 PM on July 3, 2007 [1 favorite]

stavrogin:

the same kind that get turned on by animated characters?
posted by mrzarquon at 9:01 PM on July 3, 2007

stavrogin writes "I wonder what kind of person not only tapes QVC, but preserves the tapes for almost two decades."

I saw these on digg a week or so ago, and that was my very first question. WTF.
posted by chiababe at 9:03 PM on July 3, 2007

I love Mike Rowe so much, I envy the crazy caller lady.

Actually, I have reality TV-induced crushes on half the cast of The Discovery Channel: Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, The Hansen Brothers, Danny Forster . . .

I'll stop now.
posted by annaramma at 9:27 PM on July 3, 2007 [1 favorite]

Mike Rowe is the man.

That is all.
posted by SirOmega at 9:39 PM on July 3, 2007 [1 favorite]

Mike Rowe is strangely fascinated with poop, is my observation.

However, any man who'll go get himself bit repeatedly in the name of edutainment is a man who gets respect in my book. Crazy bugger.
posted by five fresh fish at 10:17 PM on July 3, 2007

Goddam, I fucking hate these dolls. I mean, look at 'em. All creepy-eyed and shit.

Yeah, they ain't right, Mike.

Can't believe people buy this shit.

Wish they'd buy more. Then you could get that new car you were talking about, Mike.

Fuck yeah, Skeeter.

/pause

I need to get out of here.

You're more talented than this, Mike. If I was as smart as you, I'd get my own show.

Yeah, what kind of show?

I don't know. Something where you show people interesting stuff.

Interesting stuff. Heh. If only it were that easy.

/pause

Skeeter, I've been watching you for two days now, and I have to ask -- just what the hell are you doing up there, anyway?

Cleaning the dust off the light supports.

Goddam, you are filthy.

Yeah, it gets pretty dusty up here.

I mean, you're covered in shit. Why the hell are you cleaning it by hand?

Well, it's the only way to get it clean, Mike. And if you don't get it cleaned regularly, the lights heat up, and then it gets dangerous.

Really?

Yeah, you could start a fire. And this whole TV building and the stage, well, it's all made out of wood, you know?

Yeah.

/pause

Skeeter, what were you saying about getting my own TV show...?
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 10:45 PM on July 3, 2007 [3 favorites]

Thar was weird. The last clip was like watching someone working the phones at a suicide hotline.
posted by incurable at 2:59 AM on July 4, 2007

I'm with you, annaramma! I thought I was the only one that had a thing for the Discovery Channel fellas.

Let's not leave out Bear Grylls. You've got to respect a man who can eat a live scorpion.
posted by BrianJ at 6:05 AM on July 4, 2007

Huh. I knew I knew him from somewhere, but couldn't put my finger on it.
posted by bugbread at 6:43 AM on July 4, 2007

Bear Grylls is unstoppable.
Note that he did these things after breaking his back in three places.
posted by tylermoody at 7:35 AM on July 4, 2007

So nice to see Mike Rowe getting the love he deserves. He is a funny guy and Dirty Jobs is awesome.
posted by LeeJay at 9:01 AM on July 4, 2007

These clips are amazingly funny, and count me among those who are curious about their origin.
posted by emmastory at 9:13 AM on July 4, 2007

These were all taped directly off QVC in 1992, when I was in college. My friends and I would stagger home from the bars at 2 a.m. and turn on QVC in hopes that "that guy who clearly hates his job" would be hosting that night. We started a Mike Rowe comedy cult, of sorts, and taped as much as we could. I've only recently started digitizing it.

I did a comic strip at the time based on Mike Rowe's "hard-boiled QVC" persona. For those interested, it can be found here: http://www.danvebber.com/comics/nobles/index.htm
posted by sp dinsmoor at 9:42 AM on July 4, 2007 [2 favorites]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Bear has a camera crew. Les has jack all squat.
posted by absalom at 10:10 AM on July 4, 2007 [2 favorites]

Bizarre, amusing, and strangely compelling: Mike Rowe cooking naked.
posted by Squeak Attack at 10:18 AM on July 4, 2007

sp dinsmoor: Thanks for the backstory and the link to the comics!
posted by LeeJay at 10:21 AM on July 4, 2007

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Bear has a camera crew. Les has jack all squat.

According to his Wikipedia entry, Les is one of Bear's cameramen on Man Vs. Wild.
posted by SweetJesus at 10:22 AM on July 4, 2007

Actually, I have reality TV-induced crushes on half the cast of The Discovery Channel: Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, The Hansen Brothers,...

The Hansen Brothers got their own TV show? Cool!

Some kid at a party in 1992 told me that QVC could be fairly entertaining late at night if you were in the right state of mind. I made a mental note to check it out some day, but never did until today.
posted by sfenders at 11:01 AM on July 4, 2007

SweetJesus: Well, him getting a demotion doesn't make me feel any better! Well, unless he realized it was no fun spending seven days by your self in the arctic, ocean adrift, swamps of Georgia. . . Meh.
posted by absalom at 6:12 PM on July 4, 2007

What kind of person tapes QVC?

Well, me. There's this one woman on shopnbc named Charla. She's incredible. I also tape the quacker factory some times. That shit is hilarious.
posted by nadawi at 8:10 PM on July 4, 2007

Louie Theroux auditions for QVC
posted by acro at 7:12 PM on July 5, 2007

Oh lordy, don't get me started on my love for Louie!

Ummm, I think I might have a problem.
posted by annaramma at 10:46 PM on July 5, 2007