‘Homemade Millionaire’ Winner Sells Out Her Edible ‘Bake Huggers’ On HSN Debut

You ever get a yen to eat a cupcake along with its wrapper? Then Debra Lee’s Bake Huggers are for you. That is, if you were up at 7 a.m. Saturday to order them for $20.

Lee, the winner of Friday’s episode of TLC’s “Homemade Millionaire,” sold out her invention, the Bake Huggers, during her premiere on HSN.

The entrepreneur made a live appearance on HSN Friday night at 11 p.m., immediately after being announced the winner of the second of six episodes of the hour-long reality show. Then she made her official debut with her product Saturday morning.

The sold-out Bake Huggers, eat your heart out

In case you’ve been living under a rock, “Homemade Millionaire” offers aspiring female entrepreneurs the opportunity to showcase and sell their products on HSN. The show is produced by Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos’ production company Milojo Productions for TLC.

Here’s the poop on Lee, courtesy of HSN’s PR department.

“As a mother of three, Lee found herself baking and decorating cupcakes often. Frustrated by the time it took to get the results she wanted, she knew there had to be a better way. Lee created a wrapper for cupcakes that was not only decorative, but also edible. Her time-saving solution was fun, creative, and best of all, eliminated the mess of traditional paper cupcake liners.”

Lee’s newly popular Bake Huggers sold out in less than five minutes during her HSN premiere at 7 a.m. Saturday.

“I am thrilled that Bake Huggers sold out on its first HSN run,” Lee said in a canned statemement. “Perseverance and believing in your product is the key to the American dream.”

One of the judge’s on Friday’s episode was celebrity chef and Cajun cooker Emeril Lagasse.

Here is the canned quote attributed to both Ripa and Consuelos, who apparently have been married so long that they now speak in unison.

“In the words of our guest judge Emeril Lagasse ‘why didn’t I think of that?!’ We’re so proud of Debra and are thrilled to hear she sold out of her products,” said Ripa and Consuelos. “This is exactly what we set out to do with this show … give women the chance to take these incredible inventions and become a success story.”

And here is HSN’s piece.

“Debra’s product nicely illustrates the premise of ‘Homemade Millionaire’ — there are millions of great product ideas, but few people with the passion, confidence, great story and drive to transform their idea into a successful product,” said Sandy Conrad, HSN’s senior vice president of merchandising. “We are thrilled with the response of our viewers to Debra’s great idea and look forward to having her back on HSN again in early 2011.”

Each hour-long episode of the TLC reality show follows three women vying for a chance to sell their inventions on HSN. Open calls were held throughout the U.S., and thousands of women showed up with their products, aspiring to become the next successful entrepreneur.

HSN Vendor Stacey Schieffelin Drops The YBF Charm As ‘Homemade Millionaire’ Gestapo

We checked out “Homemade Millionaire,” the HSN/TLC production, last night. We’d give it a B-.

The show, hosted by Kelly Ripa, each week has three women entrepreneurs vying to have their product sold on HSN. In the first episode the items were a hair roller that heats up, a leather pony-tail holder and a cabinet to hold all your hair care gear, namely your hair dryer, flat iron, curling iron, etc.

The contestants had to take some blunt criticism from a focus group, sharp comments on their presentation by HSN folk, and a final going-over by a panel of four, which includes Ripa and an HSN vendor. Last night the vendor was Jennifer Stallone, of Serious Skincare fame.

Don't mess with Stacey Schieffelin

But the real surprise in this was Stacey Schieffelin, who sells the YBF Beauty line on HSN. That YBF stands for Your Best Friend.

On HSN, ex-model Schiefflelin’s gimmick is that she comes on-air with no makeup on and then uses her products to look gorgeous and glam (our mom swears by her eyebrow pencil). That takes lots of guts. We wouldn’t want to scare America by going on TV with no makeup. It’s bad enough that our loved ones have to see us like that!

But we digress. On HSN Schiefflelin is warm and fuzzy, just like your best friend. On “Homemade Millionaire” Schieffelin offered pretty tough love for the contestants. She was rough. She is one savvy, hard-nosed business woman (despite the fact that she once appeared in a Robert Palmer video).

Anyway, the cablinet for the hair-care tools won. Its inventor wanted to price it at $149, but the HSN honchos it would be have to be cheaper, $100 or less.

We agree. And we actually think it’s a great product.

