Infomercial Hostess Forbes Riley and Fashion House
October 16th, 2006 Paul Lucas
Have you seen the TV show Fashion House? It’s that godawful nighttime soap opera starring Bo Derek. Fashion House, along with Desire, constitutes the programming for the recently launched MyNetworkTV. Apparently, the geniuses at MyNetworkTV (which is owned by Fox) thought that the American public was just dying to have English-language versions of the Spanish telenovellas—I know I’ve been holding my breath for years!
The pilot for Fashion House had infomercial hosting goddess Forbes Riley in the role currently played by Bo Derek (Maria Gianni). Riley has hosted countless infomercials including Jack LaLanne Power Juicer, Abs of Steel, Wagner’s Paint Mate, Aerobed, Covert Bailey, Abtronic Wonder Massage, Orbitrek, Exerflex, Pro-Strong Nail Strengthener, and her masterpiece, Aromatrim.
Here is a clip of Forbes Riley in the Fashion House pilot:
Her best performance since feeding a spoonful of mustard to a blindfolded man!
Actually, I think Forbes gives the role the kind of unsubtle, over-the-top, campy quality that you find on the real Spanish telenovellas, unlike most of the performances on Fashion House, which are just plain dull.
This woman SCARES THE SHIT OUT OF ME! Between her abrasive, Joy-Behar-on-coke personality and super-WIDE mouth that she manages to twist into increasingly eerie shapes while she talks, whenever I see her - invariably while passing channels late, late at night while at work - I clench without even thinking about it. The worst is that travesty with that old hack, Jack La Lanne, his hag of a wife, and their damned juice machine. (shudder)
Comment by John Abramson — January 31st, 2007 at 5:43 pm
have you seen the infomercial with forbes and the incredible jan muller pitching the micro-grill? the are giving each other orgasms feeding each other. trashy. what a shame.
Comment by scott schlossberg — November 22nd, 2007 at 8:36 pm
I personally adore Forbes Riley - with her charming wit, outrageous sense of timing, and unending curiousity… I have watched her mature through the years to a stunning woman - more beautiful and compelling than when I first saw her on tv… why she isn’t a household name like a Kelly Ripa or Meredith Viera is beyond me… I have bought many of her products from the Juicer to the MicroGrill and even an Urban Rebounder from HSN - I look forward to seeing more of her… oh, and chk out the piece she does on raw food called The Truth on YouTube - you go girl!!
Comment by Lyndsy Maxwell — October 25th, 2008 at 2:47 pm