HSN And Kelly Ripa’s ‘Homemade Millionaire’ Debuts Tonight On TLC

HSN’s collaboration with Jersey Girl Kelly Ripa and TLC, “Homemade Millionaire,” will premiere at 10 p.m. tonight.

The show pits female entrepreneurs against each to land a spot on HSN to sell a product they’ve invented.

Future episodes will feature veteran HSN vendors such as jean queen Diane Gilman, Jennifer Stallone, Badgley Mischka and Cajun kook (that’s no typo) Emeril Lagasse.

A panel on TLC's "Homemade Millionaire," with Kelly Ripa in the center and the designer team of Badgley Mischka on the right

On Thursday New York Daily News TV critic David Hinckley reviewed “Homemade Millionaire,” and he liked the program. He wrote that Ripa “whips up a lively and fun show by selling big dreams in a small, simple package.”

See what you think. We’ve had some inquiries from women who’d like to get on “Homemade Millionaire,” and we are looking into that.

So here’s the answer on getting on “Homemade Millionaire” this season: It’s too late, baby.

“We conducted try-outs last summer for this current season,” a TLC spokeswoman said Friday. “Unfortunately, this season is cast already.”

HSN Teams With TLC, Kelly Ripa For New ‘Homemade Millionaire’ TV Show

It looks like HSN is dipping its toe in the traditional TV programming business, by joining forces with TLC and Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos’ company, Milojo Productions, on a six-part series that gives women entrepreneurs a chance to make their visions reality.

The show, “Homemade Millionaire,” debuts Nov. 19 at 10 p.m., and in part will feature HSN vendors like Emeril Lagasse and jean queen Diane Gilman.

“The series offers aspiring female entrepreneurs the potential opportunity of a lifetime – to have their innovative ideas sold on-air and online through interactive multichannel retailer HSN,” the press release Monday said. “With product sales on HSN topping $2 billion a year, a deal with HSN could change these women’s lives overnight.”

Here are the canned quotes, folks.

“We are super excited to be working with TLC and HSN on this project,” Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos said, apparently in remarkable unison. “We’re sent so many innovative products from women every day, and to be able to help them get into the marketplace is a dream come true for us. These inventors have worked so hard in this show. We’re beyond proud of them.”

And from TLC…

“’Homemade Millionaire’ provides an opportunity to those ‘kitchen-table inventors’ to get their creative ideas out to the masses,” Nancy Daniels, TLC’s senior of production and development, said. “We are thrilled to be partnering with Kelly and Milojo Productions, and believe HSN is the perfect outlet for these hard-working women to showcase their inventions.”

Each hour-long episode of “Homemade Millionaire” will follow three women competing for a chance to sell their inventions on HSN.

Open calls were held throughout the country, and thousands of women showed up with their unique products in hand, with the hopes of being part of this experience.

“We are very excited to work with Kelly Ripa and TLC to help these inventors realize their dreams,” Bill Brand, HSN executive vice president of programming, marketing and business development said in his canned statement. “HSN is all about great products and amazing storytellers and that is what this series will deliver to our customers.”

The inventors were had to perform a series of tasks designed to get their product ready for consumers. Helping Ripa coach these women are two “business experts,” Wendy Robbins and Ed Evangelista, who serve as mentors for these would-be business women as they evolve their product and build a unique marketing strategy to present to HSN.

Wendy Robbins, founder of Nowhere To Millionaire LLC and author of “Why Marry a Millionaire? Just Be One!”, worked her way out of debt to make millions with her invention the Tingler head massager. She is also a leading expert on mastering the millionaire mindset, and how to manufacture and market ideas to millions.

Ed Evangelista became the first advertising executive embedded into entertainment content when he served as a judge, juror, and executioner on ABC’s “American Inventor.” Evangelista has created award-winning advertising, marketing and alternative content for some of the world’s largest consumer brands from diamonds and liquors, to automobiles, finance and bubble gum.

Alongside Ripa on the judges’ panel are two HSN executives – Jennifer Cotter, senior vice president of television, and Chris Nicola, vice president of product development – who draw upon their vast experience in television and retail to evaluate each product.

Each episode also features HSN vendors and lifestyle journalists including Emeril Lagasse, Jennifer Flavin-Stallone, Colin Cowie, Ingrid Hoffmann, Diane Gilman, Stacey Schieffelin, Jeffrey Banks, James Mischka and Mark Badgley, Skip Borghese, Carolyn Forte, Good Housekeeping Research Institute, Allie Lewis, food editor, Real Simple Magazine and Lori Bergamotto, fashion editor for Lucky Magazine

“Homemade Millionaire” is produced by Milojo Productions and Discovery Studios for TLC.

Oxygen Jumps On the Jersey Reality-TV Bandwagon, In The Wake Of ‘Real Housewives Of New Jersey’ and ‘Jersey Shore,’ With ‘Jersey Couture’ Show

Oxygen's potential show Jersey Couture is about a Freehold, N.J., women's formalwear boutique that sells dress like this.

Well, we’ll be damned. Jersey girls rule on reality TV.

Our beloved Garden State, the new mecca for reality-TV producers, will be the site of yet another “docu-soap.” This one, in development by the women’s network Oxygen, has a working title of “Jersey Couture,” echoing the name of that overpriced brand for tween and teen girls, Juicy Couture.

The show was announced Sunday at the Television Critics Association press tour in Pasadena, a shindig we attended last year, just two weeks before we were abuptly laid off. NewJerseyNewsroom.com just posted our story on “Jersey Couture.”

From what we understand, “Jersey Couture” is about an upscale Freehold, N.J., women’s formalwear shop, Diane & Co. It is owned by Diane Scali and her family.

“From canary yellow beaded sheaths to gold lamé, the Scali family offers over-the-top dresses to satisfy every girl’s special event needs,” Oxygen said in a press release.

New Jersey, once the butt of jokes, is now the new hot spot for reality-TV shows that in many cases play on stereotypes the rest of America has about us. We’ve had Bravo’s “The Real Housewives of New Jersey,” MTV’s “Jersey Shore,” TLC’s “Cake Boss” and “18 Kids and Counting,” and Style Network’s “Jerseylicious,” which debuts in March.

We wrote about this new trend in Jersey-set programming for NewJerseyNewsroom.com, where experts told us that TV producers believe that the Garden State’s “loud and proud” residents are perfect for reality-TV shows.

Before Oxygen's Jersey Couture will be Style Network's Jerseylicious, which is about the women of the Gatsby Salon in Green Brook, N.J. You go Jersey girls!

“Jerseylicious” is about the women who run the Gatsby Salon in Green Brook, N.J. We visited the place during one of the last weeks it was shooting in December, and filed a package of stories for NewJerseyNewsroom.com.

As for “Jersey Couture,” here’s the sketchy info that Oxygen has provided.

“With a no nonsense attitude, the Scali family’s extravagant dress store is the premiere glamour stop in New Jersey,” Oxygen said in its TCA press release. “Get ready for the Cinderella experience of a lifetime. Whether it’s for her bride’s maid’s needs or her high school prom frills, when it comes to ‘what to wear’ to that elegant affair, no one gets the job done like the ladies at Diane & Co.”

Remember that “Jersey Couture” is just in development, which means Oxygen has not committed yet to pick it up as a series.

Find Out Why New Jersey, With Its ‘Loud and Proud’ Natives,’ Has Become Reality-TV Central With Shows Like ‘Jersey Shore’ And ‘Jerseylicious’

Jersey Has Become A Reality-TV Mecca

If you’ve read this blog at all, you know we’re from Jersey, and proud of it. Who knew that characteristic would make the Garden State appealing to reality-show producers.

We talked to the TV experts — including a gentleman who trains folks to get on, and be on, reality shows, Robert Galinsky — for our story on why ‘Joisey’ (as some morons still say, trying to mock us) has become a reality-TV mecca. It’s posted on NewJerseyNewsroom.com.

Galinsky, founder of the New York Reality TV School, told us that producers like the fact that Jersey natives are “loud and proud.” That makes for fun reality TV.

Which reality shows are rooted here? First there was the Bravo hit “The Real Housewives of New Jersey.” Then MTV’s controversial piece of garbage “Jersey Shore” made waves (get it) in Seaside Heights. On Wednesday New Jersey Italian American legislators called for Viacom to pull the plug on the trashy show.

On MTV2’s “School of Surf,” kids from Ocean City compete in the Red Bull’s Riders Cup.

TLC loves Jersey, with “Cake Boss” shot in a Hoboken bakery and “Table for 12” about a Marlboro family with two sets of twins and sextuplets.

And coming up next spring, in March, is Style Network’s “Jerseylicious,” about the owner and stylists at the Gatsby Salon in Green Brook. You’ll be hearing more about “Jerseylicious” shortly.

Big hair, leopard skin clothes, a lot of attitude and our own dialect — God, we love Jersey.